86 replies to this topic

[wiredshut]

dude! Florence? sweet!
Welcome to the itching stage, I'm still in it and it is hella not so nice.
Keep updating.
Peace.

[PhoenixBalm]

Day 12

Hey guys, I'm just outside of Venice at the moment, in a campsite and I've got a few minutes of wi-fi, so I thought I'd post.

'Fraid I can't get any pictures to y'all at the moment, I might be able to later tonight, if I can get on the internet for long enough.

Anything new happened? Not too much, BUT:

The base of my spine is starting to hurt when i lay down or stand up, but it's nothing major.

My lips and chin feel like they are burning when i come out of the shower and my skin is so incredibly dry!

I know I said that my back chest and shoulders have so much acne that I don't bother counting, but lemme tell you, I've certainly had an IB in those regions lol. It's nasty - pics up later ; )

Anyway, Venice is beautiful, I might get you all some pictures of that, too : )

Hope everyone is fine,

Thanks

[PhoenixBalm]

Day 14

How goes, people? I'm in Slovenia at the moment, in an apartment with FREE INTERNET! OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!

The landlord is around about the size of the incredible hulk - he shook my hand and I was like 'Hi the- aaaaaaaoooooo!!!'

Slovenia is a beautiful place, really is - I've yet to take some pictures, but I will!!

Pictures of l'acne, Florence, Venice and Verona are attached : )

So far, I think Venice is my favourite - we've done things really cheaply; 1 euro 10 to get a bus into venice and then 2 euros for a ferry down the Grand Canal, it was good : ) and at night it becomes the most incredibly beautiful place (pictures!)

Anyway down to the business

How're things going?

Well, things are going well:

Face:

Little spot in my nose, nothing at ALL serious, it's not increasing in size, it's not really doing anything.

No actual other spots on my face, other than the tiniest one at the top of my forehead - its feels amazing to be able to rub my skin in the shower, and not feel like the Alps!!! AAAAAAH : D

Body:

Naaat so good : P
I'm not really expecting anything miracle-esque yet mind, but I'll leave it to you to decide in the pictures, what's happened so far.
One thing to note - my skin is starting to peel on my body, around where cysts have been.

Side Effects:

My lips are now at the Everest summit of dryness - it is ridiculous lol.
I left my vaseline in the apartment when going out, accidentaly and after 2 hours i could feel the individual bits of my lips cracking open when i stretched my mouth open... grrrr
I'm moody, but that's probably because I've been hungry today
Back still sore when lying down and sitting up.



I realised my eyes are wonky! My left one is slightly lower than my right lol. I look like a Picasso ; )



I’m currently enjoying a litre of this diluted blackcurrant stuff that tastes like heaven.. aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh



Will keep you all posted, bye for now : )




Face:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...0Diary/Face.jpg


Left:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...0Diary/Left.jpg


Right:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...Diary/Right.jpg


Neck:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...Diary/Right.jpg


Back:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...0Diary/Back.jpg


Chest:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...Diary/Chest.jpg

Florence:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...ry/Florence.jpg


Verona:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...iary/Verona.jpg

Venice:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...iary/Venice.jpg

A goofy idiot:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn83/Ph...0Diary/Goof.jpg

[PhoenixBalm]

Day 17

Ok so this is completely off topic but you may find it interesting/useful to know.

So last night I was on my way back to Pisa, Italy with my Dad, my stepmum and my sister. Anyway it was 2:00 AM and we entered this tunnel, doing 60 mph and this guy hit us at about 100. We got shoved forwards and ended up doing 80-90 whilst dad was breaking to stop us hitting the side wall and flipping.

Dad managed to manoeuvre the car so that it didn't flip (thank god) and we ground to a halt. The thing is, I wasn't wearing a belt, so I was sitting on the bit in between the two sides of the back seats of the car. I thought I'd killed my dad, with the impact and felt like such a fucking idiot it's unreal. I'll never not wear a belt again, and I've gotta warn all those who don't tend to wear one either, they're bloody useful, and, had we flipped, i'd have been a goner because of that.

If you're thirsty for more soap opera, we climbed out of the car, screaming as such, and the guy who piled into us got out of his car, Italian speaking, so we couldn't understand him. We rang the police, and had to costantly redirect all the trucks and cars to the left hand lane, just so they didn't crash into the, now write-off car.

Police came, and they didn't speak english either, but we got there in the end, and got taken to a taxi outside of the tunnel, IN THE OTHER GUY'S CAR, which was surreal... He left and tried to shake our hands and I couldn't believe he had the nerve to - I suppose they'll be charging him with dangerous driving or something... pfffff

Anyway the main reason I'm saying this is to say

WEAR A SEATBELT.

And for the Alfa Romeo and Audi fans of you out there, you might want to look away now : P

[Dawn13]

Oh yeah, Italian drivers... They have a VERY bad reputation in Europe, now everybody knows why...

Glad you and you're family are doing fine!!

[PhoenixBalm]

Day 19

Hey everyone - Posting an update...

Things have never been better, to be quite honest.

My skin, is so nice and matte textured it's incredible!

This morning, I had to go to work at a kennels and I didn't have time to shower, but I DIDN'T EVEN NEED ONE!!! For the first time in AAAAGES, I've gone through the day not needing a shower! It's INCREDIBLE!

My back and chest and shoulders is kind of... calmer at the moment.
Had a breakout on the middle to lower region of my back the other day which has been a bit painful, but oh well... For the greater good, eh?

This kennels I'm working at is amazing - they have dogs, of course, but also cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, horses, hedgehogs and all sorts! It's hard work, but bring a lot of satisfaction : )

Hope it's going well for everyone!

Bye

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[PhoenixBalm]

Day 21 - 3 week anniversary!!!...... how sad am I...

Wow time hasn't exactly flown, but the changes in my skin sure have happened dramatically fast.
The redness in my skin had been lingering for a good month or more, but suddenly just started fading, like a switch was turned on, as of 2 weeks ago.
My back is a pain, but it's good to know the accutane in my system, away there working : P

I can't wait to go back to school and put my hair behind my ears, smiling - chances are, noone will comment, but I'll be happy anyway!!! At least I will have anyone and everyone looking me in the eye when they talk to me, and not the forehead lol!

My girlfriend gets back from holiday on Sunday - she's been away for a month, the lucky sod lol. She has, literally, the clearest skin I have ever seen - it's incredible. In fact, she's a lot of things that I envy, yet she still complains about her life which pisses me off to no end, but oh well. At least I'll be able to look at her in the eye without turning away, through fear of her seeing my bad acne! Jesus, I sound like such an emo!!!

This was me a month ago





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[PhoenixBalm]

Day 26

Hey!
It's your resident acne sufferer no.5846843541035405403435034535415

How's it going people?

I have a dermatologist appointment on Wednesday - I will be getting another month's supply of the good stuff, and getting a blood test - hope everything checks out alright!!!!

So for the last week or two I've been able to have a shower and not shower the next day - I haven't been able to do that for over 2 years now, it's such a simple thing that makes all the difference when i wake up : ) I'M STILL HYGIENIC!!! Do not fear, I have not given up my obsessive cleanly nature...

Having said that - I don't use ANYTHING on my face anymore, I just use the shampoo lather to wash, and it's working! I haven't had any spots on my head for 2 weeks - something that hasn't happened for, again, over 2 years ( HAPPY!!!).

Anyway, the redness is kiiind of fading - my forehead has an excess of capillaries on it, apparently (my dad told me) and so I have to wait for the cells to die in those capillaries, something which happens over time. I suppose this is something to do with the redness of any spot, really - increased blood supply, to fight off the infection in the lesion.

I take back what I said about my lips being at the everest summit of dryness : P
These last few days I've been vaselining every 10 minutes, it's unreal!

I have itchy eyes!

My sore back has kind of stopped! It's bizarre!

Anyway, feel free to comment, ask questions, make suggestions, or to talk about anything - I usually have an opinion on anything (something that my friends have had to put up with over the years (sorry if you guys are reading this : P ))

See you everyone, and best of luck to you all

[keepsgettingbetter]

Best of luck to you! I could really relate to your initial post - about how other people just don't get how we feel. Some days I just want to crawl back into bed and hide from the world. Acne is painful - both physically and emotionally. I've struggled with it for 15 yrs. (I'm 30), and I feel like no matter what side effects accutane brings, I'm fine w/ it, b/c it can't be worse than what my acne has put me through.

Good luck with your treatment, I'll be following your log.

[sayummmi238]

goood luck with everythinggg!!!!!

sounds like you're doing wellll
&& i appreciate oyur little story about the car its so true. seatbelts save lives.
btww you have awesome hairrrr

so yeah good luck with everything im a few days ahead of u in my journey lol

p.s. where are you from? cause you spoke about italy but not being able to speak italian hehe

[PhoenixBalm]

Thanks for the comment on my hair, sayummmi238, you made me smile : )

I checked out your log, thiings seem to be going nicely : )
To answer your question, I'm from england, but I was in Italy for a holiday.


- - -

keepsgettingbetter - i love your username, really positive : )

Are you taking/have you taken accutane? I'm hoping if you are/if you have, it's worked/working (sorry for all these slashes : P) wonders for you - You're a strong person, and down the line we can all laugh and live our days without acne, living a normal life - FREE!!!


- - -

Tomorrow I'm going to the dermatologist - it'll be month 1 over!


I'll post pictures!!!!!!

Good night everyone, sleep well : )

[keepsgettingbetter]

PhoenixBalm - yes, I am on accutane, not too far behind you, Day 18 for me. Experiencing the IB right now, but it's looking a little better, so I'm keeping my chin up (cysts and all, lol!)

Looking forward to seeing your pics tomorrow! Maybe I'll be brave enough to post some...maybe!

[PhoenixBalm]

My apologies, I was on a laptop that didn't show your signature last night!

Going to the dermatologist in a few minutes... hope I don't get the same nurse taking my blood as last time, she practically tore my vein open

Pics up in about 8-9 hours everyone!

[PhoenixBalm]

MONTH 1 - COMPLETE :D:D

Hey!

Month 1 is officially complete - I've been a lucky bastard, luckier than most, to have not had anything happen to my face at all, acne-wise. Side effect-wise, I've been quite lucky too...

Having said that...

Got my dosage upped today, to 50mg/day : O !!!

I'm glad it's upped, and my dermatologist has told me to stop taking the erythromycin now, but I've got another months supply, so I think I'll take it for the next week or two, just to prevent any reaction to the increased dose (15mg, i know, not much of an increase, but oh well!!!) My dad's a pharmacologist, so he would say if there was any problem with me taking it still lol

Gotta love my dermatologist - she's fantastic - I came in, she was looking at my file, then just said;

'Right, let's see how you're doi- ooh!' *looked at my face!!!*

I felt honoured : P

Anyway, enough of the crap, here are the MONTH 1 PICTURES!







THANK YOU, ACCUTANE.

[keepsgettingbetter]

Wow, wow, wow! You have cleared up a ton already! That is so awesome, good for you! Thanks for sharing. I hope you are feeling amazing, b/c you look great!

[sayummmi238]

your welcome!! glad i could do that
&& thankss

your looking a ton better alreadyyy!!!!
and you're from england thats awesome! one of my dreams/goals is to get there before i turn 20 haha

[inthagong]

Its great to see that your are approaching this crazy time with humour and a positive attitude, it is really inspiring....What % of people have a huge initial breakout when on Tane? It seems ot be scaring all of us wanting to go on it...its funny Ive had acne since I was 16 and I am now 28, but still I am shit scared to get this one BIG supposed breakout...

Crazy shit tane is but hey if it works, I am for it!

[PhoenixBalm]

Day 31

So I've been on 50mg for 3 days now, and I think I can say I've had a very, very small breakout as a result - either that, or it's the milk (I haven't drunk milk in over 3 months, but I thought I might try it over the past 3 days).
A few very minor pimples on my neck and jawline, not even picture worthy, sorry! The breakout has been more severe on my chest, back and shoulders, which follows with what people say:

'If you acne is active when you start, it can get worse - Starting with less/no active lesions can help avoid an initial breakout.


I can completely understand you being scared - I was!!! But, as everyone will say, even if you do receive one, it'll be worth it for the long term benefit, without a doubt. And to be perfectly honest, if your acne isn't too heavily concentrated in one particular area, you may not even notice a significant breakout.

If your skin has a tendency to get oily, very quickly, you'll enjoy being on the accutane - it's heaven to have matt skin, absolute HEAVEN.

To end - I was scared of accutane for months/almost a year, and refused to even consider it. Then I got a horrific outbreak - at which point, I thought about it, and arranged to meet a dermatologist.

Best of luck to you inthagong, whatever you do! : )

[PhoenixBalm]

Day 35

Aah how things can go from nice to bad in such a short time *sigh*

This increased dose has triggered, most definitely, a breakout across my chest and shoulders. The good news is, spots in that area tend to sort of, come and go really quickly, so i'm just left with the red lumps of them, without any pain now, so that's OK.

My neck has had 3 damn irritating boys right around the chin scratch area you know - I would take a picture, but it's just boring to see lol
The top of my nose has the tiniest spot ever.
Had a few in my scalp, too.


BUT - onto the important stuff - the side effects:

Things are getting kind of wierd people - I mean, I've got chest pain when i lie down, which I had when I started, and that's cool, what's confusing me is my eyes.

When I'm at work, my eyes feel like closing shut, and I'm blinking all the time, it's strange! Dryness, perhaps - if I get the money, I think I'll invest in some artificial tears.

Also, my skin has started flaking again, like, EVERYWHERE on my face lol. Therefore, had to start moisturizing again, which isn't a problem!

My lips are basically sticking two fingers up to me at this point : P
They're clumpy, dry and sometimes bleeding (I shall be avoiding salt and vinegar crisps for now ; ) )

I'll post some pictures up at some point this week..

Outside of accutaneville, things are... alright. Breaking up with my girlfriend next week - we've been going out 9 months, and it's taken 4 months for me to realise she's become completely self-obsessed. Talks down to everyone, including me and isn't actually interested in anything to do with me any more, so why should I bother keep trying? The only reason she asks how the accutane's going is for her own benefit of I'd say finding me more attractive, or just because I'll be expecting her to ask, but oh well

I'm working at a vets this week, getting work experience to become one when I'm older! It's a right pain in the arse, have to get 10 weeks of experience at several different places!

If anyone hasn't seen, check out the log 'Vote 4 Pedro' - some incredible results gone down there.

Au revoir, auf wiedersehen, arrivederci, sayonara, goodbye (for now)

AND HOPE EVERYTHING IS JUST GOING PLAIN MOTHERF**ING AWESOME FOR YOU ALL : D

[forza]

Dude, your face looks exponentially clearer! This is awesome. Good luck with the rest of your treatment