5 replies to this topic

[Heather Robin]

hopefully i posted this topic in the right forum this time haha..so i am on my 11th day of treatment with Claravis..and let me just say this is not what i expected! ugh its so horrible..yes i figured about the dry lips and dry skin but my muscles are sore and appearently i'm one of the "low pertentage" as my dr would say of patients who get an initial breakout. Everyday my skin is just getting worse and my self esteem is GONE, its a battle to even leave my house and go to work i try and put makeup on but honestly i don't even know why i waste my time. I have always been on an antibiotic and a cream for my "moderate adult female acne" and it was controllable but i didn't want to be dealing with acne when im 40 so my dr suggested accutane. I had no idea it was going to be like this though and i'm just hoping that there is a huge pot of gold at the end of the rainbow because this just plain out sucks!

[indygal]

Hi Heather Robin....hang in there. The initial breakout can be really discouraging, but it will get better! At least you are getting it early and hopefully it will subside quickly....try to think of it as all that stuff has to come out in order to get your skin clear. I am going through the same thing right now, so am trying hard to take my own advice lol!

[smileygirl]

Yes hang in there. I am only a few days a head of you. I haven't had much initial breakout, but I am very surprised about the crazy dry-ness that set in already. dry lips and flakey-ness were pretty instant. I can already see a difference in terms of less large bumps that would normally have set in at this time of the month. So chin up... there will be a rainbow and a clear skin life at the end.
my own advise so far: water, don't drink wine in large quanitites days in a row, aquaphor or other lipbalm in every coat pocket and purse, on your desk, on your bureau, on your nightstand, and bathroom, kitchen, tv room... , and hand cream in an equally absurd number of places. I just treated myself to some nice crabtree and evelyn gardeners hand therapy cream that is not greasey and moisturizes well and smells refreshing. so you can make it fun. Its kind of joke already how many little pots of aquaphor can I fill. haha
have a great day...

[gLx]

I don't think your one of the "low percentage" of people to experience an IB. Most derms say that, but if you look through these logs almost EVERYONE has an IB. I would say the smallest percentage is those that don't have an IB. They just say that to.. idk.. psych you up about taking it? It's the same as any other medicine. You are probably going to experience an IB.

Hang in there, it takes a few months to work but it WILL work. Promise.

[volcom3453]

Yeah for sure just stay strong and hang in there. I know it's hard but the course of accutane goes by in the blink of an eye and when you are done and clear it will all be worth it.

[tshimp]

im on my 4th month, the first 2 months were terrible, the worse acne ive ever had, my dermatologist finally agreed to me taking accutane even though she said my acne did not warrant it, so it was pretty funny to take the strongest acne product and have the worse acne ive ever had, after the 2nd month its been an up and down cycle of clearing and breakouts, the fourth month has been mostly clear with the redmarks healing, i find the biggest breakouts come a week after increasing the dosage. thats the thing about accutane most dont get perfect clear skin til they stop taking accutane, remember accutane is not a treatment product like creams that we've all taken, its a cycle to hopefully cure acne for good, and once it is you'll be taken off, thats what my dermatologist told me, "we wont stop until you're completely cleared" which she said could be 8 months from now