31 replies to this topic

[strato]

About back pain... You might want to be careful with that. I know someone who also had back pain on accutane and it never went away.

[FloridaGal11]

Just wanted to stop by and say good luck! Just started my claravis 12 days ago and my face just keeps getting worse.

Hang in there, it will be worth it in the end for both of us.
I'll be watching your progress!

[jakefromcleveland]

Day 66 - Saw my dermatologist on Friday and he said that I would be on either 5 or 6 months depending on my progress. He again reassured me that this medication will work and that a lot of what I'm seeing now will be gone. He said that there's a 50/50 chance of me having scars once the dust settles. My breakout from last month is finally starting to heal but i still have a lot of redness on my face. The cost of claravis went up like $300 but they still gave it to me for what i was paying so i dunno if the lady messed up otherwise im gonna have to take a loan out to finish this thing.

[grade2syndrome]

Day 66 - Saw my dermatologist on Friday and he said that I would be on either 5 or 6 months depending on my progress. He again reassured me that this medication will work and that a lot of what I'm seeing now will be gone. He said that there's a 50/50 chance of me having scars once the dust settles. My breakout from last month is finally starting to heal but i still have a lot of redness on my face. The cost of claravis went up like $300 but they still gave it to me for what i was paying so i dunno if the lady messed up otherwise im gonna have to take a loan out to finish this thing.

that's craaaazy! the cost of accutane before my health insurance is like, $100. So you're paying more than $400 a month for it? my goooooodness! but glad to hear you're healing. did he say what kind of scars? are you seeing anything now? and how's the back pain? i noticed i have some and i'm not sure what to do to ease it a bit. it's not BAD but i don't want it to get worse.

[jakefromcleveland]

that's craaaazy! the cost of accutane before my health insurance is like, $100. So you're paying more than $400 a month for it? my goooooodness! but glad to hear you're healing. did he say what kind of scars? are you seeing anything now? and how's the back pain? i noticed i have some and i'm not sure what to do to ease it a bit. it's not BAD but i don't want it to get worse.

Well since I've had acne for so long, theres a chance that I'll have scars from them. I dont notice any right now and Im optimistic that I wont have any or at least ones that will bother me. My back pain has gone away for the most part actually, when i wash my face i have to bend over the sink and once i return to an upright position its a little uncomfortable but its not bad any more. I didn't reach my deductible on my health insurance yet so im paying all of this out of pocket. But hopefully i really start to see improvement this month so that I dont have to go 6 months.

Also I had to go 4 days of 40 mg instead of 120 cause I ran out of pills. I've been back on 120 for 2 days and my eyes have been really dry and its affecting my vision a bit so im hoping that my body just has to get used to the dosage again and I wont have to get eye drops.

Edited by jakefromcleveland, 13 December 2009 - 10:38 PM.

[grade2syndrome]

how's it going? have you taken any updated pics? i'm interested in seeing what your progress is like since your dose is one of the highest i've read about, and i already like your complexion. nice shade.

[jakefromcleveland]

Start of Month 4 - Day 92 I think

I was on winter break from school so I didnt have a chance to update but things are going pretty well. I finally starting seeing improvement at about 2 and a half months. My eyes arent as dry so I'm not going to get any eye drops. Back pain is still there but varies day to day. Some days i dont have any and other days I will have a little but only when im bending over, all manageable. I kind of let myself go during the holiday season with all the food around but im back at school now so it will be easier to diet.



This is my most recent photo

[AmbieDawn]

I have a tip for you jake!! DO NOT USE LOTION ON YOUR FACE!!!!! it may be dry but that is the purpose. lotion just makes your skin oily. you need something oil free like Ultra Lite Moisture Dew. read up on it in my blog!!!

-Ps i have also had back pains when i bend over to grab something off the floor or something simple like that. and when i lay down for bed. my rib cage in the front feels like it has pressure on it.. like its being squished.. same with my spine. it hurts and i cant breathe .. gotta breathe really lightly until it goes away. it goes away in some minutes.. but still. its intense stuff. I'm thinking maybe i should take some pics of my back and my arms to show people what my arms and back are like.. should i?

Edited by AmbieDawn, 16 January 2010 - 02:44 PM.

[jakefromcleveland]

Start of Month 5

So my derm says that he thinks this will be my last month. All of my zits and pimples are gone and now im left with redness which he says is just inflammation because ive had acne for so long but it will go away. So hopefully this will be my last month!


I took these yesterday

[grade2syndrome]

wow, looking good! The amount of red bumps on your face has decreased and even the redness has gone down. how exciting to be done your treatment, it'll be interesting to see your progress afterwards!

[jakefromcleveland]

LAST DAY!!!

I went to my derm last week and he said he liked my progress and because I was on such a high dose he felt comfortable with me stopping at 5 months. He gave me sunblock and Bio gel to help reduce my redness. This was a really tough 5 months especially the first 2 when i was having breakouts and had to look at the ground when I talked to people but now I have my confidence back and Im ready to look up again. I'm kinda scared to go off of it again cause I dont want to start getting acne again.

Has anyone used Bio-Gel to reduce inflammation and redness on your face?

Should you use sunblock every day even when off accutane?

[lovemetal41]

Hi, my name is Jake and i started taking accutane 2 weeks ago. In June I saw my dermatologist and up until 2 weeks ago, I was repeatedly prescribed different anti-biotics but none of them worked. My acne is affecting me way too much not to go on accutane.

So he started me on 40 mg twice a day and see how my body reacts to it after a month. So far my acne has gotten a bit worst which I expected. On the 4th day I got extremely itchy, and it was hard to sleep but that went away after 2 days. The day after the itching started i got severe headaches and I never get headaches but those also went away after a day. Im currently on my 15th day and the only side effects are dry lips.

I'm really hoping that I will start to see improvement within the next 2 weeks. My derm told me that i would start seeing improvements from a month to 2 months. Sorry if this wasnt entertaning enough, its a work in progress.

This is me in my first week, most of my acne is on my cheeks though so its hard to see the severity of it

Good luck with it! Hope it works