70 replies to this topic

[Oil King]

Hey everyone - I'm back.
Been busy lately and I try to limit my time on this site because I believe it contributes negatively to the obsessive aspect of oily skin and acne.

Anyways, I was on accutane for four months at 10mg a day. During the four months my skin became totally oil free - it felt good, but having no oil production made my pores look HUGE. It's like my skin just got pulled back tight making my pores open up a lot more. So I started worrying about my pores and such which put me back into the obsessive state of mind I had before WITH the oily skin. I therefore stopped accutane and its been about 5 weeks post accutane - the oily skin has returned to the same amounts of secretion but it just doesn't seem to have as greasy of a texture as before, almost like my skin was permanently oily down to the core of my skin structure before, but now it seems to be more blot table and controllable. I did find a face wash that has really helped my oily skin but I will discuss it in it's own post.

I didn't have much acne but going on accutane cause 2 years worth of clogged pores and blackheads to come out and my skin felt pretty rough for a while, now I'm left with some scarred pores though - I'm not to worried about them though and may try a peel or microdermabrasion for them after 6 months post accutane (just to be safe). There weren't to many side effects on accutane except for FLUSHING which SUCKS! and I still have it but its slowly dissipating..

I'm just gonna try to live with my oily, large pored, acne prone skin for now and do some treatments on the side - not the main focus of my life like it has been a few months ago!

[kimberly_ann]

Hello, I was curious as to how easily your dermatologist prescribed you Accutane for your oily skin issues.. I would like to go on Accutane again but strictly for oily skin.. I'm afraid my derm wont prescribe it for me, though, for oily skin purposes. Did your derm plan on having you on it long term to maintain oil-free skin, or just a 5-6 month course in hopes that it'd stay oil free after?
Thanks, I'd appreciate feedback!

[soosyv]

no legitimate derm would prescribe it for oily skin

[jsmithson]

Wow there are some interesting comments in this thread!

I'm suffer very oily skin but it's not as bad as oil king (rolling down into your eyes after 20 mins? far out!). All hail the king!

Anyways here's my story:

All those who suffer this problem will understand how it affects your life. Nobody around me has oily skin so I stand out. I'm not a shy person and I can hold a conversation but I definitely have relationship problems.

I went on a treatment of isotretinoin about 15 years ago and it worked very well. My skin was perfect for a year or two but then it returned to the status quo. I tried a second course about 5 years ago - a low does course. It stops the oil while you are on it but after a few weeks it comes back. I also experienced psychological effects: I started feeling mildly depressed and lethargic about life in general. No fun at all! Personally I will not use isotretinoin ever again. It has very nasty side effects (and I didn't experience many of them) and doesn't deal with the problem in the long term. I'd rather live with a lake of oil than use that product.

I use so many products to prevent bad skin these days - and my skin is about 95% clear - however my skin is still super oily.

I've been researching the oil thing on pub med for some time now and according to the research the problem with my natural sebum production is that it has the wrong mix of lipids. Over production - as is the case for me - causes too much unsaturated fatty acids to be created which causes problems for your skin. Hopefully if I can squash the oil problem I can stop using so many skin products to keep the skin clear!

The latest miracle cure is nobiletin. I'm not using the one from sana fela. I hate to be negative but if they won't tell you how much is in the container it probably contains almost none at all. The research I've seen talks about 1% being a good proportion. I'm thinking of starting up a blog to talk about my experience in this area. While it's still early the initial results are amazing!

pchic: Jojoba is a good oil for moisturization - if you can handle the shinyness - and is definitely non comedogenic however it does nothing to reduce sebum production.

[Wotever]

On a similar subject, what about topical soy? Supposedly it has been shown to reduce sebum by about 65%. See: http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wads.jsp?IA=U...AMPH&PAGE=1

I find this 65% business hard to believe and wonder from the patent if it is more about achieving an even distribution rather than a net reduction. The page above does not include any real explanation - just a graph.

[Oil King]

Hey Guys,

Just and update since it has been six months post my 5 months accutane course.
My skin never returned to the amount of oil production I had before. I'd say theres been about a 50% reduction in my oily skin after using 10mg of accutane per day for 5 months.
Believe me...I had the OILIEST SKIN EVER...it was actually insane, but its normalized to the point where I can live life normally again.
The only problem is that accutane left me with some scarred pores but I still prefer this over the oily skin I had.

Looking back, I kind of feel like my oily skin began right after my using the regiman for about a year. I've noticed that a few people on these boards have began to have very oily skin after using the large amounts of benzyl peroxide Dan recommends. Maybe there's a correlation?

Anyways, I'm pretty certain the accutane was the one that helped normalize my oily skin even six months post treatment. Or I just happened to grow out of it.

[Spaceguy1923]

Hey Guys,

Just and update since it has been six months post my 5 months accutane course.
My skin never returned to the amount of oil production I had before. I'd say theres been about a 50% reduction in my oily skin after using 10mg of accutane per day for 5 months.
Believe me...I had the OILIEST SKIN EVER...it was actually insane, but its normalized to the point where I can live life normally again.
The only problem is that accutane left me with some scarred pores but I still prefer this over the oily skin I had.

Looking back, I kind of feel like my oily skin began right after my using the regiman for about a year. I've noticed that a few people on these boards have began to have very oily skin after using the large amounts of benzyl peroxide Dan recommends. Maybe there's a correlation?

Anyways, I'm pretty certain the accutane was the one that helped normalize my oily skin even six months post treatment. Or I just happened to grow out of it.

OH MY GOD! It happened to me, too! I never had an oily skin before I started the BP regiment. Few months after the regiment, my skin became extremely oily and I stopped the regiment. A year after I stopped the regiment my skin is still oily. The regiment has ruined my skin. Now I'm stuck with oily skin.

Edited by Spaceguy1923, 25 November 2010 - 12:10 AM.

[Oil King]

Hey just want to update everyone...
My oil skin is 75% less than what it used to be. Seriously.
I had CRAZY oily skin develop at the age of 15/16, almost debilitating....
Now at almost 19, its at an acceptable level. I don't even blot anymore.
How? Possibly the 5 months, 10mg per day accutane course I took.
It's been 8 months since accutane so I can accurately state my results.
On the negative side...I know have rosacea (possibly from accutane) which is probably equally crappy as oily skin..and it's a life long condition. The severe nightly flushing I face daily is reaaaaally annoying and has caused spontaneousness scarring, larger pores, and some broken caps. Life eh?

[{DC}]

I dont not realize you were so young. Still a teenager. There are many teens who get oily skin but when they get to your age it starts to subside.

I would not be to quick to give accutane the praise for this. I have not read of one person who got their oil to be severely reduced that are not teenagers. Those non teen always report the oil returning eventually.

How many times you been on accutane oil king?

[jsmithson]

What the hell is a cave man diet? And the external urine therapy!!!! hehe you gotta love us oily skin folks - we'll try anything!

Seriously though - I tried low dose accutane therapy a few years ago without success. I was having a 5mg tablet once a day. I found that the oil stopped for a few hours but then got going again when it wore off. I tried this for months. At the end of it there was no noticeable change in oil output.

My assumption after my experiment is that you need continuous oil stopping for a long period (at least two weeks) before you can permanently affect oil output. Continuous oil stopping is hard - you either take a small amount of something at regular intervals (every few hours) or take a huge amount so that the stuff builds up in your body.

Last of all - accutane has bad side effects (the product literature has a list as long as your arm). But the one I found most negative is the psychological effect. Even at 5mg every day I was getting really depressed - and lethargic. Life lost all it's color when I was taking this stuff!

I have been reading these boards for years, mostly the oily skin section of the forums, but haven't ever posted because..well I'll explain that later.

Edited by jsmithson, 22 January 2011 - 10:21 PM.

[something is not right]

Hey Oil King

i read each and every comment on this forum. I suffer from extremely oily skin as well but not as bad as yours. u definately are king. lol

anyway, to all of u who said accutane gives u bad side effects permanently etc etc. u are WRONG. accutane effects each and every person differently. I have been on 5 courses over the past 4 years and i suffer from NO side effects. not even depression, not even dry skin. I was on 40mg/day on most of my courses and my skin was still moisturized. Only thing I had was chapped lips and dry eyes when I woke up. NOTHING else and we are almost going into year 5. I also drink alcohol on this drug. still NO SIDE EFFECTS. it really depends on each person. It's true it did cure my oily skin while on it but the oil does come back after i am off it. same with the acne but never as bad.. i am looking for a new technique to cure my acne/oily skin when i am off accutane. Anyone have any safe suggestions please PM me. I have tried almost everything as well.