65 replies to this topic

[Parker395]

I feel kind of silly starting a log but I think this might be a good outlet for me during my course, even if I'm the only one reading it. SO, ME: I had perfect skin until I hit 22 and then a bomb went off. I've been battling acne ever since. I've tried soooo many different over the counter products, prescription creams and antibiotics and every natural/homeopathic/elimination plan I could find. NOTHING WORKED! After the last try at minocycline, my derm suggested Accutane. I was a little surprised cause I always considered my acne to be pretty mild (some cysts, but rarely more than one significant one at a time), so I took a few months to think about it.

Then one day I looked in the mirror when getting ready in the monring (you know, the usual paint makeup all over my face to cover every.single.blemish.red.mark.scar.unsightlymess) and realized that I had SO MANY BLEMISHES & SCARS & MARKS! Not just on my face, but on my chest and my back too. It was time to stop adding to the collection!

I had all my bloodtests & appointments and picked up my prescription last night and I take my first pill tonight. I think my derm is starting me out pretty high, but I'm currently carrying a few extra lbs (167 today) and my course is only supposed to be about 4-5 months. 40mg/day for two weeks, then bumping right on up to 80/mg day after that. Kinda scared that the dose is going to give me CrAzY side effects. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, right? Here goes nothing.........

[Parker395]

DAY 3 - 40mg

Not much to report except that I'm REALLY F***ING THIRSTY! Like annoyingly so. Like downing a 27oz bottle every hour or so. I can sense the dryness in my mouth & throat and its bugging me and I know its only going to get worse. I can tell my eyes & nose are starting to dry out, but not bad at all right now. Same with my lips, which are always chapped anyway. I've got Aquaphor & Carmex on hand at home, at work and in my purse for those.

Went to the gym for a run yesterday and yoga today and no unusual soreness or tiredness. Just drinking more water than usual afterwards. I have some weird peeling skin on my hands that may or may not be related. Not a big deal anyway (barely there). Last night my stomach hurt after I took my dose, but it was after dinner too, so I don't know if it was the medicine or what I ate. Guess I'll find out tonight. I haven't had a headache yet, only a little bit of pressure every now and then? And a bit of brain fog. Neither of which is that bad, but its there so I might as well note it.

Yesterday I noticed a new cyst forming on my chin (*oh yay!*), but I think it was likely in the works before starting so not Accutane related? It seems like it would be too soon. Other than that, nothing really going on. Set my regimen up like so:

Morning:
Aveda Botanical Kinetics Purifying Gel Cleanser
Aveda Botanical Kinetics Lotion
Neutrogena Age Shield for Face Sunblock

Evening:
Same as morning minus the sunblock
PLUS eye cream
PLUS craploads of Carmex
PLUS Lush Lemony Flutter Butter on any dry areas NOT on my face

Might switch cleanser if it gets to drying. We'll see how this week goes...

[Parker395]

Day 5 - 40mg

Quick update. I feel good today! Was feeling kinda run down for a few days but I actually pretty normal today. My skin and eyes keep getting drier, but still manageable. I actually had a GREAT run at the gym last night, with minimal soreness. I'm sleeping really well and doing alright. My stomach hurt after taking the med the first two days, but that is gone now, so it was either just a bug or I'm used to the meds.

I'm wondering if since I live on the coast and the air is pretty humid that is keeping my skin more moisturized? I'm going camping in the mountains this weekend where it is MUCH drier and MUCH hotter so I'm already packing tons of lotion & sunblock. I also had a REALLY random thought - do you think mosquitos are repelled by accutane? lol. Seriously though, I'm one of those people that they are drawn to and I end up with massive welts where I get bit. Maybe having the drug in my blood will scare them away. That would be a nice (althought unlikely) upside!

[Shannon S]

I feel kind of silly starting a log but I think this might be a good outlet for me during my course, even if I'm the only one reading it. SO, ME: I had perfect skin until I hit 22 and then a bomb went off. I've been battling acne ever since. I've tried soooo many different over the counter products, prescription creams and antibiotics and every natural/homeopathic/elimination plan I could find. NOTHING WORKED! After the last try at minocycline, my derm suggested Accutane. I was a little surprised cause I always considered my acne to be pretty mild (some cysts, but rarely more than one significant one at a time), so I took a few months to think about it.

Then one day I looked in the mirror when getting ready in the monring (you know, the usual paint makeup all over my face to cover every.single.blemish.red.mark.scar.unsightlymess) and realized that I had SO MANY BLEMISHES & SCARS & MARKS! Not just on my face, but on my chest and my back too. It was time to stop adding to the collection!

I had all my bloodtests & appointments and picked up my prescription last night and I take my first pill tonight. I think my derm is starting me out pretty high, but I'm currently carrying a few extra lbs (167 today) and my course is only supposed to be about 4-5 months. 40mg/day for two weeks, then bumping right on up to 80/mg day after that. Kinda scared that the dose is going to give me CrAzY side effects. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, right? Here goes nothing.........

Hey Parker,

I'll be starting in about two weeks or so at the same mg as you! I was kinda concerned/shocked? when my derm suggested 40, rotating with 80. I can weigh anywhere from 140 to 147(On bad days..hehe) and I'm about 5'9, how tall are you if you don't mind my asking? I'll be following your progress, good luck!

Shannon

[Parker395]

Hi Shannon S - I'm 5'7''. I'm on a full fledged diet at the moment too, trying to lose the 20 lbs I put on since my wedding (honeymoon plus promotion at work plus no time for gym = expanding waistline) I mentioned this to my derm who disregarded it completely, but I guess if I lose enough weight that my dose needs to be adjusted they'll do it. It's not like I'm going to drop a huge amount before each monthly appointment anyway. I'm still really freaked out about the bump to 80mg, but so far so good @ 40, so who knows? Crossing my fingers (& toes!) Will be following you as well....

[onelittleone]

Hey Parker,just want to wish you the best of luck on your course

[Polyspast]

Don't forget to use chap-stick, moisturizer and drink a lot of water. Good luck!

Edited by Polyspast, 16 August 2011 - 09:26 PM.

[Again!]

Congrats on starting-so exciting! I will be checking on your log.

I love camping. Good luck, but don't worry, since your only on day 5.

[Parker395]

Thanks everyone for your comments & support! This is a great site for accutane users and I'm finding it soooooo helpful to have an outlet and a place to go to hear about other people's experiences. I have support at home, but it's just not the same. Plus it's amazing encouragement to see everyone's great progress!!

I wasn't going to post today, but I guess I will since I'll be off the grid for the next 4 days...

Day 6 - 40mg

Increased dryness and redness. Feel a couple of cysts (i think?) forming deep in my skin. One on my chin hurts. Religously moisturizing my face and my whole body. One weird thing - the area around my eyebrows is sore?? wtf?? So weird. Don't know if maybe I was missing that area when moisturizing or what. Went into a short panic this morning that my eyebrows were going to fall out. That would be a doozy.

Have a great weekend everyone!

[accutanked.]

As far as the mosquitos go, thats a really interesting question. I cant imagine that the blood wouldnt kill them, especially if you are on a higher dosage of Accutane. I mean, the side of my Claravis box shows me very clearly how screwed up my baby would look if I was to get pregnant now.. I cant even imagine the kind of effect a drug so strong would have on such a small insect.

On the bright side, screw mosquitos. Thats what you get for sucking my blood, mothereffer.

Glad to see someone started the same time as me Will be following your progress and comparing it to mine. I know everyone is different, but its nice to know that other people are right there with you

[Parker395]

Day 11 - 40mg

I'm baaaaack. From my camping trip. With a maddeningly uncomfortable red & irritated face! ARGH! Left my humid coastal home to visit the mountains for three days. I slathered on the moisturizer and SPF gazillion sunblock constantly, but still ended up with irritated skin. Boo!

My whole t-zone (especially between my eyes and my lower forehead) are super red and kinda swollen! My skin doesn't seem that dry - just super crazy irritated! And I'm experiencing what a couple of other posters have noticed - MY PORES ARE HUGE! yuck. On a positive note, I got a really painful cyst on my chin on Thursday that has shrunken dramatically over the weekend and is now just annoying rather than painful. Those would usually last weeks on end, so the fact that it is shrinking so quickly is encouraging. May pick up some cetaphil on the way home. Perhaps my aveda routine is too much.

On a sour note (this whole post is sour, no?), my mosquito theory failed miserably. They are not deterred by accutane tainted blood. Still got eaten alive. And to top it off I have large red marks wherever I got bit. Like HUGE red splotches. And TWO on my face! So besides the uber red nasty face with cysts I have two additional bumps that look like pimples but are actually mosquito bites! AWE-SOME!

And now I'm back at work on Monday. And my coworker just asked me why I looked so tired. !!!!!

[Parker395]

Day 12 - 40mg

New side effects to report! My red swollen face got a bit of relief when I switched to Cetaphil gentle cleanser and slathered on the only thick moisturizer I had at home - Olay original. I'm going to go pick up CeraVe on my way home from work today. Anyone use this and can provide any tips? I heard there are a couple of different types of moisturizer and I need to figure out what kind to get. Hoping the redness goes down a bit before my friends wedding this weekend.

My face is starting to peel. Which I'm actually okay with since it seems like my course is progressing. New bad side effect is a rash on my forearms. Not bad, not itchy, just small red bumps, mostly on my right forearm. I get random rashes frequently, so this does not surprise me. Oh, and I went to dentist yesterday to get some fillings and asked if it made any difference whatsoever that I started accutane - no impact on ability to get cavities filled in case anyone was wondering.

[Crystal841]

I use the regular moisturizing CeraVe lotion and love it. I haven't had to use any other moisturizer on my face yet.
As for the rash, 1% hyrdocortisone is magic. I like the Aveeno brand.
I hope ur course goes well and u clear quickly!

[Parker395]

Thanks for the tips Crystal! I've been following your log (and a few others that are further along) and it helps keep me motivated to stick it out when I see your progress. I ended up picking up the CeraVe hydrating wash, moisturizing cream & AM lotion. The rash died down, but I'm getting some hydrocortisone to have on hand based on your recommendation.

Day 14 - 40mg
What? Day 14 already?? Doesn't seem like two weeks. I'm supposed to bump up tomorrow to 80mg/day, but I'm going to wait until Monday as I'm going to a wedding this weekend and will likely have a cocktail or two. Don't want to shock my liver tooooo much. I've given up my daily vino habit (man that was tough!) but one of my best friends from college is getting married and it will be a fun reunion. Please o please let the IB stay away until Monday....

As far us updates go - TG for CeraVe! I bought the hydraing cleanser and cream and coated my whole red irritated face on Tuesday night and like magic it was like a bazillion times less irritated in the morning. Funny because before starting accutane you could NEVER convince me to put something that thick and heavy on my face. NEVER. I would have cowered away in fear. But it actually felt pretty nice and the inflammation has definately gone down tremendously. Also, my headaches from the first week or so have died down.

My pores are still pretty big and I'm starting to see stuff being pushed out of them (yuck!!), but at least I know the tane is working. I'm having a hard time refraining from pushing some of them out but I'm trying deparately to not touch them at all! Just a few small new breakouts but nothing major. I had a painful cyst show up on my chin a week ago and it is like GONE today (well, there is a red mark - expected). CRAZY! That would have been on my face for at least 3-4 weeks under normal circumstances. My skin is still dry and my eyes are red. My coworker yesterday was like "So, what's the deal with your face?" *cringe* I told her my skin was just irritated. Then she persisted "New makeup? Nooooo. Oh! It's your eyes! They're all red!" gee - thanks. My lips are getting worse too. Putting gobs of aquaphor on every 5-10 minutes.

On a positive note - the topes of my arms - prone to breakouts - are the smoothest they've been as far back as I can imagine. Wasn't even thinking about them before - but what a difference! I always envied people with perfect arm/chest/back skin. I haven't seen it on me in over 16 years. Hopefully my chest & back will clear soon too. cannot wait to not worry about if my hair is covering the exposed part of my back to hide my breakouts & scars!

Wow - long post. Sorry bout that!

[Parker395]

Day 18 - 40mg

Things have gotten better! Sort of. The red inflammed mess has gone away and now I just have dry & peely skin. I'll take that over the painful, red, inflamed mask I had last week. My lips are super crazy ridculous dry and look like crap despite all the stuff I'm throwin on them. That's the most annoying side effect right now so I can't really complain. Only one new small active since my last post (considering myself very lucky at the moment). I did, however, speak too soon about my arms. They broke out over the weekend. Just in time for the wedding I went to!

Speaking of the wedding, I drank. Not a ton, maybe 4 or 5 glasses of wine. I was fine, albeit more dehydrated than usual. I think this might be why people say hangovers are worse. I didn't have any problems, but I also drank water throughout the night. I knew I was going to have a few which is why I didnt bump up to 80mg last Friday as my doctor had instructed. I'm giving my liver till tomorrow to rest up and then start 40mg twice a day. The impending increase is scaring me.

Side effect update: Chapped lips and dry skin mostly. My scalp got dry at the end of last week. I've had to stop washing my hair everyday. Normally this would be a mess with my oily scalp and fine hair, but I went 2.5 days and it was still fine! I could actually get used to that. Joint pain has increased and I've had to scale back workouts. I went for a 3 mile run on Thursday day and the next day my knee was so sore I was limping up and down stairs. It's better now, but that really freaked me out. My ankles ached a little at the start of the run, but the knee pain came out of nowhere the next day! As for back pain, I've always had back issues, but I haven't noticed anything worse than normal. Oh yeah - I'm exhausted all.the.time. I'm trying to devise a way to hide under my desk at work to take naps.

Will post again soon after the dose increase. - Parker

[accushame!]

awesome log, keep posting and good luck with your course!

[Again!]

Wow, 4-5 glasses! Everyone on here is amazing at how much alcohol they can handle. My max is 3 drinks. I'm glad things are going smoothly so far. I will be checking up on you.

Edited by Again!, 30 August 2011 - 09:42 AM.

[Parker395]

Wow, 4-5 glasses! Everyone on here is amazing at how much alcohol they can handle. My max is 3 drinks. ;) I'm glad things are going smoothly so far. I will be checking up on you.

Well, it was over a good 5 hour period, not all at once. Plus as of 2.5 weeks ago I was drinking at least a couple of glasses a night after work. Quit that once I started the tane. Upside = weight loss.

[Parker395]

Day 20 - 80mg(!!):
Quick post to update. Yesterday was my first full day at 80mg. I can safely say I am already feeling the effects of the increase. Waaaaay more thirsty. And waaaaaay more dry. I used CeraVe AM moisture this morning and three hours later my skin is already feeling dry and tight. Trying to drink extra extra water and put aquaphor on lips at least every 5 minutes.

Other stuff: My back is breaking out a bit. Not horrible, no cysts, just tiny bumps everywhere. Got a medium sized pimple between my eyes yesterday and it seemed to come out of nowhere, get gigantor and painful and then shrink to nothing - all in the same day!! wtf?? Just have a red mark today. Weird. Oh yeah, and how could I forget - just when I said it wasn't bothering me at all - MY BACK IS ON FIRE! It's like my normal back pain, amplified by ten. No bueno. I'm actually scared to go work out because of it and the awful knee pain I got last week.

[Parker395]

Day 22 - 80mg:
Wow! Can't believe I'm already in the last week of my first month! Get my labs done next Thursday and see my derm in one week - next Friday. Time is flying! Which is a good thing cause these side effects are getting annoying.

I am breaking out. Don't know if it's just that I'm in week 4 or if it was the bump from 40mg to 80mg, but I am breaking out. No big cysts (yet), but my back, my upper arms, my cheeks, forehead and chin all have pimples. I swear one came up at dinner last night and was practically popping on its own before I went to bed (gross). Now I have a massive red spot. wah!

I've had small headaches since increasing my dose, but water seems to be helping. And the skin peeling and dry lips are much worse. Today might be even worse since I had a glass of wine last night. I couldn't help it. They laid off a third of my company this week and while I still have a job, it was stressful and I needed that vino damnit!! TGIF.