205 replies to this topic

[sd85]

**********Day 18**********

My skin's been doing pretty well the last few days. I haven't been breaking out much. I've had slightly dry skin, especially around my mouth. I put on a little bit of lotion this morning, and that took care of everything. My lips aren't too dry today either. I could go without using any chapstick if I had to, but it's definitely more comfortable with it on. I still haven't noticed any progress with those darn blackheads, filaments, and other little bumps under the skin....surely one of these days something will happen with them....

[Alice222]

I am on my first week of Accutane and my lips are starting to get dry but that means the Accutane is working! Best of luck!

[sd85]

**********Day 19**********

Ok, I definitely noticed changes today. For once I don't need to wait another day to make sure it's not it my head. I have tiny blackheads coming up in pretty much every pore on my jaw and chin area. I never had blackheads there before. I've also noticed them on my cheek area and right where my cheese and nose meet. I did have sebaceous filaments on my cheeks on occassion, but never black dots coming from pretty much every pore! I am so excited it's finally happening!!

Awhile back I noticed a drastic decrease in the oiliness of my skin. I'm guessing this change could be causing all of the blackheads to appear?

On the negative side of things, I am getting a lot of those little bumps under the skin, especially on my jaw, edges of the cheek, and the temple area. I also have a few on my forehead. I'm guessing this is related to the blackhead issue, since they happened at pretty much the same time. Woohoo! Can wait until tomorrow so I can scrub some of this old skin off and wait for the new skin to come in! Just FYI, my skin is not overly flakey or dry. I have used lotion only 2 times since starting Accutane.

I'm so pumped!!!

[Again!]

So, I just got done reading your log. I feel like its such a bummer that your old dermatologist only had you on accutane for 3 months. If they had put you on it for the reccomended time of 5 months-I bet you would have been cured forever. My first course I was 23 and was on 80mg a day for 5 months. Then I was on 80 a day for two months and a 120mg for 3 months (a total of 5 months) when I was 24. Now I'm on 80mg a day for 5 months and I'm 29. Crazy huh!?! I respond really well to it. I'm just unlucky in the sense that it doesn't cure me for good.

[sd85]

Again!, on 14 October 2011 - 05:49 PM, said:

So, I just got done reading your log. I feel like its such a bummer that your old dermatologist only had you on accutane for 3 months. If they had put you on it for the reccomended time of 5 months-I bet you would have been cured forever. My first course I was 23 and was on 80mg a day for 5 months. Then I was on 80 a day for two months and a 120mg for 3 months (a total of 5 months) when I was 24. Now I'm on 80mg a day for 5 months and I'm 29. Crazy huh!?! I respond really well to it. I'm just unlucky in the sense that it doesn't cure me for good.

Yes, I feel that since my original dermatologist didn't follow the dosing recommendations on my first course, it wasn't as effective. Back then I weighed about 115 lbs. 80mgs a day is obviously too high for someone that small. I got my entire "cumulative dose" in only 3 months. Since then, I've moved and have a new dermatologist. I'm taking 30 mg for the first month and 60 mgs after that, which is probably perfect. I should be done in 5 months.

I'm really excited to see the changes during this course, especially right now when all of my clogged pores seem to be coming to the surface and causing blackheads. I've noticed that some people claim their blackheads "fall out." I didn't notice that on my first course, but my skin was MUCH more oily back then. Now, it is a tiny bit dry, so I can understand how I would be losing all of my clogged pores (due to lack of oil).

[sd85]

I'm having a lot of bumps come up under the skin right now. Lots of regular blackheads too. Tonight I went in the bathroom and gave my face a pretty thorough washing and exfoliation. I know the only thing that will make my skin get better faster is to constantly be taking the top layer of skin cells off. Since my skin hasn't been dry much, I can probably keep this up for a while.

I'm impatient.

Edited by sd85, 15 October 2011 - 07:52 AM.

[sd85]

**********Day 20**********

Today I'll be finishing my second pack of pills. My skin is the same as yesterday: LOTS of little bumps, and a bunch of blackheads. So far, they aren't raised out of the skin like some people have described....just stuck in the pore like regular blackheads.

[sd85]

**********Day 21**********

I just started my third pack of 30mg pills. My face still has lots of bumps and blackheads I'm not breaking out much though. I've got one pretty large one right between the eyes, but everything else is pretty small. My side effects have been getting better. Last night I put chapstick on at 7pm and didn't put anything else on until 9:30 this morning, even though I was awake until almost midnight. My skin hasn't been dry at all either.

[sd85]

**********Day 22**********

My jawline and chin area were a little bit dry this morning. The big zit smack between my eyes hasn't done anything. It's just been sitting there for almost a week now. I haven't been picking at it or anything, so hopefully it can just GO AWAY!! When I looked in the mirror this morning I didn't notice the little bumps under the skin quite as much. I'm not sure if some of them have gone away, or if it's just all in my head. There haven't been any changes on my nose. All of my huge filaments are still there, even with the big reduction in oil that I've been experiencing. I'm pretty much convinced that I am going to need a higher dose in order to tame the oil even more. Luckily, that's what I'll be getting in a little over a week.

[sd85]

**********Day 23**********


Not much to report today. I'm still not seeing any improvement, but overall, it's not getting any worse. I'm definitely ready to bump up my dosage. I have almost zero side effects. I put on chapstick a couple of times a day, but not any more than a normal person. Usually, I never use chapstick. I'm still not seeing any real changes in my blackheads or little bumps. Surely something will happen eventually!!

So, next month when I bump up to 60 mgs I realized that I am going to bring home 6 packs of Claravis. That is like a shoebox full of medication! I decided that in order to cover Thanksgiving and Christmas I'll start taking 2 capsules, followed by 1 capsule, followed by 2 capsules, etc. You get the idea. Basically 1 pill every 18 hours. If I stay on this schedule for a week or two before bumping up to two pills every day, I won't run out of pills due to the holidays.

[sd85]

**********Day 24**********

My skin is looking pretty good today. No new pimples this morning, although I have had two cysts for....about as long as I can remember. I don't know what the issue is. They're just sitting there...not coming to a head, and not going away.

About my nose: I have huge sebaceous filaments in my nose. I usually squeeze all of the gunk out, but it's back the next day. Lately, I've been squeezing a bunch of it out, but I'm not sure whether it's coming back or not. My oil production has gone WAY done, (which is awesome), but I'm not sure whether it's going to be enough to get rid of the filaments. Time will tell.

Side effects: almost 0. I put chapstick on twice today.

[brownbag]

Those sebaceous should go away on their own. I had the same problem around week 2 and by the end of the first month they were nearly all pushed out. Squeaky clean nose!

[sd85]

brownbag, on 20 October 2011 - 11:37 AM, said:

Those sebaceous should go away on their own. I had the same problem around week 2 and by the end of the first month they were nearly all pushed out. Squeaky clean nose!

Seriously.... I REALLY hope so. This would be the first time I have seen a "squeaky clean" nose in over 14 years. Ridiculous. My first month is almost up, so hopefully I can see some real results soon.

**********Day 25**********

Things are going fairly well at the moment. My skin is relatively clear except for the two cysts that have been hanging out for ever. Today I noticed one new possible side effect: I have a dry scaly patch on my hand about the size of a quarter. Definitely not a big deal, but this is not a common situation for me, so I'm tending to think it's the 'tane.

[sd85]

**********Day 26**********

Unfortunately the sebaceous filaments that I squeezed out 2 days ago are all full of junk again Hopefully when I bump up my dose next week it can take care of this problem. One of the cysts that's been hanging out finally had three of the tiniest little white heads on it this morning. I could only get one of them to pop, but maybe by tomorrow morning things will come to a larger head. I also had one smaller pimple pop up on my forehead.

[sd85]

**********Day 27**********

This morning I closely examined my face, which isn't something that I usually do. I noticed that my forehead seemed substantially better. Usually I have lots of little bumps poking up out of the skin, and I really don't have those any more. I still have a bunch on my jawline, but now that my forehead has gotten better I have hope that they will all go away eventually. The one cyst between my eyes is getting smaller, but it is still quite visible. It also looks like some of the tiny little blackheads that popped up are going away. I seem to have patches of them that have yet to go away. Unfortunately, my nose is still totally clogged.

Now, on to the side effects: My lips really aren't dry but they were extremely peelable this morning. I could pull the skin off like it was sunburned. I also put some lotion on the dry patch that popped up on my hand

[sd85]

**********Day 28**********

I've been spending less and less time on these boards this past week, and I think that is because my skin is getting better. A bunch of the little bumps on my forehead have gone away, and my skin has become smother. Also, I've been getting fewer pimples for the last week or so. Mainly, I've been getting a bunch of tiny red marks where huge clogs of pores are starting to come out of my skin. They aren't pimples or anything. I can just squeeze the clog out and 36-48 hours later the skin surrounding the area has returned to its normal color. I forgot to take my pill yesterday, but I took one first thing this morning, (yesterday's pill) and I'll take another one around 11pm tonight (today's pill).

Tomorrow I have to go and get my blood drawn for my dermatologist appointment on Wednesday. Oh joy.

[breesy]

Great to hear your skin is improving and that you're getting less pimples! I'm on the end of my first week of 40mg and my face is so damn oily.

Good luck with your course

[sd85]

breesy, on 23 October 2011 - 12:42 PM, said:

Great to hear your skin is improving and that you're getting less pimples! I'm on the end of my first week of 40mg and my face is so damn oily.

Good luck with your course

That will probably go away in the next 7-14 days. I dried up pretty well around day 17.

[brownbag]

Good to hear your skin is responding well to Accutane!

[sd85]

**********Day 29**********

So today I went and got my blood drawn. Those of you that read Jamie Ann's log will find this story familiar:

This morning I go to the lab to get my blood drawn. Everything went just fine until the phlebotomist said, "This (my lab instructions) looks like it's for Accutane." I said, "it is." Then she goes on to say stuff like "are you really sure you need that?" "It has all of these side effects, yada yada yada." I'm thinking, "Yes, I'm sure I need it, I know all of the side effects and risks." I've read almost every paper on pub med that has to do with accutane. Urghhh.....Glad to hear they're teaching phlebotomists to be doctors these days.

Anyways, things are going very well. My dry lips have all but gone away. Yesterday I put chapstick on after I got out of the shower and that was it. Today I used it twice. I got another pimple today. Smack in the middle of my forehead. Too bad because my forehead was starting to look pretty good. Oh well. Overall though, my skin is still doing really well. Definitely not clear, but about as good as one of my really good days (on average).