73 replies to this topic

[blahdeeblah]

carmela584, on 20 January 2012 - 03:10 AM, said:

I think your face is looking wonderful BTW I see your an avid picker/popper also … OPPS …do you get bad hyperpigmentation from it? I pick and pop constantly, I can't go into the bathroom without picking at scabs or dry skin or popping .. even if there is no way that joker is popping you best believe I'm going to be squeezing it!! I have post pimple red marks that are everywhere and awful, even though I have severe acne the red marks makes it appear I have 25 more bumps. I think I saw where you had mentioned lemon juice for red marks, how do you use it? Just rub it over with a cotton ball? Do you leave it for x amount of time? Do you put make up on over it or wash it off? Sorry so many questions and I had never thought of Neosporin!! You just apply and then cover with a band aid after popping and it helps heal it, right?! I will definitely continue to follow your blog so that maybe I can pick up some more awesome tips Good Luck

P.S. My cousin lives in Anchorage we're from the hot southern state of Arkansas and she says the cold and dryness there does hell on her skin!!

Hey girl! Good luck with your course, it really has been a rollercoaster for me but I WISH I would have done it sooner. Good for you for getting your tane on! Yes, I live by neosporin and bandaids...I've found it to be a huge help for bumps small to large - and its helped keep my HP at bay. I don't even have a red mark left from those 2 big cysts I had last week because I was religious about the antibiotic ointment.

Before I was on accutane, I used lemon juice as a toner and it worked like a charm. Not only did it help control my oil, but it improved my skin tone and lightened up my red marks like crazy. I had a big breakout after a horrible facial...I'm talking 30+ pimples and it was right before I went to Mexico for my girlfriends wedding. After about 3 weeks of using the lemon juice they were almost completely gone. I haven't used it since I started accutane because my skin is too sensitive now, but I plan to continue when I'm done with my course.

Its soooooo cold here!! It's been between -20 and -10 for the last 2 weeks, its miserable. I can't wait for the spring

[Quiescence]

Oh my goodnes that's SO COLD!!!! It's about zero here and I thought that was cold!??

How do you deal with that.... do you just not go outside? Your heating bills must be crazy? x x x

[blahdeeblah]

Quote

Oh my goodnes that's SO COLD!!!! It's about zero here and I thought that was cold!??

How do you deal with that.... do you just not go outside? Your heating bills must be crazy? x x x

They are pretty crazy in the winter. I pay $138/month on our "level pay" program - so it averages out your previous 3 years of bills and then spits out a dollar amount. It does tell you what you would be paying and mine was well over $300 last month...it will likely be more since the temperature in January was 2.4 degrees F, or about -20C for your metric folks.

Day...I don't know

I'm somewhere in the 70's - I stopped keeping track. I popped out all of my pills and put them in a prescription jar (that I keep in the dark) so that it made taking them easier. Its just 20 minutes of wrecking my fingers opening those packages all at once instead of 1-2 minutes each day.

Skin wise - I haven't had a pimple in well over a week. Which is amazing considering that I just had my period and normally thats when my face goes crazy. I do have about 6 flaky spots that I keep scratching the healing skin off of which reveals a red, raw spot. Despite my efforts to heal them with neosporin, I scratch them off in my sleep.

My skin has been so incredibly itchy - I break out in hive-like bumps almost everyday on my arms and my back. My face has had a red tint on my cheeks for about 3 weeks now - I wish there was something that I could do to make this go away. I can cover it up with makeup but I don't like the way my skin looks right now with makeup on. Other than that and the dry lips - my course has been pretty painless. I haven't experienced the joint pains and the depression or really much of anything else, I almost wonder if it helps that I do work out hard 4 days a week...keep my muscles and joints moving so they don't get stiff. who knows - maybe I'm just lucky.

Anyhoo - cheers. Until another day

oh - and I started using CeraVe hydrating lotion cleanser - and i LOVE it! I never thought a lotion cleanser would work on my oily skin...and maybe it won't after my course is over....but I love it for right now while I'm still super dry.

Edited by PMalaska, 02 February 2012 - 08:16 PM.

[MelindaOne]

Yey, I hope you are doing well. My face was also crazy itchy but it lasted for about a month only.
I had question about lemon juice you used for acne marks/scars..How do you use it exactly? Is it just fresh lkemon juice you rub on face and leave on for few min or wash it off right away? I never knew about this methode, please let me know.

Thanks,
Melinda.

[blahdeeblah]

MelindaOne, on 02 February 2012 - 09:11 PM, said:

Yey, I hope you are doing well. My face was also crazy itchy but it lasted for about a month only.
I had question about lemon juice you used for acne marks/scars..How do you use it exactly? Is it just fresh lkemon juice you rub on face and leave on for few min or wash it off right away? I never knew about this methode, please let me know.

Thanks,
Melinda.

Hey girl! With the lemon juice toner, I get a jar of organic lemon juice from the store and keep it in the fridge - then I put some on a cotton ball and put it under a super light trickle of water to dilute it a bit....then I just run the cotton ball over my face and immediately apply my moisturizer. Ive had great success with it - you may pop over to the reviews section....there are always good techniques and tricks. Some people add it to honey and do a mask....I'm way OCD and that would be too messy for me!

Let me know if you try it and like it! I've been too afraid to do it during my course so just be mindful that it can be drying

[MelindaOne]

Thanks, I will try this out!
Cheers

[Hopeful*]

How is your skin looking ? I hope your clearing up just fine

you're* lol

[blahdeeblah]

Hopeful*, on 13 February 2012 - 10:02 AM, said:

How is your skin looking ? I hope your clearing up just fine

you're* lol

Hiya!

My skin is doing so well! I haven't had a pimple since well before my last post - so its been probably about 3 weeks. Such a liberating experience to wake up and not immediately run to the bathroom to see if my face erupted overnight. That said - I'm dealing with some pretty awesome face flushing - I hope that goes away. I start month four in about 5 days, had my bloodwork done on Monday and have my 2nd to last derm appointment on Thursday. I hope that my bloodwork comes back good - I've been having quite a few cocktails lately!

[Hopeful*]

Aww . Well I'm so happy for you ! I hope u continue to progress ! I flush ! But that wasn't due to accutane. I've been flushing for like 2 years now. It came about when I was using Retin- A . I hope yours gets better . Mine wont go away !

[blahdeeblah]

Day....96?

Not much to report - haven't ha a pimple in about a month and my skin is gloriously smooth and lacking any oil....man I'm going to miss the utter lack of oil. I went to the chiropractor yesterday and had to put my face down on the table with a sheet similar to a toilet seat protector - in the past I would have left an entire face shaped print from the oil, there was not trace of oil to be found. Glorious!

My only complaint continues to be my red face. It's especially bad close to my chin and look even more red against my normal neck and chest skin. Oh well - just over a month left.

Cheers all

[Quiescence]

So so happy for you this stuff is a wonderful thing! X x

[Hopeful*]

Yaay!
I wanna see pixxxx .

[blahdeeblah]

Day 120! Yay - one more month.

I pretty much haven't had any pimples for months now - my face is still really flushed and I hope that goes away. My derm prescribed me some specially formulated lotion that was made at the hospital and that has helped immensly with the dryness and with the scaley patches on my arms and hands.

Other than that - not much to update. I keep forgetting to take pictures!

[blahdeeblah]

5 days post Tane -

well, i haven't posted in ages because there really hasn't been much going on. I'm done with my 5 month treatment. At 80mg/day i finished at 176.5mg/kg so I have better knocked it all out of me with such a high doseage!!

Overall, my experience was a cake walk. I never really experienced the joint pain, i never had any crazy depression or suicidal thoughts that people try and scare you away with...my skin just kept improving every day. Obviously the dry lips and peeling skin were a BEAST to deal with, but I think the one positive is that I've developed a great skincare routine that I'll stick with now that my course is over.

I would do it again in a heartbeat! Anyone on the fence, give it a shot. It changed my life!