17 replies to this topic

[iwubmavid1]

My name is Megan, I am a 18 year old female and has been struggling with acne for at least 7 years. I have tried every drugstore product you can buy and nothing works. Also I have been to a derm while I was in elementary school!! They perscribed me a acne wash, Minocycline, and Differin gel. I have also been perscribed different acne washes from my family doctor and nothing would even help. I am a full-time college freshman and during Christmas break I had enough with my acne. I have severe cystic acne, which means a pimple will be on my face for at least a week. They can get so swollen that it makes my entire face swollen and sore.

I went to a different derm today and the Dr. said I was the perfect candiate for accutane. She was shocked that I had been living with this for 7 years. Also she said my scarring from acne was pretty bad for how young I am. I have some back and shoulder acne but it isn't the cystic acne I have on my face. Most of my acne happens on my cheeks and my chin. I never get acne on my forehead...wierd.

I go for bloodwork/pregnancy tests on 2/3/12 and I go back to the derm on 3/8/12. I hope this will work for me. There are times my acne gets me so depressed I just look in the mirror and cry. I hate having to wear ten pounds of makeup every time I go somewhere. I am the only person in my family to have acne so I will post on here about my adventure. Feel free to post some tips for me about the IB I will be experiencing soon. I will post pics tomorrow...Thanks Y'all

[Kash123]

Hey megan! i can totally relate with you. ive had acne on and off for about 5 years. and i hate having to put pounds of makeup everytime i needa go out..even if for 10 min it sucks! i just got on accutane and im only at 17 days and i do have an IB. unlike you nobody really warned me about the IB or told me exactly how bad it'd be. ive always had mild to moderate acne..its alwas just looked worse cuz of scarring. also the annoying thing is i get those red acne bumps (i have 3 huge ones right now) and then 2 acne mating to make one huge one. its not the best! but...atleast we are doing something to take care of it. I wish you all the very best! and ill definitely check in with you when you start.

[iwubmavid1]

Pics are coming soon, college is kicking my @ss. I went to go have my first bloodwork and preg test on 2/3/11. They had to take 6 tubes of blood for the accutane stuff and also my thyroid junk.. The right side of my face is like war. There are 6 HUGE cysts on my cheek and they are so sore and big. My left side of my face looks fine minus the hyperpigmentation and scars. I only have 1 active pimple on the left side. Most people think I am insane for starting accutate. What they don't know is how long I have had acne and how much it depresses me.

Does anyone know how much accutane is at the drugstore? and I plan on getting a tattoo for my birthday 2/20 so should I get the tattoo before I start accutane since it makes your skin thin?

[iwubmavid1]

So I finally got my perscription today. I am on 20mg of Claravis 3 times a day. 2 in the morning and 1 at night. I will be starting tomorrow...so excited!!

[Jsp1996]

About the initial breakout, i guess it's different for everyone, according to my dermatologist, the more acne you have the most chances you have to break out, due to the way the medication works, which is bring everything to the surface so you don't have your pores clogged anymore.

My first week was a bumpy ride, so be ready for some more acne at the beginning, it's hard, but i try to keep thinking about the end result, besides, worrying won't make it heal faster.

Best of luck!

[esa]

iwubmavid1, on 01 February 2012 - 07:32 PM, said:

My name is Megan, I am a 18 year old female and has been struggling with acne for at least 7 years. I have tried every drugstore product you can buy and nothing works. Also I have been to a derm while I was in elementary school!! They perscribed me a acne wash, Minocycline, and Differin gel. I have also been perscribed different acne washes from my family doctor and nothing would even help. I am a full-time college freshman and during Christmas break I had enough with my acne. I have severe cystic acne, which means a pimple will be on my face for at least a week. They can get so swollen that it makes my entire face swollen and sore.

I went to a different derm today and the Dr. said I was the perfect candiate for accutane. She was shocked that I had been living with this for 7 years. Also she said my scarring from acne was pretty bad for how young I am. I have some back and shoulder acne but it isn't the cystic acne I have on my face. Most of my acne happens on my cheeks and my chin. I never get acne on my forehead...wierd.

I go for bloodwork/pregnancy tests on 2/3/12 and I go back to the derm on 3/8/12. I hope this will work for me. There are times my acne gets me so depressed I just look in the mirror and cry. I hate having to wear ten pounds of makeup every time I go somewhere. I am the only person in my family to have acne so I will post on here about my adventure. Feel free to post some tips for me about the IB I will be experiencing soon. I will post pics tomorrow...Thanks Y'all

Hey. My acne sounds similar to yours, although I don't think mine is severe. But my acne tends to stick around for a while like yours, I have bad scarring, and I get it mainly on cheeks and chin and never my forehead!

Anyway, great news that you're starting tomorrow. Good luck!

[iwubmavid1]

Day 1

I took my pills today as directed and as normal no side effects yet. I do have a few more breakouts than yesterday but I don't think that is because of Claravis.

[iwubmavid1]

Day 2

Once again I took my pills as normal. Haven't noticed any side effects yet and no new breakouts since yesterday. I just developed a pretty bad headache a few minutes ago but I don't know if it is from the pills or not.

[joannarama]

Hey! Congrats on taking the first step on your accutane journey I am a week in to my treatment at the moment, so hopefully it won't be long until it starts working for us both...

Your acne looks a lot like mine and I have also been suffering with it for about 7 years, so I totally understand why you've decided to go on accutane. A lot of people said I was crazy for starting it too as I rarely have a huge number of actives at any one time, but I don't think some people realise how much it can wear your confidence down -especially when you've has it for such a long period of time.

It's also good to hear you have not had any side effects yet either. I have had no side effects or IB as yet, so hopefully they won't be too bad? Hmmm I don't think I'll get my hopes up about that just yet!

All the best. J x

[iwubmavid1]

Day 3

So today was the first day I have started to experience some of the side effects. Normally when I wake up my face is super oily and today it felt normal. Also when I blowed my nose today I had some bloody boogers (sorry that was gross ) But I am happy that I can tell the drug is working. I haven't developed any new breakouts but I felt like today my cysts are HUGE. I don't know if that is from the drug or not.

[The Outfield]

I would say it's probably not from the drug; it seems like the drug doesn't do much for the first several days. My side effects really started showing around days 7-10 with drying of my face and scalp and the initial breakout.

Best of luck! 7 years of acne is 7 years too much!

Edited by White Stang, 13 March 2012 - 01:20 AM.

[iwubmavid1]

White Stang, on 13 March 2012 - 01:19 AM, said:

I would say it's probably not from the drug; it seems like the drug doesn't do much for the first several days. My side effects really started showing around days 7-10 with drying of my face and scalp and the initial breakout.

Best of luck! 7 years of acne is 7 years too much!

Yeah I don't think it is the drug this early either buy I'm hoping I get some more effects of the drug soon.

Day 4
Woke up again today with my face drier than usual and has been pretty dry all day. Also my lips are dry today too. I haven't gotten any new breakouts but the ones that I already had isn't improving. Maybe soon I can tell some difference with my acne.

[iwubmavid1]

Day 5

Today my face and lips were really dry. I also developed 2 small new pimples on my left and right cheek. I'm not worried about those. It may be the start of my IB???? We shall wait until tomorrow....

[iwubmavid1]

Days 6 &7

Today my face looks the best it has been in weeks. The cysts that were there before have all gone, so all that is left is scabs and red marks. No new breakouts except one underneath my jaw but it was so tiny I laughed. My face and lips are really dry and also my face is starting to get the "tane burn" on it. I haven't really been out in the sun so I'm thinking it is from the drug.

[BeautifulDisasters]

Today is my day 6 so we are pretty close with our treatments.
I have only had a few little whiteheads pop up, I'm hoping to be one of the few without the IB. We will see haha.
Good luck with you I'll be following your progress

[iwubmavid1]

Day 11

No IB yet (or maybe not at all) My face and lips are getting more dry every day and also my tane burn is getting bad. Only a few small pimples on my forehead and temples. My face continues to improve every day. Maybe I will be one of the lucky ones without an IB.

[iwubmavid1]

Day 18

Things are going pretty well. I have only developed a few small pimples here and there with an exception of a cyst on my jaw line. I have also developed a pea-sized cyst behind my ear lobe. It has been there for a while so if it is stil there when I go see the derm in a couple of weeks I will have her look at it. I started to get some small patches of excema on my arms today but nothing major.

[iwubmavid1]

Day 19

Only one new pimple since yesterday on my cheek so thats a plus. On the other hand my lips cracked for the first time today. My scalp has been itching really bad so I will now have to use conditioner since I had very oily hair before. Also my excema is spreading all over my arms. It doesn't itch that bad so hopefully it stays that way.