210 replies to this topic

[brownbag]

I'm 23 and will be starting on Accutane on September 16th but that's not soon enough. I can't bear to look into the mirror to see the same ol' face pimple face I've been staring at for over a year.

Retin-A is not really working for me. The zits do go away maybe within 3-5 days but more just pop up in their place. Never-ending cycle I tell ya...I was taking Doxycycline for about 5 months and while that helped with the cysts, it did nothing for the other kinds of acne. It also made me want to puke if I didn't take it on a full stomach. I only endured through it because I thought it would help my skin but it didn't so I'm stopping. I've been off of it for maybe 2 weeks and the cysts are back, bigger and more painful than ever. I would advise against taking antibiotics for acne in general because it's not a permanent solution and you will only be worse off when you stop taking it.

Hey red marks, when are you guys going away? I want my face back. Zits, don't you guys have better things to do than just to hang out on my face all the time?

I haven't worn makeup for the past year so in turn I haven't really dressed up either. It's just been t-shirts and shorts, very much like my highschool years. To cheer myself up I've been buying a Mac lipstick here and a Nars blush there in hope that I will once again be able to use them soon...but it's not soon enough.

Scarring have always been an issue of mine even when I never pick at my face. The marks never seem to go away. Always a bright red just sitting there taunting me. I'm afraid in the next three weeks while I wait for some Accutane I will just get more zits and that means more scars to worry about.

I'm at the point where I can't take it anymore. I no longer have any desire to go outside or see anyone. If only I could just wear a brown paper bag over my head until everything goes away.

Edited by brownbag, 02 November 2011 - 05:28 PM.

[cloudscloudsclouds]

hey dear...sorry I will write chaotic since I'm a little bit in a rush...but believe me girl. i understand you so well. im currently on accutane myself. i hope it will work. i hope it will for you too. and for everyone.
what i wanted to tell is do not let acne control your life, go out, enjoy your life, and this one is so important : dress nicely. it will give you confidence. it will show everyone that you do not care about your acne. it will give you energy. you know this..we create ourselves, not others, not acne, so , dont let it go into your perception of yourself. it's not worth. everyone can be beautiful, stylish, successful, cheerful with acne and without acne. it's the potential of a certain person, acne or no acne doesnt change much. it's the way we perceive and deal with it.
i know. i know. it sucks having it. it sucks having that oil on your face. it sucks seeing the pimples appear over and over again when you haven't done a single thing to provoke them coming, except caring about your skin extremely, putting time, effort, energy, hopes. i know darling. i know how it is.
but listen to me. it's your life. enjoy it. HAPPINESS IS A HARD WORK. so is friendship, so is life. but its soooooo rewarding. trust me. but we must fight for it and take what is ours. never give up. its hard at first, you need to literally force yourself. force yourself to go out, force yourself to wear a colorful dress instead of clothes that are like a shelter for our insecurities. once you wear something colorful, original or whatever is the style you like - you will be FORCED to be confident, because people will look at you. BELIEVE ME NO ONE CARES ABOUT OUR ACNE AS MUCH AS WE DO. you will be forced to keep your head up, you will be forced to walk straight and confident, you will be forced to make an eye contact, you will forced to smile. and once you will forced you will start to like it. once you will try, and win over yourself you will not ever want to stay in a shade any more, acne will become pretty much of a background. acne and the fight with it will become a stimulus to try even more, live to the fullest, work with yourself and your inner harmony, to achieve your goals and dreams. enough waiting. enough hiding. enough not wanting to go out, enough not wanting to see anyone. time is running out. feel it. CARPE DIEM. it's the best years of our lives. i dont know what are your reasons for not using the make up, but you can use it if it makes you feel better. you can use it on accutane as well. harm of make up is overrated. it is not doing much good to us, but the damage is truly overrated. i personally, do not use it. but i gave up using it for psychological reasons. it's everyones personal choice, so , do whats best for you. and i'll tell you what is best for you now - NEVER EVER GIVE UP. every failure on your journey is supposed to make you strive for your goal even more, but , be careful, do not obsess, be patient, be positive, do not close everything in yourself, share your sorrow of acne with the ones around you.don't try to deny that you have acne and hide instead..we should accept we have acne. and then we should say "so what?" we can stil lgo out, we can still communicate, we can still dress nicely, we can still wear our hair the way we want, we can do the most simplest things.most important - smile. do not tolerate the gloomy face in front of your mirror. it makes your red marks worse, it makes your complexion worse. ALWAYS. laughter and smile brings glow and happines to your face, believe me, it makes people BLIND, they hardly notice all your imperfections. you are perfect, anyway.
good luck for you, i wish you this from all my heart

[brownbag]

<3 cloudscloudsclouds <3 You are such a sweet girl.

Only one more week to go til I can get my hands on accutane! Been trying to keep busy and ignoring my acne but it's difficult. Doxycycline was making me feel sick everyday so I finally got fed up and stopped taking it. BAD idea! I'm getting disgustingly gigantic cystic zits all over now. One is about the tip of your pinky and is super deep. Very concerned about it leaving a huge scar. I also have a painful zit in my nose and it hurts every time I move my face. Booo. Must beg my derm to give me a cortisone shot.

Was down in LA for Labor Day weekend and I think the smog made me break out more or something.

Just want something to go right for once so I'm cheering myself up by buying some Christian Louboutin shooz. Yay!

Oh and I don't wear makeup anymore because my face gets oily within 30 minutes and I have to wash it like every 3-4 hours. Plus putting powder/foundation over all the bumps just makes everything look more ghastly.

[sd85]

<3 cloudscloudsclouds <3 You are such a sweet girl.

Only one more week to go til I can get my hands on accutane! Been trying to keep busy and ignoring my acne but it's difficult. Doxycycline was making me feel sick everyday so I finally got fed up and stopped taking it. BAD idea! I'm getting disgustingly gigantic cystic zits all over now. One is about the tip of your pinky and is super deep. Very concerned about it leaving a huge scar. I also have a painful zit in my nose and it hurts every time I move my face. Booo. Must beg my derm to give me a cortisone shot.

Was down in LA for Labor Day weekend and I think the smog made me break out more or something.

Just want something to go right for once so I'm cheering myself up by buying some Christian Louboutin shooz. Yay!

Oh and I don't wear makeup anymore because my face gets oily within 30 minutes and I have to wash it like every 3-4 hours. Plus putting powder/foundation over all the bumps just makes everything look more ghastly.

Your situation sounds exactly like mine. My face is a bowl of soupy oil within 10 minutes if I put on make-up. If I leave it off, I probably have a good hour and half, lol! Plus, I think it looks worse to put the make-up on over all of that mess. I go back for my second pregnancy test on the 26th of September, and I am WAY excited about that. I cannot wait to get started so that I can take care of this mess.

[brownbag]

<3 cloudscloudsclouds <3 You are such a sweet girl.

Only one more week to go til I can get my hands on accutane! Been trying to keep busy and ignoring my acne but it's difficult. Doxycycline was making me feel sick everyday so I finally got fed up and stopped taking it. BAD idea! I'm getting disgustingly gigantic cystic zits all over now. One is about the tip of your pinky and is super deep. Very concerned about it leaving a huge scar. I also have a painful zit in my nose and it hurts every time I move my face. Booo. Must beg my derm to give me a cortisone shot.

Was down in LA for Labor Day weekend and I think the smog made me break out more or something.

Just want something to go right for once so I'm cheering myself up by buying some Christian Louboutin shooz. Yay!

Oh and I don't wear makeup anymore because my face gets oily within 30 minutes and I have to wash it like every 3-4 hours. Plus putting powder/foundation over all the bumps just makes everything look more ghastly.

Your situation sounds exactly like mine. My face is a bowl of soupy oil within 10 minutes if I put on make-up. If I leave it off, I probably have a good hour and half, lol! Plus, I think it looks worse to put the make-up on over all of that mess. I go back for my second pregnancy test on the 26th of September, and I am WAY excited about that. I cannot wait to get started so that I can take care of this mess.

Yay that's only 10 days after me. We can be Accutane buddies! I heard it really dries up your skin and to be honest, I'm really looking forward to that. It would feel so good to be able to go out and not have to worry if I will come home soon enough to wash my face.

I'm shooting a wedding tomorrow. That's about 10-12 hours of oil build up...not a good look.

[brownbag]

Got a few cortisone injections into my face today. Ow.

Actually, it was pretty tolerable but the one into the zit in my nose did hurt. I'm happy because it feels like I'm doing something good for my skin. The last thing I need is another huge acne scar. It's only been a few hours but I think the cortisone is kicking in already. Looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning with a pleasant surprise.

Not sure if it's helpful but I've been taking steam baths like 3 times a week. In my mind all my pores and opening and being cleansed by the steam. Plus I think it reduces some of the redness.

Only one more week!

Edited by brownbag, 09 September 2011 - 11:23 PM.

[sophia07]

I know how you feel about the oily skin and make-up fiasco. I also know how you feel about having a face that totally and utterly bums you out. I hate my face. I give you props though, I am scared out of my mind to go out without make-up on. I hope Accutane works for ya. I'm not even on month 3 and almost pimple free. Scarring is still there unfortunately, but getting lighter very slowly. Stay optimistic, its tough, but chin up and smile.

[captainawesome]

Stay positive, accutane will most likely work wonders for you.

[brownbag]

It's the final countdown. T-minus 3 days!

The cortisone shots helped the zits go down but didn't get rid of it completely. My face is very pokey right now with all the pimples/zits coming to a head/scab. Whenever I wash my face I just feel like picking at them but I do my best to resist the temptation.

Very glad I'm starting soon. My pimples seem to be spreading now along my jaw and near my ears.
I hope the pimples enjoy their stay while they can because it's going to be short-lived.

[brownbag]

2 days left.

Edited by brownbag, 16 September 2011 - 01:08 AM.

[brownbag]

Pill 3 Started on Claravis 40mg a few days ago. So far I have not noticed any side affects- no dry lips, headaches, flaking, etc. I've stopped using Retin-A, just washing my face with Perricone Skin Clear Cleanser until I need to start using something more gentle. Zits are the same. Waiting to feel any side effects so I know the pill is working.

[ahasegawa]

You go girl! I have about 2 1/2 weeks until I can get my pills and I am so antsy to get them! This is going to be the longest month ever

I am really looking forward to seeing what this drug will do for you! Stay positive!

[faithinhim]

Good luck! Don't worry--the side effects will kick in soon enough!

[brownbag]

Pill 4 I think my skin is tightening up a bit after my showers so my guess is I'm producing less oil. Nothing else to report besides waking up with two new bumps but that's pretty normal. Currently, I have 4 painful cysts and loads of smaller ones where the white heads are about to fall out on their own.


Hoping my lips does not get dry until next week after I get my wisdom tooth pulled out. Heard having any dental work while on accutane is painful due to the inability to open your mouth because of dryness.

Edited by brownbag, 20 September 2011 - 01:19 PM.

[cervantes86]

be brave girl!! i feel you so much. i was currently on a topical regimen that work for me, but just like proactiv, after 5 years it stop working!! so now iam back on minocyclin, but well see if that works again. if not, iam gonna have to get on the same boat as you and start accutane!!

[ForeverYoung21]

I'm just starting claravis today. Couldn't agree more with the whole oily face and make-up issue.. it SUCKS. We're only a couple days apart so I'm definitely going to follow your progress. Good luck!
-Colleen

[brownbag]

Pill 5 A bit of a headache today but it might be caused by the painful cyst on my temple. Thought it was going away but it just got bigger and more painful this morning. I think the birth control is helping my monthly hormonal break out. Got about 4 this month as opposed to the customary 7-10.

[ahasegawa]

Keep Going!

It will work its magic with time. Just stay strong!

[followyourbliss]

Best of luck!
The side effects may start to suck but stick with it!!!
I'm about a month ahead of you, I'll be reading your log
Stay positive!!!

[brownbag]

Thanks everyone for the support!

Today I'm on Pill 6 and I still haven't noticed any changes. My acne is still there and the cysts are still painful and unsightly. I think I probably won't notice any huge difference until maybe towards the end of the month. At this rate, it might be healthier to stop counting pimples and ignore my plight as I wait for the Claravis to take effect. Going to go out now and enjoy my day. The zits will go away in due time.