73 replies to this topic

[blahdeeblah]

Greetings!

I've been a lurker on this website for years and finally, like most of you on here, I got fed up with my acne and gave in and got a prescription to accutane. I'm starting tomorrow...

My acne story has been a long one. I had clear-ish skin all throughout high school, an occassional zit here or there but never really anything outside of the realm of normal teenage skin. Then...it happened. I got to college and all hell broke loose. I was literally a pizza face. After 8 months of constant pimples (20-25 at a time), my only saving grace was finding a full bottle of Proactiv in the shared bathrooms in my dorm. I stole it and used it as my o

wn and miraculously...it did clear my skin a bit. I ordered my own kit and used it for almost a year. I was never fully clear, but 4-5 pimples/day was much better than waking up to a pizza face every morning.

Proactiv was only a short term solution for me. It eventually stopped working and I product hopped from Neutrogena, Aveeno, Clean and Clear, Clinique...the list is endless. Over the next 7 years, I went through stages of a few weeks of breakouts and then a few weeks of clear-ish skin...long enough for my active lesions to heal but always left me with pigmented skin that may as well have been breakouts. Just when the bumps would subside, I'd wake up with a new set up of zits and the cycle would start over again.

I tried everything. I've been on over a dozen types of birth control...the only one that actually helped my skin was Yaz but I couldn't stomach the side effects, literally. Topicals, antibiotics, diet changes, natural household remedies (apple cider vinegar didn't help with my skin but since I started drinking it, I've felt better than I have in ages), nothing work. So, now it's time for accutane.

I would classify my acne as moderate persistant acne. I get mostly cysts, rarely do I ever get a "normal" pimple that subsides after a day or two. My skin is extremely oily, I get that from my dad...

Right now, I've been on tetracycline for the last 5 weeks and I start accutane tomorrow. My skin is probably the clearest its been in a while, I just returned from a trip to Mexico so between my tan and antibiotics, I actually have only about 4 actives right now and they are small cysts on my chin.

I'm 5'10, 148 pounds and my derm recommended an agressive start of 80mg/day...40mg in the am and 40mg in the pm. I'm a little nervous of this dosage, having read that people usually start low...especially considering that I don't have a face full of acne like I once did. However, he was insistant that he has seen the best results when people "get right to it" and don't dilly dally with the lower doses and subsequently avoid additional cycles.

I'm going to try and update my log as often as possible, maybe even include some pictures. I know how helpful they are to me reading other logs.

Wish me luck!

Edited by PMalaska, 24 January 2012 - 12:34 AM.

[ihatemynose]

1) First congraz on taking accutane!
2) 80mg is a pretty high dose... It's usually 1mg/kg I weigh 160 and I'm taking 80mg which is a bit much for me.
You will most likely to get a severe initial breakout because of the high dose, but soon your skin won't be oily anymore therefore less acne!
Good luck!!

[blahdeeblah]

1) First congraz on taking accutane!
2) 80mg is a pretty high dose... It's usually 1mg/kg I weigh 160 and I'm taking 80mg which is a bit much for me.
You will most likely to get a severe initial breakout because of the high dose, but soon your skin won't be oily anymore therefore less acne!
Good luck!!

Thank you!
I'm terribly nervous about the IB (isn't everyone), especially since my skin is actually sort of clear right now due to the antibiotics. What I'm more worried about is how it will affect my workout habits. Have you, or anyone else reading this, had it cause a change in their workouts? I've read about the sore joints and muscle aches...is it enough that you can't work out at all?

[ihatemynose]

Nah, you don't need to change anything other than avoiding all foods with vitamin A. I didn't change my workout at all, I got joint pain whenever I consumed a large amount of vitamin A along with accutane so I stopped doing that and all pains went away.

[blahdeeblah]

DAY 2-

Well, it's day two...or half way through day two, as I still have one more pill to take this evening. No changes on the skin front of course, but I got a headache almost immediately after popping the first pill and it seems to die down and then get worse again after I take another pill. I never get headaches so I can almost 100% attribute this to amnesteem. Hopefully I "grow out" of this side effect after a week or two like most people seem to do.

Right now I'm only breaking out on my forehead. my checks and chin are surprisingly the clearest they've been in months, minus a small spot on my right cheek. The spots on my forehead are pretty painful, but small and usually come to a head after a day or two and I can pop them (these are the kind that explode on the mirror...totally gross yet kind of awesome at the same time!).

Anyhoo, cheers to another day!

[blahdeeblah]

Day 4-

Woop Woop! Almost done with my first 10 pack!

This must be a trick, but I feel like my skin is actually making a notable change already. The calm before the storm I'm sure. I've had a few whiteheads pop up from some under the skin bumps that were impossible to pop (right underneath my nose)...my skin is now super smooth there. I have a hard time thinking it is the amnesteem so quickly, but nothing else has ever made those little bumps do that so who knows!

I went to Walgreens and loaded up on supplements today. I got some flax seed oil, some vitamin E, and some glucosomine for my joints. I don't plan on discontinuing my workouts unless absolutely neccessary. I also found a really awesome chapstick today - its called Lypsyl and its "pure sweedish beeswax", also with an SPF 15. I've been using it all afternoon and love it so far!

My headaches are gone and so far no dry skin. I've been lubing up all over my body in the mornings when I get out of the shower. My night routine is to wash my face as soon as I get home, apply organic lemon juice to my face with a cotton ball, and then put 5-10 drops of acne.org jajoba oil on my face straight. The lemon juice is great for leftover red spots, mine are almost completely gone, and the jajoba oil is so calming!

Anyhoo, hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving (if you're in the US) and a great 3 week of November if you're not!

[Hopeful*]

I just read through your log. lol. I hope you get great results! I don't think you should worry about starting on 80mgs. My dermatologist started me on 80mgs & I'm 5'2
118Ibs & I'm doing fine. I'm not too sure about the working out.. But you should be cautious & not do anything too much (Definitely no weight lifting). But I'm sure other
things should be fine. Keep us updated

[blahdeeblah]

Day 4 Continued....

Thought I'd add a few pictures. The lighting is pretty strange, and clearly I am the worst self-portrait taker.

Also, I am rockin some AWESOME "Tane Eyes". Clear Eyes for the Win!


[attachment=39398:Day Five (2).JPG]

[attachment=39399:Day Five (3).JPG]

[attachment=39397:Day Five (1).JPG]

[MelindaOne]

Hey

Your skin looks sooo much like mine! Actually, I think it is like mine (before I started Accutane this August).
I wish you all the best luck, Accutane will clear you up before you know it!

P.S. My joints are little sore, only started to be sore in my 3rd month so I cant do so much yoga as I used to...
But well, it will go away

Good luck!
Melinda

[whatamihere4]

youre tall

good luck

[Quiescence]

Hi Lovey!

Lypsyl is the best...Its so cheap and found in almost every shop here in the UK but it works so well...perfect!...I have used it on my now slightly drying nose too...

x x

[blahdeeblah]

Day 7:

Woo hoo! One week down!

Well today I left the frigid Alaska cold and headed south to Seattle for the weekend. As my dry skin sets in, I'm hoping the moist Pacific Northwest climate will help calm my face a bit.

So far, so good. My side effects are definitely increasing, notably the dry lips and weird dry/oily skin. I'm flaking but my makeup still slides off. Quite annoying! Have some lower back pain today but I also sat on an airplane for 3.5 hours so I think that had a lot to do with it. 

I think my initial breakout is starting. So far I have 4 new actives on my face. Three small yet super sore pimples on my chin and one whitehead on my cheek. I popped that sucker last night and it flattened out and is healing nicely today. I have a tingling feeling in my chin right around my newly formed actives...I'm hoping that is not a sign of more to come and they are just tingling with delight because they have made such a happy little family on my face. I have an old active that came on day one that is slowly healing. It's on my left cheek, which I rarely get spots there. I picked at it and now it's all red...surprise surprise. 

All in all, my skin is actually doing pretty well. The most annoying thing is by far the dry eyes. They hurt when I blink. I'm more religious with the eye drops than I am with Chapstick!

Oh. And starting on Monday I started taking my 2 40mg pills together with my breakfast. I haven't noticed anything different than taking them separate and it's nice to get it done and out of the way. 

Cheers to another day! 

[blahdeeblah]

Day 9-

The flakes are here, the flakes are here!!

[Britt4ny]

Pmalaska,

So excited that we get to stalk each other's logs for the next few months. And those 'Tane Eyes' are hot

[blahdeeblah]

Day 10- 

Pills 19 and 20!

Definitely feeling the side effects the last few days. My lips are wicked chapped and my face is flaking and peeling like crazy! Any Tane veterans have any exfoliation tips? 

Drank quite a bit this weekend, given it was a crazy reunion of friends and football. Not feeling any adverse effects but don't plans on drinking much more during my course. Maybe Christmas and New Years for the holidays.

Since my daily dosage is about 13mg more than weight in kg, I'm hoping that my course will only be 4 months as that would put my cumulative dosage at 142.2mg/kg....that's right in the middle of the recommended dosage right?

Starting to see the common "Tane burn". My face is pretty red this morning. Having been traveling, I haven't been able to use my jojoba oil so I'm hoping that once I get back to my normal moisturizing routine that should subside a bit.

Not much else new to report. I'll check back in in a few days!

[Hopeful*]

Day 10-

Pills 19 and 20!

Definitely feeling the side effects the last few days. My lips are wicked chapped and my face is flaking and peeling like crazy! Any Tane veterans have any exfoliation tips?

Drank quite a bit this weekend, given it was a crazy reunion of friends and football. Not feeling any adverse effects but don't plans on drinking much more during my course. Maybe Christmas and New Years for the holidays.

Since my daily dosage is about 13mg more than weight in kg, I'm hoping that my course will only be 4 months as that would put my cumulative dosage at 142.2mg/kg....that's right in the middle of the recommended dosage right?

Starting to see the common "Tane burn". My face is pretty red this morning. Having been traveling, I haven't been able to use my jojoba oil so I'm hoping that once I get back to my normal moisturizing routine that should subside a bit.

Not much else new to report. I'll check back in in a few days!

Do you moisturize with Jojoba oil? I've been wondering about using that on my skin while on accutane..

[blahdeeblah]

Yes! And I love it. I got home from the airport, took a shower and then slathered on my Aveeno moisturizer with about 6 jojoba oil drops....makes my face super greesy (I put about twice the amount I normally do because I haven't used it in 3 days) but I already feel A Million times better! I bought a thing of Dans jojoba oil about 2 years ago and I still have lots.

[Hopeful*]

I haven't been moisturizing and I'm soo dry! I have to get something asap! I bought this organic moisturizer but I'm not really liking it.. It's like a tinted color so I tried it tonight & it makes me look yellow. It doesn't sink into my skin well. idk what to do? I figured it would because it's all oils.. ( avocado oil, seabuckthorn oil, etc.. All organic oils ) Do you think if I were to buy jojoba oil there would be any possibility that it wouldn't sink into my skin?

[blahdeeblah]

I would find a plain ol' moisturizer that you like, I really like Aveeno Positively Radiant moisturizer but I've heard CeraVe is awesome too, I'm sure there are tons of really good organic and natural ones out there too. Then use the jojoba oil as an added boost. I find that the oil doesn't really soak into my skin, but it keep it's moist on the surface....like I sprayed Pam on my face or something it won't clog your pores like cooking spray though!

Also, I haven't used it yet but a lot of people on here rave about using jojoba oil on their scalp when it starts to dry out.

Let me know what you decide to do, I think if you get some you'll be glad you did!

[Jamie Ann]

Good luck! You seemed very prepared, even from the beginning. My tip would be to use moisturizer EVERY morning and night. You can ask your derm which one she/he recommends but I just use Cetaphil. Right after you wash your face in the morning and right after you wash it at night. That's the only way to fight the dryness.