28 replies to this topic

[ghillieman24]

Sorry, I actually started Claravis 13 days ago but i have a WILD story to share with you guys.

40mg a day

background:
used to be mild acne when i was 14-15 it turned into moderate acne next couple years then into severe acne when i turned 17
I was on antibiotics 4 months prior to taking accutane. My derm told me since i had been on antibiotics my IB wouldn't be so bad....WOW was she wrong....read this horror story below.

Days 1-6

- I didn't have any noticable side effects other than dry hands and they arn't dry anymore

Day 7 ( beginning of hell week)

Day 7 happened to be on a Sunday. I looked in the mirror that day and saw that i had very small lumps around the cornor of my nose and around my lips and jaw. I thought nothing of it and continued my day normally.

Day 8-11
The next day on monday i wake up to AT LEAST 15 whiteheads and they were all around my nose and lips. If anyone has had acne by there nose or lips, they know how annoying it is. I go to college and i have school on tuesdays, wednesdays, and thursdays so on tuesday when i woke up i was hoping that all those whiteheads popped overnight. I was in SHOCK once i looked in the mirror. About another new 20 whiteheads came up overnight along with 5 huge cysts. I had to skip some classes for the whole week and i wore my hood to every class i went too. Everyday i kept waking up to 15-20 new whiteheads and 5 or more cysts. Compared to the worst breakout i had ever had prior to accutane, this breakout was 30 TIMES worse. I called the derm on day 9 i think and told them about what had happened and asked if i could be prescribed prednisone and they said they dont do that so i said ok and hung up. Couple days later it got to a point where i couldn't even eat or move my mouth without PAIN. I called the derm again and got an appointment the next day and they decided it was ok to be prescribed prednisone to reduce my IB.

Day 12-13
Side Effects:
1.Dry lips
2.EXTREMELY ITCHY DRY SCALP ( i had dandruff prior to acne now i have SUPER DANDRUFF LOL)
3. Nosebleeds about once a day
4.Minor muscle weakness but i can still weighttrain a little.
5.Dry eyes
6.Fatigue

Day 12 i got my 9 days worth of prednisone (30mg for 3 days 20mg for next 3 days and 10mg for last 3 dys) Almost overnight my cysts shrinked and dont hurt anymore tomorrow on day 14 it will be my 3rd day on prednisone.

I can tell my skin is producing a little bit less oil which is a good sign


PLEASE I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION IF ANYONE KNOWS PLEASE ANSWER: Ok i got prescribed a 9 day supply of prednisone on day 11 of claravis(accutane). That means my prednisone will run out on day 20. Now im absolutely horrified that my IB will come back after my prednisone is gone. Does anyone think it will? I think day 20 is still early in the stages of accutane and i might breakout more. Should i ask the derm for extra 10 day supply of prednisone just in case?

MORE IMPORTANTLY: has anyone been prescribed prednisone to aid them with their IB. If so tell me your accutane dose, tell me the day u started prednisone and the day u ended it and how far were u into accutane when u started the prednisone? THANKS

I will continue to update weekly or whenever something big happens.

Edited by ghillieman24, 12 February 2012 - 01:55 AM.

[JPLSU1981]

I'm on Day7 now so your story scares the crap outta me, lol....Nonetheless, I haven't had any breakout yet. actually, my face is clearer today than it was on Day1. The couple of zits I have gotten since Day1 actually cleared up nearly overnight. Are you using any benzoyl peroxide treatment? I would recommend if you are having breakouts to use BP morning and night all over your face...You're already dry due to the accutane, so the BP certainlyl isn't going to make anything worse but might actually help control the breakouts.

Good luck with the rest of your treatment!

[ghillieman24]

I'm on Day7 now so your story scares the crap outta me, lol....Nonetheless, I haven't had any breakout yet. actually, my face is clearer today than it was on Day1. The couple of zits I have gotten since Day1 actually cleared up nearly overnight. Are you using any benzoyl peroxide treatment? I would recommend if you are having breakouts to use BP morning and night all over your face...You're already dry due to the accutane, so the BP certainlyl isn't going to make anything worse but might actually help control the breakouts.

Good luck with the rest of your treatment!

I think only 20% of people get an initial breakout so lets hope you dont have to go through that. and YIKESS dont use any topical treatments liek retin-a BP, or sacyclic acid while your on accutane. Accutane makes ur skin very thin and irritable. if you use those products your going to irritate the hell out of your skin and make it worse. ive heard of people breaking out more becuase they did that and some people's faced turned into red balloons. my derm advised me not to take any topical creams or treatments while im on accutane. just use a regular facewash like people without acne use. i use cetaphil daily fash wash. im surprised ur derm didnt tell u not to take topical treatments and creams on ur face. 99% of derms tell you that.

anyways thanks for replying ill be following ur log too

[cervantes86]

omg that didnt happen to me....i just was breaking out normally, then went down on breakouts, and recently my breakouts went up. what dose you started>>

oh never mind, 40 mg. sorry.

[ghillieman24]

omg that didnt happen to me....i just was breaking out normally, then went down on breakouts, and recently my breakouts went up. what dose you started>>

oh never mind, 40 mg. sorry.

What dosage did u start out on and how much do u weigh? also when did ur IB start and when did it stop/slow down or compeltely stop? thanks

[Drummergurl4u]

I started acutane about three months ago, so far the worst I have had to deal with is Exaustion (because of the excessive amounts of Vitamin A) and there is a point where your skin may feel like its on fire, I had some pretty bad breakouts in my second month, and its really painful!! I am on my schools dance team, and it has had a bit of an impact on my dancing due to the sore muslces, and my back has been feeling it a lot. So be ready for the soreness. Also its very common to get extreme exima with this program, use cerave cream for your entire body, thats what works best! Also there is the big worry of depression, I know it can get hard, but the outcome will be awesome!! My skin is starting to clear up! I feel great!

Also another tip for all of you acutane users! DO NOT TAKE VITAMINS WITH VITAMIN A IN THEM!!! Acutane is an extreemly HIGH dose of vitamin A, there for the extra you take could have a very large part in making you feel exausted. And make sure you drink TONS of water! Tips on dry chaped lips, Aquaphor! Works the best for me, and amazingly aquaphor is good to put on scratches and cuts and helping them heal faster. (Your scratches tend to take forever to heal on acutane, and I bruise extreemly easy now)

[cervantes86]

omg that didnt happen to me....i just was breaking out normally, then went down on breakouts, and recently my breakouts went up. what dose you started>>

oh never mind, 40 mg. sorry.

What dosage did u start out on and how much do u weigh? also when did ur IB start and when did it stop/slow down or compeltely stop? thanks

i didnt get an initial breakout. maybe i did, but i was breaking out so badly pre accutane, i was getting several a day, maybe thats why i didnt notice......i had like 20+ pimples on my face!! anyhow, right now i have 2 actives. i weigh 175 lbs. i started 20 mg at month one, then 40 mg at month two. i am ready for 80 mg. enough with these baby doses.

[blahdeeblah]

I started acutane about three months ago, so far the worst I have had to deal with is Exaustion (because of the excessive amounts of Vitamin A) and there is a point where your skin may feel like its on fire, I had some pretty bad breakouts in my second month, and its really painful!!

Ugh -- this is hands down the worst side effect of this drug - at least for me. I can sleep 10 hours a night (and I have to now because anything less and I'm a zombie) and still be exhausted.

[ghillieman24]

Day 17

Also day 6 of prednisone. By day 2 of prednisone is seemed to clear 70% of my acne and by day 6 which is today it seemed to clear up about 80% of acne.....i was tapered off 30mg for 3 days 20mg for next 3 days and 10mg for last 3 days. lets hope my IB doesn't return after this.

Nosebleeds have stopped but still have super dry eyes and lips. FINALLY it seems as though my skin is getting a little bit dryerr..
have been getting bad lower back pains in class. its hard to sit there for a while. also when i lay in my bad at night it hurts really bad for couple minutes then goes away. hopefully the back pain doesnt persist

does anyone have experience with taking prednisone to get through IB? did ur acne return after the the IB? how much is ur weight and ur dosage of accutane? thanks

will update later this week.

pray for me. lets hope my IB doesnt return. it hurt to EAT!

Edited by ghillieman24, 15 February 2012 - 01:22 PM.

[Lydiajane]

Oh god, I am in the middle of the world's longest IB. I also want to know how long everyone else's lasted. I had about 5 zits at any given time prior to accutane, and now I have about 30 ALL OVER my cheeks. It's so bad I don't even want to go out. I'm just over 2.5 months into it, 2 months at 20mg, last 18 days at 40mg.
I felt like it was getting better at one point, but now I feel like that was just a good day... I experienced my breakout right away and it hasn't lessened at all.

[ghillieman24]

Oh god, I am in the middle of the world's longest IB. I also want to know how long everyone else's lasted. I had about 5 zits at any given time prior to accutane, and now I have about 30 ALL OVER my cheeks. It's so bad I don't even want to go out. I'm just over 2.5 months into it, 2 months at 20mg, last 18 days at 40mg.
I felt like it was getting better at one point, but now I feel like that was just a good day... I experienced my breakout right away and it hasn't lessened at all.

that sounds really bad this is what im fearing.......you should of asked for prednisone. ive also heard that when people get an increase of dosage they get IB's

Edited by ghillieman24, 15 February 2012 - 02:36 PM.

[Lydiajane]

Oh god, I am in the middle of the world's longest IB. I also want to know how long everyone else's lasted. I had about 5 zits at any given time prior to accutane, and now I have about 30 ALL OVER my cheeks. It's so bad I don't even want to go out. I'm just over 2.5 months into it, 2 months at 20mg, last 18 days at 40mg.
I felt like it was getting better at one point, but now I feel like that was just a good day... I experienced my breakout right away and it hasn't lessened at all.

that sounds really bad this is what im fearing.......you should of asked for prednisone. ive also heard that when people get an increase of dosage they get IB's

I'm seeing my derm in 12 days and i am DEFINITELY asking for prednisone. My cousin took it and she has like the skin of angels. Hate her...
And yeah I was just bumped up to 50mg per day two days ago, soooo I think that might be why my skin is extra crappy.

[ghillieman24]

Oh god, I am in the middle of the world's longest IB. I also want to know how long everyone else's lasted. I had about 5 zits at any given time prior to accutane, and now I have about 30 ALL OVER my cheeks. It's so bad I don't even want to go out. I'm just over 2.5 months into it, 2 months at 20mg, last 18 days at 40mg.
I felt like it was getting better at one point, but now I feel like that was just a good day... I experienced my breakout right away and it hasn't lessened at all.

that sounds really bad this is what im fearing.......you should of asked for prednisone. ive also heard that when people get an increase of dosage they get IB's

I'm seeing my derm in 12 days and i am DEFINITELY asking for prednisone. My cousin took it and she has like the skin of angels. Hate her...
And yeah I was just bumped up to 50mg per day two days ago, soooo I think that might be why my skin is extra crappy.

could u psot some before accutane photos and current photos? id like to see how bad your IB was..if it was as bad as mine. u can bluur out ur eyes and forehead to keep ur identity safe

[ghillieman24]

DAY 19

Update: got an emergency visit to dermatologist today to get my predisone refilled till end of my 1 month journey. Hopefully i wont break out into my second month.. ive been getting muscle weakness and back pains these past 5 days. i hope they dont stay for much longer i want to get back into the weightrooM!

it looks like today i only had 2-3 active pimples instead of 50-70 active pimples a week ago before i took prednisone. prednisone works perfect!

Edited by ghillieman24, 18 February 2012 - 02:44 AM.

[lnymphl]

WOOOOWWOOOWW That is so traumatizing! You are definitely a survivor of (hopefully) the last of the IB!!! Keep at it.
I really do believe the crazy IB would stop after the first month, but I'm sure there's gonna be a few minor IB, but nothing serious since your skin is in the process of drying--very good sign!

And kudos for even going to class. I would have taken a break from school.

[ghillieman24]

WOOOOWWOOOWW That is so traumatizing! You are definitely a survivor of (hopefully) the last of the IB!!! Keep at it.
I really do believe the crazy IB would stop after the first month, but I'm sure there's gonna be a few minor IB, but nothing serious since your skin is in the process of drying--very good sign!

And kudos for even going to class. I would have taken a break from school.

i couldnt even concentrate in class. all i could think about was my face as it was pulsating with disgusting cysts everywhere. i was walking around with a hood on for 2 weeks ..

DAY 22

Face only gets little break-outs now like 3-4 pimples a day...SOOOO MUCH better and happy my face ALMOST looks like it does before i went on accutane. my prednisone runs out on like day 35 or around there. hopefully my IB won't return after im done with prednisone.

[lnymphl]

This is really good news Now you can relax and enjoy the rest of the course. I hope mine continues to improve as well. Still having mix signals with my course =(

[vcsteve]

good luck!! im 17 just started claravis 40 mg yesterday

[ghillieman24]

UPDATE

DAY 40.

sorry i havnt updated in 3 weeks because i got a new job and i go to school full time sooo yea..

anyways ive been off prednisone for about 7 days now and i started breaking out a little bit more with about 5 cysts...
i still wake up everyday with new pimples.....WHEN WILL IT STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my face looks like a red balloon because of all the scars. at least its not as bad as when i started it.

ive been getting SUPER dry Eyes lips and skin. i got a crapload of rashes all over my arms and hands...does anyone know if this is normal?? i started to use lotion this week.

anyways the derm kept me on 40mg/day for 2nd month because of my HORRIBLE IB. she said next month(3rd month) she'll bump me to 60mg/day and hopefully will give me prednisone incase the increased dosage breaks me out

[JPLSU1981]

Yes, I've had a rash-like thing on the bottom of both arms going from elbow to wrist...I can't tell if it's dry skin or a rash (feels like sandpaper), or a combination of both....I also have some red marks/rash on the backside of my hands. Neither rash (arms or hands) is very bad, though....It's definitely there, but nothing I'm too concerned about.

Edited by JPLSU1981, 12 March 2012 - 09:05 AM.