95 replies to this topic

[candyyan114]

I hv been on accutane for 46 days and it seems that my skin is getting better (20mg/per day). But there are whiteheads and pimples on my face too. I used to have lots of lots of (I rly mean LOTS OF!!) whiteheads under my skin and they are popping up quickly and become pimples! I look extremely ugly and rly depressed.
I just want to tell you that start from day 19 is my worst !! I hv never seen I hv such a serious breakout and it was actually like yours ! I was always worrying and even crying and hiding ppl. I wear facial mask when I go out cuz I dare not look at the ppl around me Though I am afraid the redness and scar will not be gone, my skin has been healing faster than before start from day 40. So, don't be depressed that there isn't any progress!! THERE IS!! AND IT WORKS!! I want to add my dose to 40gm but dont know if my derm allow me to do so Just wait and be patient and I am also here supporting you ! Let's fight acne tgt !!

[esa]

I hv been on accutane for 46 days and it seems that my skin is getting better (20mg/per day). But there are whiteheads and pimples on my face too. I used to have lots of lots of (I rly mean LOTS OF!!) whiteheads under my skin and they are popping up quickly and become pimples! I look extremely ugly and rly depressed.
I just want to tell you that start from day 19 is my worst !! I hv never seen I hv such a serious breakout and it was actually like yours ! I was always worrying and even crying and hiding ppl. I wear facial mask when I go out cuz I dare not look at the ppl around me Though I am afraid the redness and scar will not be gone, my skin has been healing faster than before start from day 40. So, don't be depressed that there isn't any progress!! THERE IS!! AND IT WORKS!! I want to add my dose to 40gm but dont know if my derm allow me to do so Just wait and be patient and I am also here supporting you ! Let's fight acne tgt !!

Thanks, good luck on your course! I'm sure we'll both have clear skin soon . I'm worried about scars too but I'm going to deal with that once the acne is sorted, one step at a time

[margox]

......i've also started oral Isotretinoin_Acnetrex modified course and also my own Accutane log..... i'm using it for almost a week now... all i can say is that i'm still breaking out which is nothing new to me.... just hoping this would work............

[The Outfield]

Any update man?

[esa]

Day 34(?!)

Wow I can't believe it's been 34 days. Sorry for the lack of updates, I was busy with moving to London and then I was in Europe the last week. The month mark went past without me even noticing. As for my face, it's mixed really. It did seem to be getting better, but I have a couple of horrible spots which have popped up in the last few days, in fact one of them has just managed to appear just over the course of today. Dreading what it will look like tomorrow. I feel like my face is at a similar level now to when I was on antibiotics but I'm not really sure. My derm appointment is not until the 6th because I had to change it, but now I'll have to change it again due to work, argh. I still need to have my monthly blood test for this month, but I am actually crapping myself about it because I drank a fair bit whilst abroad. If I get taken off it I don't know what I'd do. So stupid to risk it I know..

My skin doesn't seem as dry as it did before. Not as bad in the morning anyway, and I only need to moisturise once a day. The skin on my arms and the back of my hands is getting dry too now so I put a bit of moisturiser on there. My lips are pretty bad but it's a side effect which is easy to tolerate. I definitely always carry lip balm with me now, which I didn't have to do at first. It's not that bad if I keep them balmed up but I'm lazy a lot of the time or just busy. Oh and I'm really liking not having to wash my hair every day as it doesn't get as greasy as it used to, I think I'll miss that when off Accutane hehe.

I'll give a proper update on my acne tomorrow or the day after, with some pictures perhaps. Oh and the other thing is that before, I was dead set on asking the derm to up me to 40mg. Now I am actually wondering whether it would be worth just doing a longer, lower dose course. Just because the side effects are so easy to manage like this.

Edited by esa, 29 March 2012 - 04:38 PM.

[The Outfield]

Good to hear from you! I don't know man, I'm thinking you should really be bumped up. Frankly, I'm surprised you were started out on 20mg. My level of acne at the start was similar to yours and I was just bumped up from 40mg to 60mg to be able to meet my recommended cumulative dosage for the treatment period. It seems to me the 20mg is not doing enough for you.

If short-term side effects such as dry skin and chapped/peeling lips can be endured for the possibility of an end to acne forever, I am definitely willing to make that sacrifice.

Of course, I'm not dermatologist, but in my opinion you should have a serious talk with him/her regarding your current results and recommended dosage.

Edited by White Stang, 29 March 2012 - 09:48 PM.

[esa]

Yeh you're right, I probably will still ask to get bumped up, otherwise it will take forever to see any effects/finish the course.

[esa]

Day 38
Thought I'd update with a picture. My face looks kind of greasy but that's only because I just put some moisturiser on before taking the pictures.

I thought they looked really bad at first but then I flicked through all of my pictures (ones so bad I would never have posted them on here!) and I now realise my face has massively improved over the last few weeks. My left cheek in particular and now my chin are clearing up really well. Still have some bumps and lots of red marks but hopefully they will fade. I can more easily see now how the acne over the years has totally done a number on my face in terms of scars. Will definitely look into scar treatment when my course is over.

Edited by esa, 02 April 2012 - 11:49 AM.

[aegon]

Your skin definitely looks like it's improving man which is good to see. Sorry to see you had such a rough time with the initial breakout and well done for staying the course and not panicking/giving up like I'm sure a lot have. Looks like it's all uphill here for you now so good luck.

[esa]

Your skin definitely looks like it's improving man which is good to see. Sorry to see you had such a rough time with the initial breakout and well done for staying the course and not panicking/giving up like I'm sure a lot have. Looks like it's all uphill here for you now so good luck.

Cheers

[esa]

My tip for the day: If your lip has a split in the middle from being chapped, don't drink lemon squash all the time.. Owwwww

[The Outfield]

Dude that sucks.

My tip for the day: If your lips are really dry, don't go opening your mouth wide open quickly (ie to bite into food) - you may split open a wound in the corner where your lips meet.. Owwwww (every time you open your mouth)

[esa]

Day 44
Having my blood test tomorrow (later than I should have really), and my monthly derm appointment on Tuesday (again, later than it should have been). A bit anxious about my blood test but hopefully it will be ok..

I have some lumps which just aren't going down at all.. it's really worrying now, I hope they won't be permanent?! I'll talk to the derm about it on Tuesday.

Other than that I don't have much to report really. My side effects are extremely minimal on this low dose. Other than red marks/annoying lumps I think I just have one small whitehead at the moment which will probably be gone tomorrow/the day after.

[esa]

Day 46
Saw the dermatologist today for my one month checkup (a bit late..).
He's putting me up to 40mg a day, but before I up my dose I have to get my blood test done. I still haven't had a chance to get it, so I'm going tomorrow morning before work. I'm actually a bit worried about it because I should have had it about 2 weeks ago.

I then have to have my next blood test in two weeks, and another appointment with him in two months. Just like the first time, he didn't even really look at my face which I found a bit surprising! I asked about the lumps and he said it was just the acne and that they'd go down, and that the red marks will fade too.

I asked if I'd have another breakout when my dose was increased and he said I won't, but I'm a bit skeptical about that. I'm a bit worried because my face is quite clear and I really don't want to go through another horrible breakout

[esa]

Day 56
Sorry for the lack of updates, not a lot to report though. My skin was really bad at first, then got better, and now it just seems to have stayed the same for ages.. I hope this isn't it. I really would like nice skin but I'm starting to think I was over-optimistic when starting this drug. Even with minimal acne my face still looks like shit, from all the scarring/marks/redness :/

I have a couple of things which are just not going away, and one new spot kind of on my neck under my jawline. I'll try and update with some pictures tomorrow. Another thing is that I get a runny nose quite often! Which I think is related to Accutane because I remember reading something like that before. It happens when I walk outside, weird right? Anyway yeh, I'll add a picture update tomorrow.

Oh, and also I haven't started with 40mg/day yet because I'm still waiting for my blood test results. I've got a really bad feeling I'm going to get taken off Accutane. Then I don't know what I'll do.. it will totally crush me.

Edited by esa, 20 April 2012 - 04:34 PM.

[The Outfield]

That's good to hear you'll be bumped up to 40mg. But why do you think you'll get taken off of it?

Also, my nose seems to be runnier as well. And it bleeds sometimes, but not the dripping kind of blood.

[esa]

Just because I drank quite a bit at one point whilst I was on holiday, and drank a fair few others times. I haven't recently drunk much but still, I also haven't had a blood test for ages so if the drinking caused a problem then It's probably been getting worse without me knowing.

I'm probably just worrying about nothing, but still..

[Ballen]

I saw your comment on nutrition on one of your first entries.
Im personally into bodybuidling/ fitness. To get some real, straight info about nutition and being healty, you should visit "no bullshit bodybuilding" on facebook and on youtube. Even though youre not a bodybuilder, you can still learn a lot about being truly healthy.

Good luck, man!

[esa]

Thanks Ballen I'll check it out.

Day 60
Wow that's like, two months?? Neat. Anyway just a minor update. I keep getting headaches all the time, mild headaches but annoying. I'm not sure if it's Accutane or because I've been drinking a lot of coffee lately and not enough water? I doubt it's the Accutane because I never used to get headaches, but who knows. Also I think I'm becomingly increasingly sensitive to light, perhaps that's what is causing the headaches actually. Not really sure. My skin is pretty much staying the same, although I have had a really bad spot come up at the top of my cheek. Still loads of red marks. Here's some pictures, definitely worse than the last photo I posted here

Looking forward to moving up to 40mg/day but still waiting for blood test results.



Sigh..

[joannarama]

Hey Esa

Just thought I'd stop by to see how you are getting on. It looks as though your skin has cleared up quite a lot since you first started, so congrats on that! I noticed you said you are sensitive to light more now too. At the risk of asking a stupid question, what do you mean by that exactly? I've heard people say you should watch out for that as a potential symptom, but I don't really know what I'm looking for!!

It's weird you saying about the runny nose too... I've noticed that in the last week but had no idea it was related. It's crazy how things work eh?!

J x