5 replies to this topic

[pedronez]

Hey everyone. My name is Peter and this is Day 1 of my Amnesteem/Accutane trial. I'm at the end of my rope with acne. This is my last shot at having clear skin and since I only just started on the drug, I don't really have much to complain/talk about so let me tell you a bit about myself and my history with acne. I'm currently a 21 year old college student and I live in New Jersey. I've had acne since I was 10-11 years old (I started getting it in the 5th grade) My acne started off as small pimples on my nose and have only escalated as I get older. Acne has completely demolished my self-esteem. I barely go out anymore and I hate going to places with large numbers of people because they always end up staring at my face rather then looking me in the eyes. I hear them talking about me as I walk by and children come up to me asking me if my face hurts because it's so flushed and has acne all over. The kids in middle school used to call me Pimple Pete and ask me 'what's poppin?' (get it?) I also believe I have been denied jobs from my favorite clothing stores because my acne is very unappealing (unofficially of course) Everyone says this and I'm going to say it too. I have tried everything under the sun to treat my acne. I started off with over the counter creams and ointments (half of which I can't use because I'm allergic to Benzoyl Peroxide) and I've tried every face wash (foam, cream, gel) I then moved on to prescription topical ointments (i.e. Duac, Differin, and topical Doxycycline) all of which do not work. After that I tried antibiotics (Doxycycline and Monocycline) both did nothing. I used to have very oily skin as a teenager. I would have to wake up everyday before 6am to shower because my face and hair were so greasy and even when I did this I would go to school with healthy, fluffy hair and come home with a shiny face and hair that was glued down to my scalp because the oils were so heavy. I would use 2 of those face oil sheets and make them both completely see-through while my friends would maybe have 1 little spot that had oil on it, it was really embarrassing. As I got older I started to get less oily, but I would still have plenty of acne and an even more irritated face from the the things I was trying. The only 2 things that have ever worked for me are the sun (which is only strong enough maybe 3 months out of the year) and Presidone, which is a steroid I only got because I had mono as a senior but can ruin your immune system if you stay on it too long. As a teen, I would always have at least 4 big, puss-filled pimples on my face at all times (unless I got a lot of sun exposure), but now my acne has gone from moderate to slightly severe. The bottom half of my face is completely covered in pimples. Big, red, puss filled ones and A LOT whiteheads, but I never really had blackheads before. I usually break out on my chin, around my mouth, and under my nose, but most recently (since I have gotten into my 20s) I've been getting cystic acne on my cheeks where I used to never break out. My forehead, back, and chest have never been a problem for me though. So with this new cystic acne I decided to take my family doctor's advice and go see a Dermatologist. I had seen a dermo when I was a freshman in high school, but after a few visits and no success I cut them short because they were just wasting my mother's money and the doctor barely took me seriously because I was only 15. Now that I'm 21 and my acne is the worst it's ever been with nothing working, I figured I'd have a better shot at getting serious treatment and respect from the doctor. So 2 weeks ago, I went to go see a new doctor and after a quick review of my file, a talk about my history with acne, and a shot of cortisone in my cheek for my cyst, she decided I try Accutane. So obviously after I got my blood work done and all signals were go, here I am on my first day of Amnesteem (my insurance doesn't cover Accutane). She has started me on 20mg one pill a day and said after a month with no complications, she is going to bump me up to 60mg twice a day. I am 5'10 and 140lbs. I'm not sure if that fits but thats what I got. Clearly it being the first day I haven't had any side-effects, but as I get deeper into the trial, I will record my progress, side-effects, and any other concerns I have with the drugs. So please feel free to leave your comments, advice, questions, or concerns and I will surely read them and reply. Thanks for reading, you guys. Stay clear.

Edited by pedronez, 18 April 2012 - 06:40 PM.

[SupernatualFanatic]

Yes welcome!! I hope this experience goes well for you!

[pedronez]

thank you both! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it does go well. I'm dying for clear skin

[SupernatualFanatic]

Aren't we all Well to FYI you: if you have to vent and bitch, and need someone to listen, I'm here, and all of us are here for you cause we're all going through the same process. Sure, the side effects are different for everyone, but we still understand what your going through and will comfort you. It may get worse at first for a while, but it will get better for sure. Just stick through it and stay strong.

[pedronez]

Day 16: 2 weeks & 2 days into treatment-

Okay so it's day 16 and I have to say my face has gotten significantly better. It looks way better than it did before I started and a wholeeee lot better since last week. I'm assuming I had my initial breakout the first 10 days because my face was repulsive and I absolutely refused to leave the house unless I had to and I told my friends my face was deteriorating and I didn't have the guts to go out in public. My face isn't as red or flushed as it was when I first started. The acne on my chin has completely cleared up. I have a couple of pimples on my left cheek but they are very small and I have a couple of whiteheads around my mouth which will probably go away tomorrow. On the right side of my face I have a red mark from a cyst I had since before starting treatment, but it is completely flat now and I'm just waiting for the redness to go away. I had one bigger under the skin zit on my right side also, but it's slowly going away and has a bunch of dead skin on it that I can't seem to get rid of and at the bottom under I have some of that scaly acne, but that should go away pretty soon if progress continues to go how it going. I recently broke out on my nose which is abnormal for me because I never break out too much on my nose and if I do it's just one pimple at a time. I had 3 on there but they're all gone now. Right now I'm breaking out on my forehead with a few under the skin pimples along my hairline but I have long hair so it's easy to cover. I'm also getting whiteheads in between my eyebrows, but those come and go daily. No blackheads anywhere as of yet, but you never know. All in all my acne has improved 75% since I started and I'm not sure if this is just the eye of the storm but I'm hoping it's just going to get progressively better. At this rate, I'll have a clear face by this time next week. I would say, for those of you wondering, my skin starting getting better around day 11. Once I finished the first 10pack of pills and moved on to the next, I started seeing change.

Side effects & treatment:

• Dry face (obviously) I only wash my face once or twice a day. I think washing it aggravates it so I don't push it. I use Cetaphil face wash like most of you and I only use hot/warm water when I'm washing in the shower - Other than that, I prefer to wash my face with cold water. It's soothing and gives me peace of mind that I'm not burning my face off. I also use an exfoliating brush while I'm washing my face to gently brush off the dead skin and it works. I barely moisturize my face because I'm convinced that white/cream based lotion aggravate my skin more so I only use it when I think I need to. Aquaphor is great at moisturizing, but it also leaves my face feeling really greasy and I think it makes me break out more if I leave it on too long so I don't really use it unless it's an emergency.
• Dry lips (of course) I wouldn't say my lips are unbearably chapped like most of you do. Sure they're dry, but not chapped. I just put a little Aquaphor on them and I'm good to go. I've realized the more I apply it, the more my lips think they need it and they dry out quicker so I try to only use it when my lips get unreasonably scaly and try not to rely on it too much. I never really needed to use chapstick before Accutane and I have thin lips so that could also be why I don't need it too much yet.
• Swollen lips. I wake up and my top lip is twice the size as it normally is. This happens throughout the day and it fluctuates. I'm not complaining though. It actually doesn't look bad on me.
• Dry scalp. My scalp is a lot more flakey than before and I'm going to have to run out and get Head & Shoulders. I've heard that horse shampoo works too, so I'm going to dry that out as well.

Edited by pedronez, 03 May 2012 - 11:45 AM.