139 replies to this topic

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Day 30 | 1 Month

First month done. Saw some extra sun today; not too bad, but about 45min outside in clear weather w/o sunblock. I noticed my legs getting pinkish, but they don't appear to have burned.

To wrap up the first 30 days:
- Headaches around day 5; may or may not have been Accutane-related, but have gone away
- Reliably had 2 or more nosebleeds a day around day 10; these have gone away
- Eczema patches began to develop on arms around day 20; I had one prior to Accutane, currently have six (small)
- Blackheads began to fall out around day 25; 75% gone at this point
- I've had massive peeling for most of the month; it seems to have settled as of recent
- Backkk pain, but also less noticeable now
- Things have generally just been coming to a head and dropping off; usually have at least a couple active whiteheads
- The lower half of my face has seen more improvement than the upper half
- Face feels different, but doesn't look too different

Successful first month overall! No real IB, definitely have made some improvement, but I was by no means one of the one month wonders.

Going in to the doctor's at around 11AM tomorrow... I hope that means my blood work will be done by day's end, but I'm not sure. If not, I'll have to go Friday, Saturday, and Sunday w/o Accutane. My real concern, though, is how my liver tests will turn out... I really hope they're ok and the doc understands the ALP thing.

[dsumo402]

Glad it's working out for you! Keep up the good work man we all deserve to be clear =)

[poptartie]

Good luck and thank you for keeping this log! I start my accutane treatment in about a week and half (I hope) and I am TERRIFIED. It really, really helps to read about other people's experiences and how they deal with the side effects. We all deserve a life where we can put our best face forward
I hope the rest of your treatment is smooooooth sailing!

~Celia

[bodyandsoul]

Great recap of Month 1! I'm happy that it's been a relatively good month for you. Good luck as you continue!

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Thanks guys and gals. Came back from the derm; he and I were both pleased with my progress thus far, and he went ahead and bumped me up to 80mg. Also told me that I'll probably be on a six month course. He's hopeful for what 80mg will be able to do.

I'm hoping to get my scrip filled tonight, but I haven't gotten word yet on the blood test results. The nurse said I should probably be getting that later this afternoon. I talked to the derm about the ALP; he suspected that it was due to bones or exercise in the first place, and if it comes back slightly "raised" again he won't be concerned.

Edited by ===, 27 July 2012 - 04:39 PM.

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Day 31

Good news! The blood tests came back fine, and I got my scrip filled . My ALP was actually in the normal range this time around, and the nurse didn't note that anything was elevated, so my liver seems to be responding to Accutane fairly well. So I'm on 80mg/day now, two 40mg pills a day. A little nervous to have my dose doubled-- I'm guessing the nosebleeds will come back for some time and other symptoms will be more severe. No changes as of yet, though.

While I was waiting for the scrip to be filled, I went ahead and picked up the CeraVe hydrating cleanser that gina recommended. I haven't tried it out, but I was just worried that the Cetaphil might be a bit drying, and being overly-dry is the LAST thing I need now that my mg/day got raised.

Edited by ===, 28 July 2012 - 01:10 AM.

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Day 32

Good so far! I feel like shit today for reasons unrelated to Accutane, but nothing bad to report. Face hasn't seen much change over the past few days. I should note that I've gotten 4-5 scrapes/cuts in the past week or two, and they're taking longer to heal than usual. I've also felt more sun sensitivity lately.

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Day 33

Some very inflamed lesions starting to form on the sides of my face. That's just what it's gonna be like for a while. Increased redness, too-- that might be due to the 80mg, or I may just have noticed it now.

[LastDitchEffort]

Day 33

Some very inflamed lesions starting to form on the sides of my face. That's just what it's gonna be like for a while. Increased redness, too-- that might be due to the 80mg, or I may just have noticed it now.

Can I ask how much do you weigh? I see you upped the dosage to 80mg/a day on second month already. My derm told me to go with 40mg for the entire course.
I was wondering if I should up my dosage too, reached 1 month mark few days ago. I'm currently taking 0,6mg/kg so it's a really low dosage.

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Roughly 150 lbs, or 68 kg, so I'm currently on 1.18mg/kg/day (about .6mg/kg/day beforehand, like you). For what it's worth, I'll probably be more like 160 lbs (73 kg) by the end of the course.

Cumulative dose is traditionally 120-150mg/kg. My cum. dose will be 194mg/kg (using the weight of 68 kg), which is high. Guessing you're about the same weight and also on a six month course, yours will be about 106mg/kg, which is on the lower side. My derm is big on Accutane and definitely isn't afraid of the bigger dosages... haha, you know how Accutane courses used to be four months on average but now tend to be six? When I asked how long my course would be, he mentioned that he was on the panel of dermatologists who decided to make that change.

Edited by ===, 30 July 2012 - 05:47 PM.

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Day 34

Woke up with a loot of peeling and redness, but not so much by day's end. Nothing new has really popped up, and those inflamed lesions haven't seen much action either. I'm also peeling a lot on the legs, but it's not really noticeable since I have the benefit of leg hair.

I'm getting cut, scraped, and burned like crazy in this metalworking class I'm in... it's kinda ridiculous, minor scratches are leaving big red marks and the nicks aren't healing. I think I've cleaned out the studio's first aid kit of all its band-aids.

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Day 36

I think I was out in the sun a bit too much today; I'm really trying to limit sun exposure so my red marks don't delay their healing. I've had a few whiteheads pop up the last couple of days. Those big inflamed ones that appeared a few days ago are still there.

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Day 37

The sides of my face are in an acne eruption! I will be shocked if these whiteheads don't leave large red marks/minor scarring. A couple are cystic. Less than in love with my face right now, but I figure it all had to come up anyway, so now's as good a time as ever. I'll be back in school a month from now, I'm just hoping things improve by then. It might just be that more time on Accutane has led to more acne coming up, but I think it's safe to say that my body is definitely feeling the doubled dosage.

People taking two pills a day, how important is it to have your doses timed and far apart? Right now I'm usually taking one with lunch and one with dinner, but I occasionally forget one and take it late at night instead.

[dsumo402]

Day 37

The sides of my face are in an acne eruption! I will be shocked if these whiteheads don't leave large red marks/minor scarring. A couple are cystic. Less than in love with my face right now, but I figure it all had to come up anyway, so now's as good a time as ever. I'll be back in school a month from now, I'm just hoping things improve by then. It might just be that more time on Accutane has led to more acne coming up, but I think it's safe to say that my body is definitely feeling the doubled dosage.

People taking two pills a day, how important is it to have your doses timed and far apart? Right now I'm usually taking one with lunch and one with dinner, but I occasionally forget one and take it late at night instead.

I have hope that things will definitely clear up for you in a month from now! That's quite a bit of healing time. As for the staying out of the sun...thats the best thing for healing red marks. Mine have significantly reduced from less time in the sun. Vitamin D supplements can also help. Man, accutane sounds like a rigorous journey. I admire your daily posting of your progress!

[LastDitchEffort]

Day 37

The sides of my face are in an acne eruption! I will be shocked if these whiteheads don't leave large red marks/minor scarring. A couple are cystic. Less than in love with my face right now, but I figure it all had to come up anyway, so now's as good a time as ever. I'll be back in school a month from now, I'm just hoping things improve by then. It might just be that more time on Accutane has led to more acne coming up, but I think it's safe to say that my body is definitely feeling the doubled dosage.

People taking two pills a day, how important is it to have your doses timed and far apart? Right now I'm usually taking one with lunch and one with dinner, but I occasionally forget one and take it late at night instead.

Hey man! I'm on the same day as you are and I also recently had a cyst popping out, but I was kinda glad it did. I've felt that thing under my skin almost since the day I statared the course(over a month). I like to think it would have came up anyway, so might aswell get it over with. It's huge. I mean when I look in the mirror, you can see how it sticks out from my jawbone.
And about the timing, my derm told me to take both of the pills at the same time, with food.

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Day 38

I've got some inflamed stuff coming up on my right cheek... a lot of redness, but only very small heads. I think all of this new acne might qualify as an initial breakout. Also, my nose was like 90% clear of blackheads (visibly), but even more stuff seems to be coming out of the pores there. On the upside, those whiteheads on the side of my face look like they'll fall off within the next few days.

I have hope that things will definitely clear up for you in a month from now! That's quite a bit of healing time. As for the staying out of the sun...thats the best thing for healing red marks. Mine have significantly reduced from less time in the sun. Vitamin D supplements can also help. Man, accutane sounds like a rigorous journey. I admire your daily posting of your progress!

Yeah, from what I've read/seen things tend to get better around month 3/4. I was having pretty linear progress up until now, but I'm guessing that may be the case for me. My red marks have gotten a bit better over the past couple of months; not sure if it's due to Accutane or just time, but they have improved some.

Hey man! I'm on the same day as you are and I also recently had a cyst popping out, but I was kinda glad it did. I've felt that thing under my skin almost since the day I statared the course(over a month). I like to think it would have came up anyway, so might aswell get it over with. It's huge. I mean when I look in the mirror, you can see how it sticks out from my jawbone.
And about the timing, my derm told me to take both of the pills at the same time, with food.

That's good that it finally came up . I'm lucky that I don't currently have any cysts or nodules large enough to actually change the shape of my face. Also, weird about the pills, the pharmacist told me to take the pills at different times.

[ginanutrition]

My derm also told me it didn't matter whether you take on pill 2x/day or the two pills at once with dinner. To simplify my life, I just take 2 pills with dinner, and have had great results.

[heather135]

Hey

My derm asked me at my last appointment when I had been taking my pills (30mg a day) and I told her I was taking them in the morning with my breakfast. She bumped me up to 70mg a day because my side effects have been minimal and said to take them together with my dinner. Apparently taking them with a big meal helps the accutane absorb into your body. I have been doing that since then and it has worked out really well because I'm not getting the fatigue and groggyness during the day anymore. Maybe you should try that Your actually the first person I've noticed saying they take the pills at different times each day.

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Day 39

Man oh man, things keep popping up and won't go away. Two new spots, one just below my nose and one just above my lip (growing resemblance to herpes). I couldn't shower yesterday though, so there's that.

It would certainly be nice to not have to worry about forgetting one dose, but I might call the pharmacy or derm's office just to make sure; the medicine info sheet that comes with Claravis instructs you to take a divided dose. I do take them with meals, though (lunch/dinner or lunch/post-dinner meal).

Edited by ===, 05 August 2012 - 01:29 AM.

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Day 40

Good news: the three spots on the side of my face have gotten a lot smaller. Bad news: this thing on my right cheek has gotten mammoth. Left cheek doesn't look too bad. Forehead getting some stuff now, but nothing big. I just wish the larger lesions would go away more quickly, I'm scared that I'm gonna accidentally pop one and risk a deep red mark or scar. Oh, and blister pack #5 done, yay



2nd pic is a bit too flattering due to a little shakiness-- unfortunately, my red marks from pre-Accutane have not magically disappeared

Edited by ===, 06 August 2012 - 03:21 AM.