16 replies to this topic

[dannyr]

Hey! I know there are SO many accutane logs, but I thought I'd make one, because for me, no matter how many I read, I learnt something new from everyone one of them, so I hope that mine helps some of you guys!
I'm Danny, 16, 17 on Monday, and I went to the dermatologist today (yesterday actually, it's past midnight now) and received my first course of accutane (30mg, 5 weeks). I thought I'd have to wait much longer as I've heard that some of you guys get blood tests then are not able to start for a month or so after. However, I had my blood tested today, and received the accutane today too, and I can start the course once my doctor phones me tomorrow and confirms that the blood tests are okay, so fingers crossed!!
I've had acne since I was around 12, and I've tried all of the over the counter stuff you can think of, I then tried benzoyl peroxide for a loooongggg time, and then oxytetracyline anti biotics along with benzoyl for around 6 months, and nothing!
So my doc finally referred me to the derm and I got it today!
So I shall be updating this every few days with anything new, or even if nothing has changed!
And as I say, I've read almost every one of the accutane logs on here, but if any of you have any advice that I might not have found out, for example, what helped you when are were on accutane, or what products you are finding useful it will be greatly appreciated!
Hopefully this will be a birthday to remember, as it is when I started my journey to be ACNE FREE!
Feel free to ask me some questions, and I may have missed things off because I'm rather tired right now. I can also upload pics along the way if that helps

Hope I haven't bored you too much already, there's still 6 months of this to come

[heather135]

Hey! I'm glad you've finally been allowed to start accutane! Kind of feels like a relief when the derm says they'll prescribe you it eh?

Anyway just thought I'd recommend a really good lip balm I've been using religiously since starting accutane. It's Nivea Essential Care, it's in a blue tube. I don't know if you live in the UK or not but if you do, you can get them in Home Bargains for just over a pound. It is the best I have experienced so far, vaseline does absolutely nothing for dry lips, well I think not anyway. The lips are the first to get dry, but once my skin itself started getting dry I used Oilatum (you can get it in Boots). It is a face cream recommended to me by a pharmacist, full of all natural ingredients and I have found it to be the best at being absorbed by the skin. Also Nivea SOFT, not the Nivea Creme in the blue tub, Nivea SOFT in the white tub. I find this stuff very good and it is cheaper than the Oilatum.

Well, good luck to you on your course. Make sure you drink loads of water to avoid the pesky headaches and you'll be fine

[dannyr]

Hello again! I received the phone call from my derm today and she said that I'm good to go with the accutane! So...

DAY ONE - The Journey Begins!

I've just took my first three tablets (one 20mg, and two 5mg) of a LOT more to come!
I have heard I should get ahead of the dryness so I've stocked up on lip balms, vaseline, moisturiser etc.
Since it's day one, there's obviously nothing to report, so I'll continue with the log tomorrow.

Hey! I'm glad you've finally been allowed to start accutane! Kind of feels like a relief when the derm says they'll prescribe you it eh?

Anyway just thought I'd recommend a really good lip balm I've been using religiously since starting accutane. It's Nivea Essential Care, it's in a blue tube. I don't know if you live in the UK or not but if you do, you can get them in Home Bargains for just over a pound. It is the best I have experienced so far, vaseline does absolutely nothing for dry lips, well I think not anyway. The lips are the first to get dry, but once my skin itself started getting dry I used Oilatum (you can get it in Boots). It is a face cream recommended to me by a pharmacist, full of all natural ingredients and I have found it to be the best at being absorbed by the skin. Also Nivea SOFT, not the Nivea Creme in the blue tub, Nivea SOFT in the white tub. I find this stuff very good and it is cheaper than the Oilatum.

Well, good luck to you on your course. Make sure you drink loads of water to avoid the pesky headaches and you'll be fine

Thanks! I bought some of the Nivea Essential Care lip balm you recommended today, hopefully it'll work as well for me as it did for you!

[dannyr]

DAY TWO

Just a quick update, nothing much is new as expected! Face did feel a little more dry than usual this morning but it may just be a coincidence, I'm not too sure how quick it starts working?
I'll try and take some photos tomorrow to and upload them to here so it can be compared throughout the journey!

Also - off topic, it was results day today! I only had my AS results which were... a little worse than expected, but I'm still through to next year which was my main concern! Any of you guys get your results too? How did you do?

More updates tomorrow!

[dannyr]

Sorry about the delay, been really busy so I'll include Day 3 and 4 here.

DAY THREE

Woke up to a few new spots on my cheeks, not terrible, but I must say that my face is now worse than when I started accutane. However, this definitely isn't as bad as an IB just yet, I think. Haven't noticed any dryness yet, been using a little moisturiser of a morning but not a lot at all.


DAY FOUR

Woke up to a few more spots dotted around my face, forehead, cheeks, and one on my chin, but still, I don't think this is the IB. Face was a little dryer than usual so I used some moisturiser. I have been using Nivea Essential care for my lips and fingers crossed it's been working because they haven't been dry yet. Also been using Vaseline for my nose every other day just so it hopefully prevents the dryness before it actually comes (there's logic in that somewhere...)

[dannyr]

DAY FIVE

It's my birthday! 17 at last!
Woke up with a little dryness but was fixed immediately with a small amount of moisturiser. No more spots than yesterday but the ones that I had haven't started to disappear yet. Still no signs of an IB...

DAY SIX

So I'm really proud of myself because I managed not to drink at all for my birthday! i'm sure I will make up for it on my 18th, if I'm off accutane by then (hopefully!)
Not much to repot today, just carrying on with the moisturiser and lip balm to keep the dryness away, but still haven't noticed any side affects. Not sure how long it takes to get them...

[dannyr]

DAY SEVEN

So the first week is over already! Still no noticeable side affects, maybe a little more dryness than usual, and obviously the extra spots I've gained (some pretty big ones too!). I'm hoping this is all the IB is, but I'm afraid I think that there are a lot more to come! I have also noticed that my lips do get pretty dry, but it's easy to keep up with, with some sort of lip balm.

DAY EIGHT

Got a few extra spots around my nose, but I think that's because I've been using excessive vaseline to stop the dryness, and the oil has made it worse! Can't win!
Also when I showered today my hair felt a bit dryer than usual, but I just used a little conditioner and it seems fine now.


Does anyone know when I will stop getting more and more spots? Hopefully it'll be before the 10th september when I go back to college!

[dannyr]

Oh, also, my log is getting a little lonely, it'd be good if some people would share their experiences when they were at this stage so I know what I've got to come!

[dannyr]

DAY NINE

Face has got a little better this morning surprisingly, hopefully I won't get another breakout before sunday because I'm going paintballing and it's not really a great thing to do with a sh*t load of spots on your face!
My face has also gone a little more dry overnight too, but moisturiser fixes it no problem.
My log is so boring but there's really not much to report at all!

[heather135]

Oh, also, my log is getting a little lonely, it'd be good if some people would share their experiences when they were at this stage so I know what I've got to come!

Hey! When I was at your stage I was getting small breakouts in the form of whiteheads, nothing I couldn't handle and they went away pretty quickly! The most annoying thing for me at that stage was my skins general appearance. My pores got bigger and blackheads became more noticable. My skin is actually at it's worst right now (day 59) and I'm thinking that's me finally having my IB. Quite unfortuante as I'm going on a mini trip next week to Holland so I'm pretty gutted but ahh well, it's just the accutane doing its thing! Try not to over think things too much because on accutane, things get better, then worse, then better, then worse. Just try not get too upset when you thinkg your skin is getting better then you break out again. No pain, no gain at the end of the day. Hope your skin holds up for paintballing I went painballing once when I was on holiday in France and me and my friend were up against these huge German guys, it was terrifying lol.

[RobbyC]

Make sure you use a ton of sunscreen all over your body when you go to play paintball man! Sounds like you're having an ok week so far. Mine has started off pretty bad, this is definitely my IB phase my Acne has never been worse than it is right now.

P.S. Happy Belated birthday!

Edited by RobbyC, 25 August 2012 - 08:23 AM.

[dannyr]

Make sure you use a ton of sunscreen all over your body when you go to play paintball man! Sounds like you're having an ok week so far. Mine has started off pretty bad, this is definitely my IB phase my Acne has never been worse than it is right now.

P.S. Happy Belated birthday!

I was pretty covered up so I was fine thankfully! I didn't see your post until I got back and I completely forgot about sunscreen! How far are you into your course now?

Haha thanks!




DAY TEN

A few more whiteheads today but nothing too bad, lips are starting to feel drier and drier each day now, so I'm using the lip balms, vaseline etc much much more.


DAY ELEVEN

I had two relatively large spots on the bottom of my right cheek yesterday, but now they have turned huuggeee!! Lips are also still pretty dry of a morning and also have started to crack a little bit (due to not being able to put lip balm on through the night).
Still not feeling too bad though, and I'm still optimistic after the many success stories I've seen!
Paintballing was also pretty good! Thankfully the aching joints haven't come to me from accutane (yet!) so I was fine to play at my best ability


DAY TWELVE

Those few huge spots seem to have calmed down a little now, and all in all, my face is starting to look like it did before I started accutane. I know there are some breakouts still to come but I'm feeling pretty good today! A few more whiteheads like usual, but they're nothing compared to those huge spots I had yesterday!

Edited by dannyr, 27 August 2012 - 04:44 AM.

[dannyr]

DAY THIRTEEN

More, more and more spots! They don't seem to stop! A few small ones and two rather big ones, on my cheek and forehead today. Face has become a bit more dry too, and lips are becoming really annoying now!
However, I'll still try and stay positive!

Quick question, I dunno if this is stupid or not, but oh well! Does accutane help back acne too? Mine isn't terrible, but there are a few spots/small pimples there.

[dannyr]

DAY FOURTEEN

Face has become even drier of a morning, so I've been COATING it in moisturiser before I go to bed. Also coating lips with vaseline of a night seem to keep them from getting dry the next morning. Few extra big spots today too, nothing major though.

DAY FIFTEEN

May be a coincidence but I've noticed my back has been aching a little today. I may just be over reacting, and it's definitely nothing too serious.
I have still been going running btw too while taking accutane, and it seems to be fine, it could have even been running which has pulled my back.

DAY SIXTEEN

Face is looking a little better than the last few days now. Redness has gone down quite a bit, but still got a few pretty big spots from the last few days. Been holding off shaving for as long as possible too, so I don't aggravate it too much. Overall though, these last sixteen days haven't been bad at all! Simple moisturising and vaseline have been working fine. Hopefully it doesn't get much worse!

[Jay1993]

Hey you started 6 days before me an it does help with back acne mine is getting a lot better

Good luck with your treatment

[dannyr]

Hey you started 6 days before me an it does help with back acne mine is getting a lot better

Good luck with your treatment

Ah that's great, thanks, you too!

[dannyr]

DAY SEVENTEEN

Had a nosebleed today, not sure if it was related to this but my derm did say that could happen. However, my nose does not feel dry inside at all, but I've been using more vaseline since so hopefully it won't happen again. Right side of my face is much worse than the left too, so I keep sitting on chairs with the left side of my face facing the majority of people
I also ALMOST forgot to take my tablet today, but strangely enough it struck me while I was lying in bed at 1:30am

DAY EIGHTEEN

More of the same, dryness but nothing terrible, and I've also got a few more spots around the back of my neck than I had before.
I'd say that they are still definitely worse than when I started the accutane, but not incredibly worse. Still thinking positive!