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[mdp703]

Week 14
Well, it's been another 2 weeks and I don't have a ton to report. Good news is that I've only had about 3 new pimples since my last post. All the red spots are slowly healing. I actually quit washing my face with any product in the mornings. Just use a quick splash of water. I'm finding my skin is liking this change. It almost feels and lookings normal other than the few spots. This is a change from the inflamed and splotchiness I had. I still use the differin as well. I've had one spot on my chin area do its hard to say how much of the improvement is the minocycline vs differin.
Overall, I am happy with my progress. I will update in another week.

[Brownilocks]

**Day 61**

Well I've just started my first day of my 3rd month and I have to say things are calming down. The old spots are still there and still get stuff in them sometimes but they are much smaller than before. (Added a new pic to my gallery to show my progress.) The cysts are the worst and taking the longest to die down, but they are smaller and my face hurts less overall. That said, I AM still breaking out as of now. I have 2 that I couldn't get a good picture of on my right jaw line. The biggest one is larger than a quarter and its like 2 cysts fused into 1 really big nodule. It sticks up about 1/2 inch from my face and is very large and somewhat sore and doesn't seem to want to change or go away or drain or anything! Its been there since day 35 and now has a much smaller twin coming up right beside it...

 

As for side effects, lower back hurts if I work out too much and I get pretty tired these days. As you can see from the pic, lips are starting to dry out more. Hair is still dry and skin is starting to get drier with a few dry patches on arms. Nose still dry but not quite as bad as before.

 

My derm says this month is the "magic month" and I should see a lot of clearing coming. Still on 60mg a day but if I get any more new cysts or don't clear much more this month I'm getting bumped up next month. I have good days and bad days right now. Some days I'm happy with my progress, others I'm upset that its taking so long and that I've got this new monster on the right side of my face. I don't understand why this takes so long... It wouldn't be so bad if my pimples were NORMAL but they aren't and the others on here who have cystic acne like me are the only ones who can relate to this. I just never see anyone else walking around with this kind of stuff on their faces. So nice to have this forum to at least have people going through the same thing who can ACTUALLY understand in a way no one else does no matter how hard they try to sympathize...

 

I have a question about the accutane pills for anyone else who's had this experience. Anyone ever had one pop open? I took the first pill of my month 3 pack today and when I got it out it was oily and I noticed some oil in the packet. Took it anyways, just hoping there's nothing wrong with my pills??? I left them in the car the day I got them and it was about 50 degrees (says to store at 68-77 on the package). Worried I screwed them up...

 

That's all for now, will update again soon if there are any new changes!

[mdp703]

4 months and some (about 19 weeks)
Things are looking really good. Since my last post, my skin just continued to improve. I was actually able to give up make up, which is the first time in almost 15 years. I can't even describe the effect it is having on my life. I dont have to hide my skin anymore.
Skin details- I have one zit. It is one that started as that big red spot a couple months ago and it just goes back and forth between being a red spot and zit. It's weird and persistent. I just started using differin on it so I'm hoping this helps. Other than that, I just have about five or so red spots that are healing. I occasionally get pimples but when they form they are just that....a pimple. I used to never get just one pimple, but instead a whole rash of them together that were really inflamed. Now, a pimple may develop but it doesnt get super red and goes away really quickly.
In terms of products, I am just using my face wash/toner/etc at night. I just splash with water in the morning. I wear sunscreen every day. I also apply differin to my chin area once per day.
Given how well things are going, I've been reluctant to quit the minocycline. I know I have to though. I am going to start weaning myself off in the near future, maybe go down to 100mg soon. I'm nervous about it though. I am hoping using differin will help.
I am not on the message boards as much anymore, but I will try to keep updating everyone every couple weeks.

[mdp703]

5 months
Time for my update. Overall things are good. My skin has continued to stay relatively clear and I am going makeupless. However, I've tried to wean myself off of minocycline slowly and I'm not having much success. I tried going to alternating between 200mg and 100mg each day, but within a week, I find myself getting a couple fresh pimples. Once I go back up to 200mg, my skin will clear within about five days. I've done this cycle about three times, but it is still the same. It is quite discouraging. I knew all about the rebound effect of antibiotics, but I am still hoping I can find some way to wean myself off successfully. The differin doesn't seem to be helping as I get pimples there or other places equally. I see my derm this week so I'm going to talk with her and see if she can come up with any ideas.
With that said, the break from years of acne has been such a relief that I am still happy I am on the antibiotics. Just need to find what to do next that can be longer term.

[mdp703]

I saw my derm today and we came up with no viable way to ween me off without breaking out. I can't stay on the minocycline due to some unpleasant side effects, so we are talking of going back on birth control. Very disappointing! I was off all meds for about three years with no success, so at this point we don't think I have any options but going on something long term.