11 replies to this topic

[zeddo]

Hi guys. I'm a 20 year old guy from Sydney, Australia and this is my Roaccutane journal. The purpose of this journal is for me to keep track of my progress, share thoughts, ask questions and generally mingle with other people who have this problem.

 

Today is my first day of Accutane. The course will apparently be 6 months long. Along with the accutane i'm on EES  for a few weeks (also known as Erythromycin i believe) as recommended by my derm to reduce the effects of the initial breakout. I started the EES about 5 days ago. 

 

I'm on 10mg of Accutane a day for two weeks, then 20mg for two weeks, then finally 30mg until my next checkup with the derm in 2 months time (April 14 i think). 

 

I start my Uni semester in less than two weeks but I'm not worried about the initial breakout cause, lets face it, i'm a baws. Anyway, I'm more interested in getting this solved for the long term.

 

I've bought a cleanser by Cetaphil, not really sure how to use it in conjuction with the accutane treatment. Should i cleanse while i shower in the evening? In the morning when i wakeup ? Once or twice a day? Etc. If anyone could help me with that i'd appreciate it.

 

That's all i can think of to say in my first post, lets hope for the best! Oh, and i'll upload pics later today or tomorrow.

 

[fairlybored]

hey, good luck to you i'm on accutane, 10mg a day for 2 weeks then 20mg for another 2 weeks. i started 5 days ago.  i'm also starting uni in 2 weeks time i'm pretty much on the same boat as you- praying for no huge breakout when uni starts lol.i reckon you should wash your face once in the morning and once at night, that is what most people do. 

[zeddo]

hey, good luck to you i'm on accutane, 10mg a day for 2 weeks then 20mg for another 2 weeks. i started 5 days ago.  i'm also starting uni in 2 weeks time i'm pretty much on the same boat as you- praying for no huge breakout when uni starts lol.i reckon you should wash your face once in the morning and once at night, that is what most people do. 

 

Hey fairlybored! Good luck to you aswell, our courses sound very similar. Thanks for the advice, that sounds fair enough. 

 

Just got home from the gym, I felt like an old man during my workout. My imagination, or possibly due to the accutane + antibiotics im on right now?

 

Gonna put up some pics soon.

[zeddo]

Here are pics of me on Day 1. I just came back from the gym a couple hours ago, and i haven't yet washed my face so it probably looks oilier than it should.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those side photos were surprisingly tricky to take  As you can see, most of my acne is focused around the sides of my face and around my jaw.

Edited by zeddo, 18 February 2013 - 07:43 AM.

[zeddo]

About a week ago I started taking cold showers. At first i did it just to wake me up (it makes me want to climb mount Everest after wrestling a bear), but after some googling it apparently helps your skin too, and some people have had good results with it.

 

What i do is, i shower normally (in warm water) which takes about 5-10 mins. Then, i turn the warm water off (not gradually, i do it in one go) and just stand under the cold water for 1-2 mins. It's a bit of a shock to your system but i seem to be getting used to it. I'm not sure if its due to the cold showers, but i don't seem to be getting any more breakouts on my back/shoulders due to this. 

[lila19]

Hey, your acne doesn't look bad. It's mostly about red marks right? From my experience, these don't get better during the course with Accutane... they disappear afterwards (or so I read!)

 

Anyway, good luck to you!

About a week ago I started taking cold showers. At first i did it just to wake me up (it makes me want to climb mount Everest after wrestling a bear), but after some googling it apparently helps your skin too, and some people have had good results with it.

 

What i do is, i shower normally (in warm water) which takes about 5-10 mins. Then, i turn the warm water off (not gradually, i do it in one go) and just stand under the cold water for 1-2 mins. It's a bit of a shock to your system but i seem to be getting used to it. I'm not sure if its due to the cold showers, but i don't seem to be getting any more breakouts on my back/shoulders due to this. 

 

Yeah I do that too! It's amazing how it gets your blood pumping!

[zeddo]

Hey, your acne doesn't look bad. It's mostly about red marks right? From my experience, these don't get better during the course with Accutane... they disappear afterwards (or so I read!)

 

Anyway, good luck to you!

About a week ago I started taking cold showers. At first i did it just to wake me up (it makes me want to climb mount Everest after wrestling a bear), but after some googling it apparently helps your skin too, and some people have had good results with it.

 

What i do is, i shower normally (in warm water) which takes about 5-10 mins. Then, i turn the warm water off (not gradually, i do it in one go) and just stand under the cold water for 1-2 mins. It's a bit of a shock to your system but i seem to be getting used to it. I'm not sure if its due to the cold showers, but i don't seem to be getting any more breakouts on my back/shoulders due to this. 

 

Yeah I do that too! It's amazing how it gets your blood pumping!

 

Hi lila!

 

That's bad news, very bad news! How could you lila, now my hopes for a quick recovery are down in the gutter.

 

Just messing with you, on a serious note it's not just red marks but i took the photos with my phone camera so maybe it's not clear

 

 

 

Quick update while i'm at it, it's nearly day 3, i haven't noticed any noteworthy difference. No side effects yet either. 

Edited by zeddo, 19 February 2013 - 06:23 AM.

[zeddo]

I snapped at someone today for no reason (in a way that made me stop and reflect on what i did, not sure why i did it), and I've just been feeling down the whole day for no reason. I attribute this to the accutane. 

 

Regarding my skin, no major change though my mum mentioned my acne looks redder.

[NoMoreDotToDot]

Good luck to you

[zeddo]

Good luck to you

 

 

Thank you

 

Currently on day 8 of accutane, and I'm writing this before I head off to my first day of uni. My initial breakout is under way, but its not so bad - have a few more breakouts around my jaw and my acne is redder in general. I don't mind as long as it improves.

 

Regarding side effects, its been fine. My lips are a bit dry, but thats probably more cause of the hot weather and the fact i need to drink more water. I do have strange mood swings now and then and last night it took me an hour to fall asleep (longest its taken in a long time, i usually fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow).

 

Too long; didn't read: Everythings going as expected.

[zeddo]

Today officially marks 2 weeks of accutane 10mg for me, and as recommended by my derm, i'm bumping it up to 20mg a day. Another two weeks from now, i'll bump it up to 30mg a day, until finally a month after that i have another appointment with my derm to see how i went/ decide what to do next.

 

Regarding how my acne is so far - i have had a few more breakouts around my jaw especially (i attribute that to the 'initial breakout' phase), but i seem to have stopped getting any cysts or 'deep pimples' (except for one on my chest, but i think ive had that before i started the accutane. Haven't really paid attention), the breakouts ive had are just red pimples for the most part (much like the ones in the third picture i posted).

 

The only side effect i've experienced without a doubt so far, is dry lips. 

 

So far so good. 

[zeddo]

Day 18. Last night i had the biggest headache of my life, apparently it was due to dehydration from the accutane. Now i keep a filled water bottle with me at all times. 

 

Besides that, my acne is improving. It's hard to say whether the acne on my face is improving, its probably too early to tell for sure. But the acne on my shoulders is definitely looking better, so that's good I read somewhere that body acne usually goes away before face acne does

 

I'll put up new pictures at the 1 month mark