spartan32

I have had acne for 12 years now.  I have used proactiv, murad, acne.org regimen, differin, retin a, tazorac, all of the "cycline" antibiotics, zithromax, bactrim, aczone, diets, and supplements.  None of these gave me the clearing that I now demand.  

 

At the moment, I am using BP in the morning and Tazorac at night.  My acne is not widespread but every single pimple that I do get is an under the skin cyst or nodule that takes weeks to go away and leaves a pitted scar. At the moment, I have 3 deep nodules on my cheeks and forehead. Because of this, my dermatologist has agreed to start me on a 5 month cycle of Accutane starting June 25th.  I just got eyelid surgery at the end of April so they want me to go to my 8 week follow up appointment with my eye doctor first to make sure I won't need a revision. 

 

I have started this log now as I am doing a "pre-accutane" routine.  In the past, I have used a product from Green Pasture called Blue Ice Royal.  It is fermented cod liver oil mixed with high vitamin butter oil.  Anyway, it is high in natural vitamin A (the magic accutane ingredient) and has gotten and kept me completely clear for months at a time on separate occasions.  My face literally stops producing excess oil and I have no side effects at all.  The issue is that I have gotten 2 staph infections on my face when on it and I think it could be related.  Maybe I am wrong, but for this reason, I can not use this product long term.

 

My Pre-Accutane Regimen until June 25th

 

2.5% BP Mornings

Tazorac .1 at Night

1 TSP of Blue Ice Royal

100MG Doxycycline (to prevent staph infections

 

I WILL be clear when I start my Accutane course from the fermented cod liver oil.  I am hoping that since I will be going into my cycle clear, that I will not have an initial breakout as my pores will already be clear.  We will see.

 

 

Taking antibiotics prior to accutane should help prevent an inital breakout. Do you get your nodules injected with cortisone so they go away faster? Good luck with the accutane.

I have gotten a few of them injected.  The issue is my dermatologist many times will tell me they are too busy and booked for me to come in and get it injected.  They try to schedule me for an appointment in a month which pisses me off since the cyst will many times be past the point that an injection can help.  Also, my last 2 injections left serious atrophy that took a year to fill in.  

Somehow even 1 pimple has become too much for me to deal with.   Scarring will do that to you I guess and it's even worse now that my skin is much more prone to scarring at 25.  Of course I never get small pimples that go away in a few days.  Every single one that I get is under the skin and takes weeks to go away.  Unfortunately I had to quit my "cure" of fermented cod liver oil as I am convinced that it somehow caused me to get 2 terrible staph infections on my face that required me to go to the hospital both times.  It reduced the oil on my face dramatically in only a few weeks without any visible side effects such as dry lips or skin but I think it made me susceptible to infection.  Could be a coincidence but I am not willing to risk it again.

 

Either way, starting Accutane in a month.  I read some guy say this on another forum regarding Accutane and it really hit home:

 

"get accutane and risk the side effects or run the risk of living the rest of your life as a pathetic shell of a man. super serious"

 

Good quote! A few years ago I would definitely have taken it whatever the risk because my acne was impacting my life so much and I was just a student. Now I'm scared the side effects (depression mainly as I'm high risk) might stop me from working and my acne doesn't really stop me from doing anything, it just means I have to get up two hours earlier than everyone else to put on makeup  - I'm exhausted before I even leave the house! Still very glad I'm a girl though for that reason, must be tough for guys not really having that option because it does make a massive difference to how I look and feel.

Honestly I have been changing my mind on Accutane for about 7 years now.  I always kept convincing myself that my skin is not that bad and it will go away.  Diet after diet and supplement after supplement has given me obsessive tendencies toward food that makes me question everything that I eat.  I finally have come to terms with the fact that it will never go away at almost 26 years old and that it is just fools gold every time I clear up.  It is literally a roller coaster and I decided that it is time to stop fooling myself and do what is necessary.

It does suck not being able to cover my skin with anything but I know all too well having to wake up early and make sure that I am home at a certain time at night so I can apply my BP.  It literally runs my life.  The thought of not having to be a slave to a topical routine or get up early to apply makeup in your case does sound amazing doesn't it?

Regarding the side effects.  I feel like they are massively exaggerated and I blindly believed in them all for too long. The king of broscience thread, "repairing the long term damage of accutane" should have a huge disclaimer to alert people not to buy into the b.s.  It had turned me and probably many other people off to a drug that could have otherwise saved us a ton of anxiety and stress.  In my mind, Accutane was 100 percent going to turn me into a bald, suicidal man with crohn's disease and erectile dysfunction if I was lucky to only escape with that.  Of course some people experience some side effects and that is undeniable but other people are too quick to blame Accutane for every single problem in their life.  I see stories of guys in their early 20's saying that Accutane has caused them hair loss.  I have so many friends in their early to mid 20s that have never taken Accutane and are fully bald or seriously thinning.  Is it the Accutane or the fact that many guys are just genetically prone to start losing hair around this age?

Sorry for the rant but good luck with what you decide to do!

Somehow even 1 pimple has become too much for me to deal with.   Scarring will do that to you I guess and it's even worse now that my skin is much more prone to scarring at 25.  Of course I never get small pimples that go away in a few days.  Every single one that I get is under the skin and takes weeks to go away.  Unfortunately I had to quit my "cure" of fermented cod liver oil as I am convinced that it somehow caused me to get 2 terrible staph infections on my face that required me to go to the hospital both times.  It reduced the oil on my face dramatically in only a few weeks without any visible side effects such as dry lips or skin but I think it made me susceptible to infection.  Could be a coincidence but I am not willing to risk it again.

Either way, starting Accutane in a month.  I read some guy say this on another forum regarding Accutane and it really hit home:

"get accutane and risk the side effects or run the risk of living the rest of your life as a pathetic shell of a man. super serious"

Where is the truth?

 

I've trawled the interwebs for the truth, nothing. This whole ordeal is probably just as bad as the religion debate, the creationism vs evolution debate; never-ending and seemingly without a proven, consise conclusion or evidence to support a side. Maybe there isn't truth?

 

I've pretty much given up on researching Accutane and it's side effects. There's only the black and the white. Depression/Crohn's Disease/Inflammatory Bowel Disease vs. The mild dryness of skin/lips. With the people giving advice being basically "sheep", the blind Christian or the manic Athiest, with only past experience to support their arguments. 

 

It basically comes down a coin flip right? Or maybe not?

 

What really confuses me is how on Earth, after 30 or so years of pure "Accutane is the only solution for severe acne", has the human race not discovered or developed a consistent, safe treatment for acne? Like c'mon, with all this technology, one would think.. ah well.

Google Glass is still cooler right?

 

Thank you.

I think you should take it.  I have finally made that decision and should have done it YEARS ago.  At almost 26 and still breaking out like I am a teenager, I am ready to give it a go.  I truly believe that none of the side effects can be worse than the constant anxiety, stress, and depression that acne has caused me.  Nothing is worse than not being able to look myself in the mirror.

Don't become me and some of the other people on this forum who are on multiple topicals, ridiculous diets, a ton of supplements, always searching for the "root cause".  Even if you find it, do you want to be on a gluten free/dairy free or whatever the hell it is diet for the rest of your life?

While Accutane doesn't cure everyone and for some people it does come back, there is no other medication that offers a chance at curing you.  BP, Diet, Antibiotics, all are all bandaids in the end as when you slack off or stop doing them, the acne comes right back.

I am in a similar position to you.  I am almost 26 and probably going on Accutane but the initial breakout is scaring me the most.  I am considering asking for an antibiotic to take for the first 2 months or go on a strict anti-inflammatory diet.  There really isn't much information available on how to avoid it.