I wanna play too!

I didn't plan to keep an Accutane log at first, but then I remembered how much I love feedback, so I'm doing it anyway.

I am a 26 year old female who has had acne since age 11 or so. My breakouts subsided quite a bit during my teen years, then 3 years ago my face absolutely exploded in cysts. I was clear on spironolactone and various antibiotics for about 10 months, and am still pretty much clear now, but I have what my derm calls "poor skin quality." My skin is super duper oily, and my pores stay huge to allow the oil to stream out of them constantly. Texture is really sucky and I have boxcar scars all over both cheeks. So he decided to put me on Accutane to get rid of the oil and hopefully stop the breakouts for good. I stayed on spiro and doxy until last Thursday when he wrote the prescription - he is hoping to avoid an IB though I'm not optimistic.

Here is a pic from October 2008, right after I started spiro:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j91/awhi...ogress/oct4.jpg

And here is a pic I just took today. I do have a little bit of makeup left that hasn't been washed away by oil in this picture. Sadly, I just blotted about half an hour before I took the picture.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j91/awhi...ss/DSC01633.jpg

So right now I am in a much better starting position than many people here and I'm grateful for that. Most of my red marks are finally gone and I don't have many active breakouts at all. However, my mother is still oily and breaking out at 50, and I have ZERO intention of continuing this for 20+ years. I know I will never be a super model, but I at least want to look in the mirror without wanting to cry.

Anyway, I am on day two of 40mg and of course so far I haven't noticed anything except a few small bumps on my forehead and worse oiliness than usual. I really hope all the oil is being pushed out of my pores - derm says I should be much drier when I go back in two weeks to check in, so I'm taking his word for it.

I ramble too much. That's me and my log, so we'll see how things go!

anyone ever used Xerac AC?

I am wondering if my derm has lost his mind since I can't find any references to this drug here on the site.

My derm prescribed me Xerac AC today. When I googled it, I found out it is a topical ointment used for excessive sweating! He told me to put this on my face twice a day in hopes it would decrease oiliness. I don't sweat much at all, so I'm not sure why a medicine for sweating would make a difference in my oily skin.

This is my last attempt to decrease oiliness before starting low-dose Accutane. I have hopes that it will work but I'm pretty nervous about trying this! If anyone has information I would appreciate it.

question before I start

My derm is planning to start me on Accutane toward the end of June. Right now I am mostly clear (no cysts, just blackheads) on spiro and doxy, but my skin is just SOO incredibly oily that he thinks Accutane will end this madness once and for all.

I'm very nervous about starting, like everyone else who posts here, but I'm wondering if it's too drastic given the fact that I'm cleared up right now. Is Accutane the right solution for excessive oiliness? Even on spiro, which has dried me up a lot, my face is sopping with oil after a few hours. I really think I could stop the other medicines if the oil would go away, but I don't know if it will return after the course is finished.

trouble viewing older multi-page threads

I've noticed that any time an old thread is bumped up, the forum list shows it as one page even if there are 100 replies. When I click on the topic, there are several pages listed, but each page has the same posts. I don't know if that makes any sense, but I've noticed it for the last 2 weeks or so. Anyone know what's going on?

derm changed my prescriptions.... have questions

I'm still taking spironolactone, but my derm changed me from Solodyn to doxycycline and from Klaron lotion to Vanoxide HC. I've searched the forums, so I know what to expect from doxy, but I've never even heard of Vanoxide HC and there aren't many threads on it.

It came in a kit with a teeny bottle of the actual medicine and something called ABC lotion. The lotion says it is a "gentle cleanser" and to apply to the skin and wipe off excess. However, I also have the teeny bottle that I'm supposed to apply and leave on, so it's confusing. Do I use the cleanser, leave it on, then apply the Vanoxide on top of it? Do I apply the Vanoxide first, then the ABC lotion? The directions are totally unclear! Also, will this cleanse as in take off makeup, or do I need to remove makeup THEN use the cleanser? I'm already nervous because it has BP in it, which has never worked well for me, and now I have a kit that should probably be easy to figure out but isn't.

I would appreciate any info on how to do this - I'm going to start it tonight if I can figure it out!