Acne.org Products
First I'd like to apologize for the lateness of this post. I got really tied around thanksgiving and the time has just flown by since then. anyways lets get to the skin...
Over the past 21 days, I have seen a great improvement in my skin. My chin has about 2/3 cysts that are still there, but are fading in both color and size. My cheeks have more acne than im used to, about 3 cysts on my left cheek, and one small pimple on my right cheek. My upper lip acne briefly returned but is quickly fading away. My forehead has a lot of small pimples on it right now and is probably the worst area of my face. My shoulders and neck are currently much improved, mostly just red marks with only a couple active pimples left. And to finish things off, I have 2 tiny pimples on my chest (both right next to eachother) that are very stubborn and don't want to leave quite yet. I realize this all must sound like quite a bit, but trust me, its GREATLY improved and looks pretty darn good right now.
Side effects: DRY EVERYTHING. When I first read other peoples posts about how dry their skin was while on accutane, I figured I'd just have to have a little chapstick and moisturize my skin in the morning as usual. I WAS DEAD WRONG. Every day I need to use Aquaphor (like a high strength vaseline) on my lips at least 3 times per day, other ways they get all chapped and cracked and gross to even look at. My skin is flaky as anything, I have to apply at least 4 coats of moisturizer in the morning, and even that won't last me through the day. The dry air from the freezing winter months dont help much either 
I should also mention my back feels really sore and so do my knees while exercising. Its not a crippling side effect (you get used to it), but it is certainly annoying. I usually just take an advil or two before practice and I'm fine though.
No signs of depression what so ever...Im learning this is an extremely rare side effect and I dont think parents of kids considering to use this medication should be worried about it. The dermatologist does a really good job of monitoring you while on this medication so nothing bad can really happen.
Well thats about all for now..i'll be sure to post back more frequently with updates...enjoy the holidays!
Face:7
Neck:7.5
Shoulders/back: 6.5
Hope everybody had an enjoyable holiday this year. My skin has had a positive stretch in the past few weeks. It's all really starting to come together now. I have about 2 active pimples left!!!This is a significant decrease from September when I had roughly 10-15. I am no longer so ashamed of my face. But we're not quite done yet. Two things need to happen during months 4&5 to get me clear: 1. New pimples need to stop popping up...permanently. and 2. redmarks need to disappear. Now these are two very big and hard to do tasks. I obviously need the new pimples to stop completely to get clear, and I believe im getting close to that point. So with no new active pimples on my face, I am still left with redmarks from old pimples all over. These take a while to fade I know, but I'm hoping the accutane can speed it up.
My neck is much improved as well. Currently I do not have any active pimples on my neck, just a few redmarks that should fade away over time. My shoulders and back have both significantly improved with maybe 2-3 (small) actives left. This have significantly decreased from having at least 15 actives before (and during the first month or two) treatment. My chest strangely has 2 brand new pimples on it, 1 is a cyst. However both have gotten smaller the past two days and should be gone by next week.
My dermatologist said that month 4 will be the biggest month for clearing my skin. I will begin month 4 on January 5th.
Face:8.5
Neck:8.5
Shoulders:7.5
PS: I do have a "before" picture and will wait to take the "after" picture until I am done with treatment. After I have both pictures I will post immediately.
Wow good for you. Hope everything goes well.
Well for Emily not so good news. We went today for her 4 month on Accutane and it turns out her liver enzyme profile was elevated at 58.
We had to see a different derm but she said if the liver profile doesnt go down next month we will have to reduce the dosage or discontinue the therapy. Emily is only on 40 mg, so this totally sucks.
Other than the liver profile, she has not other side effects. I am just surprised at this low dosage that it would go up. I am thinking she had a lot of fat and carbs in her diet in the last few weeks with the holidays and all and maybe that has thrown off the numbers.
I am going to make sure she drinks more water, and watches her fat and carb intake. She is an athlete so we always thought the carbs would be good for her. I guess not while on tane.
Keep up the posts!!
Wow good for you. Hope everything goes well.
Well for Emily not so good news. We went today for her 4 month on Accutane and it turns out her liver enzyme profile was elevated at 58.
We had to see a different derm but she said if the liver profile doesnt go down next month we will have to reduce the dosage or discontinue the therapy. Emily is only on 40 mg, so this totally sucks.
Other than the liver profile, she has not other side effects. I am just surprised at this low dosage that it would go up. I am thinking she had a lot of fat and carbs in her diet in the last few weeks with the holidays and all and maybe that has thrown off the numbers.
I am going to make sure she drinks more water, and watches her fat and carb intake. She is an athlete so we always thought the carbs would be good for her. I guess not while on tane.
Keep up the posts!!
Hey I'm so sorry to hear about Emily's status! Last time I had my bloodwork done, my carbs and trigs had nearly tripled since my baseline test. However, my derm's reasoning was that the blood was taken a few days after thanksgiving, which would explain such high level increases. I'm getting my month 4 blood taken tomorrow so hopefully things will be back to normal...just have to hope that xmas dinner won't throw it off again.
I wouldn't be too surprised about the liver profile just because shes on a lower dose. The dose's are meant to be proportional to the persons body weight, so technically 40 mg should affect her body the same way 60mg would affect my body. Not sure if that makes sense but what I'm trying to say is that 40mg's is probably the max her body can handle, even though its low compared to other peoples dosage just because they are bigger. Lowering her dosage should of course help, but then the final results of the treatment won't be as quite as good...its a tough choice.
Well I hope her skin is at least a little better after all thats gone through...its tough stuff to take and it sucks if you can't finish it off. Hope all goes well and keep me up to date!
Ryan, best of luck! 
I'm also 14 years old and it's great to hear from someone the same age because most of the logs are people in their 20's. I start in about 2 weeks because i need my first blood test and i'm so excited to finally have clear skin. I'll deffinitely be trying the Cerave products because I have very dry skin. Stay positive and keep all of us posted. Good luck on your journey.
Ryan, best of luck!
I'm also 14 years old and it's great to hear from someone the same age because most of the logs are people in their 20's. I start in about 2 weeks because i need my first blood test and i'm so excited to finally have clear skin. I'll deffinitely be trying the Cerave products because I have very dry skin. Stay positive and keep all of us posted. Good luck on your journey.
Hey Livmack, congrats on your accutane start! Your taking a huge step towards clear skin. I'm very very glad to see that you really read through all my posts (theyre a bit long) and picked up on the Cerave products. I would def. recommend them (so would my derm.) because they are gentle and moisturizing, which trust me you will need.
When you stop by the drugstore to get your cleanser and moisturizer, you should really also get some sort of lip balm/moisturizer. Do not use Chapstick or other similar brands. My dermatologist said this is like rubbing wax on your lips and does not moisturize them at all, they may actually just make it worse. I would recommend using either Aquaphor or just pure Vaseline. From my experience these two give the longest lasting moisture but they do need to be re-applied every few hours once you get well into your accutane course.
My earlier posts should give you an idea of what to expect, but if not feel free to ask me anything, I'm always happy to help.
Good luck and keep me posted!
It's hard to believe that I am already approaching my final month of accutane. My skin has went through a drastic transformation over these months and my acne has finally been banished. I am proud to say that I no longer have any active signs of acne. The only exception is red marks. Although my skin is smooth as anything, my skin is still plagued with many old red marks from when my acne was pretty severe. They are mostly along my jaw, with a few on my cheeks and chin. They are realllly annoying because there's nothing the accutane can do to help it, because they aren't pimples just flat, dead red marks on my face and shoulders. I did a little reading and most people said you have to give it a couple months after accutane is finished for them to clear up, but I'm going to ask my dermatologist next time i see her to ask if there's a product that could speed up the healing of these red marks.
Other than that, my skin is very very very very dry. This includes: flaking of facial skin throughout the day, dry hands, forearms, legs, shoulders, neck...just about everything. Lips also get very chapped if gone unprotected. To combat this I use about 4 layers of Cerave moisturizer in the morning on my face, and carry some in a small bottle throughout the day so I can stop the flaking whenever I notice it. I recently just started using some Vaseline body moisturizer for my hands and arms, it works like a charm. Pure Petroleum Jelly (Vaseline) on the lips and I'm all set.
Face:9
Neck:9.5
Shoulders:8.5
Hi, ryan.
I am a 13 year old who started accutane one week ago. i want to let you know how i am doing, if you look in my pro there is a link to my log. it will be interested to see how I am doing. i am taking 80 mg a day, what are you taking? also, i read you log, and it didnt seem like you got an IB, i got mine right away!! hopefully the worst is gone, and it gets better before the end of APRIL!
thanks,
mike
I have been done with accutane for about a month now. Heres how I would wrap up my treatment. It started out getting a little worse. Got very dried out. Then by about month 3, I was having good and bad days. By month 4, it was just about all good days. By month 5, it was clear skin completely.
I am completely glad that I took accutane and have no regrets. 1 thing I want people who are using accutane is that you need to keep your end goal realistic. For most people, you'll have clear skin. And right now, I have clear skin, but its certainly not perfect skin. I still have old redmarks on my chin and scars on my forehead that are going to take much longer to go away.
Well I can't believe i'm saying this but its all over! I wish the best for anyone who is even considering taking this medication. It truly is life changing and I'm thrilled with the results.
Thanks to everyone who supported me during this!
Well its been about a year since I began taking accutane. I almost forgot about this blog but I received an email notifying me of the new comments.
ryangp-thats crazy dude small world...hope it all works out for you
amentola33-accutane continued to improve my skin up to about a 3 month period..after that I lost that crystal clear skin I had and returned to "normal" skin..a small pimple from time to time, skin slightly oilier, etc. Still an incredible improvement that would not have been possible without accutane.
To day my skin is clear, with the only imperfections being from some old scars and marks. I am extremely satisfied with the results i have gotten from accutane and I am no longer ashamed of my face. I cannot recommend this drug enough.
Good luck and stay healthy!
Hi Padres457,
It was incredibly informative reading your diary of roaccutane use, thank you for sharing your experience. My son Dougal is about to start a course of it and he too is 14 years old. Since it's been quite a few years, I would be interested to know if the acne stayed away. Dougal's doctor said it keeps it at bay for three years, but because he is younger that it might reappear and he would have to have another treatment. I'm interested to know if it came back for you.
I also noticed another 14 year old asked if you grew after use. Dougal has gone through puberty early and is not particularly tall, but I don't want to in any way stunt his growth if that is a factor. I hope to hear from you.
Regards
Dougzmum