. Hope it continues to go well!
Day 153
I have been on 20mg as you know, but I ran out and had a few 40's left over, so I took those for 3 days and noticed my face starting to peel/flake a lil. So I am kinda glad I got dropped to 20 because the only side effect I have had was the dry lips.
Still going good, had a small pimple seeming to form on my chin yesterday, but today its almost gone!
Meeko: yes, it has paid off so much. I cant wait for summer. Once I get a little sun the red marks will be hidden and I can go out without trying to hide my face so that the sun doesnt directly hit it, i can so swimming without worry, etc.
Day 177
Things are still going well. My derm just switched to 30mg. I was at 20mg and at the appointment he said he was gonna do up to 40mg, but when I went to pickup the prescription it said 30mg. I am gonna call and make sure. He says I am doing real well with the 20, but he wants to make sure that we stop the acne for good so he wants to go higher (i guess it helps, i dunno)
I havent had any pimples on my face for a good month now, besides today when I got a lil white head on the left side of my chin. And its funny cause I had a derm consultation today to talk about procedures to reduce the redness and scarring on my face.
The guy said for the redness, we could use the V-Beam and I should prolly have 3 sessions which would reduce the redness 90%, but I cant use this until I am off accutane for 3 months and I cant be tan, which sux cause it would be right towards the middle/end of summer when I would be able to start my treatments.
For the scarring, he said they would use the fraxel laser. He said he would only promise 50% improvement, but thinks it would be much higher. For that I have to wait 6 months till I am off accutane. He said I can just wait 6 months for both and do them both at the same time, I would just have more redness and swelling on my face post treatment.
I dunno what I am going to do yet. But kinda sux I got to wait so long. Cause I think derm wants me on tane for a good 2 more months still. So earliest we are looking at V-beam is September and fraxel could not be done until December of January of 2010.
Day 178
I just think its amazing how 2 months ago, I could not walk outside without putting concelear on my face to hid the acne and now I wake up, wash my face, little moisturizer on the creases of my nose/mouth, and im out.
Or going to sleep and then waking up and not being afraid to head out with some friends to get some food after a long night of drinking.
Or going out for a long day and not being afraid to splash my face with water for fear of taking off my concealer.
Or working out and not being so careful as to not take a towel to my sweaty face.
Or trying to avoid angles where the sunglight hits my face directly because it would highlight my acne to others.
Just the small things that most of the population (minus us) take for granted.
Day 224 WOW
Pretty long update, hope you have a snack at the ready.
Hi all. I am still alive. You know, I always have intentions of putting up some new pics, but itas a whole ordeal cause my old webcam donat work with Windows 7, so I have to boot up XP to take them. I know I'm just making excuses and I am lazy, but I will get some tonight hopefully! I also went to a wedding a few weeks ago and we finally got the big binder of proofs back and I must say, my face is looking good in all the pics I took. I ordered some copies, so once I get the copies, I will post them on here as well.
Not much has changed in the past month or so, I think my surface scars and redness have gone down some. I am still planning on doing some laser surgery in about 8 months or so, as I must be off accutane for 6 months.
Still rarely get a pimple. In the past 3 months I've maybe had 4 pimples and they have all been nothing really. Its kind of bad (and sickening maybe) but I sorta miss the feel of popping a pimple. Like I just got the sense of accomplishment like I had defeated it; when it actuality I hadn't, but I digress.....
Not sure if this is attributable to the accutane but when I work out real hard, my face gets real red. But not the entire face, just certain parts, like my cheeks. And there are clear division lines from where its real red and where its normal color. So not sure if this will subside once I get off accutane, but I know a nice lil tan should help it as well.
I think I am going to be taken off accutane pretty soon as technically I had been prescribed it 7 months ago, but I did take 2-3 weeks off cause my blood work came back real high one time. I jumped from 40mg for 2 months, down to 20 for 3 months, and now at 30 for the past month and a half.
Im torn because I want to be taken off it to see if the results stick and cause I want to start taking more workout supplelments and vitamins. Of course, I am scared to go off because I would literally like have a nervous breakdown and lock myself in my house if my acne came back now. I seriously donat think I could deal with it now, now that I know what its like to not have any. I would be so depressed its not even funny just cause I would be at the point where I tried the end all drug, accutane, and the acne still won. So pray for me and cross your fingers it sticks.
Changing subjects, did anyone who is one/has taken accutane, feel that MTV True Life did not do a real good job of explaining the accutane journey on True Life: I have Acne. (Link http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/truelife/episo...isodeId=142998) . I mean, they basically show her taking the first pill, then we donat see anything until month 3, and then nothing again until she is off it. They really didnat show the initial breakout, the side effects, etc. If I didnat know anything about it, and I watched the show, I would not have learned much except accutane is a drug that is supposed to get rid of acne, but it can also kill you.
Probably wont be too much more updates. I'll prolly update when I finally get taken off and I will give my final review of accutane, although its pretty obvious how I feel.
Well i'm just in the beginning stages of my roaccutane journey, on day 2, and it's such a comfort to see it working so brilliantly for someone else. 
I hope i'm as lucky as you have been! Day 229
Just thought I'd bump my thread since I posted the new pics on Friday and I know a lot of people were out for the holiday weekend.
Also, I just can not explain how cool it is to be able to take a shower whenever I want and not have to worry about re-applying coverup on my pimples or whatever. This afternoon I went home for lunch, did a quick 30 minute bike ride, hopped in the shower and went back to work. No spending 10-15 minutes applying mosutrizer, waiting for that to dry, then applying some type of cover up. Just shower, lil bit of mosturizer and done. Small things the never-had-acne people take for granted.
Also, I just can not explain how cool it is to be able to take a shower whenever I want and not have to worry about re-applying coverup on my pimples or whatever. This afternoon I went home for lunch, did a quick 30 minute bike ride, hopped in the shower and went back to work. No spending 10-15 minutes applying mosutrizer, waiting for that to dry, then applying some type of cover up. Just shower, lil bit of mosturizer and done. Small things the never-had-acne people take for granted.
Yes! Isn't it wonderful! Showers used to be such an ordeal...it's so nice to just jump in and out, and actually feel clean afterwards.
I've really enjoyed your log, by the way. It's always a treat to read about someone getting clear.
Ya know what else sucks. When I get nervous or whatever, I get red patches on my face and chest. Real annoying cause there is no way to get rid of them.
Like if I got them cause I was hot, then I cool down and they go away. But its hard to make yourself not-nervous when you are nervous, lol.
The scars and redness really isn't that bad, are you still considering the laser and vbeam for redness/scars? If so keep us updated on that if you can.
I was also wondering how much longer it took for your cheeks to clear where it looked like you had light scarring or sunken in spots. There was a sizable gap between pictures, so I am curious. This is my problem area and those old marks haven't really faded a lot yet and I just started month 5 today.. I also still get breakouts there. When I say "cheek" I mean the area to the right and left of your nose and immediately under your eyes and about a 1 1/2 inch radius. The t-zone is what people call it maybe?
In this day 130 picture: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php...st&id=17376 There is just a little redness and a few red marks it looks like, but that area is nearly clear. When was the best improvement in this area made, and when did it actually fade completely? During month 6 or even after your treatment was over? Did you use anything like emu oil or olive oil to help this area? Getting near the end of my course(2 months remain) and I am getting kind of desperate here. Any advice is appreciated.
I really don't think you need any laser stuff, your skin looks pretty damn great man. The redness isn't bad at all 
and I see no scars. 
The scars and redness really isn't that bad, are you still considering the laser and vbeam for redness/scars? If so keep us updated on that if you can.I was also wondering how much longer it took for your cheeks to clear where it looked like you had light scarring or sunken in spots. There was a sizable gap between pictures, so I am curious. This is my problem area and those old marks haven't really faded a lot yet and I just started month 5 today.. I also still get breakouts there. When I say "cheek" I mean the area to the right and left of your nose and immediately under your eyes and about a 1 1/2 inch radius. The t-zone is what people call it maybe?
In this day 130 picture: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php...st&id=17376 There is just a little redness and a few red marks it looks like, but that area is nearly clear. When was the best improvement in this area made, and when did it actually fade completely? During month 6 or even after your treatment was over? Did you use anything like emu oil or olive oil to help this area? Getting near the end of my course(2 months remain) and I am getting kind of desperate here. Any advice is appreciated.
I really don't think you need any laser stuff, your skin looks pretty damn great man. The redness isn't bad at all 😛 and I see no scars.
Well I'm tan right now, so that might hide some of the scarring and such. I think I am still leanin towards the surgery, but not sure exactly when. Honestly, I dont know when the best improvement was made, as I didnt really focus on it in great detail.
Day 298
Well i went to see the derm and I am officially done with my course. He said to finish up what I have. I was on it a little longer than 6 months but he said my dosage was real low for my body type so it was alright...he said most people like me would be taking between 80-120, and I was only at 40.
Heres a pic I just took with my cell phone after I got done working out.
