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DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ONE:
This marks the second day of my LAST MONTH.
Quick Update: Since I had two months of accutane left, I wasn't going to bother going to the doctor, but I did anyways (actually, it was the hospital, but nevertheless, still in the presence of people with a PhD). I always have this thing where I get really lightheaded when I stand up too fast. Well, I did that today when I was getting off my bed and it got to the point of where it was so bad that I had to sit back down, but I tripped when I was trying to get to my bed, smashed my head against the side of my laptop and promptly passed out. I woke up about two hours later when it was dark out and saw that my face must have hit the keyboard on my way down, because this is literally what my face typed when it landed on the keyboard: AA0
]gt0.
Then my face opened iTunes. So, my mom took me to the hospital because fainting isn't good in itself, but on accutane it's especially unsettling. They took my blood pressure and everything and it's REALLY low, which would probably be why I fainted in the first place. As an added bonus, I got a blood test out of the deal that they said I could use for my accutane tests.
And here's a picture of my SKIN.
hellooo.
your walkie-talkie story cracked me up.
by the way, your skin is sooo good. you're super pretty (even with the silly face in that picture.) also, your eyebrows look quite attractive.
wow. bummer about the hospital.. passing out is really scary. actually its never happened to me, but sometimes i get dizzy and black out for a few seconds (don't actually fall over though.)
DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ONE:
This marks the second day of my LAST MONTH.
Quick Update: Since I had two months of accutane left, I wasn't going to bother going to the doctor, but I did anyways (actually, it was the hospital, but nevertheless, still in the presence of people with a PhD). I always have this thing where I get really lightheaded when I stand up too fast. Well, I did that today when I was getting off my bed and it got to the point of where it was so bad that I had to sit back down, but I tripped when I was trying to get to my bed, smashed my head against the side of my laptop and promptly passed out. I woke up about two hours later when it was dark out and saw that my face must have hit the keyboard on my way down, because this is literally what my face typed when it landed on the keyboard: ¸ª0
]gt0.
Then my face opened iTunes. So, my mom took me to the hospital because fainting isn't good in itself, but on accutane it's especially unsettling. They took my blood pressure and everything and it's REALLY low, which would probably be why I fainted in the first place. As an added bonus, I got a blood test out of the deal that they said I could use for my accutane tests.
And here's a picture of my SKIN.
Egad! It sounds like you have orthostatic hypotension. I've got it, too. Drink plenty of water, and change position slowly.
Your skin looks great! That picture is really cute, too. 
@missmooshoo: ooh - thank you for the eyebrow compliment. Makes my day 
@hellstorm and fredq: Thanks!
@Wynne: yeah - the doctor told me to stand up slowly, although I forget to roughly 95% of the time. Thanks for telling me what it's called, though!
DAY ONE HUNDRED TWENTY FOUR:
So, I'm supposed to be working, but we got rained out, so it doesn't look like I'll be working for a couple of days. This, quite naturally, means it's time for another update. Skin is still clear, although I have been noticing a large amount of hangnails lately that have driven me almost insane, especially if I'm sleeping over at someone else's house and there's no nail clippers to get rid of said hangnail, so instead of paying attention to the movie I'm supposed to be watching, I obsess and fiddle with my hangnail. It's great. Also, bruising like CRAZY. I'm adamant at hula hooping, so there are now bruises on my neck, both shoulders, elbows, waist, hips, knees, shins and ankles. For a small sampling, this is what my elbow looks like right NOW.
Anyways ‚œ yesterday was an interesting day, even to my standards. There was a chilli cook-off up the valley, which I naturally had to go to, since it was only a dollar to get a cup and eat as much chili as you want. Although, they did have ice cream there, and that was expensive, but that didn't stop me from eating roughly three cones. Other highlights of the day: my friend locking me in a smelly outhouse (in which I didn't breathe the entire time I was in there) and this drunk guy who took of his shirt and insisted on oiling himself up on the grass beside me. For a visual, I think he looks most like Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie. If anyone is going ‚Å“what the fuck is that?‚, well, here's what Vogn Jeltz looks LIKE. Yeah ‚œ sexy, I know.
And then, there was some other celebration of sorts going on at the other end of the valley that was a rave/dance type thing. That was probably more interesting. First off, I have terrible night vision, so attempting to find people I know can be difficult when it's nighttime and the only light is coming from a string of burnt-out christmas lights and a glitchy strobe light. I'm also convinced that I'm hard of hearing, so naturally, I can't hear a fucking thing people say when they talk to me at these types of things. Although I did gather this much information: there was this weird guy there, who reminded me slightly of the Joker in Batman just by the way he talked. He had this lamp that he was carrying around, but he said that it couldn't be lit because he cut off the cord. I asked him why, and he said it was because the lamp was never meant to be lit. He also told me this story four times throughout the course of the night. Then, I met this other person, who decided that the best way to start a conversation was to stand right behind me and say in my ear, ‚Å“You are so fucking adorable!‚ Which, of course, creeped me out to no end. And then after I managed to escape, I got the pleasure of overhearing as he shouted to someone else that I was a ‚Å“perfect ten‚. Makes me wonder how bad that lighting really was, and just how many drugs he took before taking a look at me. Maybe taking a lot of mushrooms makes me look fabulous in hallucinogenic light? Just a theory. And then he kept making appearances all night, making broken conversation with me, then deciding that the best way to impress me was just to pick me up and piggyback me everywhere. Yeah, it was really weird. On the positive side, there was someone twirling fire.
Back to my skin: I'm positive that my red marks are getting better. Sometimes though, if I go for a run or do anything that requires exertion, it makes the marks appear worse. Also, I was standing out in the rain for a while the other day, and when I got in the car, it was really hot and it felt like my hands were burning with the intensity of a thousand suns, then my face got really hot and then really red. I don't know what the hell it was, but it hasn't happened before accutane.
DAY ONE HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT:
Oh - beloved accutane log, how you have been neglected terribly these last few weeks. Also, I only have TWO MORE DAYS OF ACCUTANE. Anyways, before I begin lamenting my loss, quick update.
SKIN STATUS: All clear.
LESSON LEARNT: DON'T DRINK ALCOHOL. I've already made this mistake before, but - of course - didn't learn my lesson the first time. I was the most hungover I've ever been in my life. I never knew you could feel that bad. I thought I was perhaps dying or something as I spent the better part of the morning vomitting in my friend's toilet, while trying to piece together the events of the previous night, which included singing "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da", trying to kidnap a dog that I really took a liking too, and preventing my friend from falling into a campfire a couple of times. The rest is fuzzy.
Hmm... yes, so it's been six-ish days off accutane. Basically, my skin is clear and I have some red marks on my cheeks. Sometimes they're faint, and sometimes they look like shit (this is usually when my face is red after doing some form of exertion.) My lips are no longer dry as the fucking Sahara desert and the gross rashes on my arms and legs are gone. I spent all day hiking the other day and didn't have to worry about the sun, or the body aches, or where my lip chap is, or the fact that I couldn't have a beer without feeling massively hungover the next day. The only thing I really miss about accutane is not having to wash my hair. Have to do it every second day now... sucks... may have to invest in a dry shampoo.
It's so weird to finally have clear skin, and look in the mirror and not see any blazing flaws manifesting themselves as miniature Mt. Vesuvius's on my face. Or the fact that it doesn't take me twenty minutes in the bathroom every morning because I'm busy popping my zits. Or a the best yet a not staring at everyone's skin on TV and in magazines and wishing that my skin looked half as good as that. Happy times. It's also nice to sleep over at someone's house and not have to worry about the whole skin washing routine/fear of waking up with five new zits and having none of the proper zit meds and instruments to get rid of said grotesque lesions. Fun times.
Anyways a here's some pictures of my skin. I was going to do a before and after, however, I realized that there weren't any pictures of my when my acne was at it's worst.
FRONT (complete with the I-really-wish-I-wasn't-here-right-now face)
Well, that's it's for now. I'm going to go and live my life now. Over and out.
It's so weird to finally have clear skin, and look in the mirror and not see any blazing flaws manifesting themselves as miniature Mt. Vesuvius's on my face. Or the fact that it doesn't take me twenty minutes in the bathroom every morning because I'm busy popping my zits. Or the best yet not staring at everyone's skin on TV and in magazines and wishing that my skin looked half as good as that. Happy times. It's also nice to sleep over at someone's house and not have to worry about the whole skin washing routine/fear of waking up with five new zits and having none of the proper zit meds and instruments to get rid of said grotesque lesions.
This is the part that's so amazing to me. I used to watch TV or read books where the heroine's skin was inevitably defined as being perfect, and feel sick. Ugly. Like you just want to hide!
People who haven't had bad acne don't know what a constant drain it is on your self-confidence, your ability to enjoy simple things.
Here's to life spent enjoying the simple things!
I know I'm a bit late in the game, but I still want to take this moment to say that I adored your blog! You have a wonderful sense of humor, and I found myself cracking up A LOT. I'm going to miss updates on this log...
Oh, and your skin is pretty much amazing. 
I'm glad Accutane worked out for you!
Erm... sooo... it's been a couple of weeks since I got off accutane. My body is back to normal (at least, I think it is, it's hard to tell with this body sometimes.) The only thing I miss is not having to wash my hair every other day. Apart from that, I'm sooooooo glad to be off that stuff. I love not having to use cetaphil anymore. Anyways, so my skin tone seems to be getting more even and less red. My doctor gave me some retin-a gel (the lowest does, like 0.25% or something) to use on my red marks. I just started using it a couple of days ago because holy shit that stuff has A LOT of alcohol in it. Enough to make my eyes water. Don't want to aggravate my skin anymore.
Along that vein, I've become paranoid with getting styling products on my face and clogging my pores, so if I'm straightening my hair and need to use heat protection spray, I'll just spray it in my hand first and then rub it into my hair. I also found a great lotion to use post-tane: COMPLEX 15. The stuff's amazing. LOVE IT!!!
So basically, my skin routine is just wash with SpectroDerm, put on Complex 15, maybe put on the retin-a in the night time (if I think my skin can handle it.)
UPDATE: (Since I wrote that about a week ago) I've gotten lazy and am simply just washing my face with water now. That's it. Makes my bag so much lighter when I go and sleep over somewhere. And saves time in the morning.
Hi! I've been meaning to write in here for so long, I have read your log three times and each time I've read it I have laughed literally out loud - my daughter kept asking me why my computer was funny!
I really hope you get a career in journalism or creative writing as you have such a talent when it comes to expressing yourself!
Love your log and will read it again for inspiration when I'm feeling down!
Thanks and well done on your progress!
@DEL XX: Wow - three times? Holy crap. Thank you.
ABOUT A MONTH OFF 'TANE:
Pretty sure it's been about a month. Anyways, still clear. I had this weird little spot thing that I think was an ingrown hair that I then scratched and it got a sort of whitehead on it. Apart from causing a minor heart attack on my part, it went away rather uneventfully. And I had a mosquito bite on my forehead one night that I thought was a zit, which in turn led to another minor heart attack. Speaking of mosquito bites, I went swimming the other day, only at around ten at night, so needless to say, the mosquitoes were belligerent and numerous. I sprayed bug spray everywhere, then went swimming, but I guess the bug spray didn't penetrate the skin just around where my bikini top was, so when I took it off, I literally had about thirty mosquito bites that had aligned themselves in the shape of my bikini top. Very sexy. Anyways, that stuff aside, I went to a little event called Shambhala at the beginning of the month (sort of like Burning Man, for those American reading this). It was awesome not to think about my skin once there because a well a there would have been no way of washing my face properly.
Umm... what else? I think that when I drink now, I get hungover more easily. I don't think this is due to the 'tane, but rather since I didn't drink for so long, my tolerance level is lower. And I have these weird bumpy things along the back of my arms and on my thighs. Again, don't know whether or not to blame this on the 'tane. But having clear skin is awesome! It's actually hard to think back to how self-conscious and zitty I was (although I'm still self-conscious, but about other things now that I didn't bother to obsess about when I was a hideous, walking troll.) And I still definitely have anxiety/social issues that stemmed from having acne that are still lingering around, but I'm certainly more outgoing than I used to be. But I think my skin has settled back to aoenormala, meaning it's not ultra-sensitive again, just persnickety like it was before, only zit free. As for red marks, they've gotten better. They're mainly on my right cheek, and have faded to a sort of brownish colour that makes them kind of look like freckles... until I get flushed and they get all red and gross. Or if I catch my cheek in the sunlight in the car mirror of my car and I notice the craters there. Okay, maybe that's an overstatement, but it's terrifying. Which is why I just don't look in car mirrors.
Also, I'm positive that accutane has made my hair curlier. Before, it was just poofy and gross, but now it's full-blown spiral curls. It's also back to it's greasy, disgusting state, which sucks because I don't like devoting my life to hair straightening, so I've become addicted to dry shampoo. I'm probably going to get tuberculosis a few years from now from inhaling all the crap that's in it. Oh yeah, and since I'm paranoid about getting stuff on my newly-cleared out pores, I'll spray my hair products (like hair straightening protection crap) into my hands and then sort of rub it into my hair.
Alrightly then. I'll update again in about a month (or if anything else changes drastically, for better or worse.)
@sunnicali: I've missed you too! I'm totally going to go and check out your log RIGHT NOW. And no, I think I deleted my blog thing. Maybe I'll start up another one somewhere else? Life of a woodworking student?? Hmm...
TWO MONTHS POST 'TANE:
No zits, I'm happy to report. Although I still peer at the mirror in the morning with a sinking feeling in my stomach that there's going to be something there. There never is, though. I've got a couple of clogged blackhead things on my cheek and some blackheads came back in around my nose, but I've just come to the realization that life is filled with blackheads and there's nothing you can do about it.
I've been trying to get into habit every night to put retin-a on my face... mainly my cheeks, where my red marks are. Well, not really "red" anymore, more just brown and mostly faded, although I'm pretty sure they're going to be here for life. Oh well, I'll just have to try and make friends with them. My skin is definitely more sensitive than it was before. I worked in a grocery store all summer doing produce and had some nasty-ass allergic reactions to corn and lettuce and pineapple juice and whatever the hell else I manhandled back there. Also, every time I would go on my lunch breaks, the staffroom/outside would be warmer than the produce corner, so my face would get really red from the temperature change. There's this one spot beside my nose where it always gets warmer first and then the whole bottom half of my face goes red, like I've got skiier's snow burn. Sexy. Another sexy thing job related - I was at wing night with some of my friends, and one of my friend's parents were also there, and they asked what I do and I told them flatly, "I fondle your produce." I now get weird looks from them when they come into the grocery store.
I'm also trying to eat "healthier" than before. So, basically, don't eat twenty chicken wings before bed and try to refrain from downing the whole jug of chocolate milk. I KNOW my acne was somewhat food related before, but I just have no self control. I shall work on this.
I'm definitely happier than I was before accutane. I actually wanna do stuff with my life now instead of hiding out in the house all the time. It's a nice feeling... although there isn't much to do in this town. But I'm leaving in two weeks to go and fend for my myself out in the real world and cook my own meals... I suspect I will be eating at a lot of my friend's houses.
Oh yes, and ladies, if there's a sort of scruffy-looking dirtbag that you find yourself oddly attracted to - DON'T BOTHER. It's... very confusing. Especially don't bother if your best friend and the dirtbag's best friend are engaged cuz guess who's going to be maid of honour and best man in that wedding party? Awkward? - I think so. That's all I've got to say on that front.
Also - has anyone else ever epoxied two of their toes together? And what method did you use to get them apart? It's getting kind of uncomfortable...
@sunnicali: I've missed you too! I'm totally going to go and check out your log RIGHT NOW. And no, I think I deleted my blog thing. Maybe I'll start up another one somewhere else? Life of a woodworking student?? Hmm...
TWO MONTHS POST 'TANE:
No zits, I'm happy to report. Although I still peer at the mirror in the morning with a sinking feeling in my stomach that there's going to be something there. There never is, though. I've got a couple of clogged blackhead things on my cheek and some blackheads came back in around my nose, but I've just come to the realization that life is filled with blackheads and there's nothing you can do about it.
I've been trying to get into habit every night to put retin-a on my face... mainly my cheeks, where my red marks are. Well, not really "red" anymore, more just brown and mostly faded, although I'm pretty sure they're going to be here for life. Oh well, I'll just have to try and make friends with them. My skin is definitely more sensitive than it was before. I worked in a grocery store all summer doing produce and had some nasty-ass allergic reactions to corn and lettuce and pineapple juice and whatever the hell else I manhandled back there. Also, every time I would go on my lunch breaks, the staffroom/outside would be warmer than the produce corner, so my face would get really red from the temperature change. There's this one spot beside my nose where it always gets warmer first and then the whole bottom half of my face goes red, like I've got skiier's snow burn. Sexy. Another sexy thing job related - I was at wing night with some of my friends, and one of my friend's parents were also there, and they asked what I do and I told them flatly, "I fondle your produce." I now get weird looks from them when they come into the grocery store.
I'm also trying to eat "healthier" than before. So, basically, don't eat twenty chicken wings before bed and try to refrain from downing the whole jug of chocolate milk. I KNOW my acne was somewhat food related before, but I just have no self control. I shall work on this.
I'm definitely happier than I was before accutane. I actually wanna do stuff with my life now instead of hiding out in the house all the time. It's a nice feeling... although there isn't much to do in this town. But I'm leaving in two weeks to go and fend for my myself out in the real world and cook my own meals... I suspect I will be eating at a lot of my friend's houses.
Oh yes, and ladies, if there's a sort of scruffy-looking dirtbag that you find yourself oddly attracted to - DON'T BOTHER. It's... very confusing. Especially don't bother if your best friend and the dirtbag's best friend are engaged cuz guess who's going to be maid of honour and best man in that wedding party? Awkward? - I think so. That's all I've got to say on that front.
Also - has anyone else ever epoxied two of their toes together? And what method did you use to get them apart? It's getting kind of uncomfortable...
okay that was up in there in the best part of my day. what a riot! i want to know more about the scruffy dirtbag.. sounds like my cup.. i think they all fall off the same truck which comes from the same factory.. to ruin all of us (in the good way 
)
does the eating chicken wings and drinking milk before bed diet ever involve milk and cookies.. and left overs? i think i'm on your diet. and who wants to get off that train? its delicious, bare foot in front of the fridge in the dark.as for the epoxied toes i'm going to say olive oil but its a stab into the infinite abyss.. and you could just end up with a bigger mess.
j x