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DAY 76
Still nothing great to report. Still have actives and my hyperpigmentation (or really, erythema as that's what ive recently learned is the proper term) is as bad as ever. I also think im seeing some hair damage. I wouldn't say that it's hair loss, but the hair growing in is much thinner and more sparse looking. Add the cold dry weather that we're having and i'm getting tons of breakage. I'm praying the situation doesn't get worse. I'm definitely going to deep condition this week and get a trim. I can't believe its been 2 and a half months and I'm still so unhappy with my skin. Very depressing. Hopefully the next couple of months will bring some dramatic improvement but I'm pretty skeptical at this point.
inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing. inflamed. healing.
.......what is going onnnnnnnnnnnnnn?
DAY 88
Two days away from starting month 4... and things look awful. My skin is so inflamed, I have red scars everywhere that seem slightly dented and I still have breakouts on my face from months ago that haven't healed and even a couple of new ones. I'm afraid accutane isn't going to work for me 
Even more depressing is I have to go home for the holidays in a week or two and i look so terrible it's going to be embarrassing. So depressed right now.
DAY 104
wow i cant believe im in the triple digits. im now a ways into month 4. depressing considering my progress. things have not changed since the last post. im starting to really doubt whether accutane is going to work for me. not to mention how disappointed i am at the drastic worsening of my scarring since ive been on the drug. i never could have imagined that my red marks and indents would be as bad as they are now. i am still hopeful but am preparing for the worst. my derm has extended my course to be 5 months rather than 4. ive been on 60 mg since month 2 and weight around 115 lbs.
DAY 135 (approximately)
So today I took my last accutane pill. I stopped posting about a month ago because I was getting so fed up about not seeing very much progress. Things have definitely gotten better.. I have only 2 actives right now on my face and the scars seem to be flattening out a little. Unfortunately my red marks are AWFUL.. I am hoping once I get off the drug things will start to heal up... but I am not that optimistic and am definitely looking into laser options. Unfortunately as of right now accutane has not been the miracle drug I was hoping for.. but it has helped to some extent. I will continue to update up until the 6 month post accutane mark.
Hey there,
Sorry to hear that your course didn't work as you hoped, however, my second course sort of ended like yours. I wasn't clear right up to the end, and every single zit I got left a red mark. But, all of those red marks faded drastically maybe a month after I got off the 'tane. The bigger ones on my cheeks stuck around for maybe six-ish or so months, but they'e completely gone now. My indented scars are still there, but very faint, hardly visible at all (unless, of course, I'm under horrible fluorescent light.)
2 MONTHS POST ACCUTANE
Just thought I'd come back and update about how I am doing. My skin has been more or less clear since I stopped, with an occasional tiny tiny pimple. Unfortunately, my red marks/scars are still very bad and very noticeable... they are red and sunken. There has been slight improvement in them but nothing near what I would like. Hopefully within the next few months they will begin to heal up... otherwise I am definitely going to be looking into IPL or Vbeam treatments.
I also used tazorac once or twice a week throughout my accutane treatment (i had been using it before accutane) and I am continuing to use it now every 2 days or so. i'm not actually sure if it is helping in terms of scarring or breakouts, but I am afraid to stop use at this point. plus i know it is supposed to be excellent for antiaging in the long run.
unfortunately i have been experiencing some hair loss recently that i am certain is accutane related. i had a bit of this during my treatment but it has definitely worsened in the past couple of weeks. i have heard that it is not uncommon to have shedding in the months after treatment, hopefully this will resolve itself but it is very unnerving for the time being.
overall i am happy that i am not breaking out anymore and if i do not experience a relapse and if my hair issues and scars resolve themselves i will be happy with my decision to go on accutane. i never scarred before accutane so if i am left with permanent damage i will definitely consider accutane a failure.
so as you can see the jury is still out on accutane for me. i am hopeful though!
heyyy, so i just started accutane 2 weeks ago and looking at your blog it seems as if i'm in for a LONG journey
i'm so happy for you that you are basically clear now, i wouldn't worry about the odd spot or cyst, think back to how you were before accutane! Ahh i just want to fast forward 4/5 months!
Ok well I am now 3 months and ten days post accutane.. so far so good with breakouts. I get a couple tiny ones here and there but no biggy.
Since I stopped using tazorac a couple of weeks ago and cut out any high vitamin A sources from my diet the hair loss has slowed a lot... ufortunately the texture of my skin looks way worse without the taz so I think I'm going to try using it once a week and see how my hair responds. I hope at some point I can go back to using it regularly without any hair problems!
The red marks and pitted scars unfortunately are still there... maybe a little bit of improvement but still very far from healed. I am doubtful that they will ever go away entirely without some help from lazer, chemical peels or some sort of treatment. I plan to start looking in to that stuff after the 6 month mark.
Again the jury is still out for me on whether accutane was a good decision.. it has definitely almost completley cleared my acne.. but the hair loss and scars have been a very heavy price to pay. If they resolve themselves eventually and the acne doesnt return then I will be happy that I took it. Until I know, I really cant say. I'll keep posting my progress every so often and good luck to everyone else!
ps. for other potential taners: I HIGHLY recommend seeking a longer but lower dose treatment. In retrospect, I think the rather high dose that my derm put me on definitely contributed to the side effects I have had, most notably the hair loss and scarring. A high dose may seem tempting because you will be done sooner, and I lot of people think they need a high dose to knock out their acne (I know I did) but in retrospect I realize that accutane is an EXTREMELY powerful drug, and even a low dose will have an enormous effect.
8 Months Post Accutane
It has been forever since I have come on the site, but I feel I have an obligation to come back and give others hope. Acne.org really helped get me through my roughest period with acne.
I have good news... I AM STILL CLEAR!! Don't get me wrong, I still get an occasional tiny pimple a couple times a month.. but it heals within a day and does not leave a sunken red mark!
As for the terrible red marks I got on accutane.. they are definitely fading. They're not totally gone yet but they now blend in with my freckles and don't look nearly as noticeable. I am confident that they will eventually go away. They are also flattening out and no longer look like big holes.
My hair loss has improved a lot.. the stuff I lost still hasn't grown back, obviously, but hopefully within a few months I will be back to normal thickness. I am still losing a little bit more hair on a daily basis than I think I did before accutane.. but given the improvements I'm pretty sure that it will go back to normal soon.
I do intend to try to go back on tazorac for the anti-aging benefits eventually. Unfortunately, I had to stop using it cause it was worsening my hair loss... but hopefully once the accutane is totally out of my liver that will stop happening. I will probably try to use it again in another few months.
All in all, I am thrilled to say that accutane was a success for me!! The way my skin breaks out/handles breakouts is completely transformed from prior to treatment. I used to get a pimple and it would sit on my face and take months to heal and then leave a pitted red mark. Now, it's like my skin has relearned how to fight off the pimple and heal itself! It truly is a miracle drug.
I just want to stress to everyone having doubts to wait until post accutane to make judgments. THIS IS NO QUICK FIX! I did not stop breaking out until after I stopped treatment and it took months and months for everything to heal up and calm down. I also want to stress again that people try low dose treatment... I think I wouldn't have suffered the same side effects (VERY slow healing, red marks, A LOT of hair loss) if I hadn't taken such a high dose.
Good luck to everyone and don't lose hope!!
2 Years Post Accutane
Sad to report, but my acne has come back this spring. Still not in the full force that it once was (and my chest and back are still clear) but accutane was not a permanent solution for me.
I started to use a retinoid (tazorac) with a lot of success, but sadly it started to trigger some hair loss like I got with accutane. I am assuming this has something to do with the vitamin a aspect of the product, because vitamin a toxicity causes hair loss.
I have since started THE REGIMEN! haha... did not see that coming when I wrote that last post when I was 8 months post accutane. Fortunately my acne is still somewhat mild and the regimen seems to be clearing me up nicely! I guess I was fated to follow in Dan's foot steps after all...