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Julia For sure I wasn't drinking enough water. But that headache scared the crap out of me enough to start drinking more. I was only drinking like 2 bottles of water and a couple of glasses of juice a day plus whatever I drank with my meals.. but that was it. NOW I'm drinking 4 bottles..maybe 5 and way more juice because I really don't like water. I probably match the amount of juice I drink to the amount of water. Headache is still gone.. but my sinuses are draining also... so I still don't know. But one thing is for certain, I'm surely not chances anything. So drink up.
Also something I was thinking about... Everyone is talking about water consumption for hydration.. but aren't drinks like Gatorade and Powerade great for that? Isn't that what docs want us drink if we have a stomach virus to keep up hydrated?? I mean... There is absolutely nothing wrong with water. That's what it's here for. Our bodies cannot function without it..but those other beverages have water..plus some.. right? Well I'm in love with pink powerade so I'll be purchasing some of those and let y'all know how my body/skin reacts to it.. My hands are getting dry, so if I see a change in that I'll know something's up.
I don't know what day it is..
So I got a relaxer put in my hair today. I was soooo nervous because I know that accutane makes your skin sensitive and more prone to cuts and I didn't know if my scalp had any cuts or any skin flaking because it has be drier than usual but no dandruff or anything. But anyhoo.. I was nervous because I started accutane on May 9 and I got a relaxer on May 13 and it felt completely different than the other times. It started to tingle sooner.. and tingling leads to burning if you don't do something about it. but you can't take it out because you don't want to end up with under processed hair.. So yeah.. had all that on my mind as I was sitting in the chair. BUT nothing happened. I usually burn in the back of my head and this time it was in the front but it was nothing unbearable. It was just fine. Just a little FYI for those who are concerned with getting chemical services.. For me at least, it was nothing.
Wow! As I'm typing this, I'm realizing that the next time I get a relaxer, I may be off of accutane...Well maybe not off of it but maybe on my last prescription?? Whatever.. Time really does fly! I'm already a week into month 3. Month 5 will be before I know it.
Month 3: Day 11/12
Hiiiiiii! I'm still here!
Unfortunately there is nothing major to update. But I do have some things that should be noted.
1. I seriously still have "remnants" of the pimple that was on my forehead even before I started accutane. It seriously peels every other day. (I can't say scabs because it's not like healing broken skin or anything...it's just going down very slowly...soooo weird!)
2. It appears that the pimple above my eyebrow will follow in the other pimple's footsteps. It's going down rather slowly.. Every time I look at it I have this feeling of regret that I should have popped it instead of letting it run it's course..
3. That pimple about my eyebrow has been the extent of my IB for my upped dosage from 40mg to 60mg. yay!
4. Lips are officially dry but oddly still not as dry as they were in the past without accutane as a factor.. But! They are dry.
5. I'M NOT PRODUCING OIL!! Gosh that took a long time!!! 2 1/2 months... I wonder if it's going to come back?? That is what happened before.. With that being said, I'm not dry. I'm still using my Loreal Go 360 Clean for sensitive skin, but I'm also using the CeraVe hydrating cleanser just about every other day (just because I can't figure out if I like it or not..) I still only need my light moisturizer. (Clinique Drastically Different Moisturizing Gel)
6. My hair is growing faster.. Well I think it is. My eye lashes have gotten longer.. IDK if it's a summer thing or the accutane but I'm not complaining.
7. I've been taking Biotin for 3 days now. (This is not the cause of the hair. The hair was growing faster way before I even thought about biotin) Nothing to really say about it. I'll let u know how it works for me once I start taking enough for it to work. I'm only taking 1 1000mcg tablet a day. The bottle says I can take up to 5.. But I did heavy research on it and I found some people who said taking too much too soon may cause a breakout, but these were people taking it for acne and were not taking accutane.
That's all! I'll be posting pics soon. My laptop is broken. =(
Whitney!!!
I am sooo happy for you!
My bumped dosage breakout was literally like 16 actives over the last two weeks 
Worst breakout since starting 
Oh, I cried 
, and was a complete mess, but it's clearing now.
Those clogs on my cheeks are what blew up. They all became angry zits, blah bl-blah.... 
Not many clogs left for me now.... So scared of bumping to 80mg 
. I will give myself a breakout sheerly by mind power 
...
Are you going to 80mg, or riding your course at 60mg?
Lots of love babe!
Crystal
Hey Crystal! OMG I would have freaked completely the heck out if I broke out that badly this far into the course! Gosh! I kinda freaked over the 1 that I got..
Yeah my clogged pores on my cheeks aren't really doing anything. I've had 1 come to a head.. really small. This kinda bothers me though because even though they aren't becoming actives, they still aren't going away. Don't get me wrong, they are going away especially thinking about my starting point but I'm still kinda at a stand still. My face hasn't really changed from the 40mg to the 60mg..
Which leads to... I don't know if I'm going up to 80mg. My old doc (whom I actually like more than the doc I saw last time) told me that she would only bump me to 60mg only if I needed it and that 60mg was the highest I was going to go. She also said it was going to be a six month course. This new doctor automatically bumped me to 60mg when she saw I was still producing oil and breaking out and whatnot.. I think this new doctor is more of a go with the flow.. So maybe I will, maybe I won't. I'm hoping I won't. If she doesn't bring up upping my dosage, I won't... But if these clogged pores aren't gone by the end of month 4, I think I would ask about being upped. I hate the way my body reacts to my dosage being upped. Hate. It. Are you going up to 80mg?
Lots of love at you!!!!
First off.. Jamie Ann Thanks!!!!!!!!! I agree with you! lol Sooo exciting!
Update:
Face is doing much better. Will post a pic soon. Been a crazy couple of days. My face is still not clear nor dry. But I have NO PIMPLES OR EXCESS OIL! And I was pleasantly surprised by how face the pimple that was above my eyebrow went down! I thought for sure that it was going to be like the one on my forehead that took forever and a day! So yay! I still have some clogged pores in random areas on my face. They're definitely still on my cheeks.
I have said good-bye to my Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. It has officially become not moisturizing enough for me. And while the CeraVe moisturizers do indeed make me shiny, the clinique was actually making me oily because my poor skin was like "I'm dry! I'm dry! Ahh! I need oil!! Ahh! Let's make oil!" or it would just be dry and tight which makes skin look shiny anyways.. so lose lose.. I still have not purchased any CeraVe products. I just can't bring myself to do it because I don't love them. But I need to because I would like to keep at least one of the sample sized moisturizers in my purse for that one day I check my face before I walk into class and I have a patch of flaking skin on my chin.. I think I'm just going to take the loss and get the AM and the PM. I actually like the regular lotion the best but it's actually not as moisturizing as the PM and the AM one has SPF.. soooo.. yeah..
My back is still not quite at that accutane smoothness that I want it to be at.
Ok so throughout most of this course, especially when my oil first started to go away, I've only washed my face once a day. I couldn't really tell you why.. I think it's because some folks say you don't need to wash your face while on accutane..a little water is all you need. But some folks disagree. So I guess I took the Obama approach and stayed in the middle of the road and washed my face with a cleanser once a day. Also, my roommate has always only washes her face in the shower so.. once a day.. and I kinda wanted to see what that felt like..lol Anyways... I'm about to start washing 2ce a day. Gosh I hope it doesn't make me dry. I like the fact that I'm having "normal" skin while on accutane. I don't want to get dry.. I really don't.
Last thing.. While SPF is great and everything, it does not prevent me from getting darker. Getting darker is something that I have been struggling with throughout this whole course. I hate it. When I'm darker than what I should be, I don't like what I see in the mirror. It's not the same person. It's not me. Nothing wrong with dark skin. My boyfriend is a beautiful dark chocolate man which is actually one if the features that attracted me to him in the first place. BUT that is his natural color and it's sooo smooth and soft and perfect for is features. I on the other hand, like being a nice milk chocolate. So with all that being said, I am taking another loss and will start wearing makeup. =/ I don't want to.. but I kinda do. When I was wearing makeup everyday, the sun never got through to my face lol so I lightened up. Not in a good way.. I was pale.. lighter but pale. No one want's to be pale. And it wasn't because of the SPF because my moisturizer nor my makeup had any..
So with that being said... I have just ordered MakeUp Forever Face and Body foundation. It does not break me out. I know this because when I first started my retin-a gel and my anti-biotic, I wore it all over my face but I was breaking out soooo badly that it didn't really hide anything, so I stopped using it. So I got through the initial breakout and my face was clear-ish.. (as you know, it was never all the way clear..) and my chin area was getting really dry and flaky. So I started using the foundation only on my chin because it's literally so moisturizing that it sticks the flakes down to the rest of your skin. Seriously. But my chin didn't break out.. so yeah.. And it's (I think) 80% water. The consistency is hard to explain. It's VERY light coverage. Doesn't hide your pimples at all. But it definitely doesn't make them stand out either. And apparently it contains zanes not cones so the particles are actually too big to get into your pores to clog them. I'm really excited to go back to this foundation. I love it. I just had skin that could not be helped at the time but now that I have clearer skin, it should be perfect!! I'm so excited.
My face has cleared up so much. I think I haven't had skin this clear since I was 12. When I wash my face and feel how smooth it is, it makes me want to cry.
FML
I'm breaking out. The clogged pores have always been there.. I feel like they just aren't going to go away. I was at a standstill. But NOW.. I'm officially breaking out. I had to pop a zit that was between my eyes. There's one on my cheek.. There's this little weird thing on my nose.. AND I still have the clogged pores on my cheeks. FML. FML.
Just took these pics. Fresh out of the shower. Slapped on some cerave lotion and snapped away.
I'm still breaking out. They aren't horrible. But they are pimples. I think I can officially say that my face was clearer than this when I was on the retin-a and antibiotic. But I know that I will get clear eventually. And it will last. And I won't have to take these pills forever.
I'm just really not loving how my face is doing right now. I don't know if it was the biotin. Maybe? My theory was that it stimulated hair follicles/pores that were inactive..just costing along.. and then they went crazy and didn't know what to do with themselves. IDK. Just a thought. But a more probable guess is that these breakouts are hormonal since it is that glorious time of the month. I have way more clogged pores too.. =(
My back is even a little less smooth.. boooooo!
And about 2 days ago, I was definitely producing oil. My t-zone was oily. Not from the moisturizer. Not from dryness. It was oil. Is it possible for your body to become immune to a medicine too quickly so it doesn't work??
My lips aren't giving me any problems. I can still go all day without anything and be just fine.
Even if it is the biotin, I will continue to use it. I have lost weight and my hair is actually growing faster. Well.. I don't know if it's the biotin or if it's because it's the summer.. but still... I have lost weight. No dieting or exercising.
And I still haven't decided which moisturizer to get. I know I'm getting the CeraVe AM facial one. I'm just still debating between the PM and the regular one for nights. The ingredients are seriously 1 ingredient off. And it's the same ingredient but it's like 1-6 on one and 2-6 on the other.. (I just made those #s up btw)
OK. I really think that last breakout was hormonal. That time of the month has passed and all is well with my skin. And I'm still taking the biotin.
Nothing really new to report with my face except that the last break out is over and done with. I have the battle scars to prove it. The clogged pores on my cheeks are kinda dieing out.. Still there for sure though. Face is still not dry. I'm still basking in this "normal skin type" glory. Yesterday I was watching this youtube video and this girl was raving about a product that "cured" her oily skin problem so her makeup could last longer during the day. She was saying such great things about it that I started thinking about buying it. It seriously took me a minute to say to myself "You don't have oily skin!!" lol love it. I was sooooooo oily before! I get it from my dad. His skin is so oily that he has to sleep with a towel over his pillow because it stains the pillowcase and the pillow itself! I'm not THAT oily...close though.
I'm still taking the biotin. I'm still losing weight. I take my accutane during breakfast and dinner and take the biotin during lunch. I break it up like that because biotin breaks down fat and accutane binds to fat.. idk.. makes sense to me. I'm still losing weight. I had really gotten a little chubby for a minute there. My pants weren't fitting anymore.. I was wearing leggings anywhere I could get away with it at.. I've been 115lbs since the 9th grade and slowly got to 120lbs during my 4 years in college (seriously didn't reach 120 until a few months ago). But over this summer I got up to 125lbs. Not cool. Not really because I don't like the way I look.. I personally can't tell. It's that I can't fit my clothes. And I'm broke and really don't want to buy more clothes. lol So I've started eating cereal every morning, whatever I want for lunch, and fish and salad for dinner (only every other night. I eat whatever I want on the other nights) I've cut out snaking on chips. I now crunch on apple slices and caramel. And I'm losing weight. I refuse to exercise. My motto is: No pain...no pain.
Update on my makeup: So I decided to stick with the MUFE Face and Body. Got it in the mail and it was the wrong shade. So I drove allllll the way to Sephora which is an hour and 30 min away from me to exchange it for the right color. My foundation came with a pump but for some reason the shade I wanted did not come with a pump in the store..every other shade did.. just not mine. So I begged the manager to let me keep the pump the other foundation came with. And she did! I love this foundation. Seriously. I found that applying it with a brush sucked. It made me look dry. So I started using a stippling brush. HUGE difference. There's no more rubbing of my skin which means less irritation. And my skin looks sooo soft. I'll post pictures tomorrow of the before and after. What's funny is that this foundation leaves a dewy finish that I absolutely hated whe I had oily skin. But now I love it. I bought this expensive setting powder and I don't want to use it now. lol
Didn't take a before. Sorry. BUT feel free to look at my previously posted pics to note the discoloration on my face...
Freshly applied with a stippling brush
It gives a "dewy" finish. I don't like it THIS dewy but the cerave am moisturizer makes me shiny to begin with..
After a long day of shopping and sweating in this crazy heat
^^ It did oxidize a little I think. But not too badly.
(And this is MakeUp Forever Face and Body liquid foundation in shade 44 Coffee. I am a NW45 in all things mac for reference.)
Again! -Thank you! No one has ever told me they were jealous of my skin. Ever. Well.. in the 5th grade a girl told me my face was really soft and she wished hers was too... lol Thank you so much. Seriously made my day!
Jamie Ann - Thanks! So sweet!
LipsLikeSugar22 - Thanks girlie! I'm starting to love my skin too! =)
Seriously. Y'all have made my day. Thanks for the encouragement! Y'all are awesome!
Had my dermatologist appointment today! They (and I say they because I've now had 3 different people prescribe me accutane now..) are keeping me at 60mg. I think that's the "thing" at the office. It's in a college town and pretty much all of us go to this same office. They've told all of us now that 60mg is the best dosage for us and there's no need for 80mg. And to just give it time. So that's what I'm gonna do.. As long as I'm completely done with this course (last pregnancy test and all) by graduation, I'm good.
I have another headache. I have a theory on this. I think we're all right. I think it's a sinus headache that is accutane induced. I think the accutane causes the mucus to be thicker than usual causing the sinus cavities to clog which causes the headaches. Because I know what my sinus headaches feel like and this is definitely one (my nose is stuffy and i'm sneezing). BUT it just so happens that I've been on the go a little more lately and sweating and not drinking fluids like I had been in previous weeks.. I really think I'm on to something....lol
Ahhhhhhh Whitney! The improvement in your skin is AMAZING. Looking at your first pictures compared to the ones you posted a few days ago - WOW. I am stunned. I know sometimes it is difficult to be objective about improvements in one's self or appearance but seriously - give yourself some credit here! Your complexion is completely different. Your skin is BEAUTIFUL! I especially like the photo of you after a day in the heat, etc because your skin STILL looks amazing, proving to me (and everyone!) that's it's not just a really good makeup application - it is the skin underneath that looks so good! I am so excited for you!
thirtyforthirty - Thank you! You're right. Thanks for forcing me to go look at the older pictures. I think that when one problem goes away, you look for another. Thanks for the kind words!
Again - lol Thanks again!
Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!! I've been on a mini vacation to Memphis for my aunt's 60th birthday party and did have access to a computer. Memphis was fun! Had a busy week this week. Today was Grad day at school. I took a cap and gown picture. What's crazy is that some of my friends (who have always had better skin than me) chose not to take the picture (which was free) because there wasn't a retouch option.. AND I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THAT AT ALL!! My skin has come such a long way! I'm sure my picture would look better with a few touch ups here and there but I really don't care. I have no pimples on my face. I wore my skin proudly today. I was more concerned with my hair. Feels good. So good.
I'm still having no physical side effects. But emotionally, I find that I cry soooo easily now. I'm not sad or anything. I'm actually quite happy. I feel truly blessed. But just the sight of the word "cry" and I'm tearing up.. or if I see someone crying or hear of someone crying, I'm crying too.. weird.
Short and sweet update.
I love this site and all of it's users. Y'all are amazing. I'll be back to doing my regular updates soon. Like now.. lol I really missed it.. Even if it was for a few days..
Hello everyone,
I am new at this forum but was interested to read it as some of you experienced headaches while on accutane. I just started accutane a week ago (50mg) and experienced headaches and ringing in the ear. I think I drunk enough water and I also called my derm who told me he might take me off accutane if my headaches dont go away. So I am really worried, I do not want to stop accutane but I do not want any health problems either. I just had 20mg yesterday and my headaches were almost gone, today I plan to skip the pill and see if I can continue it tomorrow or in 2 days on lower dosage. I think 50mg was just too much for me. Its saturday so I am unable to contact my derm until Monday. Has anyone changed or played with dosages without letting your derm know...?
Good luck to everyone, and thanks for supportive forums 
Melinda.
thirtyforthirty - Thank you! You're right. Thanks for forcing me to go look at the older pictures. I think that when one problem goes away, you look for another. Thanks for the kind words!
Again - lol Thanks again!
Month 4: Day 5
Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!! I've been on a mini vacation to Memphis for my aunt's 60th birthday party and did have access to a computer. Memphis was fun! Had a busy week this week. Today was Grad day at school. I took a cap and gown picture. What's crazy is that some of my friends (who have always had better skin than me) chose not to take the picture (which was free) because there wasn't a retouch option.. AND I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THAT AT ALL!! My skin has come such a long way! I'm sure my picture would look better with a few touch ups here and there but I really don't care. I have no pimples on my face. I wore my skin proudly today. I was more concerned with my hair. Feels good. So good.
I'm still having no physical side effects. But emotionally, I find that I cry soooo easily now. I'm not sad or anything. I'm actually quite happy. I feel truly blessed. But just the sight of the word "cry" and I'm tearing up.. or if I see someone crying or hear of someone crying, I'm crying too.. weird.
Short and sweet update.
I love this site and all of it's users. Y'all are amazing. I'll be back to doing my regular updates soon. Like now.. lol I really missed it.. Even if it was for a few days..
Looked great. No one would ever guess you ever had skin issues.
Hello everyone,
I am new at this forum but was interested to read it as some of you experienced headaches while on accutane. I just started accutane a week ago (50mg) and experienced headaches and ringing in the ear. I think I drunk enough water and I also called my derm who told me he might take me off accutane if my headaches dont go away. So I am really worried, I do not want to stop accutane but I do not want any health problems either. I just had 20mg yesterday and my headaches were almost gone, today I plan to skip the pill and see if I can continue it tomorrow or in 2 days on lower dosage. I think 50mg was just too much for me. Its saturday so I am unable to contact my derm until Monday. Has anyone changed or played with dosages without letting your derm know...?
Good luck to everyone, and thanks for supportive forums
Melinda.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. That sucks! I have never had even one headache while on accutane, but I know plenty others have and they still continued with their course. I believe that they eventually go away. I would post this on the accutane posts forum. You most likely will get more answers.
Best of Luck!