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A lack of activity from me means things are generally going well. A month ago I started skipping one pill every 6 days. I think this actually has lead to a slight increase in oil, but it's not bad. I still produce oil far more slowly than I used to, even if it's not gone completely. I've hit a level that I can work with.
I'm still using peppermint oil every night on the left side of my nose. I've been doing this for 2 months now. The peppermint oil is just about my last hope for ever reducing oily skin without the aid of isotretinoin. It's hard to say whether it's working or not. When I blot the oil off my nose after several hours, I frequently notice less oil from the peppermint oil side. But then some days it looks equal. So I really don't know what to say.
I also bought some supplements to help reduce the facial flushing that was brought on by the isotretinoin. I'm taking grape seed extract, glisodin, turmeric, low-dose Aspirin, and astaxanthin. Glisodin and astaxanthin act as a sort of internal sunscreen, reducing photosensitivity in the skin. It's too early to say anything on that front, though.
Day 110
I'm down to my last 10-pill packet. I didn't notice I was running low until it was too late. I've already ordered another batch of pills, but it will take over 10 days to arrive so I'm forced to reduce my dosage this week to make my current batch last. I ordered from a different website this time around since the original website I ordered from has been getting negative feedback recently. I don't know what brand these pills will be so I'm crossing my fingers that they will be equally effective.
Day 113
The redness in my cheeks seems to be subsiding. Taking a shower no longer causes my face to go bright red for 2 hours. It may just be a coincidence, but I didn't notice this happening until I started taking Evening Primrose Oil last week. I have my doubts that one supplement could make such an immediate change, but it might have helped. I'm happy to see some progress anyway.
Only bad thing is that the redness has NOT been subsiding in my nose, which is the one spot where I really don't want redness. My nose gets red incredibly easily now, much redder than the rest of my face. And after my face gets temporarily flushed from laughing or bending down or whatever, the redness lingers in my nose for a long time. My nose has a slight pinkish hue almost all the time.
*sigh* It's just one problem after another. If anyone has any suggestions for me I'd love to hear them. I'm already experimenting with a reduced isotretinoin dosage again, and I'm even starting to look into makeup.
Hi, I've no advice to give really, I just wanted to wish you luck, you have the right attitude to varying the dose to match the oil production in my view. Just one thing drop that silly Filament rubbish, they're comedones, or blackheads as we all know them, light bulbs have filaments well at least they used to until they all went low energy style.
Good luck
Day 157
Things are pretty much the same as when I last updated. Not a whole lot to tell. My oil production is still low, so long as I stick to my regular dosage. Last month I tried lowering my dosage again to once every other day, thinking that maybe it would be okay now that I had so much isotretinoin built up in my system. But no, after a week of this new regimen my oiliness started to increase again. I quickly reinstated my once-a-day regimen, and it took about another week for things to return back to normal. I'm going to experiment with lower dosages later this month, but I'm going to taper things down much more slowly, probably starting by skipping one pill every 5 days.
I had to reorder my supply this month from a new website that I had never used before. The website where I placed my last order hasn't been functioning right for the past two weeks (I literally couldn't place an order). My fingers are crossed that this company sends me a good quality product. The customer service rep said they sell Accutane from multiple manufacturers.
My main focus right now is on finding a remedy for rosacea. I just got a prescription (yes, a legitimate prescription lol) for Oracea and Metrogel. I'm also still looking into holistic solutions. My skin problems are multifaceted and complicated but the isotretinoin was a big piece of the puzzle. It took care of the oiliness, which was the worst part of my skin, and I'm sincerely grateful for that. It has literally improved my quality of life.
Would you say it was worth it overall so far? comparing it to what your oily skin was like before?
I am finding oily skin unbearable after 4 years, i feel so uncomfortable after 3 hours of having a shower and i'm going to stop my regime 1 week b4 my derm appointment to have some acne so he gives me accutane, probably like 80mg since in 170 in weight, thoughts plz??
PS: has your pore size decreased? tightness of your skin? thanks
Would you say it was worth it overall so far? comparing it to what your oily skin was like before?
I am finding oily skin unbearable after 4 years, i feel so uncomfortable after 3 hours and i'm going to stop my regime 1 week b4 my derm appointment to have some acne so he gives me accutane, probably like 80mg since in 170 in weight, thoughts plz??
PS: has your pore size decreased? tightness of your skin? thanks
Absolutely it was worth it. I don't regret it one bit, in spite of the drawbacks that include muscle fatigue, slight lower back pain, exacerbated rosacea, and roughly $70 a month in expenses. Sometimes I think about all that bad stuff (especially the expense) and wonder if I should consider stopping, but the positive effect it has had on my life has been considerable.
My skin is far less oily now than it used to be (I posted comparison pictures on page 2). My oil technically isn't completely gone, but that could be solved by simply upping my dosage. I don't know how bad your acne is, but I would question the necessity of a dose as high as 80mg unless you have a pretty severe case of acne. If you're only dealing with oily skin, I would suggest 10mg a day like I've been doing.
Also, no, I haven't noticed a decrease in pore size. If my pores have shrunk, the change has been undetectable to me. And I'm not sure what you mean by "tightness of skin."
I'll have to see what my derm wants honestly, do you have normal sized pores already then? or are they big? i feel my skin is puffy around my eyes and I think the accutane will tighten up my skin, but whatever u probably dont have that, thanks btw.
I've always thought my pores were a bit larger than normal. I noticed a few years ago that my dad also has somewhat large pores, so I resigned myself to the fact that it's simply genetic and there's no use fretting about it. I also deal with puffiness around the eyes and I can't say I've noticed any change there either. Of course, I'm taking a measly 10mg a day, so who knows if you might get some bonus benefits when the dosage is increased.
I really appreciate your replies btw, obviously you can still empathise with this quest for regular oil levels for others. I feel my eye puffyness wont be as noticable if there wasnt a sudden change of oilyness just below it 
. I just want to feel comfortable again for at least 1 whole day without messing with my skin and HAVING to have 2 showers everyday to maintain my less acne. thanks again.
PS, its been like a year since I started messaging you on your profile, happy anniversary , I said I would be with you/following you (i think I did), can I ask how old u r btw?
I really appreciate your replies btw, obviously you can still empathise with this quest for regular oil levels for others. I feel my eye puffyness wont be as noticable if there wasnt a sudden change of oilyness just below it
. I just want to feel comfortable again for at least 1 whole day without messing with my skin and HAVING to have 2 showers everyday to maintain my less acne. thanks again.
PS, its been like a year since I started messaging you on your profile, happy anniversary
Hey no problem. That's part of the reason I made this thread, so that others could benefit from whatever knowledge or experience I might be able to offer. And I know what you mean about not being able to feel comfortable for one whole day. When I had oily skin, I couldn't feel comfortable for one whole hour.
Also, I do remember your first PM messages when I was experimenting with peppermint oil. I can't believe that was a year ago. I'm 22 by the way.
Day 174
About two weeks ago I cut down my dosage to once every two days instead of once every day, except this time I did it out of necessity instead of the desire to experiment. I foolishly let my pills run too low before ordering another batch, so I had to space out the pills to make them last. I was worried this would cause my oil to return like in the past, and sure enough the oil came back full force.
I received a new batch of pills four days ago and I've been taking twice the normal amount to speed up the rebound phase. I've got a social obligation this weekend and I really don't want to have an oily face for that. The oil does appear to be subsiding already, so that's good news. This is the first time I've used a different brand of isotretinoin. The brand I received this time is called Acutret. It's supposed to work just as well as any other brand. Let's hope so.
One weird thing is that recently I've been getting more acne spots than usual. Nothing super bad, just the classic little red spots. It's weird because they're popping up in slightly unusual places where I don't normally get acne. It's mostly in the beard area of my face, but I'm also getting some acne on my upper cheeks, eyebrows, and upper nose. I pretty much NEVER get acne on my cheeks. Even before I took isotretinoin, that just wasn't a problem area for me.
For nearly 6 months now, I've been applying peppermint oil to the left side of my nose every day as an experiment to test its alleged sebum-reducing effects. I'm able to gauge the effectiveness of this treatment since my nose still produces some oil over long periods of time, even though the isotretinoin has largely curbed my oil production.
I can say now that, when I blot the oil off my nose with a sheet, the left side of my nose is pretty consistently less oily than the rest of my nose. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe about half as oily. This is pretty exciting to me because it gives me hope that peppermint oil might offer a safe, long-term solution to oily skin. I'm hoping that the effect is cumulative and continues to increase.
5 days ago I switched over to a new brand of isotretinoin called Eratin, because that was the randomly chosen brand that the pharmacy decided to send me. Ugh, I HATE this stuff. From what I've read online it is legitimate isotretinoin, although it comes in powder form instead of gel form.
It's making me feel awful. I'm getting side-effects that I never got with the other brands. One of the side-effects is dry mouth, which I've never experienced before. I have to keep a bottle of water next to my bed now because my mouth gets so dry. The other side-effect is really bad muscle fatigue. If I so much as stretch my muscles, they feel sore for a few seconds. Every time I stand up from a sitting position my muscles hurt. It always feels like my muscles are being overstretched. It's extremely uncomfortable. And the pills aren't even keeping my oil away! It's like all the side-effects of Accutane without the benefits.
Also, and I'm not sure if this is a coincidence, but for the first 4 days after I started taking Eratin, I was suffering from constant lightheadedness, nausea, and night sweats. Oh yeah, and I almost passed out at one point. I really don't know if those symptoms were linked to the Eratin, but it does seem a little coincidental that all of that happened right after I switched brands.
In short, I highly recommend that people DON'T TAKE ERATIN.
Sorry for the recent lack of updates, guys. There just hasn't been a whole lot to tell.
The effects from the Eratin wore off after a couple of weeks, thank God. I was starting to get worried that the medication had done permanent damage to my body. By far the worst experience with a medication that I have ever had. But hey, sometimes you have to experiment.
Shortly after stopping the Eratin, I managed to acquire Acutret again and things slowly went back to normal. I just finished up my batch of Acutret yesterday and now I'm back on Isotroin, the brand that I originally started with. I've had to jump around to a few different online pharmacies to get the brands I wanted, which I'm always wary about, but that's just the way it is.
The only thing worth noting this time around is that I'm using 20mg pills every two days for the first time instead of 10mg every single day. The website I bought from didn't offer 10mg pills. I'm hoping this new regimen doesn't cause my body to freak out and make my oil come flooding back.
I'll post an update in a week or two. It's nice to see that people are interested in my log.
The medication is still working as well as ever, over a year after I started taking it. 10mg every day, occasionally skipping a day. In the past few months, I ran into a situation multiple times where my supply ran out and I had to wait a couple of weeks for a new delivery. Every time that happens, my oiliness returns with full force in 1-2 weeks, and it takes 1-2 weeks for the medication to make the oil go away again.
Unfortunately, once again my supply is running low, and I can't find a (reputable) online pharmacy that is still carrying isotretinoin. I may have to go back to being oily again for a while, but it's been a good run. I don't regret taking isotretinoin one bit.
Right now I'm just focusing on applying peppermint oil to my nose, an experiment that I've discussed previously in this thread. I applied a mixture of peppermint oil and water to the left side of my nose for about six months, after which I found that the left side of my nose produced roughly half the amount of oil as the rest of my nose. I made a thread about it on the Oily Skin board with pictures. That disparity in oil production between the two sides of my nose is still present, but now I'm applying the solution to my whole nose. It's really the only remedy I have in lieu of isotretinoin.
So that's my situation now. I will probably be updating my peppermint oil thread with new pictures once my oil starts to return. I have also started experimenting with ylang ylang oil, which purportedly helps regulate oil production as well. I'm applying it to the right side of my nose. I don't know if it actually reduces oil production, but the only way to find out is to experiment.
I've been off isotretinoin for about 3 weeks now, and sure enough my oil has completely returned in full force. Fortunately at this point in my life, I'm not as desperate to get rid of oily skin. It's still a horrible predicament to have to deal with, but in terms of my social life, the previous year and a half was more important than this year, and I'm grateful to have been able to control my oily skin for that time period.
I am kind of worried about sebaceous filaments, however, since they were one of the most annoying things about my skin that the isotretinoin put a stop to. Oily skin alone is at least manageable, but the sebaceous filaments that come along with it are gross and annoyingly persistent. They have been returning a little bit, but I'm hopeful that I may be able to largely keep them away.
One interesting thing I've noticed since being off isotretinoin is that my skin appears to be less shiny after it has been washed. When I was taking the medication, even though my oil production basically stopped dead in its tracks, the skin on my nose was still shiny. Now my nose has a pretty matte appearance when it's not covered in oil, which is new for me. That was a pleasant discovery. It makes me suspect that the isotretinoin may have been thinning out my skin and causing it to appear more shiny.
I also want to mention that I have been using a product to cover up my oily skin called Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch. This is my go-to product right next to Monistat Chafing Gel for hiding shiny skin. The oil still breaks through after a couple of hours, but it's one of the few anti-shine products I've used that actually does a decent job of reducing shine.
It's too bad the Accutane stops working right after you stop taking it. I would expect some of it to build up and give you a little longer before the oil returns. I hope us oily people don't have to just learn to live with it.
I'm also trying a low dose. I'm taking 20mg a day now, and when/if it decreases the oil enough, I want to go down to 10mg a day for as long as possible. If the oil comes back when I stop taking it, I'll just keep taking it for as long as I safely can.
Why don't you try getting it from a derm? That's what I did(although I also have acne) and I'm sure you will be able to find a derm who will understand. Plus if you have insurance it should be even cheaper than online.
so basically, low dose accutane does nothing for oily skin or filaments.
It works great while you're actually taking the Accutane, but it hasn't produced any permanent benefits for me. I do have to say that my filaments are much less of a problem now than before I started the isotretinoin, but that could be due to diet changes.
It's too bad the Accutane stops working right after you stop taking it. I would expect some of it to build up and give you a little longer before the oil returns. I hope us oily people don't have to just learn to live with it.
I'm also trying a low dose. I'm taking 20mg a day now, and when/if it decreases the oil enough, I want to go down to 10mg a day for as long as possible. If the oil comes back when I stop taking it, I'll just keep taking it for as long as I safely can.
Why don't you try getting it from a derm? That's what I did(although I also have acne) and I'm sure you will be able to find a derm who will understand. Plus if you have insurance it should be even cheaper than online.
It took 1-2 weeks for my oil to fully return after stopping the medication. I think you'll be happy with the results you get from a low-dose regimen. Even with all the costs and potential health risks, taking low-dose isotretinoin was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
I tried getting Accutane from a couple of derms originally and they refused, which is why I went the online route. I have almost no acne so it's hard to get a prescription. But I am planning on trying again with a different dermatologist soon. I'm not hopeful, but it's worth a shot.
It took 1-2 weeks for my oil to fully return after stopping the medication. I think you'll be happy with the results you get from a low-dose regimen. Even with all the costs and potential health risks, taking low-dose isotretinoin was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
I tried getting Accutane from a couple of derms originally and they refused, which is why I went the online route. I have almost no acne so it's hard to get a prescription. But I am planning on trying again with a different dermatologist soon. I'm not hopeful, but it's worth a shot.
I just assumed the results would last a few months after stopping Accutane, but a few weeks isn't very long.
If you know what causes acne for you, then you could actually try to make yourself break out before your appointment to get the Accutane. I sort of did that, but I break out all the time anyway. I just wasn't as strict with my diet and benzoyl peroxide.