Dryness is creeping in slightly but lypsyl for lips is really good so that hasnt bothered me yet..also got a tiny dry patch next to my mouth which will probably grow... currently combatting by cetaphil...I've always had quite a dry acne face anyway (not oily as most acne sufferers tend to be)...so have to moisturise to stop old spot flakes falling into my dinner... sorry that was gross...
Yay Lypsyl!!
I think they should pay us to be their advocate 😉
DAY 9
So my spots are still calming at the moment, only a couple of actives, and not the huge painful cysts I usually get... some whiteheads near my mouth due to over moisturisation maybe?! Still only getting a couple of small dry patches but nothing cetaphil doesnt clear... I get the feeling one day I'll just wake up an my whole face will be scaly and flaky with 20 actives or something but i'm prepared!
Sebamed facewash seems to be quite good for me, nice and gentle... as long as i moisturise a little afterwards, but i've always had to do that after washing my face with anything as its usual for me to be on the dry side...
I did dye my hair this morning and the bleach was pretty stingy on my scalp...must be getting more sensitive/dry...and feel generally a bit more sensitive on my face... nothing much else to report really...
x x x
By the way did y'all know that accutane is a chemotherapy drug too?... http://www.chemocare.com/BIO/accutane.asp ...(hence the ol' hair loss etc...)
I decided to refrain from telling my parents that one...
DAY 13
Nearly 2 weeks yay!
Skin still looks terrible but does feel better... Approx 3 actives R and L as opposed to 9 and 5 respectively when I started... Still waiting for that IB though.
Heres some pics (again I warn you not too pretty!)
Skin a lot drier around my mouth now....
Felt quite down at the weekend as I went to an old school friends wedding... lots of my old school chums were there and I did my old routine of... "Oh gosh I don't know whats happened to my skin the last few days...golly gosh thats annoying that happened to coincide with this wedding".... when I really mean "it looks god awful and i'm fooling no one with this make up...and this is actually the BEST its been for the last couple of weeks...and I'm trying to fool you all into believing that this isnt what my skin has looked like for the past 3 years..."
Had a bit of back ache on Saturday...but I kind of attributed that to wearing a very tight saree for my friends hindu wedding!!
I just want to be pretty this sucks....you probably can't see any improvement on the pics!!
Ahh, I do the same thing when seeing people who knew me when I was clear skinned (or wearing a foundation mask).. I usually say i recently switched birth control pills, then they're mostly like "ohh okay i understand, that'll pass" and i'm like "yes, sure 
"
Anyway, hope you still had a bit of fun at the wedding!
And I can definitely see improvement, it's way less red and inflamed and looks a lot calmer.
Good luck further on
Ahh, I do the same thing when seeing people who knew me when I was clear skinned (or wearing a foundation mask).. I usually say i recently switched birth control pills, then they're mostly like "ohh okay i understand, that'll pass" and i'm like "yes, sure
"
Anyway, hope you still had a bit of fun at the wedding!
And I can definitely see improvement, it's way less red and inflamed and looks a lot calmer.
Good luck further on
Haha glad its not just me 'barefaced lying'...excuse the pun...I did have loads of fun thank you...lots of bollywood style dancing and amazing food.
DAY 14
So I'm starting back on yasmin BC after a 2 week break...I know I should have just carried on using it after the normal 7 day break, but as my face seemed to be calming nicely I just couldnt risk the explosion for this wedding... i'm sure my face will react now though...ohhhhh 🙁
At the moment around 3 actives R and L and definitely feeling less sore and inflamed, minimal dryness.
Wish that BC improved my skin like normal girls, not make it worse... Just feel the accutane is going to have a tougher time working when I'm back on it... POO.
Hi Quiescence, just thought I'd drop in to offer my support! I have found Roaccutane to be a tough experience, but manageable. You just have to be a bit easier on yourself than you would normally be. You might find that side-effects get a bit more noticeable as your derm increases the dosage - but if you find them too much, you can remain on a lower dosage for a longer period. My advice is don't push your body too far - make sure that you keep your derm aware of any side effects and let them decide the dosage accordingly. Good luck!
I can definitely tell the difference! The inflamation and redness has gone down quite a bit. Hang in there We are always our own worst critics. Someone actually told me that my skin was looking really good the other day...all I could think was that they were crazy...didn't they see the 9 actives on my face?!
Thanks for the support PM and Roisin! I'm so glad I started a log, really makes you feel like you're not alone in this...my pals and familly are realy supportive but they don't understand all the weird bits and bobs (and thoughts!) that go on!
I've been following both your logs/posts too
DAY 16
Soooo not much to report really, nothing awful nothing amazing...
Skin is pretty much the same, quite a few actives although they seem to be more whiteheads than deep painful cysts.... and the turnover of my skin is altogether quicker. Had a couple of teeny bloody tissues after nose blowing, and still only a couple of little dry skin patched near mouth... my lips arent even really very dry... accutane are you working?!
I suppose this is why I'm on the 0.5 mg/Kg (which is for me 30 mg/day) to ease me in like this... maybe I'll be bumped up to 60mg/day next derm visit as my side effects have been minimal thus far...I'm hoping so as I've just worked out on the dose I'm on i'm only 7% of the way through my course (target 6695mg cumulative dose for my weight)...which would mean I won't be finished till mid June 2012 haha! Oh the maths....anyway....
Oh and Happy December everyone! Nearly christmas...shame I have exams and essays to do before then though....hmmmmm 
x x
You have amazing skin underneath so it will all heal quickly! I have stupid scars and acne so it looks like Freddy Krugar and Jason has a fight on my face! But good luck with your journey!
Haha I'm baffled how you can see I will have great skin underneath this array of red marks and spots but thank you! x x
DAY 17
17 is my lucky number....HA... it doesnt feel like it!
Started back on yasmin 3 days ago and it has really broken me out again as expected 🙁 I have 6 actives Left and 4 actives right....and the painful inflamed really sore cysts again...and i know its just gonna get worse...
HELP TELL ME WHAT TO DO PLEASE!! I just cant force myself to take this little BC pill full of cyst-inducing face-bubbling hormones...me and my partner are using barrier method contraception anyway and there is no chance of me getting pregnant as he withdraws anyway even with the condom there (sorry to be graphic) so thats not an issue....but it would be really nice to know that at the end of this all I can take the pill again....what shall I do guys?
x x x
Heya, yeah i've tried pretty much every BC pill under the sun...
By spiral do you mean coil? I had one this last spring...basically i came off all BC pills and miraculously my skin totally cleared for a couple of AMAZING months...as i needed contraception i decided at that point to get a copper coil fitted (non hormonal) but a couple of weeks later i started beaking out again... I then researched (forums again!) and heard copper can actually cause acne, so that combined with immensely painful and heavy periods mean getting it removed... Was on nothing but condoms for a while but skin didnt clear again...hence starting accutane, (and yaz due to the pregnancy issue wnich causes this insane reaction in me) so ya see where im at?!
Sat here having popped about 10 pimples, face full of blood and painful swelling. Not happy... Might stop taking this pill tomorrow...
Ohhhhhh why do there have to be so many factors involved? boys you're lucky! Advice is very welcome here guys/gals!
Oh and if by spiral you mean some other contraceptive i havent heard of i'm very interested!...X x x x
I was on yaz for three years. It was fantastic for clearing my skin but the other side effects became too much to take. I had zero sex drive, constant stomach aches, and my hair began falling out. I finally got off that pill and took a break from hormones for about a year...my skin went bonkers.
I've been on loestrin 24 for about 6 months and I really like it! So far, no side effects, super light and short periods (sorry guys, tmi) and its helped keep my hormonal acne at bay.
Problem with these pills is they react so differently with everyone. I've had luck with Loestrin but doesn't necessarily mean you will :/ that said, it usually takes a few months for your hormones to settle down when you start a birth control pill so starting and stopping and starting and stopping is probably not good for you.
Being a girl totally sucks!
Being a girl totally sucks!
You couldnt be more correct! Theres just so many variables to consider with hormonal BC, just like with other acne treatments its always a case of trial and error, plus eyou have to 'try' each thing for a good few months... and THEN when you finally something that works for you, a few months down the line your body chemistry changes again and you're back to square one!...
DAY 19
I've decided if my body is fighting this explosively against hormonal BC I just cant force it... its not healthy, and is not going to help the accutane work its magic one bit! So for now condoms combined with withdrawal it is...(oh my what fun). Maybe once my skin has (hopefully!!) cleared after this accutane course I might start experimenting again with patches/nuvaring/implant/injection... jeez...
Skin is at 8 actives L and 5 actives R at the moment, ( some are inflamed and painful cysts)...really annoyingly that massive cyst on my Left cheek (See pics!) which was healing nicely has re grown with about 3 circling it since taking yaz, its been there for a few weeks now so will proably have a nice fat scar underneath... cant sleep on that side as its too painful....hopefully they will all die down now I've stopped it again... my poor body doesnt know what to get used to. Ive got to stick to my decisions!!
Nose is getting sore and flaky, looks like I have a constant cold... have to carry cetphil around with me in my handbag and that settles it...
Sooooooooo there ya go.
DAY 21
Month one is going FAST! which means exams are looming too...eek!
Skin is calming a little since that hormonal Yaz freakout after I stopped taking it... still about 4 painful actives L and R, but I feel like my red marks from previous breakouts are fading quicker than usual actually... skin turnover seems to be quite quick on roaccutane.....my skin doesnt look **quite so red and inflamed.Dry lips and nose are still my only symptoms really... skin round my eyes is quite thin and can get sore but I was prone to that before...
Does anyone else do that clear skin jealousy thing? Whenever I go ANYWHERE i'm always looking at peoples skin and just cannot believe how they cant have a single spot...i'm even jealous of pensioners haha... why us?!! I can't complain really, some people have to live with such awful debilitating conditions, if acne is my lot I'm very lucky indeed...
Question - what do people put on their actiives to clear them up? I just leave them at the moment....
I'm ambling and putting off my essay heehee x x x
DAY 21
Month one is going FAST! which means exams are looming too...eek!
Skin is calming a little since that hormonal Yaz freakout after I stopped taking it... still about 4 painful actives L and R, but I feel like my red marks from previous breakouts are fading quicker than usual actually... skin turnover seems to be quite quick on roaccutane.....my skin doesnt look **quite so red and inflamed.Dry lips and nose are still my only symptoms really... skin round my eyes is quite thin and can get sore but I was prone to that before...
Does anyone else do that clear skin jealousy thing? Whenever I go ANYWHERE i'm always looking at peoples skin and just cannot believe how they cant have a single spot...i'm even jealous of pensioners haha... why us?!! I can't complain really, some people have to live with such awful debilitating conditions, if acne is my lot I'm very lucky indeed...
Question - what do people put on their actiives to clear them up? I just leave them at the moment....
I'm ambling and putting off my essay heehee x x x
Those actives will disappear in no time! And man can I relate to looking at people's skin! And I get so jealous of people who can go out in public bare faced and not worry about any scars or pimples 
I don't know what I'm going to put on my actives if/when I get them. I thought of just putting Duac only on them but something tells me that won't be too good on my skin lol.
DAY 22
Dry chin today, no more morning blowing nose blood, a little eye stinging and some back ache but I've spent all day at my laptop revising so I think that might not be accutane related!!
About 3 actives R and L, no major new ones so hopefully its calming down again...
I think when I say actives maybe I mean a whole different thing to most of you?... When I say active I mean the big painful cysts? When I think maybe other people just mean any kind of spot... ? Cos I have a good bunch of healing cysts and whiteheads I dont count haha...just to let you know in case you saw my pics and were like...uh only 3 actives...you're fooling no one teehee!!
x x
Keep it up! If you ever feel down just remember that at least now you're doing something to fix the problem =).
I know that will keep me going as well. I just started today and I'm about to make my own blog. Will be checking out everyone's on a regular basis.
Ahh congratulations! I'll keep an eye on your log too... How bad is your skin at the mo?GOOD LUCK!!
x x