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DAY 38
Hi all....approximately 2 actives each side and a few little bits and bobs going on..but definitely generally improving...just want it to go quicker!!
Hyper-pigmentation is still quite pronounced, but at least it's smooth so hoping it will fade with time :/ just wish I'd stop getting new actives to add to the collection as my skin still looks awful without make up. Feeling quite naughty as I've been drinking a fair amount due to my Dad's 60th bday party and general Christmas frivolities.... I generally feel well and hangovers have been minimal so i'm hoping my liver is going to be ok... oops.
Just thought i'd mention at this point that I LOVE SEBAMED... so glad I bought the face-wash, it lasts forever and feels so gentle and kind to my skin, yet removes make up really well too. Lypsyl is great too, no lip probs at all using this as and when required...
Hope you're all well and looking forward to Christmas!!? x x
OOOh PS - Calculated I'm 20% through my reccomended minimum dosage... if I've calculated right means only 94 days to go.. just over 3 months... surely that can't be right, but I suppose that is the bare minimum. I'm assuming to be on this for another 4 months at the very least... x x
DAY 44
Golly gosh day 44 indeed! Its going so quickly...
Went for a christmas drink with one of my old school friends yesterday (if you follow this log, it was one of the ones who I went to this wedding with in the first week or so of my course)...and she said how CLEAR my skin looked...FIRST CLEAR SKIN COMPLIMENT YAY!!! It most certainly isnt at all, I have about 3 actives and a whole beard full of red marks, but with make up at least it must be getting less noticeable. She also last saw me when I had one of the worst breakouts of my life but still I'll take the compliment.... YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!
Rash is still quite annoying, its moved from backs of my hands to the outer edge (ulnar border) or my forearms, its very itchy but manageable with moisturiser, does anyone else get this?
Havent noticed any major aches/pains... eyes arent dry yet....lips are a bit dry but fine with lypsyl, and still only around my nostrils and one patch left of my mouth is dry...
Spots seem to be coming as quickly as they were in same areas but they just seem to either come to a little whitehead (not the huge painfull cysts they used to be) or disappear...PLEASE PLEASE may it keep improving... Photo update soooon
Hope you all had lovely chrimboleans x x x x x
Oooh another U.K'er
are you on with NHS or private?
NHS for me was ridiculously hard to get isotretinoin prescribed! Im glad your seeing improvement, good luck!
I'm on NHS...I'm also (rather embarrassingly) unemployed so my prescriptions are free...feel very lucky to have this whole thing for free when some folks have had to stop their courses due to problems with their health insurance etc... are you private then? Why was it hard to get on NHS for you? x x
I'm NHS and it wasn't so hard to get a referral, it was no hair of my GP's chest referring me., i think she was a bit sick of me tbh! But convincing my derm to prescribe me isotretinoin, now that was a task! Yeah, NHS maybe shabby, i mean they stab the bloody needle into your arm like 4 times at weird angles (actually fainted once), sometimes pretty careless with the blood tests, they want you in and out as quick as possible, but it's free (or close to it 
).
DAY 46
ONLY ONE ACTIVE!!! And its an old one on my hairline that isn't reeeeally an active but I can't discount it cos it hurts a little bit... I'M SO EXCITED!! I've even had to use a different moisturiser and face wash when I forgot to take mine with me when staying at my Mums the last couple of days and usually a change of routine like that would flare me up
Pleeeeeeeeeease may this me the start of it all going away, I'm sure it wont be, and there will be many many actives to come but still...WOOP.
My hyper-pigmentation is still really red but hopefully it means a bit more of a smooth new years eve... under a load of make up ha... 
x x
DAY 48
Hmmm yes my joy was short lived, about 3 new actives now. POO!
Ah well...knew I shouldnt get excited its just I havent had an active free days for about 2 years....OK calculation time....
- I've had 2040mg to date...
- My reccomended minimum dose is 7348mg...
- So i'm 28% through the course
- Means I have 5308mg left to take... divided by 60 (if I carry on on 60mg/day that is) is 89 more days... jeez that's March the 30th!!
Sad I still have so far to go but makes me feel better as to the fact that I'm still breaking out badly at this stage...how far through your courses did you acne alumni clear?
Face is really starting to dry out now feels like i have a hard layer / barrier on top of my cheeks and chin if that make any sense? Like when i touch them it doesnt feel like my skin? My cetaphil is good for being gentle but i just dont think it's powerful enough...
...any suggestions please? I hear the clinque dramatically different one is good?
x x x
DAY 51
So talk about rollercoaster... yesterday was the worst day I've had for ages, had about 7 actives crop up, although I must say not quite the old cysts that I used to get but nevertheless lots of smaller cysts and whiteheads...so annoying afer that clear day I had... I shouldnt have jinxed it!! I attacked the ripe ones last night and woke up with them mostly healing and no new ones...
As long as these ones heal ok i'll be alright... please please don't let this me the start of a downhill again. Sucks being back to the old painful to wash face malarchy... 
I don't know if anyone is reading this anymore...could do with some support please :/ ..... were you all clear by 51 days? x x x
Ouch! That's looking angry. Here's hoping it's not giving you too much discomfort and that it settles down very soon. Seems to be confined to the cheeks which I guess is a bonus, although I don't suppose it's always easy to see the positives when things suddenly take a turn for the worst after you were beginning to see good progress. Keep at it though, still a way to go and a lot of time for the Accutane to get things totally under control. Chin up!
Ouch! That's looking angry. Here's hoping it's not giving you too much discomfort and that it settles down very soon. Seems to be confined to the cheeks which I guess is a bonus, although I don't suppose it's always easy to see the positives when things suddenly take a turn for the worst after you were beginning to see good progress. Keep at it though, still a way to go and a lot of time for the Accutane to get things totally under control. Chin up!
Yeah I only ever got acne on my cheeks/jawline...
Actually the funny thng is, you can't tell from the photo but the hollows of my cheeks both sides (where I used to get it the worst) are actually clear and feel really smooth, there is just masses of hyperpigmentation. Its the jawline especially on the Right which has erupted, and one biggun on my left cheekbone...x
Need to stop focussing on the negative and on with the positve...
Started drinking lemon water yeterday... I don't drink nearly enough water (i.e. none apart from tea) so in order to entice me to do so (without adding sugary squash) i'm adding lemon juice to a bottle of water and I aim to drink at least 3 bottles a day... the lemon apparently is really good at detoxifying the liver, Vitamin C will help with skin healing, and its really good for digestion too... (and make me drink more water at the very least!)
hii! reading your log has been really helpful, we're similar stats -- i'm 23 this year and also around 120 - 125 lbs (i fluctuate alot!), guess i should be taking 30 or 60 kg? i haven't started my course yet, i should be picking up my prescription this week! did you see many side effects on 30mg?
i'll be about a two months behind you, here's to good skin! xx keep your chin up i also have alot of hyperpigmentation, i want to get rid of it as well! trying to figure out what to use, might pick up a moisturizer with niacinamide, heard that is good for clearing old marks!
also heard the lemon thing was good (and applying to the skin? though that may be tough since it's very acidic..)
will be following ya
hii! reading your log has been really helpful, we're similar stats -- i'm 23 this year and also around 120 - 125 lbs (i fluctuate alot!), guess i should be taking 30 or 60 kg? i haven't started my course yet, i should be picking up my prescription this week! did you see many side effects on 30mg?
i'll be about a two months behind you, here's to good skin! xx keep your chin up
i also have alot of hyperpigmentation, i want to get rid of it as well! trying to figure out what to use, might pick up a moisturizer with niacinamide, heard that is good for clearing old marks!
also heard the lemon thing was good (and applying to the skin? though that may be tough since it's very acidic..)
will be following ya
Hi there! Yes indeedy we do sound very similar! I'm 120-125llb too but I also fluctuate a lot...especially around christmas time!! Where are you based by the way? And how bad is your acne?
Yeah I was on 30 for 1 month and on 60 for this month and probably for the rest of my course...didnt experience many side effects at all on 30....still not really getting many apart from
- blood when I blow my nose
- Every now and then a dry red rash on hands/forearms but only once every couple of weeks and it goes away as soon as I moisturise...I'm naughty I forget to moisturise my body.
- Dry nose (like I have a cold) and dry skin around my mouth
When I list it it seems lots but really I'm not feeling much at all...especially in the first month, I got a headache on day 1/2 maybe but it passed quickly...
I heard lemon topically is good for lessening hyperpgmentation but I'm a bit scared to add anything else to my regime at this stage....might look into a niacinamide moisturiser instead of my cetaphil though.... Its so annoying as I only have about 4 actives (good for me) but look like I have a beard full of spots 🙁
x x
If you're looking for a niacinamide moisturizer, I've tried the CeraVe PM moisturizer and Clinique's Super Rescue Antioxidant Night Moisturizer and both are good. I prefer the Clinique one because it has antioxidants and niacinamide, but it is quite a bit more expensive. It comes it different textures (one for oily combo skin and one for dry combo). I use the dry combo one and really like it a lot. It seems to really fade the red spots fast too. My skin almost looks good without makeup now. I wouldn't try the lemon juice thing. Citrus is extremely irritating to the skin and will be especially bad while taking accutane.
If you're looking for a niacinamide moisturizer, I've tried the CeraVe PM moisturizer and Clinique's Super Rescue Antioxidant Night Moisturizer and both are good. I prefer the Clinique one because it has antioxidants and niacinamide, but it is quite a bit more expensive. It comes it different textures (one for oily combo skin and one for dry combo). I use the dry combo one and really like it a lot. It seems to really fade the red spots fast too. My skin almost looks good without makeup now. I wouldn't try the lemon juice thing. Citrus is extremely irritating to the skin and will be especially bad while taking accutane.
Oooh sounds amazing... but at £35 I just can't afford it...wish you could try these things before buying to see whether it works, if it decreased my PIH and didnt flare me up that would be maybe worth it.... but it could break me out or something... 
I would try the cerave one... but can't seem to get it in the UK... cetaphil was hard enough to source haha x x
If you're going to try and increase your fluid intake then I would recommend 3-4 mugs of Green Tea a day.
Many people on this site say that it helped clear up their skin: http://www.acne.org/green-tea-reviews/207/page1.html
It's a very great anti-oxidant and has many, many other benefits (check google).
If you live in the UK then I can recommend the clippers brand Green Tea.
Oh and don't worry, you will be through this in no time =)
DAY 55
Pretty stressed... I have 4 big actives and still tons of PIH... I'm stressing because I have to shoot a music video on Saturday/Sunday and there's going to be closeups and everything... I don't know what to do, Its too late to back out, but I feel so guilty that they think they're getting something they're not. Maybe they'll have to do some camera trickery or something to hide it but how embarrasing is that?
You can't see my PIH on photos when Im wearing make up, but video is a different thing... can anyone recommend a super amazing foundation? But then again I'm scared to change foundation in case it breaks me out...
ARGH wish I hadnt agreed to this now, I agreed to it a couple of months ago and thought my skin would be better by now..I mean its 'better' but not better enough for cameras in your face... ha there's even a sodding scene where in the script it says "no makeup" as i'm supposed to look tired and disheveled.... SCREW THAT!!!!
CRAPCRAPCRAP ........What am I going to do??
Best thing to do is relax, be confident and focus on giving the task at hand your attention so that you do well. After all, if you let your skin play on your mind and that impacts upon your ability to do the shoot as best you can, they'll be more likely to notice that than they would your skin. Still a few days to spare so with any luck the actives will have calmed down. Fingers crossed!
