yo fellow UK-er, I'm just a few days behind you and also in that crappy early rut phase. Face is worst it's been in years atm. You're just starting on 20mg? Did you go through the NHS? I'm starting on a half dose of 30 and being bumped up to 60 in a month or so, and I'm a pretty skinny guy so would've thought that was a minimum for someone of our age. I'm surprised they started you off on such a low dose if you did go through the NHS..
Anyway, enjoy the ride (no that wasn't intended as a sick joke lol), it gets better eventually!
Hey man. Yeh 20mg is low but I've seen others starting on that so I'm not the only one! I'm a skinny guy too so I think that was partly the reason, but also because I've been diagnosed with depression so he was quite concerned about putting me on Accutane. I think that might be why he's put me on a low dose. I'm going to ask to be put on 40mg after the first month though. And yeh it's on the NHS. Good luck with your course 
Side note: The interview I was going on about went really well, I forgot all about my acne. Hopefully they didn't take too much notice..
Side note #2: I had a bottle of beer earlier, I'm pretty sure it should be ok.. not going to make a habit of it.
Day 13
So I don't want to jinx myself but it seems the whiteheads might be starting to go away. They are leaving behind painful red bumps though. It seems that everything is taking longer to heal, like I have read on other people's blogs. The cyst doesn't seem to be changing much 
. I have a really bad scar from a cyst before so I'm debating whether to go to the dermatologist about this one. I'm not really sure how long it should take for one to go away..
Side note: I got the internship so I guess they didn't pay much attention to my acne! 
Aw well done that's awesome!! I'm so pleased for you
About the cyst, if I were you I would speak to your derm to see if he/she can do anything. The worst they can do is say no right?
J x
Thanks, I guess you were right! About the cyst - yeh I should go, and hopefully will. It's just hard for me to get there, grrr.
Quick update (Day 14): Face is still getting worse. Out of desperation I bought some zinc capsules today because they help with skin repair apparently. I really hope it starts to clear up before I go abroad on the 21st.
Day 16
Finding it really hard to tell whether my face is getting worse or better at the moment. It's definitely getting drier, and it's so hard (and painful) to moisturise around the "active" areas. Moving tomorrow, hope my new flatmates are nice and won't pay attention to my face. Argh such a sucky first impression to make, being during my Accutane IB
Will probably try to slow down/stop my updates now unless things start to improve (which seems unlikely at the moment).
......... sooooo still scared as heck to take accutane................ been reading a lot of reviews positives and negatives..... aarrggghhh what am i gonna do????? i'm still breaking out this moment.............. my face itches and is full of red spots all over...... sooo grossed out!!!
I spoke to my dermatologist earlier about drinking and he said it was fine "in moderation". So stoked I don't have to give up drinking for 6 months! Enjoying a nice cold beer now
......... sooooo still scared as heck to take accutane................ been reading a lot of reviews positives and negatives..... aarrggghhh what am i gonna do????? i'm still breaking out this moment.............. my face itches and is full of red spots all over...... sooo grossed out!!!
Hey I'd love to hear an update! You're a week ahead of me
Ok here goes
Day 21 (I think?) - scroll down for the short version, I rambled a bit
Ok well I don't want to jinx myself but I think things are getting better. I'm not sure how people define "actives" but for me I'd say I only have a couple left, and lots of red marks. A week ago I had so many whiteheads it was crazy, with more each day, so I guess things have definitely improved actually. The bottom left of my chin has been the worst area with reaaaally persistant spots there. Two whiteheads there have kinda scabbed which isn't very nice but I'm hoping it will heal and come off in a day or so.
My skin has been getting crazily dry, and my lips too. It's been hard to moisturise with painful spots in the way but now they're going away it should be easier to keep the dryness under control. Areas like my nose and forehead have stayed clear of spots and so those bits of my face have been easy to moisturise. The more problematic areas such as my chin and lower cheeks have been really hard to moisturise but as I said, should start getting easier now. Lips aren't too bad until I leave the house and then as soon as the air hits them they feel super dry, and I keep forgetting to take lip balm with me. They are pretty chapped though and I find it hard not to bite the skin off (sorry if that's a bit rank!). It's like picking a scab, I just can't help it. But the other day I did that and ended up peeling off a thick bit of skin on my lip so I've learnt my lesson. I think I'm starting to get dandruff too from a dry scalp so I need to get some Head and Shoulders or something. I've also noticed the skin around my nails is really weak. Oh and also, my pores are getting freaking huge, especially on my nose and lower forehead. Feels so weird to touch, I don't think I've ever even been able to see my pores before so it's very strange.
I've been drinking as well, ever since I spoke to the derm on the phone. I'm not sure what counts as "moderation" exactly, but I think I've probably drunk too much. I'm going out for a friend's birthday tomorrow so I'll end up drinking then too. Had one beer today, had a few beers yesterday, got drunk the day before that, and just one beer the day before that. After tomorrow I will lay off it for a while, I think it's just being able to drink again which has made me drink more than I should have.
Short version:
- Have drunk some alcohol, no pains in my liver or anything but some nasty headaches the next day.
- Skin is starting to clear up, much less new spots appearing than a week ago (hope my IB is over!)
- Face/lips getting drier
- Starting to get dandruff
- Weak skin around nails
- Pores on skin visibly larger
Overall I feel like I'm moving forward now, rather than getting worse every day. Feels like progress
Day 22
Here's a picture update. Still looks bad and probably doesn't look better than the last picture I posted, but it is. I spoke too soon about not getting any new ones. One small whitehead on my chin and one red lump on my cheek this morning. Still much better than last week though.
I'm sorry to hear you're going through this but it WILL get better! Its so horrid to have that painful acne, I remember it being painful to eat, painful to sleep, painful to wash it sucks... Bug accident is amazing keep going you'll get there.
I just reread that... Im on my iphone and Autocorrect makes me laugh so hard... I meant to say "but accutane is amazing"... bug accidents are awful x x
I'm sorry to hear you're going through this but it WILL get better! Its so horrid to have that painful acne, I remember it being painful to eat, painful to sleep, painful to wash it sucks... Bug accident is amazing keep going you'll get there.
I just reread that... Im on my iphone and Autocorrect makes me laugh so hard... I meant to say "but accutane is amazing"... bug accidents are awful x x
Haha, gotta love iPhone autocorrect!
Thanks, it's already getting less painful now. I just hope I don't have another really bad breakout like the first one! 
I hv been on accutane for 46 days and it seems that my skin is getting better (20mg/per day). But there are whiteheads and pimples on my face too. I used to have lots of lots of (I rly mean LOTS OF!!) whiteheads under my skin and they are popping up quickly and become pimples! I look extremely ugly and rly depressed.
I just want to tell you that start from day 19 is my worst !! I hv never seen I hv such a serious breakout and it was actually like yours ! I was always worrying and even crying and hiding ppl. I wear facial mask when I go out cuz I dare not look at the ppl around me Though I am afraid the redness and scar will not be gone, my skin has been healing faster than before start from day 40. So, don't be depressed that there isn't any progress!! THERE IS!! AND IT WORKS!! I want to add my dose to 40gm but dont know if my derm allow me to do so Just wait and be patient and I am also here supporting you ! Let's fight acne tgt !!
I hv been on accutane for 46 days and it seems that my skin is getting better (20mg/per day). But there are whiteheads and pimples on my face too. I used to have lots of lots of (I rly mean LOTS OF!!) whiteheads under my skin and they are popping up quickly and become pimples! I look extremely ugly and rly depressed.
I just want to tell you that start from day 19 is my worst !! I hv never seen I hv such a serious breakout and it was actually like yours ! I was always worrying and even crying and hiding ppl. I wear facial mask when I go out cuz I dare not look at the ppl around me
Though I am afraid the redness and scar will not be gone, my skin has been healing faster than before start from day 40. So, don't be depressed that there isn't any progress!! THERE IS!! AND IT WORKS!! I want to add my dose to 40gm but dont know if my derm allow me to do so
Thanks, good luck on your course! I'm sure we'll both have clear skin soon . I'm worried about scars too but I'm going to deal with that once the acne is sorted, one step at a time
Day 34(?!)
Wow I can't believe it's been 34 days. Sorry for the lack of updates, I was busy with moving to London and then I was in Europe the last week. The month mark went past without me even noticing. As for my face, it's mixed really. It did seem to be getting better, but I have a couple of horrible spots which have popped up in the last few days, in fact one of them has just managed to appear just over the course of today. Dreading what it will look like tomorrow. I feel like my face is at a similar level now to when I was on antibiotics but I'm not really sure. My derm appointment is not until the 6th because I had to change it, but now I'll have to change it again due to work, argh. I still need to have my monthly blood test for this month, but I am actually crapping myself about it because I drank a fair bit whilst abroad. If I get taken off it I don't know what I'd do. So stupid to risk it I know..
My skin doesn't seem as dry as it did before. Not as bad in the morning anyway, and I only need to moisturise once a day. The skin on my arms and the back of my hands is getting dry too now so I put a bit of moisturiser on there. My lips are pretty bad but it's a side effect which is easy to tolerate. I definitely always carry lip balm with me now, which I didn't have to do at first. It's not that bad if I keep them balmed up but I'm lazy a lot of the time or just busy. Oh and I'm really liking not having to wash my hair every day as it doesn't get as greasy as it used to, I think I'll miss that when off Accutane hehe.
I'll give a proper update on my acne tomorrow or the day after, with some pictures perhaps. Oh and the other thing is that before, I was dead set on asking the derm to up me to 40mg. Now I am actually wondering whether it would be worth just doing a longer, lower dose course. Just because the side effects are so easy to manage like this.
Good to hear from you! I don't know man, I'm thinking you should really be bumped up. Frankly, I'm surprised you were started out on 20mg. My level of acne at the start was similar to yours and I was just bumped up from 40mg to 60mg to be able to meet my recommended cumulative dosage for the treatment period. It seems to me the 20mg is not doing enough for you.
If short-term side effects such as dry skin and chapped/peeling lips can be endured for the possibility of an end to acne forever, I am definitely willing to make that sacrifice.
Of course, I'm not dermatologist, but in my opinion you should have a serious talk with him/her regarding your current results and recommended dosage.
Day 38
Thought I'd update with a picture. My face looks kind of greasy but that's only because I just put some moisturiser on before taking the pictures.
I thought they looked really bad at first but then I flicked through all of my pictures (ones so bad I would never have posted them on here!) and I now realise my face has massively improved over the last few weeks. My left cheek in particular and now my chin are clearing up really well. Still have some bumps and lots of red marks but hopefully they will fade. I can more easily see now how the acne over the years has totally done a number on my face in terms of scars. Will definitely look into scar treatment when my course is over.
Your skin definitely looks like it's improving man which is good to see. Sorry to see you had such a rough time with the initial breakout and well done for staying the course and not panicking/giving up like I'm sure a lot have. Looks like it's all uphill here for you now so good luck.
Your skin definitely looks like it's improving man which is good to see. Sorry to see you had such a rough time with the initial breakout and well done for staying the course and not panicking/giving up like I'm sure a lot have. Looks like it's all uphill here for you now so good luck.
Cheers