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Hey Betsy Well not much has changed since my last post. But I had a good birthday with my immediate family and will see my extended family this weekend. How are you doing and how was your birthday?
Day 70:
- As far as my acne, the pimple I mentioned went away after a couple days. I haven't had a new one since then. But this morning I noticed a like 1/4th inch under-the-skin invisible bump on the corner of my forehead. Hopefully that is just something small that will go away and not inflame. The occasional acne that I had on my back appears to be have stopped regenerating for now.
- I've kept my eczema almost completely under control by not washing my hands/arms too often and making sure I moisturize them every night.
- My lips... ....... ........... ........... well, a couple days after I posted my last update, I applied the prescribed desonide ointment on the corners of my lips at night and it was gone the next morning - with the help of not eating foods that required too much of a mouth opening to consume. But a few days later, I bit into a sandwich at lunch and it was straight back to the hellhole. I've really been hesitant to apply the desonide because it's a steroid and I'm afraid it will cause adverse affects like weak skin (which would be really bad for the corners of my mouth) or a dependency on it.
My lips also peeling like a SOB even though I practically drink aquaphor throughout the day - I keep thinking the high usage of it can't be good. I tried buying some Neosporin Lip Health with SPF 20 - it comes in a tube similar to aquaphor - and I've applied it occasionally but can't tell if it's helping or hurting at this point.
I'm strongly considering heading to the store and buying every lip balm/treatment on the shelf and trying them.
Maybe I just need to drink more water. But it is sort of conflicting to drink water, because it seems like it just washes the aquaphor right off and down my throat.
- Finally, I've noticed some slight lower back soreness but can't tell if it's related to accutane, or sitting too much or lifting weights, or what. But it doesn't seem like much of a big deal at this point.
P.S. I read something about Vitamin D3 helping rid people of acne. While I am not thinking of using it right now, I am interested in researching more about this as well as asking my dermatologist next time I see her.
Yeh I read on these forums about the crazily high dose D3 thing. It actually sounded quite promising, but there's only been like one study done on it if I remember correctly. Probably would have tried it before I'd started Accutane if I had known.
I take one a day anyway just because D3 is meant to be good for your skin.
Hey Betsy
Well not much has changed since my last post. But I had a good birthday with my immediate family and will see my extended family this weekend. How are you doing and how was your birthday?
Day 70:
- As far as my acne, the pimple I mentioned went away after a couple days. I haven't had a new one since then. But this morning I noticed a like 1/4th inch under-the-skin invisible bump on the corner of my forehead. Hopefully that is just something small that will go away and not inflame. The occasional acne that I had on my back appears to be have stopped regenerating for now.
- I've kept my eczema almost completely under control by not washing my hands/arms too often and making sure I moisturize them every night.
- My lips... ....... ........... ........... well, a couple days after I posted my last update, I applied the prescribed desonide ointment on the corners of my lips at night and it was gone the next morning - with the help of not eating foods that required too much of a mouth opening to consume. But a few days later, I bit into a sandwich at lunch and it was straight back to the hellhole. I've really been hesitant to apply the desonide because it's a steroid and I'm afraid it will cause adverse affects like weak skin (which would be really bad for the corners of my mouth) or a dependency on it.
My lips also peeling like a SOB even though I practically drink aquaphor throughout the day - I keep thinking the high usage of it can't be good. I tried buying some Neosporin Lip Health with SPF 20 - it comes in a tube similar to aquaphor - and I've applied it occasionally but can't tell if it's helping or hurting at this point.
I'm strongly considering heading to the store and buying every lip balm/treatment on the shelf and trying them.
Maybe I just need to drink more water. But it is sort of conflicting to drink water, because it seems like it just washes the aquaphor right off and down my throat.
- Finally, I've noticed some slight lower back soreness but can't tell if it's related to accutane, or sitting too much or lifting weights, or what. But it doesn't seem like much of a big deal at this point.
P.S. I read something about Vitamin D3 helping rid people of acne. While I am not thinking of using it right now, I am interested in researching more about this as well as asking my dermatologist next time I see her.
Good to hear you had a good birthday! Hope you have a good time this weekend too! Mine was good too thank you for asking. It was a nice relaxing day spent with my immediate family as well.
By the way, if you do go buy all the lip ointments off the shelf let me know how that goes haha. I have seriously considered doing that myself. I already have like 8 different tubes of stuff laying around.. what's another 6? lol
Since I'm desperate and interested in an alternative, I just ordered this: http://www.amazon.co...x_ya_os_product
Vaseline lip therapy w/ aloe vera. I haven't tried any vaseline yet, but it will be interesting to see if the works, especially since it has aloe vera in it. I think my biggest problem might be lack of application of moisturizer to the corners of my mouth, since the aquaphor doesn't reach them.
It should be here Friday.
Yeah I used that for a bit, but started to think it wasn't a good idea due to it being bad to swallow the ointment. I was also prescribed .05% desonide ointment after that, which seems to work the same or better. But since that's a steroid that may cause addiction, I'm still looking for alternatives.
Day 80:
Wow, approaching 3 months completed. My face has remained free of any new acne, which is a godsend. I'm going to go get my blood test tomorrow and see my dermatologist on Thursday. I also am trying to find an internship for this Summer and have an interview on Wednesday and am SO glad I don't have to worry about a face cluttered with distracting acne. However, I'm still extremely nervous as this is my first in-person job interview.
Updates:
- The corner of my lips healed over Thursday night into Friday, right before I got that Vaseline lip therapy in the mail. I have been applying that to my lips (including the corners) since Friday and the corners have not cracked again and my lips seem to be in fairly good condition. I haven't used the aquaphor much, but suspect I will need to still while I'm at school, since I rather not carry around the container of Vaseline. So thus far I am liking the stuff and believe it is helping my situation. Hopefully it will continue to work.
- No other really new things - still occasionally battling the eczema, but that is controlled with extra lotion, and dry/itchy scalp, but that is controlled with the T-Sal shampoo.
Awesome news that you are acne free!! So exciting! I just started month 3 a few days ago and got bumped up to 60! I hope things start to turn around from this point for me. Sounds like you are doing well with the side effects too! All and all pretty awesome.
Good luck with your Job interview and let me know how the Vaseline works out for you
Hey 
I am doing fine. The job interview went okay. I was very nervous at some points!! But I haven't heard back from them yet, I should sometime this week.
I saw the dermatologist and she thinks everything is going well. I'll stay on 60mg for a total of 5 months. 2 months to go!! 
The vaseline appears to be working pretty good. It certainly didn't solve the lip peeling issue, but it keeps my lips moisturized for longer than aquaphor does. I put it on before I go to sleep every night and wake up and my lips are simply dry, not dead and peeling.
But I still take the aquaphor with me to school because it's a bit more portable and I rather not poke my school-infected fingers into my tray of vaseline.
How is your lip regimen going?
Hey
I saw the dermatologist and she thinks everything is going well. I'll stay on 60mg for a total of 5 months. 2 months to go!!
The vaseline appears to be working pretty good. It certainly didn't solve the lip peeling issue, but it keeps my lips moisturized for longer than aquaphor does. I put it on before I go to sleep every night and wake up and my lips are simply dry, not dead and peeling.
But I still take the aquaphor with me to school because it's a bit more portable and I rather not poke my school-infected fingers into my tray of vaseline.
How is your lip regimen going?
I hope you get the job!! I hate doing interviews, I am always so nervous! Plus they seem to go on forever don't they! I am sure you did great though! Only 2 more months to go! Oh my god thats fantastic! Good to know everything is going well for you. I can totally understand not wanting to stink your fingers in the vaseline jar at school. So many germs! ewww.
My lips regimen.. hmmm it's going okay I suppose. Yesterday it wasn't so hot I forgot to put Aquaphor on before bed and I woke up and my lips were peeling like a ma ma jama. Not a pretty picture. When I don't forget to do the aquaphor at night they are doing well though. I am still using vaseline on them during the day though.
Are you doing summer classes or are you almost on break?
Hey
I saw the dermatologist and she thinks everything is going well. I'll stay on 60mg for a total of 5 months. 2 months to go!!
The vaseline appears to be working pretty good. It certainly didn't solve the lip peeling issue, but it keeps my lips moisturized for longer than aquaphor does. I put it on before I go to sleep every night and wake up and my lips are simply dry, not dead and peeling.
But I still take the aquaphor with me to school because it's a bit more portable and I rather not poke my school-infected fingers into my tray of vaseline.
How is your lip regimen going?
I hope you get the job!! I hate doing interviews, I am always so nervous! Plus they seem to go on forever don't they! I am sure you did great though! Only 2 more months to go! Oh my god thats fantastic! Good to know everything is going well for you. I can totally understand not wanting to stink your fingers in the vaseline jar at school. So many germs! ewww.
My lips regimen.. hmmm it's going okay I suppose. Yesterday it wasn't so hot I forgot to put Aquaphor on before bed and I woke up and my lips were peeling like a ma ma jama. Not a pretty picture. When I don't forget to do the aquaphor at night they are doing well though. I am still using vaseline on them during the day though.
Are you doing summer classes or are you almost on break?
Thanks! And yeah, it was a long couple hours! But fortunately, the human resources lady is really nice and got me more comfortable before the interview with some casual questions. Thank god for that.
I am glad your lips are not giving you too much of an issue. It sucks like hell when they go through an extreme peeling phase. I've had to peel off fairly large chunks before.
Hah, Summer! *Looks outside at rain* There was a solar eclipse here yesterday, for the first time in 18 years, but it was rainy and cloudy 
Class ends for me in early June. I'm not planning on taking any classes but that job I applied for is an internship, which is required for my degree. However, if I don't get this internship, I may have to wait until next Summer or do something else like a 400-hour project in place of an internship -_-
We also go camping as a family in late July, but for me that all depends on whether or not I get a job. Do you have any plans this Summer?
There was a eclipse here too and it was clear outside and I forgot to look... Dumb me. Im glad that you were fairly comfortable with the interview. A couple of hours seem insane. ICK.
Camping sounds like a good time! As far as plans for the summer. I always have a water park pass for me and my daughter and I love it! So I will be spending a lot of the time there. Using a disgusting amount of sun screen I am sure Otherwise I spend my time out on the boat. Fishing, Tubing and swimming. I pretty much live outside in the summer time. So hopefully the sun doesn't give me too much trouble. I have no big plans though.
Well I did take that trip to Florida a few weeks ago and with 30 SPF I was able to be in the sun and at the pool all day long without burning at all. Hopefully its like that with you too. I have seen a lot of logs where people are able to be in the sun with no issues. On the other hand I see logs where people blister in the sun after 5 minutes, if even when using like 75 SPF. Crazy how different this medication affects us. My dermatologist said that she recommends 30 SPF and reapply it every 2 hours.
I did use 50 SPF on my shoulders though since walking around disney world they were taking on most of the sun. I was even able to get a tan
I have been camping 2 times in my life and both times it was pouring rain! I haven't had the best luck with camping. Of course it would be better if I was in a camper or trailer thing. I ended up sleeping in a van one of the times and going home the other time. Bummer. So I hope you have awesome weather. Will you still be on the medication if you end up going, or will your course be over with then?
Wow that's insane and scary about those that blister 0.o
But I went out on mother's day in sun to buy my mom some plants for a couple hours with some SPF 30 and that worked fine. I have never really burned easily in the past, so maybe Accutane only make it just slightly more easy to burn for me.
That sucks about your camping experiences! Hopefully if you try it again you will have nice weather . For me, camping when it's raining is kind of fun at first, but when it continues on it really stinks - especially since we use tents. The biggest pain is having to pack up wet items.
I don't burn easily either so maybe we wont have issues like some others do. I hope that is the case anyways. I'd try camping again if I have a camper lol. I just think there isn't much worse than being in wet clothing or in a damp sleeping bag. Wet jeans is the absolute worst piece of clothng to be in... Ick
)
Oh, wet jeans are awful.
Also, got an offer for an internship at a place I really wanted to work at!
)
Congratulations!! Thats awesome news! Bummer about the camping trip but it will be worth it in the end!
why is dermatologist jump to prescribed accutane? there are a lot of ways to prevent though it is fast and effective but the side effects in the long run is worsen
She didn't jump to prescribe it. I was on another treatment for over half a year and had been battling acne for half a dozen years prior.
And thanks Betsy!
Hey I wanted to stop by you log quick and tell you something. So, for the lips I think I have FINALLY found a amazing product and my lips are feeling wonderful. Best they have felt since starting tane. You have probably seen it mentioned on other peoples logs. Veruca Salt actually mentioned using it and highly recommended it. Bag Balm is the name of it. Oddly enough it is used to prevent and heal chapping of cow utters. It is made of different products that are in the chapsticks and vasline and stuff. This has a lanolin base so I think maybe that is why is is really helping. Lanolin is what women who breast feed use to heal and prevent chapping of their breasts. Works like a charm for that use so why not for chapped lips. You get a huge jar of it for like 7 bucks. It comes in a green tin 10oz so there is a lot of it. I will post a picture of it. It has a odd smell to it, well I guess the smell is the lanolin. I remember the smell from after I had my daughter lol. It doesn't have a taste to it or anything. I think this really might be the product that does the trick!
I was looking at that at the store actually and it looked interesting. But I didn't want to buy it because I hadn't heard of it before.
The vaseline/aquaphor combo has been working quite well, but I'm willing to try something new if it will work even better.
Thank you for the update. I will look further into it.