I didn't fall asleep during that! (Probably because my rant was three times as long) I've been trolling this site for a few months also reading up on (drum roll.......) Accutane. I'm soon starting 80 mg of claravis and i'm nervous too!

Day 2/3. take pills in the evening so updating in the morning kind of throws off the understanding of what day I'm on.

Anyway unsurprisingly not too much to report. For the last couple of mornings I've woken up with pretty annoying sore throats. I've heard that some people get these early on in their treatment so it appears fairly normal. If anything my skin is even more oily than normal, but again I've heard that's normal. Seem to have had a few quite sore lumps appear on my main problem area of my chin and above my lip. Was hoping I could find a smiley that would have expressed mild annoyance better than that btw, the one I've selected looks a little too demonic..

Also one question I would like to ask for those poor soles who have had the unfortunate nature of coming across my log: I'm a trumpet player and so if/when I get the really dry lips coming on this could be problematic. Are there any wind musicians out there on accutane? If so how do you cope with playing your instrument on such sore and dry lips? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Off to London today to watch England play Holland at football (soccer to those of you on the other side of the Atlantic lol). Hoping that I don't have my face broadcast on live tv in front of like 10 million people. If I do I can only apologise in advance!

Ok so wasn't planning to update for another few days, but need to vent serious frustration. So consider this venting!

Day 5 now. Ok so side-effect wise there isn't too much to report. Although today was the first day that I noticed a slightly dryer complexion to my face and lips. More to the point though, my acne is BAAAADDDDDDD. Getting loooooaaaaaaaddddddsss of deep painful lumps on my chin area and above my lip. It's always been my main problem area but this is soooooo much worse than I've had for a long time. Also had a few come up in areas which are usually relatively clear, like my neck and nose. Urghhhhh. *pulls urghhhhh-like face* (you'll have to imagine that). Not sure whether I should label this with the 'initial breakout' tab so quickly. After all it is only day 5, it might just be a delayed reaction to having come off the antibiotics. I dunno, tbh I don't really care. Either way it's a pain in the bum. Just so long as I don't get one on my top lip which stops me playing my trumpet, because then I'd literally have no choice but to grumble incessantly for the next week, which was never the plan..

Anyway, have a nice day to those who find themselves reading this, I do hope this improves soon!

Hang in there man....definitely sounds like your IB if you are getting zits in places that are normally clear. I'm on Day27, and I've also gotten a few zits in places that I've never had problems with (next to my nose, on my cheeks). However, I have noticed that zits dry up MUCH faster on Accutane ... sometimes even within a day they are practically healed/gone. I'm on Claravis 40mg for month 1, but going to see the Derm monday and I'm pretty sure he'll bump me up to 60 or 80 ... my side affects have been relatively mild thus far.

Anyway, good luck going forward!

Thanks mate, always good to hear a chin-up

Btw how soon in did you experience the dreaded initial flare? And was it mild, or just simply hideously bad?

Cheers

Assuming it was indeed my IB (which I'm pretty sure it was), it happenned around Week2-3....the first couple of weeks I was actually pretty clear, save a pimple here and there. But I had a flare up in week2-3 with about 10 zits total, most of which on my cheeks and on my cheek bone under my eyes, and very suprisingly almost completely symmetrical on both sides of my face. I have noticed that zits start going away much faster on Accutane...most actives only last a day and then begin drying up. All that said, I would call my initial breakout fairly mild compared to what I was expecting. It was bothersome, but certainly nothing that I couldn't handle or didn't expect.

I'm not exactly sure how to explain this, but I've also noticed that my zits are "different" on Accutane ... before Accutane, my zits were typically below the skin, sometimes painful, and rarely if ever came to a head. On Accutane I've noticed that zits pop up and are at a head almost immediately....the first time I even notice a zit it has already come to a head wheras before Accutane I could almost feel a zit beginning to form below the skin and could actually feel it forming. Now, by the time I first notice/feel a zit, it has already come to a head and nearly completed it's life cycle.

Good luck going forward! Just think, in a few months we'll be clear-skinned and ready to move on with life!

Day 8

ok my face is still an absolute train-wreck. Yesterday appeared not as bad as the previous few days, but today though, urghhhhhhh. Fairly sure this must be the dreaded initial flare, since it's lasted nearly a full week now and none of my pre-isotretinoin flares lasted anyway near this length. Ah well not much I can do but ride it out annoyingly. Anyway side-effect wise my lips have begun to become fairly dry now, even within like a couple of hours of applying carmex. The skin on my face isn't that dry yet, but when I've showered in the morning and dried my face it is hideously flakey and I have to spend a good ten minutes removing the bits. It's not quite Austin Power's Goldmember level, but it's grim nonetheless

Still, onwards to week 2!!

... of 19

Day 10

This is bad now. Really bad. Managed to get an appointment with the dermatologist this morning. That in itself is extraordinary since I only rang up yesterday. An appointment the following day on the NHS! Wow.. Anyway went in there and tried to make a dignified plea for prednisone since the entire lower half of my face looks like it's been assaulted by a wasp's nest, and it REALLY FLIPPIN' HURTS. They did their best to feign sympathetic understanding, but followed it up with a straight 'NO.' Urghhh, in fairness to them they'e only doing their job I guess, I'm not in danger of sudden unexplained death because of this..yet..

This. Sucks. So. Bad.

Hang in there...within a few weeks you will being moving past the IB and you will start seeing improvement. I know, it sucks, but you've just got to plow ahead. Don't beat yourself up ... it might be bad, but it's only temporary and you are in the process of getting this issue rectified permanently.

Day 12

Ok so I promised myself I would leave it at least 3-4 days before updating, but I'm in a mildly good mood so I thought it'd be nice to post an attempted positive sounding notification for once. Well my face is still fairly bad, but the last couple of days have seen a marginal improvement When I say marginal this of course only relative to the absolute mess that it was a couple of days ago. I still have a fair few deep under the skin lumps around my mouth area, and my face does appear as if it's been attacked by a load of pixies wielding machetes as a result of the mass breakout I've had since starting Roaccutane, but maybe, JUST MAYBE, i'm over the worse. *touches wood*

Here's to a good weekend!

Day 15

So it appears that the initial improvement has continued! This is the fifth solid day where my skin has looked better than the previous day, ie less new actives and the clearing up of all the old crap. Skin still looks considerably worse than when I started, but it's such a good feeling to be moving in the right direction. Still early in the treatment though so I could easily experience a setback at this stage. Keeping my feet well on the floor.

One downside I would point out is the ridiculously dry nature of my skin. Moisturiser seems to be doing practically nothing, as within like 40 minutes of applying it my face goes back to the peeling sun-burnt look again. Still, it's a better problem than the one from last week!

Day 19

Redness. Urghhhh. Skin doing fairly well up until yesterday, then caught a bit of sun. They really aren't kidding when they say you can get sun sensitive when on this drug. I'm in England, it was like 15C yesterday, how can my face be this red???? Well I hope it's just the sun anyway, can you get burnt through double glazing? I dunno..

Bar the odd couple of smallish new ones my face is (acne-wise) beginning to clear up nicely now, almost reached the stage where I can say my face doesn't actually look worse than before I started Just hope the redness is only because of the sun, and not something that's going to persist throughout treatment

Day 24

Thought I'd make a list of the side-effects I'd experienced so far in treatment:

1. Dryness - lips (not too bad), face (fairly noticeable but moisturising helps a lot), inside of nose (not too bad), hair (using an oily-based shampoo, has helped with the itching)

2. Initial acne flare - absolutely horrible, by far the worst my skin has ever been. Fortunately only lasted for the first 10-14 days or so. Since then skin has been much better, although far from perfect

3. Soreness - mild back pain and stiffness, particularly in the early morning. Nothing to uncomfortable though

4. Redness - Again not too horrific, but amplified to beetroot status when in the sun for more than like ten minutes

All in all it really hasn't been too bad at all so far. I'm having my dosage doubled to 60mg in a couple of weeks though, so we'll see how that turns out

Day 29

Ok not too much to report really. Incredible to think that I've been on this stuff for pretty much an entire month, it's flown by! Back has been becoming more of an issue this week, at times the soreness can be quite acute. Probably isn't helped by my simply awful posture - eg as I type this I am hunched over the laptop like Quasimodo, although one would hope a slightly more attractive version..

Showed my first signs of irresponsibility yesterday though in regards to alcohol As a student, and one with a fairly active social life *attempts not to appear arrogant*, then I had initially considered the vast reduction in alcohol intake as a big hurdle. It's actually not been too bad. I haven't completely abstained from beer, but have stuck to no more than 2-3 pints a week. That was up until yesterday anyway. Didn't get utterly smashed, but was certainly drunk. Fortunately I have had no adverse effects today, but as a precaution I really should not do that again, it's asking for trouble!

Also shaving on roaccutane - it's so easy to cut yourself! I seem to be healing much slower when I do graze/cut myself, too. Ah well, small price for the holy grail of clear skin! Getting there slowly, everyday see's improvement

Good luck to you man, keep grinding along. You've already experienced ups and downs and you are only about to finish your first month. If your course is anything like mine, or most other peoples' on this site, expect more challenges. Be sure to keep the long-term goal in mind. Also, be easy on your liver with the alcohol!

@wmd1234 thanks man. You are, of course, correct. I've still got like 3 months of this stuff to go

Day 35

This week has been a bit of a strange one really. Still been taking the same dosage (30mg) everyday, yet a little of my oiliness has returned. It's not much, and I have to moisturize in the morning still, but I'm not really sure that's supposed to happen whilst I'm still on the meds. Weird.. Acne-wise i have also not had a great week either. I wouldn't got as far to say as I have a bad flare-up, but I've definitely had a few deep-ish ones come up around my chin area. Gotta keep the long-term goal in mind though as wmd1234 astutely mentioned above. Often a case of two steps forward, one step back on this medication. On the plus side my nose has gone through the blackhead purge thing. It now feels so smooooth. As smooth as a baby's...well as smooth as a baby anyway

Have my blood test tomorrow, and my dermatology appointment in about a week to double my dosage. Hopeful that I'll really start seeing results soon after, although I'll probably have heightened side-effects too. Oh how I am so not looking forward to my back becoming even more stiff and sore than it already is now. *yaaaayyyyyyy*

Day 40

*yawns* Not much to report really, I don't know why I even bother posting every 5-6 days or so when there is next to no change. *yawns again*

So yeh basically side-effects are still the same, i.e. manageable bar the odd back spasm. Note to all, do not engage in heavy lifting whilst on this drug. You'll be hobbling around like a stunted old woman for the next two days as a result. Fairly embarrassing.

Kind of looking forward to my dosage increase next week, I feel that I've reached a sort of stagnation period on 30mg. The last 2-3 weeks have seen neither progress nor a worsening in regards to my skin. The slight oiliness I mentioned last week seems to have gone away, but I'm still getting the odd few deep-ish bumps around my mouth area. Ah well it's no worse than it was before I was on Roaccutane I guess.

Also red marks. They take an aaaaggggeeeee to go away, I swear like 5 times longer than they would when I wasn't on this drug. I dunno maybe I'm just more conscious of them since I have (slightly) less acne to focus on now.

Onwards to 60mg!

Day 46

Visited the dermatologist this morning. Probably one of the most underwhelming experiences I had for a long time.

"So, how's the treatment going?"

"Er well I guess, nothing too horrendous to mention.."

"Good. Your bloods were fine. Here's your prescription for the increased dosage, and we'll see you again in July for a post-treatment review."

"Ok.."

"Great, see you in the summer!"

I think that fairly accurately summaries what was said during my 'appointment' this morning. Ah the NHS, got to love it! On a tight schedule and all, can't afford to waste tax payers money on teenage skin complaints! In all seriousness though, sooo glad I don't have to fork out hideous amounts of ££££ on this. It's cost me like £15 in total, can't complain

Not much to mention in regards to my skin. Not much except REDNESS. So Red urghhhhhh, did ask the nurse during my light-speed appointment today, she said that it will, in her own words, "definitely" subside post-treatment. Hmmmm let us hope she speaks inherent wisdom beyond her tender years, she looked barely older than me!

Anyway I shall update in a week or so with news on how well/terribly I'm coping on 60mg. Hopefully my transformation into the colour of this smiley is only temporary

Day 53

Did actually update the other day, but the post seems to have vanished. Can't be bothered to re-write what I put all over again, so instead I'll just do a side-effect summary:

1. Dryness - face (moisturise religiously or my entire face literally starts peeling off), lips (smother on the carmex otherwise they crack in the corners), hair (if I wash everyday like I did pre-accutane then it looks horribly static and wispy), hands, elbows, shoulders (all not too bad but need to put on cream now and then)

2. Redness - not really any worse than it was a few weeks back, generally looks worse after I've washed or when I've not moisturised enough

3. BACK ACHE - urghhhhh, just absolutely urghhhhh on this one. Was bad enough when I was on 30mg, but now I'm on 60mg it's fairly uncomfortable. Some evenings, particularly after sport, it's genuinely quite painful. I hope this is not what it's like to be old. If it is, then I don't want to be old. I've just decided.

In fairness though, so long as these are only temporary I couldn't give a damn if it clears up my skin long-term. My skin currently is doing great, bar the redness anyway.

Day 59

Bad week. Reckon I must have had a flare-up because of the dosage increase. It was nowhere near the level that I suffered through at the start of treatment though, and it seems to be subsiding now *touches wood*. Still, feet on the floor and all that, it's normal to have the odd bad period on this medication. Side-effects still the same, i.e. manageable aside from back ache which is an absolute bitch. Did think about ringing the dermatologist and asking whether I should think about lowering my dosage for a while. But I didn't, because I'm lazy/stubborn/stupid. Also my lips cracked in the corners at the weekend, so I've not been able to touch my trumpet all week, which REALLY SUCKS.

Ah the trials and tribulations of an accutane patient, don't they make for just riveting reading..

Day 65

Ok another fairly poor week. Beginning to get a tad impatient now, even though I'm only halfway through my treatment still. Had a horrible flare-up after I shaved the other day, the sort I used to get pre-roaccutane. Urghhhh, I've heard month 3 is the clear-up month for most people, I sure hope that's the case with my treatment. Anyway since my posts are becoming increasingly repetitive and to some probably downright boresome I've decided to come up with a new innovative(ish) system. Hey, it amuses me anyway. I'm so proud (sarcasm) to introduce the 'skin rater'. It's quite simple, I basically give my skin a score out of 5. I know, hideously complex. 5 being very good, 0 being downright hideous.

Skin rating: 2/5 (i.e. not great)

A brilliant system, please footnote/cite me if anyone else decides to use it.

Day 71

Still getting spots, still annoyed, still impatient. Not shaved in a week in an attempt to see whether that might help my skin. So far results from that are inconclusive, the only definite conclusion is that I look ridiculous.

Skin: 2/5 (STILL not great)

Synopsis: Bored, frustrated, dry skin, sporadic backache. Will this medication actually work????

Day 78

No change. Left cheek erupted weirdly though this week. Cheeks usually stay clear, and the right one still is relatively ok, so I don't know what's so special about the left one. Also come to the conclusion that not shaving hasn't helped with the development of acne, although it unsurprisingly worsens the appearance of the red marks, more so than usual when on this medication. Hopefully I'll have some upturn of fortune soon. The last 2 weeks have been awful.

Skin: 2/5 (boringly similar to day 1)

hey just came across this post. Just saying I hope things start looking up for you very soon and try and keep your mind occupied with other stuff.

Also just random, I think its cute how you Brits call redbeets "beetroot" )