Day 79
Things still seem pretty stagnated, but that's how it is when you update daily! For some reason, I find it weird that tomorrow's day 80... I feel like that day has some special relevance when it comes to Accutane.
I count six active, they're mostly small, a couple larger ones.
EDIT: One little benefit I've been noticing is that my face doesn't look like absolute murder when I step out of the shower... that's new.
. Day 84 | Week 12
Nearing the end of month three now! Day 84 is much better than day 54. Still a bit of old stuff healing, a couple new actives (smaalll ones) by my eyebrows. I'm actually pretty lucky to have gotten so many spots around my eyebrows throughout my course thus far, huh? They stay fairly well hidden.
As for scarring, because it's pretty apparent what is and isn't at this point:
- one small rolling scar area on my left cheek-- obnoxious because it's still red, too
- two small boxcars on my right cheek... they almost just look like big icepicks
- lots of small icepicks on the cheeks. Not very bad ones, some just look like bigger pores unless closely inspected
Not too bad!
Day 85
I kinda dropped the ball yesterday and forgot to take my pills. I also dropped the ball yesterday when I failed to set an alarm and went to bed at 2... got up at 10, school starts at 8. Wulp. The Seattle sun is starting to go away! I'm excited for overcast weather again, even though winter-spring overcast is superior to fall overcast.
As for acne, one new active on my cheek and one new active on my chin. Both are minor, but given how those little lesions on my cheeks still haven't flattened, I have to imagine they'll be with me for a while.
47.222% done, if you're counting
HERE:
The lighting flatters.
Day 93 | 3.1 Months
Been a long time since I've updated! I've been very busy and pretty sick the past week. Here's the month 3 recap:
- Had about 13-15 active at the start, 3-5 by the end
- Eczema patches came and went, but they were very aggravating on occasion
- Inflammation in general seems to have reduced
- Red marks improved to some extent; not super significantly, but definitely a bit. This exaggerates it, but you can see change flipping between these two pics: Day 57 vs. Day 85
- Had some random peeling around day 86... it's back to normal now
- Since about day 75 or so, I've had about 3-5 actives without failure. "Breaking out," if you want to even call it that, has been mild, but it hasn't stopped
- Overall, the theme of this month has been sloww improvement... which I will take any day over month 2
That about wraps it up! The liver tests came back normal, which is good; I wasn't sure they would, since my urologist has put me on 600mg ibuprofen/day. My sleep schedule is still awful, but I think I might get 7+ hours in tonight. For skincare, I've really only been using CeraVe moisturizer when necessary, and the hydrating cleanser 1x/day in the shower.
The derm liked what he was seeing. He imagines I can expect my red marks to fade almost completely given that they're not very deep (though he didn't give an estimate timeframe, I think intentionally), and I'll probably be done breaking out by the end of month 4.
No real changes in how my face looks since day 85.
Day 95
Lesson learned: do not wake up and go off to school without looking in the mirror after a day you didn't shower; it sort of looked like I covered my face with glue and peeled half of it off. One new active on the chin, four or five active overall. I'm looking forward to the point in time where I start having 1-2 active consistently, as opposed to 4-5.
You might not notice a big difference, but I see a pretty substantial improvement flipping between both pictures. Keep it up man, finish line is in sight.
Day 101
The dryness continues. For PIH, I picked up some raw ACV today. I'll be proceeding with caution, beginning with a 9:1 water:ACV concentration (which will start me with a 0.5% ACV concentration). I was considering manuka honey too, but went with ACV for several reasons:
1. 32 oz. unpasteurized, organic ACV = $5.99... 16oz. (typical jar) of manuka honey = $22.49 at the cheapest
2. ACV is significantly easier to apply
3. ACV is easier to dilute
4. ACV is nearer to pH neutral, which is good; I don't want to be applying something very acidic while on Accutane
We'll see what happens. Basically, I'll apply 1x per day, starting at night, with a cotton ball. My routine will be (pending adjustments):
1. Apply CeraVe hydrating cleanser in the shower w/ lukewarm water
2. Turn up the shower temperature
3. Get out, pat dry and apply ACV
4. Apply moisturizer after x amount of time (I'll play it by ear)
I'm pretty patient with red marks (I have to be), but I can't see any reason to wait 3-4 months before I apply ACV. I'll ease it in; if it turns out to be problematic, I'll stop; if it doesn't work after several weeks, I'll stop; if the concentration begins to be too much, I'll cut it back. Hopefully, this will not burn my face off.
Oh no! Why don't you wait until after accutane to try anything like putting an acid on your face? Even though it's diluted, I don't think it's safe. I would hate to see you cause skin damage from the abrasiveness and destroying your acid mantle since your skin is already compromised on accutane.
Just my 2 cents.
Oh no! Why don't you wait until after accutane to try anything like putting an acid on your face? Even though it's diluted, I don't think it's safe. I would hate to see you cause skin damage from the abrasiveness and destroying your acid mantle since your skin is already compromised on accutane.
Just my 2 cents.
I don't know, I'm introducing it very slowly and it's not that acidic, I don't think. The pH of cleansers is around 4.5-6, correct? Because they resemble the pH of skin, which in itself is acidic. The pH of ACV is approximately 4.25-5, so I don't think the jump in acidity is huge. I'll keep looking into it (difficult to find anecdotes, but I just saw one today).
Then stop flaring them, silly
Just messin'.
Are you using anything up in your bat cave? Like vasaline or aquaphor? I'm sure you have thought of everything, you seem pretty well informed.
I just wanted to say that I think your skin is looking great! I totally feel for you and the PIH..I have the same issue (I think I mentioned that to you before). I am on about day 68ish and even though I only have 2 or so actives, I have a lot of red spots. My skin pretty much looks just like yours. I'm afraid to try anything on them at this point but I will follow your methods and see how they work and maybe try them when I'm done with the Claravis but for now I will just cover that crap with makeup. 
It feels nice to have smooth skin though, right?
I have said this so many times on other posts but I can't stress it enough. Neosporin cream helps to heal actives so damn fast! I love it! Just plop a bit on at night and they seem to go flat overnight. Like magic! haha. But for real, it works well and it's not harsh at all.
Continued good luck to you,
~Celia
Day 104
Continued progress. Knock on wood, things are starting to really slow down.
Then stop flaring them, silly
Just messin'.
Are you using anything up in your bat cave? Like vasaline or aquaphor? I'm sure you have thought of everything, you seem pretty well informed.
I just wanted to say that I think your skin is looking great! I totally feel for you and the PIH..I have the same issue (I think I mentioned that to you before). I am on about day 68ish and even though I only have 2 or so actives, I have a lot of red spots. My skin pretty much looks just like yours. I'm afraid to try anything on them at this point but I will follow your methods and see how they work and maybe try them when I'm done with the Claravis but for now I will just cover that crap with makeup.
It feels nice to have smooth skin though, right?
I have said this so many times on other posts but I can't stress it enough. Neosporin cream helps to heal actives so damn fast! I love it! Just plop a bit on at night and they seem to go flat overnight. Like magic! haha. But for real, it works well and it's not harsh at all.
Continued good luck to you,
~Celia
Day 119
Developed a very large active on the side of my face on day 116 or so. Unfortunate, but it makes me glad I'm otherwise mostly acne-free. It's gone down a bit already. Red marks certainly haven't been getting worse, at least. Lots of dry skin on the face. Side effects are pretty manageable, dry lips and dry inside of nose are my only real pains.
I should mention that around day 100 or so, I had a back/leg injury (I think). It may have been a minor herniated disc. It's better, but not yet healed.
Oh, and tomorrow should be my last day of pills, but because I'm a couple days behind, I'm good through Tuesday. I see the derm Wednesday.
Day 119 of pills (trying to keep it consistent)
Things are looking a bit worse. Red marks haven't been improving, and I've got a couple new actives. Which is unfortunate; the hope is that I would be done with breakouts by the end of month four. Between today and day 90, my skin probably looks works. I'm not concerned about it, though; there's lots of people who break out into month five, sometimes even six.
I wouldn't worry about the red marks, your skin is really thin on accutane as I'm sure you know so hopefully after you're off it, it will go back to normal and start healing faster. I have the same concerns though, hardly any of my skin on my cheeks is its natural colour because of all the PIH >;( so irritating!