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Day 31
First day of Month 2!
Two days ago I went for my monthly dermatologist appointment. My bloodwork was good with the exception of my cholesterol being slightly elevated. Nothing to be concerned about at this point. She could see progress but reiterated that it is really early and not to worry if I continue to see breakouts for a while. She bumped me up from 40mg to 60mg/day for my remaining 4-5 months (she is leaning towards 5 more). Today was my first day on 60mg.
My random extreme fatigue is the only side effect that's really bugging me at this point. It's usually coupled with a headache. I feel super tired and sleepy and can't really do much of anything when it happens. Then there are some days I feel pretty great. So I'll take it in stride.
Other effects...dry lips, flaky face, very very thirsty. I can still wear my contacts which I'm stoked about (I hate wearing my glasses).
My mom treated me to a pedicure and a haircut with a nice conditioning treatment for my straw like hair. Thanks Mom!
Looking forward to hopefully seeing some healing this month. Ready for whatever side effects that 60mg may cause....bring it on!
Yay! Congratulations on the dosage increase! I got bumped to 60 my 3rd month and I broke out all over again. It really sucked BUT healing started at 60 and I have had good results since then! Side effects didnt get any worse with the increase for me, hopefully that will be the case for you too! Glad everything checked out with your blood work!
Hey! Glad to hear everything else is going well besides the slightly elevated cholesterol. Same thing has happened to me, Rachel, and Betsy, maybe even more girls on here. I think it's just really common. I've been trying to live as healthy as possible this past month and be cognizant of the cholesterol, but I'm not getting my hope up too high in case it hasn't been lowered. If it has, that's great, otherwise, it's just the medicine and hard to do anything about it.
I was actually prompted to schedule a deep conditioning treatment for next week after reading your posts about it! My hair is SO FRIGGIN' DRY, it's nasty. Like straw, exactly as you said. I'm doing the treatment for my wedding. How does your hair feel afterwards? How many days are you going to wait till you wash it?
Yay! Congratulations on the dosage increase! I got bumped to 60 my 3rd month and I broke out all over again. It really sucked BUT healing started at 60 and I have had good results since then! Side effects didnt get any worse with the increase for me, hopefully that will be the case for you too! Glad everything checked out with your blood work!
Thanks, Betsy! I'm prepared to have an increase in breakouts but I hope it doesn't happen! I saw improvement in my first two weeks on 40, then started to break out more in the second two weeks. Currently, I have 3 actives on my jawline and several on my cheeks and chin that are in the healing process. An improvement from a week ago.
So happy to hear you are CLEAR! 
I know it's been a long time coming...awesome!
Hey! Glad to hear everything else is going well besides the slightly elevated cholesterol. Same thing has happened to me, Rachel, and Betsy, maybe even more girls on here. I think it's just really common. I've been trying to live as healthy as possible this past month and be cognizant of the cholesterol, but I'm not getting my hope up too high in case it hasn't been lowered. If it has, that's great, otherwise, it's just the medicine and hard to do anything about it.
I was actually prompted to schedule a deep conditioning treatment for next week after reading your posts about it! My hair is SO FRIGGIN' DRY, it's nasty. Like straw, exactly as you said. I'm doing the treatment for my wedding. How does your hair feel afterwards? How many days are you going to wait till you wash it?
Hi Gina! I've always had a tendency toward slightly elevated cholesterol, but the last few years my HDL has been so good and my LDL so low that my Dr has been happy with it. I don't think they did the HDL/LDL breakdown on this last test though. My triglicyerides were also very low. So I'm not too worried. Will probably just need to try a little harder on my diet...I need to do that anyway!
The conditioning treatment I got was nice, and two days later my hair still feels pretty good but it wasn't a miracle worker by any means. Yours may be different though. They used this on me: http://www.paulmitchell.com/Products/PaulMitchell/Moisture/Pages/SuperChargedMoisturizer.aspx . Certainly not a natural product but I do think it helped. I'm still going to use my shea butter treatment and coconut oil once a week or so at home. I got the treatment done on Saturday and I'll probably wash my hair tomorrow (Tuesday). They did show me a few simple braids for second/third day hair, so I'm going to give those a try since my hair looks so dead and I get tired of pulling it back in a ponytail. I'm not much on doing my own hair though so we'll see what I can come up with....
~becca
One more question cause now your response prompted more questions! Hehe Do you just put some coconut oil in your hair, and if so, how much? I ran out of my usual organic cold-pressed stuff, and was about to buy some more. I'm tempted to use it on my body and hair since I'm incredibly dry and not much is working. I keep reading about the wonders of coconut oil, but I've only used it to cook and bake.
I have been mixing it with the shea butter moisture masque that I got. I don't know how much...I just keep slathering it on until I've covered my hair. A few tablespoons I imagine. It helps to warm it a little so it spreads easier, but it's still basically a solid when I apply it. I also try to massage it into my scalp and that defintely helped my flakey head. I leave it on for probably 45 minutes with a shower cap on. It feels really good, but I end up with so many strands of hair sticking to my hands - that annoys me.
I actually haven't been using it for cooking/baking but I want to start....I know it's super healthy. I use EVOO for everything but I'm know coconut would be much better for higher heat cooking.
I'm also dealing with the flakey face and I really really like adding some organic sweet almond oil to my moisturizer at night. It feels great and my face definitely feels better the next morning.
Makeup update....
I bought Jane Iredale's dream tint/tinted moisturizer. The color was nice and it seemed to have sheer buildable coverage when the lady was putting it on me. Now that I've been trying it on myself, I don't like it at all. If I don't put it on right after moisturizing and spread it very quickly, it looks horrible. I don't know how it can be classified as a moisturizer because my skin feels even more dry and looks super matte after I put it on. I'm going to keep it and maybe I can use it post-accutane when some of my oil returns. But for now, it's not going to work. Bummer.
Leaning back towards the Real Purity foundation. The colors are a bit too pink but I like the formula a lot. If I tend towards a more neutral/warm mineral powder to go over it, I think I can make it work. I have such a hard time figuring out what shades work on me! Ugh! Based on the pics I posted back on page 4, can anyone help me with pinpointing my general skin tone??
There are a few other tinted moisturizers that I'd like to try, but I don't want to break the bank finding something! Not everywhere does samples. I should have gotten a sample of the Jane Iredale stuff first. Has anyone else found a good natural tinted moisturizer??
Hiya,
I'm so happy I found your blog! I'm in the same boat as you - I'm a female and in my 30's and have tried all medical as well as natural remedies and nothing has worked and I've been fighting my dermo for years now with Accutane but I finally gave in and I took my first 40mg pill this morning and will take another this evening before bed my dermo has put me on 80mg's for 5 months. I'm tall 5'10 and weigh around 170 so I'm told that starting that high is normal for someone of my height as well . I'm scared of the side effects that's what has kept me away from it all these years but like you the cystic acne is getting out of hand and I just need it to go away.
It's nice to see I'm not the only one dealing with the same exact issues, and as well have the same concerns with. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us - it's truly helpful and it sure makes me feel better about making the decision to basically bite the bullet and get on the Accutane.
Take care!
Courtney
Hiya,
I'm so happy I found your blog! I'm in the same boat as you - I'm a female and in my 30's and have tried all medical as well as natural remedies and nothing has worked and I've been fighting my dermo for years now with Accutane but I finally gave in and I took my first 40mg pill this morning and will take another this evening before bed my dermo has put me on 80mg's for 5 months. I'm tall 5'10 and weigh around 170 so I'm told that starting that high is normal for someone of my height as well . I'm scared of the side effects that's what has kept me away from it all these years but like you the cystic acne is getting out of hand and I just need it to go away.
It's nice to see I'm not the only one dealing with the same exact issues, and as well have the same concerns with. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us - it's truly helpful and it sure makes me feel better about making the decision to basically bite the bullet and get on the Accutane.
Take care!
Courtney
Hi Courtney! I'm glad my log is helpful! It definitely has been helpful for me to document things and talk things out with other people going through the same thing....especially those in my age bracket. I'm happy for you that you've decided to give this a try...I know it wasn't a decision taken lightly, but I think we will both be much happier at the end of our six months!
Thanks for the tip on the moisturizer...I actually have it and I'm going to give it another try. The color is actually pretty good for me and it spreads a lot easier than some others I've tried. It has a few ingredients I'm not crazy about but it's much better than many others.
Please check in often! Let me know how your first month is going
~becca
Hey Becca!
Crap, that always happens to me in stores when people put makeup on me. I think, oh this looks really good! And then I take it home, try it out, and haaaate it. The only thing I haven't felt way about is the Aveda Mineral Tinted Moisture spf 15, and several mineral powders. Judging from your photos on page 4, I think your undertone is either neutral or yellow, since your neck is more yellow. Yellow also neutralizes red/pink on the skin.
I hope this helps. I'm trying out some new foundations and I'll post an update on my log after I've tried them all.
I'm still playing with my Real Purity samples - love that I can try before I buy! Having a hard time as well figuring out my skin tone. Bummer to hear about the Jane Iredale Dream Tint. I read some reviews that kind of matched what you found and I didn't want to spend the money. I did really want to try her BB cream but again, $50? And if it's hard to rub in. I like the consistency of the Real Purity and I LOVE how few ingredients it has in it.
Question for you Becca. I've just completed my first day of treatment of 80mg of Acutance and this morning I woke up with very dry eyes, dryness in my mouth as if suddenly I have no spit and a horrible, horrible headache - plus feeling a little out of it kind of like how you feel when you take Nyquil. Did you experience any of the same during the beginning of your treatment? I hate with a passion taking medication and this is exactly why - the side effects - I'm a major worry wart when it comes to meds so this is somewhat scaring me a tad.
I'm still playing with my Real Purity samples - love that I can try before I buy! Having a hard time as well figuring out my skin tone. Bummer to hear about the Jane Iredale Dream Tint. I read some reviews that kind of matched what you found and I didn't want to spend the money. I did really want to try her BB cream but again, $50? And if it's hard to rub in. I like the consistency of the Real Purity and I LOVE how few ingredients it has in it.
Hi Summer! I like the consistency of it too but I'm not quite sure about my color yet...plus trying to figure out a mineral base to go over that. Colors are so hard for me! I am also trying the Physicians Formula Organic Wear Tinted Moisturizer....I already had it on hand so I'm giving it another try and I think I like it. It's not as pure as Real Purity but it's pretty good. I really thought I had found the right combo this morning of the tinted moisturizer and powder but now in daylight it just doesn't look quite right.....but I can't tell if it's just because my skin is red and it's showing through. Anyway, makeup...BLAH.
How are you feeling???
Question for you Becca. I've just completed my first day of treatment of 80mg of Acutance and this morning I woke up with very dry eyes, dryness in my mouth as if suddenly I have no spit and a horrible, horrible headache - plus feeling a little out of it kind of like how you feel when you take Nyquil. Did you experience any of the same during the beginning of your treatment? I hate with a passion taking medication and this is exactly why - the side effects - I'm a major worry wart when it comes to meds so this is somewhat scaring me a tad.
Hi there. So sorry about your side effects! Did you start on 80mg or were you on something lower before? I have dryness too and headaches sometimes. The dryness is definitely a side effect of the meds and it's sounds like you're feeling really deyhyrdated. You need to increase your water intake in a big way. I think that will help you the most. Keep water by your bed in case you wake up in the night. Water, water, water...can't stress it enough!
Hi Becca,
Thank you for your quick reply! They started me on 80mg - I just put a call into my dermo's office to ask them about all of this - I think they should had started me at a lower dose and worked me up to 80mg. We shall see what they have to say when they give me a call back later.
You're right about the water - I feel so thirsty!! It's like a cartoon character smacking their gums together over here wondering why I'm so darn dry! I can't believe you can feel all of this after just one day! I have two bottles of water sitting on my desk at work which I'm about to start pounding away shortly to hopefully quench the thirst and hopefully minimize the headache/ dizzy feelings.
Thanks again!
Courtney
Hi Becca,
Thank you for your quick reply! They started me on 80mg - I just put a call into my dermo's office to ask them about all of this - I think they should had started me at a lower dose and worked me up to 80mg. We shall see what they have to say when they give me a call back later.
You're right about the water - I feel so thirsty!! It's like a cartoon character smacking their gums together over here wondering why I'm so darn dry! I can't believe you can feel all of this after just one day! I have two bottles of water sitting on my desk at work which I'm about to start pounding away shortly to hopefully quench the thirst and hopefully minimize the headache/ dizzy feelings.
Thanks again!
Courtney
Courtney -
I started at 40mg for one month and I just bumped up to 60mg starting two days ago. It's based on weight and I'm 117lbs. I had almost immediate side effects (rashes) but they subsided after a week or so when my body got used to the meds. The idea with starting at a lower dose is to minimize side effects and the chance of an initial breakout while your body adjusts to the medicine. The thirst/dryness doesn't go away though so water is my best friend!
Worth a call to your derm to discuss the possibility of starting on a lower dose (even if it's just for the first couple of weeks)
I think if you keep drinking water, it will help you a lot. I'd also suggest starting to moisturize now (even if your skin doesn't feel dry).
Just got off the phone with them - not my dermo though another dermo in the office. He said "give it another day at 80mg because that's the right dose for your weight, if you still feel this way then Acutane may not be right for you" which I asked him wouldn't bringing me down on dose be a better idea so I can build up to it? "Sure, yeah that may help" Love professionals. So basically I am going to make my own adjustment and bring myself down to 40mg's and see how I feel - so I'll take my one and only pill tonight with dinner instead of one this morning and another tonight.
Just got off the phone with them - not my dermo though another dermo in the office. He said "give it another day at 80mg because that's the right dose for your weight, if you still feel this way then Acutane may not be right for you" which I asked him wouldn't bringing me down on dose be a better idea so I can build up to it? "Sure, yeah that may help" Love professionals. So basically I am going to make my own adjustment and bring myself down to 40mg's and see how I feel - so I'll take my one and only pill tonight with dinner instead of one this morning and another tonight.
I'm sure 80 is correct for your weight, but working up to it could be helpful. I think a lot of derms do it that way. I think it's a good idea to start at 40, maybe for a couple of weeks (or even the whole month) and then bump up to 80. You can calculate your cumulative dose to make sure you'll still get it (120-150mg/kg total).
I totally agree with you and the doctor that 80 is right for me - but I think it's just too much at once, my dermo took a vacation day today so I'm just going to take 40mg today see how that makes me feel and then talk to her tomorrow about it. I just think it's crazy that just one day of treatment my lips are already starting to dry up and begin to peel. This stuff works quick!
Day 33
Month 2
I feel like I see progress until I take photos! I guess it is hard to tell from the pics though that:
A lot of these spots are red marks, not active bumps.
My skin feels a lot smoother
My face is more red, but that's a side effect of the meds.
My face is much less congested and inflamed.
Wow!!! There is a huge difference chica, huge - huge difference. It looks like everything is starting to flatten out and clearing away. Your chin looks so much better from your first set of pictures. I know it's hard to see a difference in yourself because we are our worse critic's that's why doing this is so important because we can tell you right away how much of a difference we can see. Congrats to being on your way to a clear new you!
