Update: Day 6 and it seems that there is a little bit of improvement, though mind you it is very, very mild. The large cystic "clump" of inflamed skin on the right side of my chin/mouth is a bit flatter and more pink than red/purple today with a few less pustules. I've got 2 new spots near my hairline, but they are not as bad and angry as the other cysts and nodules I have. My large cysts are developing white heads in them, not sure if that is a good thing or not but at least one seems to be drying up and getting kind of yellow/brown like before they "die," for lack of a better way to define this nasty type of situation, lol. Keeping my fingers crossed! I want to be able to at least get to the point of being able to wear a little makeup soon to regain some normalcy after 2 1/2 months of this severe, crazy stuff that is severe, hormonal acne! grrr...

Day 8: new cysts and whiteheads... Guess this is the IB coming out. My face hurts at this point too. I still don't have a bit of dry skin or dry lips or anything else to suggest I'm on the med. If anything my skin is oilier. The only side effect is that my scalp is less oily and itchy right now. I hope this passes fast. I'm so tired of the pain and inability to go out in public like this... Trying to hang in there...

Day 10: new pustules and cysts. Most of the new acne is on my forehead this time, between the eyes. Large, itchy, and painful throbbing sensations. The redness on the chin has faded a very, very little bit to more of a dark pink than a red so I'm guessing that's a good thing. Still no dry skin and no need to moisturize or even use lip balm yet.... At my weight, shouldn't I be seeing more side effects at this dosage by now?? I did notice that after running I have to stretch more or my muscles get kinda tight... WANT TO SEE PROGRESS SOOOOO BAD!!

I know what you mean! I am ready for progress. I am on day 19, and am getting new zits all the time. I am noticing my blackheads are looking bigger, which I am taking as a good sign!

You will! I'm you going through the same thing as you, severe hormonal acne that came on in what seemed like two weeks. I fought with it for too long but now I'm on day 21. My husband says my face is starting to return to its normal shape which is nice haha. I got new cysts from day1 to a couple of days ago, but I think it was pretty mild and I'm afraid of a bump in dosage but I want to get it overwith. Three weeks flew by which was surprising! Good luck!

Day 12: Maybe a little bit better, but I'm afraid to claim that and jinx myself! It is a bit different now. I am still getting new spots, but they are by NO means as large as the dime and nickel sized cysts I have on either side of my mouth. The red inflammed area (interconnected, puffy, crusty, and with pustules that come an go and drain) that is on the right side of my chin seems to have shrunken a little. The red areas seem more bright pink than red and the cysts and inflammation seems to be going down a bit with things getting slightly flatter. The new zits I've been getting are smaller overall and not as painful or itchy. Around day 10 I had 2 medium sized cysts between my eyes near my left brow come up to massive heads and pop and drain. This is what happened to the other cysts on the sides of my mouth that were really big before they flattened out a little bit. They came to heads and popped and started to drain and I gentlely coaxed them out. They are scabbed, but not as bad as before. I definetely think the accutane has something to do with this, because I've had varying degrees of cystic acne for the last 6 or 7 years now and they almost NEVER come or have came to a head before (maybe like 1% of the time before, now all but 1 has!). I hope this is progress and that I continue to see some improvement. I still have no major dry skin or lips. Got a few tiny flakes on my nose and chin after my shower, but I gently rubbed them off and they never came back. I stopped using my moisturizer a few days ago because I didn't need it and if anything it made me look really oily again. As I mentioned before, scalp is definetely a bit less oily and I only have to wash my hair every other day now, which I am LOVING! Only crappy side effect so far is that, I'm a runner and when I get done with a workout, my calf and quad muscles with cramp up a bit if I sit down too soon and don't walk and stretch out a little more than usual. It's not bad though, just a minor annoyance that I can totally live with to get rid of this unsightly crap on my face! Seems like my face is getting a tiny bit less swollen too (it wasn't real bad to begin with but around my lower chin I've had some swelling). I'm still trying to muster up the courage for a few pics... Maybe soon... Fingers crossed for now!!!

Coming up and draining more today. Still getting new cysts though... Got my first tiny bit of dry skin on my forehead today, still not enough for moisturizer, but I am glad to have it since I'm hoping its a sign that the meds are kicking in? Hope stuff continues on a good path from here...

You may not care about side effects now if you think acne is the worst thing you could have but you are wrong.

Please think long & hard and read of others experiences AFTER taking it....I wish I did.

You need to leave her alone. I know what you're going through sucks, but you were ODed. Your case is NOT normal, and this girl (and I) are suffering and the only thing that helps is accutane. We need to remain positive throughout this process. You are not helping.

You may not care about side effects now if you think acne is the worst thing you could have but you are wrong.

Please think long & hard and read of others experiences AFTER taking it....I wish I did.

 

So... day 16 and IB is going down a little. Face is still worse than it was before starting though DUE to the IB... Hope this recent turn for the better continues... Wish me luck!!

Day 18: Not much different than it was on my last update. Maybe a little bit of dryness now, still nothing that needs moisturizer. I thought 1.2mg/lb of accutane was kinda high since most seem to be started on lower dosages, but I wouldn't be suprised if I get bumped up again when I go back to my derm seeing as I'm not dry at all. I do get nauseus sometimes if I don't eat enough or overeat after taking my pills. I don't think it's anything to worry about. Anyone else ever experience this at all??

Hoping the crusty patch on the right side of my chin will go away soon... Has anyone else ever had anything like this? It is not a reaction to the meds. I've had it from the beginning of this severe acne bout that started in September and it had gone down a bit before starting the accutane, but got worse after my IB. My doc says its just a weird kind of acne scab and I might have mild acne fulminans since the scabs are sticky to fabric...

Face definelty looks worse now than it did when I started but better than during the IB (between day 7 and 14). Still getting new spots, but not cysts, just small, fragile whiteheads.

**Added pictures** of day 4 and day 16 to my gallery of the worsts spots. Didn't add any during my IB cause it was too depressing and I didn't want to really record that, even for my own reference. The cysts on my forehead and temples are more skin colored and I don't have a good camera, so its hard to get them to show in pics. Got a massive one in the middle of my left eyebrow (such an awkward spot for a zit...) The red spots you see are cystic and much bumpier in person. Camera is pretty grainy and doesn't do it justice...Took me a lot to get the courage to post these pics...

Hope everyone else on the accutane train is doing well/better!! Hope by the time I take 30 day pics I'll have more progress to show you!

I am very jealous of you not needing moisturizer yet..especially when you started at 60mg! My face is peeling like crazy!

I feel you on the pictures. I didn't post any of when my face was at it's worst (before Accutane) because I didn't have any pictures of it. Why would I want evidence of that! Haha.

Hoping you see progress soon

Hey hun, your skin looks a bit like mine when i did my first accutane course in 2001. The IB sucks and i am going through it in the beginning of my 3rd month/8th week. You just have to occupy your mind and not focus on it as it will get worse before it gets better. I am getting pretty bad inflamation and the itchies on my face this time around but just trying to tell myself that the more i breaout, it means that the accutane is working.

Just hold tight and let your frustrations out. I'm sure you know that smoking is terrible for your skin but in terms of accutane, i've never heard to avoid it though for your general healt, you may want to reduce how much you smoke.

Good Luck and keep taking pictures, it will help you see how far you've truly come

Thanks for the encouragment! I'm hoping to see some improvement over the next couple months. My doc told me to give it at least 3 to start calming down, so I am trying to. I am just ready to go back to looking how I did 3 months ago..... I am going to ask about corisone shots and/or anything else I can do to help a little in the meantime and just destress and enjoy the holidays until then! I will continue to update along the way!

Just wanted to make a note that today I am FINALLY starting to get dry skin and lips! I know it sounds weird I'm excited about that, but its day 21 and I'm just now getting it! Things have not really gotten much better otherwise. Cysts from IB are getting smaller, but continue to puff up and drain on and off. Getting new spots too, but they are small more like normal whitehead pimples. Hoping this is a good sign?! Getting another crappier side effect too... Muscle and possibly bone pain... Hope that's not serious, anyone know/had this?

Just wanted to make a note that today I am FINALLY starting to get dry skin and lips! I know it sounds weird I'm excited about that, but its day 21 and I'm just now getting it! Things have not really gotten much better otherwise. Cysts from IB are getting smaller, but continue to puff up and drain on and off. Getting new spots too, but they are small more like normal whitehead pimples. Hoping this is a good sign?! Getting another crappier side effect too... Muscle and possibly bone pain... Hope that's not serious, anyone know/had this?

 

My dermatologist said it's common for the lesions to improve shortly after the peeling, dry skin kicks in. This makes sense since less sebum means less chance of the pores clogging.

About the muscle aches, I've noticed that occasionally my lower back and neck are uncomfortable, but it's not unlike the feeling of having slept in an awkward position.

30 day update!!! Just got back from the derm and she advised that I should be staying on 60mg/day throughout the entire course of my treatment unless something with the bloodwork or too many side effects causes her to lower it. I told her I'm not against going up as need be, but lately I've started get some side effects, so glad to be staying on the same dosage for month 2.. Since about a week ago at the end of my HORRIBLE IB (you can tell from my pics things got WAY worse a couple weeks after I started), I'm getting some dry skin and lips now, but its manageable. What's been worse has been sore/cracking lower back and sore muscles from doing anything. I also got my first bad headache last night, but 2 advil knocked it out in a couple of hours. The sore muscles/bones has been slowly lessening since it started about a week ago and my derm said it could continue to get better and go away as my body gets used to the medicine. I hope so cause I wanna work out again soon! She also told me to up my water intake by as much as I can possibly tolerate and it should help with any aches/pains/headaches as well since the internal drying effect of the med could be in part responsible for this. I'm hoping things will turn around soon. Old spots seem a little less angry and I had a couple of injections that seem to be helping the cysts a bit. I'm going to have to go without meds for a few days til my bloodwork comes back I told my derm it would be about a week from the time frame she gave me, but she said it shouldn't matter. Going to bump up my next month's appointment a few days per her recommendation so I won't have to go without my meds again in the future! Hanging in there and hoping for some progress soon! Can anyone who's taken it before and had pretty severe acne tell me about when they noticed their skin starting to clear? She said about 3 months but not sure if she means to start clearing or to be clear by then and I'm just wondering how it worked from others' experiences so I don't get my hopes up too much... Posting new 30 day pics in my gallery, will start doing them just once a month now unless I notice any major progress to share in the mean time! Hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and I will update again in the new year. Wish me luck! I'm just hanging in there for now and praying to get my old face back ASAP!....

Hi, when i first took accutane around 2001, i had cysts pretty much all over my face, not as severe as yours but moderate. I didn't notice much of a difference in a positive way till the end of month 3/beginning of month 4. Keep in mind with acne severity like yours may not show progress till much later in your course.

Keep your head up!

Thanks Sasch, very helpful! Thank you for being honest about the time frame. I hope others will chime in as well with their experiences and I have been looking on some of the other logs also. I do feel a bit better about my acne in general now than I did at its worst (beginning of week 2-beginning of week4) because its flatter, less scaby and fragile and feels a little better now (less pain and itchiness). I didn't do any pictures of my forehead cause my chin's always been way worse and it is actually showing more improvement there than anywhere else. I've got 1 small larger cyst remnant and 2 much smaller ones (pinhead size) going away and some flat small red marks on my forehead. It is MUCH improved compared to the mess of large flesh colored cysts and angry red pustules it was just a few weeks ago, so that makes me feel much better! I hope to not get any more major flair ups cause it can be so painful. I'm still getting new small cysts and pustules near the same old spots on the right side of my chin, though not quite as angry as before. I guess I will see that for awhile throughout treatment? I'm always scared its gonna take another turn for the worse, but trying not to stress about it since that probably just adds more fuel to the fire that is this vicious cycle of severe acne. Right now I'm just praying it doesn't get to its worst state again and trying not to overanalyze it by studying it in the mirror too much! Its hard... I had beautiful skin right before this for 5 years and in a period of 5 days I got this awful stuff that didn't even look or feel like acne. It is so clustered and scaby. Its tough going from feeling good about yourself and self-image for a few years and then getting drug down further than ever imaginable. I SOOO want this to work out for me! I am scared but remaining positive and happy going forward! Thank you for your encouragement and I am just gonna keep making future plans for when I get back to being ME again!!

That's the spirit. I think we all can recall the moment our skin changed. The upside of having acne though is that it makes us such better people on the inside. We look past peoples faults and reaize that what's on the inside is so much more important that whats showing on the outside.

Don't get me wrong, it still sucks to have acne but we are better people because of it. Also keep in mind that progress on accutane is not linear so you may do well one week and your skin can go to shit the next week. Thats how its been for me. Had a really good run of clearer skin up until week 8 and from then till now (week 11) my skin continues to get worse (i'm surmising this to be an initial breakout).It's tough but like you, I:

avoid mirrors

tell myself that the bad stuff has to come out before healing can start

recognize that inspite of having bad acne, there is probably someone out there who has it a bit worse.

Hope this helps. Any questions, feel free to PM me.

So.... I'm getting back into my exercise routine FINALLY! Before the back pain was just exacerbated too much and its still there, but much more managable now. I really think that the additional water intake is helping with this and my other side effects. Getting a few tiny, quickly resolving white heads now, but no new major cysts. Just 2 on my temples that were there before have gotten bigger, redder, and itchier.. I wish all the old spots would hurry up and start going away!!! I wish these newly larger ones would come to a head so they would just drain or whatever and go away, but they are just big, sore, red spots for now and not budging. My old spots are still there, though less angry and not nearly as painful. My chin area isn't swollen like it was at the worst of it. My face isn't much improved from were it was before I started accutane but it is VASTLY improved from what it was a month ago when the IB had hit hard and I was a total and complete mess, so that HAS to be a good sign, right? The spots I still have don't seem to want to heal up just yet, but they do look a little flatter and calmer. I so, so, so want to get to a point where I can use makeup to cover up the redness a bit. I haven't worn any for almost 4 months now when this all started. As for other side effects, I'm getting pretty dry patches on my arms and my legs are kind of dry and itchy so I guess its time to start lotioning there now. Maybe more dryness is a good sign? I can't wait for time to fly by so I can look back on the progress! As of now (day 37) its just a waiting game and I'm slowly monitoring for improvement! Luckily I have my exercise now to occupy my mind again and get my thoughts off of it! As a side note, not sure if its just in my head or not, but right after I run it seems like my spots look a little smaller and better (less red). Like I'm sweating out some of the inflammation or something. Not sure if that's true or not, but I like to think so for my own sake!

I'm not sure about the exercising, but for me when I first wake up my skin always looks really good. Once I start going about my day though, it seems worse... :/

Day 45: No new pimples, save for one very tiny "normal" one near my hairline, but I've been exercising again lately and its probably from the sweat so no biggie. I'm definetely looking better than I was before! I looked back at my old images and have improved vastly from my worst point (2 weeks in) and also from day 30. Most of my cysts have popped now and are going down, but there are 3 that just sit there and will not go away! 1 by the left corner of my mouth has gotten a tiny bit smaller but still there without much improvement and the other was lingering for a couple months before blowing up and turning into a second one after I messed with it... I wish there was some way to get rid of the cysts faster... That's my biggest problem now... Its an improvement over the sore clusters of interconnected pustules but they still suck and hurt. I'm being positive though and welcome any improvement, so happy that I don't have the pain and constant soreness anymore!

I'm hoping that things will turn around soon. I want to get back out there and feel confident in public again. Hoping my derm can recommend something to get rid of these old, lingering monster zits soon. The cortisone shots just don't work for me. They do nothing and the zits either don't change or stall out for a week or 2 then come back even bigger and angrier than before... I'm tempted to ask to be bumped up on my dosage for month 3. I'm just not that dry. I moisturizer once a day if that and don't have flakes anywhere and my lips are no dryer than before. I had back pain at the end of month 1 but it only lasted a week and went away. The only crappy side effect is that my nose is really dry and crusty and cracked inside and I've got to apply vaseline inside of it twice a day to help with this, but otherwise I feel good so I'm not really scared about going up to 80mg at 50kg weight if need be. The pamphlet says you can go up to 100kg at my weight max, so this shouldn't be a problem if my derm agrees that I could use a higher dosage.

Oh well, just trying to keep calm and patient until them! Like BMarie has suggested in the past, I'm avoiding mirrors! The more I do it the more suprised I am by slight progress when I check myself out again later on! Stay tuned! Update again with new pics on day 60!

I'm glad it is improving, and I hope those stinkers that don't want to leave skeedaddle soon!!