**A little bit of background on me - I'm 24, and have suffered from cystic/hormonal acne since I was 10. I've been on birth control for the past 10+ years, it's the only thing that keeps my acne in check. Without it I am covered it large, red, painful bumps on my face, back, and chest. I've tried many, many things over the years (over the counter, Retin A, Differin, ProActive, elmination diets, holistic methods). Each prescription works well for 1-2 months, but then my acne becomes immune to it and it completely stops working. My husband and I would like to start trying for a baby soon, and obviously you have to be off birth control to do that...I'm terrified of the acne that will surface as soon as I go off birth control. So, I've started Accutane in the hopes of curing my acne forever. The true test will be once I'm done with treatment, and then several months later when I go off birth control.**
Well, today marks one week since I started Accutane. My skin was actually really clear the week before starting..which is great, but I don't really have a good 'Before' picture.
Days 1-4 the only symptomsI had were a very dry mouth, and unquenchable thirst.
Day 5 brought the peeling skin, peeling lips, and two zits.
Tonight's dose will be pill #7, and currently my skin/lips are peeling, and I still have the two zits. The zits are large and red - but they don't have a 'head' and are not poppable. This is pretty normal for me.
I'm starting to get scared for the dread 'initial breakout'..I hope it isn't as awful as I've read about! The peeling skin is a pain in the ass. I feel like everyone is looking at it. I'm hoping this is just a temporary side effect, and not one I'll have the entire treatment. I'm also really scared of possible hair loss :/
Overall, I'm feeling pretty good...just a little nervous about potential side effects. It's obviously doing something in there..so that's a plus!
Hey! We are in very similar situations except it sound like my acne is much more severe (I have severe spots and tracts). I am a 29 year old female and have been battling my acne for about 15 years now. I too want to start trying for kids in the next year and am trying to get this acne thing nipped in the bud so I can move forward. I'm 29 and have waited this long because I've relied on topicals for years to keep my acne in check. Unfortunately, the topicals (mainly tazorac) are Category X drugs and cause birth defects just like accutane. I've finally taken the plunge and started on the 'tane and am only a few days ahead of you (12). Mind you I didn't start out anywhere near clear! When this recent bout of acne got started while I was on the topicals, it got really severe, really fast and I had lots of cysts and pustules already when I started. Day 6 brought out lots of new, big spots and made cysts come to ahead. Several drained yesterday and appear a bit flatter, though they are still there. Still getting some new ones, but they are a bit smaller right now. My old spots are getting to be more pink than deep red. I hope this is a sign the inflammation is going down. I'm hoping to start seeing results soon, but know that it can take awhile. I wish you the best of luck and hope you will see great results! You will probably get an IB like most seem to (though a few lucky people don't) but mine hasn't been AS bad as I had originally dreaded. Just stay positive and remember what you are working towards! Good luck and I hope we will both get great results from our accutane treatment!!
Brownilocks, Thank you for sharing your story!! I'm glad someone else is going through something similar (though I wish none of us had to deal with acne). I'll definitely be following your journey knowing you're a couple days a head of me. I really hope this works for us!
Today is Day 8. I'm not sure if this is just a coincidence or if I am experiencing hair loss, but yesterday afternoon I lost 1 eyelash, and this morning I lost another 2. So 3 in 2 days. Hoping it's just a coincidence
I still have the two spots on my chin, but another much larger spot popped up over night above my lip, under my nose. It's deep red and painful. Ughhhh. I was hoping to miss the IB but this may be the beginning of it.
My skin is still peeling like crazy. I feel like it looks awful, but besides slopping moisturizer on it, I don't think there is much else I can do! It's weird, my skin doesn't feel dry at all yet it's peel city!
Day 9 - No new side effects or bumps. So that's good.
I don't think I've mentioned this anywhere yet, but my last blood draw before starting (so December 3rd) was really painful and bruised horribly. I bled a lot, and my arm has been really sore every since..even 9 days later! I'm starting to get worried that something may be wrong - though I see no signs of infection. Starting to get concerned that I should go to a doctor but I really don't know what he could do for me. I've been trying to rest it, and I'm going to try icing it tonight. It's really bothering me and I don't feel like that's normal! My other blood draws went perfectly! It has me pretty bummed out.
Day 11 - I finished my first 10 pack last night! That was kind of exciting 
Bump wise I still have the 3 I mentioned on my last update (they all large, and red..no white head) but I've also accumulated another one. The other 3 are starting to go down in size though. Still having peeling skin and lips. It's disgusting. Other than that I'm just trucking along!
My arm is still really sore. I called my doctor and he said it sounds like they collapsed a vein o.O he told me I could come in if I wanted to but that he wouldn't be able to do much. I'm going to hold off and see how's it feeling over the weekend. If it's still bothering me Monday I'm going to make an appointment.
I have a two-week appointment on Tuesday to check in with my doctor. I'll have to have blood work done the day before (Monday)..and I'm nervous about it. I hope they don't mess up my other arm!
Day 14 - All 6 spots that I had several days ago are almost gone. Very weird! No new ones have come in to replace them..I don't know if that was my IB or not? I guess we'll see!
Same peeling skin and lips. Still annoying. I have noticed my hair is less greasy! I usually have to wash my hair daily because of how oily it is - but it doesn't look nearly as oily as it normally does and I'm washing it every other day now.
My arm seems to finally be healing! Much less painful than before, and the bruising is almost gone also. I had a blood draw today on my other arm and it went great - not painful, and I didn't even realize she had finished! I'm looking forward to my appointment with my derm tomorrow
Today is day 30! I'm almost done with the first month! I have my first monthly appointment today with my doctor just to check in.
Side effects that have stayed the same: peeling skin, peeling lips, and drier hair (which I am STOKED about..I typically have very oily hair).
New side effects: My hands have started peeling in between my fingers. I noticed this yesterday... Also, I have never had to deal with black heads but my nose is covered with them! I'm assuming this is the drug pushing all the nastiness out. I wish I could use a biore nose strip but I know that's a no-no.
My face is clear, and I haven't had any bumps since my initial breakout around day 11. So far so good!
Today is day 37! I am so happy that the days seem to be going by quicker!
Last week I had my first montly appintment with my doctor and she bumped up my dosage from 40mg a day to 60mg a day. I was/am pretty nervous about it. My skin is peeling even more now...and on the spots where I previously hadn't peeled much or at all (my forehead, my eye lids, my ears!). I'm hoping the side effects don't get much worse. My doctor said as long as I can handle the side effects at the current dosages I should take my last pill the first week of May! Woop woop!
Day 42. Today is day 11 on my new dosage. No new breakouts - my face is still really clear. Not that the skin peeling ever left, buts it's definitely worse now. Just trying to stay moisturized and away from close-up mirrors. I forgot to mention this, but I also started Dr. Dan's lip balm last week but I don't really think it's doing any help. It tastes like sh*t. LOL. My lips have also gotten much worse. I can pull entire chunks of skin off them. They are super red and tender. I know I should leave them alone, but I can't have sh*t hanging off my lips and not do something!
I started reading a log on here about users taking repeat treatments and now I'm feeling anxious. I hope this works. I hope I haven't gone through all of this for nothing. I'm terrified my skin will look great at first, but then when I go off birth control it'll go crazy. I need to step away from the logs!
Hang in there! Try just putting plain old vaseline on your lips right before bed. Mine are really dry in the corners and this helps more than any kind of actual chapstick (though it doesn't actually "cure" it).
I hope someone will answer the question you had about repeat treatments. I'm very fearful my acne will return too...
@Brownilocks - I haven't tried Vaseline yet, but maybe I should! I'll stop and pick some up today. The lip peeling is out of control. Everyone said I would have dry lips, but this is much more than just dry lips. I'm hangin' in there, though. It'll be worth it in the end.
Day 46 (Second full week of being on 60mg). My face has been pretty clear the past few weeks but I've gotten two spots on my chin in the past couple days...probably because of the dosage increase. Overall just lots of redness (on my cheeks), peeling skin, and peeling lips. I suffer from migraines/headaches when I'm not on accutane, so I can't really tell if the headaches I'm getting are accutane related or not. The blackheads I had on my nose two weeks ago are all gone, thankfully! I'm just trucking along
Day 58. I have a two spots as the moment. Which is a bummer because my face has been really clear the last week. My skin is still dry and peeling, it goes through stages where it isn't too bad one day..to crazytown the next day! Lips are still peeling like crazy. A new development is the dry nose. I hadn't experienced that until now. It's easily remedied though. I've also started sleeping with a humidifier. Can't really tell if it's helping or not.
My derm appointment was scheduled later than normal, so I've had to skip a day here and there to get my pack to last me until the appointment. My appointment isn't until Monday. Curious if I'm going to be bumped up to 80 or if they'll leave me at 60!? Guess we'll see!
I feel like time went by really quickly the first month and a half but now it seems to just be crawling. My birthday is next week and I'm kind of bummed I won't be able to drink as much as I'd like to..but it'll be worth it in the end I'm sure! Come on month 3!!
Day 66. I am officially in my 3rd month!
My doctor kept me at 60mg, which I'm happy with. Symptoms are the same as always, peeling skin and lips. My dry nose has gone away, thankfully. *TMI* but I've started taking a fiber supplement because I was having issues going to the bathroom.
A somewhat new development...I have a small scab/sore on one of my toes that needs to be removed next week. They're going to do a biopsy to make sure it isn't anything serious (which they don't think it is). They said it could possibly be because of the Accutane? I hope not. I really don't want to have to stop taking it!
Day 81. I think? It's getting harder to keep track of the days! I'm halfway through my 3rd month..trucking along. Same symptoms as previously posted..peeling skin and peeling lips. My skin is looking great. My chest and back aren't breaking out at all anymore. My face will stay perfectly clear for a week or two, then I'll get one giant spot (usually right before something important - of course!) and it'll slowly fade away.
I've been wearing less and less face makeup. Last week I actually went to work with NO FOUNDATION/CONCEALER/ANYTHING. That was huge for me. I haven't been able to go to work without gobbing on make up ever. I do have some redness on my cheeks - I don't know if that's from the accutane or just how it normally is. So I've started wearing just a tinted moisturizer to even out my complexion. It's so nice not to have to gob makeup on!
I need to post some more pictures.
I haven't posted in a REALLY long time. We're near Day 115...I think? I can't keep track of the days anymore.
There's only so many times I can say 'Peeling skin, peeling lips, etc' so that's why I haven't been posting. Not many changes. My skin is still looking great. I still get the occasional break out, but they're gone quicker, and much smaller then they used to be. So that's a plus. I'm in the middle of my fourth month now. So about 6 weeks left! I was supposed to be finished the first week in May, but because of missing pills a few times I'll be finished the second week now.
I can't wait!
No new symptoms, and the peeling skin seems to be not quite as bad as it was before. My lips are atrocious. So so so gross!
I think that's it for now. I'll post more updates soon. 6 MORE WEEKS!
I finished my Accutane treatment on Wednesday!!
To say I'm happy would be an understatement. I am so thrilled with the results! It was a 5 month course, starting December 4th and ending May 8th (I finished a few days late because of forgetting pills occasionally). This was the longest/fastest 5 months of my life.
A recap of my bad side effects and good side effects throughout treatment:
Bad-
Peeling lips
Peeling skin
Occasional nose bleeds
Occasional eczema spots
Initial breakout
Black heads (in the beginning)
Good-
No acne!!!!
Face less oily
Hair less oily
The past month I haven't had any large spots on my face. Just the occasional pimple (with no white-head). The pimples are weird, not like what I'm used to! I think it's still stuff just being cleaned out of my pores. Gross.
My number one concern is my acne coming back after going off birth control. I can go off birth control 30 days after my last pill. I'm terrified of what my face/neck/chest/back will look like. I'm hoping the Accutane will continue to work. I'm ok with having breakouts like a normal person, but I am NOT ok with breaking out like I used to pre-birth control days.
I'll continue to give updates on what my skin is doing, but for now I'll leave you with a picture of my skin yesterday. This is with no make-up (besides mascara), no filter, natural daylight. I am so happy! Let's hope it stays this way