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Day 35
Acne-wise everything is perfect. My back is very clear except for some marks. My face still breaks out as per usual but that is to be expected after only 1 month. However, I am very socially anxious, which is lowering my libido and causing me to become very depressed. I am considering coming off of Accutane because I do not feel like myself at all.
Day 47
My libido has been low for the past few days and it's kind of freaking me out. Has anyone else experienced this as a side effect and did it go away after your treatment? I read a few forum posts about people having permanently low libido after Accutane so I'm not too excited about that.
My mood is great, no problems there for the past 2 weeks.
Other than that I think I need to go a little less hard, right now I have a mild twisted ankle from playing basketball,a bruised pinky toe from dropping a weight on it, and a really slow healing cut on my shin. I can't tell if I get injured easier or if everything heals much slower; I think it's a combination of both.
Day 60
No sex drive. This was what I was most scared of when I started taking Accutane.
Other than that, everything is perfect. I put aquaphor on my lips about once every half hour, and they don't get dry at all. The skin on my face, my neck and my arms get really dry only after I shower, and some moisturizer easily takes care of that. My strength in the gym is dropping, I lost about 5-10 pounds on all of my lifts, but I don't particularly mind.
Day 100
I have exactly 2 months to go from today. Still no physical problems. Dry lips are easily controlled. I moisturize after I shower and that's plenty. My joints are a little sore sometimes in the gym but nothing crazy. My weight has dropped about 5 pounds and I got weaker on most of my exercises but I expect that will come back once I come off of the Accutane.
I'm getting very minimal physical side effects but I'm getting hit pretty hard with the mental ones. Anxiety and depression are bad sometimes, crazy mood swings (ridiculous), and the low libido. Hopefully everything goes back to normal come June.
Done:
Skin is perfect, I wasn't worried about that, I created this thread to document the side effects I had.
My experience with Accutane was actually pretty awful, but not for the reasons most people talk about. Like I said before, I had almost no physical symptoms, just dry lips, which did not bother me very much. However, my libido dropped to about 30% I had the craziest mood swings, sometimes I couldn't sleep, sometimes my appetite was gone, my grades dropped.
The libido drop was a big confidence killer. The mood swings were not anger or irritability like some people experience, instead I had manic and depressive phases, like bipolar disorder except on a shorter time scale. My mood would swing anywhere from once every few hours to once every 3 days. This was made worse because it was my first year in college and I was pretty stressed academically and socially as it was.
The sleep and appetite problems were not linked at all to my mood. I went more than a day without eating at one point and more than three days without sleeping. Other times I slept through the entire day. I didn't lose any weight and all of this didn't noticeably affect my health.
Lastly, my GPA dropped from a 3.8 first semester to a 2.58 second semester. I failed two of my harder classes.
I'm going to keep giving updates in the coming months on my skin and my emotional health.
I am still going to be using topicals pretty much indefinitely, as prescribed by my dermatologist.
2 months post Accutane
Skin is still perfect. During Accutane my skin got very smooth (no pores) and stayed that way for about a month, but that went away and it's back to normal now except without any acne. I have gotten a few spots since I came off but nothing major. I am using Atralin to prevent future breakouts, which is .05% tretinoin gel, which is pretty strong. I haven't noticed any significant skin dryness.
If there was any doubt in my mind before, there is none now, and no matter what anyone tells you ACCUTANE CAN CAUSE MOOD SWINGS. Obviously everyone's experience is going to be different but for me, these were very pronounced and about 2 weeks after I came off Accutane I stopped experiencing them. If you are considering Accutane, definitely take this side effect seriously. My libido is back to where it was pre-Accutane, maybe a little lower.
The only reason I would ever regret taking Accutane would be if the acne came back all the way or most of the way. I might consider taking the drug again if it does, but I would definitely keep this experience in mind.
2 months post Accutane
Just some things to add on to my previous post.
All of my lifts lowered or stayed the same for the 6 month period I was on the drug, but now they are increasing again.
I got a big gash on my shin right before I started Accutane. It was the kind that takes about a month to heal completely. It didn't and there is now a probably permanent quarter sized scar on my shin.
IWTKM, what antibiotic were you using which cleared you? Also, did you have oily skin when taking the antibiotic?
I'm on oxytetracycline with duac once daily gel prescribed by my doctor, however I don't think it will do much because of my oily skin, and that's why I want to go on accutane... I guess I just want to know if the antibiotic I'm on is effective for people who have oily skin as well as acne.
IWTKM, what antibiotic were you using which cleared you? Also, did you have oily skin when taking the antibiotic?
I'm on oxytetracycline with duac once daily gel prescribed by my doctor, however I don't think it will do much because of my oily skin, and that's why I want to go on accutane... I guess I just want to know if the antibiotic I'm on is effective for people who have oily skin as well as acne.
Antibiotics won't reduce oil/sebum production. Sebum production is largely under the control of sex hormones (both androgens and estrogens) and there is also a genetic/hereditary component to it.
http://dermnetnz.org/acne/sebum.html
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/207068-what-can-cure-oily-skin/#entry2375086
The only treatments that have consistent scientific evidence to decrease oil/sebum production are hormonal treatments (only used in women) such as spironolactone and Accutane.
Good luck
IWTKM, what antibiotic were you using which cleared you? Also, did you have oily skin when taking the antibiotic?
I'm on oxytetracycline with duac once daily gel prescribed by my doctor, however I don't think it will do much because of my oily skin, and that's why I want to go on accutane... I guess I just want to know if the antibiotic I'm on is effective for people who have oily skin as well as acne.
Antibiotics won't reduce oil/sebum production. Sebum production is largely under the control of sex hormones (both androgens and estrogens) and there is also a genetic/hereditary component to it.
http://dermnetnz.org/acne/sebum.html
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/207068-what-can-cure-oily-skin/#entry2375086
The only treatments that have consistent scientific evidence to decrease oil/sebum production are hormonal treatments (only used in women) such as spironolactone and Accutane.
Good luck
Thanks, but I meant that would the antibiotics actually work if you have oily skin? I am staying positive though.
Possibly, but they would likely only ever control your acne, not put it in permanent remission. Once you go off antibiotics, the underlying issue remains (oily skin) and a relapse is likely.
Yep, I know my acne will come back if I ever do become clear and I stop the antibiotics. My doctor was actually telling me that I'd stay on the biotics for a year. I kinda want the antibiotics to cure me and give me clear skin, but I kinda want them to not work, so I could persuade my doctor to refer me to a derm to be put on accutane to cure my acne and oily skin. I'll always have oily skin on the biotics, but yeah now I'm just blabbing on...
IWTKM, what antibiotic were you using which cleared you? Also, did you have oily skin when taking the antibiotic?
I'm on oxytetracycline with duac once daily gel prescribed by my doctor, however I don't think it will do much because of my oily skin, and that's why I want to go on accutane... I guess I just want to know if the antibiotic I'm on is effective for people who have oily skin as well as acne.
Clear My Skin, I was on Minocycline for about 5 months. During this time I was also using Ziana gel and a sulfur body wash. I saw pretty minimal but still noticeable improvement during that time.
5 months post Accutane:
Remission usually occurs (if it does) around 6 months after you come off the drug. My skin is still very good. Face and neck are perfect, chest is perfect, and I get about 1 small pimple a week on my back which is barely noticeable after about 3 days. It's been this way since I came off the drug.
I still have a slightly low libido, but it may just be in my head. On top of that I have dry skin after showering but it's not a big deal at all.
The main point this thread gets across is that mood swings are undeniably associated with this medicine and they aren't a joke.