so these are my before and after pictures.
IMPORTANT:
i took 20mg daily for 7 something months, at the end of my course i lowered the dosage to 10 mg for about few weeks.
at the end of my course i found a new, more competent, experienced and just overall better dermatologist by simply doing some research on the web which i should have done before. she made some interesting points, for example: accutane at very low doses (10, 15 mg) can be almost as effective as 40 or more mg's without as much negative aspects on health.
maybe most of you know all this, but i still want to make it clear: it is better to use accutane 8 months 20 mg daily than 40 mg for 4 months, not just because of health factor, but also the possibility of acne returning after the course of 20 mg is way smaller.
another important aspect - lowering the dosage throughout the whole course step by step, for example: 1st month it's 10 mg, 2nd month it's 15, next 2 months it's 20mg, then one month of 15 mg, one of 10 mg, 1 month of 5 mg, 1 month of 5 mg using once in two days and so on. i wish that's what i did, because that way i could have minimized my acne coming back even more.
now, these are the tips from arguably one of the best dermatologist (if not the best) in my country HOWEVER no one should take these things stated above as granted. as a matter of fact the best thing person can do is simply do some research in the web and find the best dermatologist in the area.
before using accutane my diet was terrible: extra sugar, fat cheese, bread everywhere. everything that is considered bad for acne was the basis of my diet.
after accutane my acne came back a little bit, so i'm experimenting with foods a lot. if i eat certain grains or grain products i get a small breakout. eating lots of veggies, fruits eliminating sugar helped me a lot coping with acne. by the way, i don't eat dairy
the few years i had acne were pretty bad, i sometimes lacked confidence in a certain situations and let my acne take control of my mood and actions, which i shouldn't have done.
accutane did the trick concerning acne but now i have to deal with other pretty serious skin condition - rosacea. i now have a lot of broken capiliaries, but i'm dealing with it, and i stopped it from getting worse by using finacea, moisturizer for rosacea skin. i'm looking forward to an ipl procedures next month, planning to try clonidine, so there's hope for me and it's nothing too bad acctually. if someone gets confused trying to spot the rosacea in the photos - well at that time i had no broken blood vessels these pictures are few months old.
simple things that work for me:
i don't use cleanser to wash my face just water
moisturize at night
differin for acne
no rubbing touching face, no popping pimples
drinking lots of water, eating lots of veggies, fruits, no sugar.
zinc
vit c
fish oil
feel free to ask anything there are a lot of things i haven't mentioned but i think it's enough for first post lol.
it depends on many things like the severity, body weight, age and other factors. what i meant to say is that it's important to start at small doses (for one person depending on his condition small can be 5mg daily, for other 10mg) then increase the dosage slowly and at exact same rate decrease it after course reaches it's peak. but then at the end of course it should be used for some time on very small doses and once in a few days to completely lower the possibility of acne coming back.
also man I have a few more questions
Is that the worst your acne ever was? Because that is pretty mild.
Did you ever take oral antibiotics for your acne?
Did accutane cause your rosacea?
Did your pimples dry and scab up whilst on accutane?
thanks
In the U.S.A, the lowest dosage of accutane is 20mg per pill.
actually i had worse, but it wasn't severe at no point. yeah, i took oral antibiotics, did't do anything but it was sort of pre accutane medication. i had rosacea like symptoms on my nose before taking accutane but they were really mild (a few visible blood vessels, constant redness, but nothing noticeable) and i had no redness on my cheecks at all. during the course of accutane and after it my face would get incredibly red to the point when it burns and hurts a lot. triggers such as sun, heat, cold, wind, hot, spicy food, tomatoes, stress made it even worse, but i was very well aware of my triggers because i knew i have rosacea even before i was diagnosed. to the last question - no they didn't
How long have you been off accutane? My cousin did accutane but his acne still came back pretty bad about a year after the course, though nowhere near as severe prior.
How severe was your cousins acne prior to tane
actually i had worse, but it wasn't severe at no point. yeah, i took oral antibiotics, did't do anything but it was sort of pre accutane medication. i had rosacea like symptoms on my nose before taking accutane but they were really mild (a few visible blood vessels, constant redness, but nothing noticeable) and i had no redness on my cheecks at all. during the course of accutane and after it my face would get incredibly red to the point when it burns and hurts a lot. triggers such as sun, heat, cold, wind, hot, spicy food, tomatoes, stress made it even worse, but i was very well aware of my triggers because i knew i have rosacea even before i was diagnosed. to the last question - no they didn't
Oh. How long did you try antibiotics for?
How long have you been off accutane? My cousin did accutane but his acne still came back pretty bad about a year after the course, though nowhere near as severe prior.
How severe was your cousins acne prior to tane
>>actually i had worse, but it wasn't severe at no point. yeah, i took oral antibiotics, did't do anything but it was sort of pre accutane medication. i had rosacea like symptoms on my nose before taking accutane but they were really mild (a few visible blood vessels, constant redness, but nothing noticeable) and i had no redness on my cheecks at all. during the course of accutane and after it my face would get incredibly red to the point when it burns and hurts a lot. triggers such as sun, heat, cold, wind, hot, spicy food, tomatoes, stress made it even worse, but i was very well aware of my triggers because i knew i have rosacea even before i was diagnosed. to the last question - no they didn't
Oh. How long did you try antibiotics for?
He had acne all over his face for the most part, mostly jawline, chin and forehead, some cystic as well. Antibiotics are pretty pointless, sure they work short term, but the bacteria (internal) will come back. The antibiotics wipe out the good and bad bacteria, probiotics can help outnumber the bad bacteria, certian ones work better than others though. Also eating fermented foods can really help reduce acne. My acne is hormonal and I don't think accutane would help with that let alone be worth the risks it brings to the body. I already have an inflammed stomach.