Hello ! I've enjoyed reading the Accutane logs of others as I deliberated my decision of taking isotretinoin myself, so I hope that an Accutane log of my own may be of value to others.
Personal
I am a 23 year old, light-skinned male with moderate acne. I weigh 140 lbs. I was prescribed 30 mg of Absorica (isotretinoin) twice per day.
I try to live an active lifestyle. Weather permitting, I run daily. I lift weights in the gym three times per week and I do bodyweight exercises at home (push ups, pull ups) daily.
My diet may not be balanced, but I do not eat junk foods. I generally eat fruits, meats and breads. I avoid dairy in my diet, although I do eat yogurt. I drink approximately one gallon of water daily and tea occasionally. I never drink alcohol.
History
Acne has persisted through my life despite trying every major topical and oral remedy available. I have been going to a Dermatologist since I was 16 years old and have been treated with most topical and oral medications available. My most recent medication was Doryx (Doxycycline), which I took for approximately one year to good effect. It was around the 10th month that my acne began ignoring the Doryx and went wild.
Absorica
Essentially what I know about Absorica is that it is an isotretinoin capsule that does not require being consumed with a fatty meal.
Worries
- I occasionally have digestive problems, so I worry that some of the possible side effects involve digestion.
- I run outside daily and occasionally take walks outside for over one hour. Avoiding sun exposure on Accutane will be annoying for me and I will likely rebel against it.
- Going to the gym and doing bodyweight exercises naturally make my muscles sore. I worry that joint pains will make things, well, painful.
Introduction
My acne has progressively worsened since February 2013. By May, I was at my lifetime worst, according to my dermatologist. This is when we decided to pursue Accutane. I officially began on May 18, 2013.
I typically break out with whiteheads around my mouth and my nose. These eventually burst and remain as red marks. My cheeks have had the same red marks for months, but I do not typically break out on my cheeks. My forehead and body have been clear for years. Thus, my problem area is around my mouth and on my nose.
Day 1
I am breaking out as normal around my mouth. No side effects.
Day 2
My face broke out as the day progressed, far more than usual. A large whitehead on my chin burst while I was in the shower and bled significantly. I did not shave because I did not want any more bleeding. My lips feel dry.
Day 3
Whiteheads from yesterday are much larger. My nose is now breaking out. I believe this is my initial Accutane breakout, because things haven't been this bad in a long time. Photo / Detail My lips feel about as dry as yesterday.
Hi Sergius
This is the first time I have ever heard of Absorica
Are you in the USA or?
Good luck!
Helton, I am in the USA. According to my dermatologist, Absorica is a new product. Although I'm sure it's expensive on its own, their marketing provided coupons to my dermatologist's office making it immediately affordable for me.
Day 4
Shaving took care of most of the new whiteheads without bleeding. There have been no significant new breakouts. The bleeding from Day 2 persists, which is consistent with what I've read about Accutane causing skin to heal slower. My skin does not feel dry, however I do moisturize with Cetaphil twice daily and drank over a gallon of water yesterday. My lips continue to feel dry and now my eyes are drying out (I wear eye contacts), so I will need to pick up eye drops.
I went to the gym. I felt no more pain or soreness than usual. I also ran and grew tired quicker than usual, but that may be due to the humid weather.
Day 5
Distance running in day 5 was more pleasurable due to better weather. I would submit that my poorer performance on day 4 was due to humidity and temperature, not due to the medicine. Additionally, I am feeling more pain in my face now, around my acne. If I flex the muscles near my nostrils, I feel a bit of pain that wasn't there before. It is also more dry around the bottom of my nose than usual. Lips continue to be dry, but now the left and right edges of my lips are beginning to crack. I am putting Aquafor directly on the edges but it continues to redden; I wonder if moisturizer or Aquafor should be used in that area. Whiteheads continue to breakout daily and although they are easily removed through shaving, they are quickly replaced with new breakouts.
Hey there. I looked at your picture and was quite surprised that I'm not the only one who experience acne around mouth. I always wonder why I only get acne around my mouth. My derm said it's hormonal and will pass eventually. It's embarrassing and feels like everyone is staring at those dreaded acne around my mouth. After unsuccessful oral antibiotics (Doxy) which didn't do anything for my face. I'm now on roaccutane.
What do you think about acne around the mouth? I googled and the answer was basically the same: hormonal or change the toothpaste. I already changed my toothpaste. for now, I hope roaccutane will fix it.
Hey there. I looked at your picture and was quite surprised that I'm not the only one who experience acne around mouth. I always wonder why I only get acne around my mouth. My derm said it's hormonal and will pass eventually. It's embarrassing and feels like everyone is staring at those dreaded acne around my mouth. After unsuccessful oral antibiotics (Doxy) which didn't do anything for my face. I'm now on roaccutane.
What do you think about acne around the mouth? I googled and the answer was basically the same: hormonal or change the toothpaste. I already changed my toothpaste. for now, I hope roaccutane will fix it.
wll37, I haven't done research specifically into acne around the mouth. That may be worthwhile, but it sounds like you may have already tried without much avail. My toothpaste just ran out and I bought a different brand, so perhaps I have inadvertently begun a new experiment.
A popular post on Reddit described switching your pillowcase every night as a solution to acne on the face. I suspected this could be my problem because I sleep with hair gel on and rarely switch out my pillowcase. Additionally, most of my acne is around my mouth and cheeks, which is exactly the area that touches the pillowcase most often. However, I experimented with this for several weeks to no success. I still continue to switch out the pillowcase every day (if I am out of pillowcases, I use a clean towel) but it seems to be false hope at this point.
I sometimes get whiteheads on the edges of my lips. Have you experienced this? It makes me wonder if it's related to lip balm in any way.
I'm happy to find somebody who relates to having the mouth as an acne "danger-zone." I feel like when I am speaking to people, they are always facing my acne directly. Sometimes I see their eyes slip from eye contact with me to my acne and it bugs the heck out of me.
Day 6
There are now many little whiteheads regularly popping up around my problem area throughout the entire day. This "problem area," around my mouth and nose, is now in pain. It physically hurts to rub cleanser or moisturizer over this area. It isn't an unbearable pain by any means, but it's certainly a new experience for me.
I am still very sore from running the other day, which is interesting. Perhaps Accutane does affect recovery after all. I may have also overworked myself that day, so I will reserve judgement until I run a few more times with the same intensity.
Additionally I went swimming for the first time today on Accutane. I swam in an indoor heated pool (approximately 45 minutes) and immediately followed the session with some time in a hot sauna (5 minutes). Once I went through this routine, I noticed that my skin was peeling in the mirror. Interestingly enough, the peeling areas were exactly my problem areas. It's almost as if Accutane is smart enough to know which areas of my face to target. I hope that this isn't too much irritation to my skin, because I would prefer to continue swimming given that summer is fast approaching.
Hey there. I looked at your picture and was quite surprised that I'm not the only one who experience acne around mouth. I always wonder why I only get acne around my mouth. My derm said it's hormonal and will pass eventually. It's embarrassing and feels like everyone is staring at those dreaded acne around my mouth. After unsuccessful oral antibiotics (Doxy) which didn't do anything for my face. I'm now on roaccutane.
What do you think about acne around the mouth? I googled and the answer was basically the same: hormonal or change the toothpaste. I already changed my toothpaste. for now, I hope roaccutane will fix it.
wll37, I haven't done research specifically into acne around the mouth. That may be worthwhile, but it sounds like you may have already tried without much avail. My toothpaste just ran out and I bought a different brand, so perhaps I have inadvertently begun a new experiment.
A popular post on Reddit described switching your pillowcase every night as a solution to acne on the face. I suspected this could be my problem because I sleep with hair gel on and rarely switch out my pillowcase. Additionally, most of my acne is around my mouth and cheeks, which is exactly the area that touches the pillowcase most often. However, I experimented with this for several weeks to no success. I still continue to switch out the pillowcase every day (if I am out of pillowcases, I use a clean towel) but it seems to be false hope at this point.
I sometimes get whiteheads on the edges of my lips. Have you experienced this? It makes me wonder if it's related to lip balm in any way.
I'm happy to find somebody who relates to having the mouth as an acne "danger-zone." I feel like when I am speaking to people, they are always facing my acne directly. Sometimes I see their eyes slip from eye contact with me to my acne and it bugs the heck out of me.
I used to change my pillow case every day and I even used clean towel if I'm running out of pillow case, same like what you do. It didn't work for me. I think it didn't work because I sleep on my back, I'm not a side sleeper. ,
Some hair products will make your acne get worse, particularly in the jaw, temple, forehead, and the back of the head (styling gel, shampoo, conditioner). I found it when I had breakout in my jaw. I never had breakouts on my jaw before. Then, I realized after I used a new conditioner for my hair, I had breakouts on my jaw, the kind which are red, inflamed, and painful. I stopped using my hair conditioner, and a week later, they were all gone. It's true in a way that some hair products will make your acne worse.
Yes, I do get whiteheads near the edges of my lip. My derm suggests to put clindamycin gel near my lip to prevent breakout. I just had whiteheads extraction near my lip few days ago when I met my derm in her practice. It's hurt, but all the whiteheads were gone 
I think lip balm can cause whiteheads around lip because I've tried lip balm before and the next day I develop whitehead! So, I don't use lip balm very much, even though I'm on roaccutane. I know it sounds dumb, but my lip is never dry during roaccutane course. It is my back eczema which get worse during roaccutane.
Try change your toothpaste if you have breakouts around your lip. I still believe certain brands of toothpastes cause breakout around my lips. Colgate and sensodyne caused breakout on my upper lip. I tried desert essence and kiss my face (detergent and fluoride free), still no such luck. I'm now using children toothpaste. I really hate when I have a pimple on my upper lip, it's very noticeable and people tend to look at your lip pimple when you talk with them
this is such a long reply, hope it doesn't bore you
wll37, thanks for the reply. That's exactly the feedback I was looking for. I may try to switch up my hair gel and shampoo/conditioner routine for a week.
Day 7
The pattern continues with small whiteheads ramping up each day. Here is a morning detail pic, the worst flare-up yet.
For the past five nights I've woken up in the middle of the night almost exactly at 3AM each time. This is something that has never happened to me before. Perhaps as a result of this, I feel drowsier in the morning than usual. I've read that Accutane can disturb sleeping patterns and at this point I'm tempted to say that it has.
Day 8
The trend continues. New whiteheads appearing daily to progressively worse severity. Detail photo. The top of my upper lip seems to be hit with irritation. My bizarre sleeping pattern of waking up at 3AM continues.
My first month and half I was on accutane my face broke out in white heads like this everyday. Like 20 of them a day. All day long I swear I would look in the mirror and everytime I did there was new white heads everytime. I will stop. It's just your face purging out all the gunk under that hasn't come out yet. It's a good sign. As frustrating as it is its a good thing. Keep remembering that. As far as the sleeping patterns I was similar to that too. Worst sleep ever for 7 months. Tired as ever but I never slept good.
My first month and half I was on accutane my face broke out in white heads like this everyday. Like 20 of them a day. All day long I swear I would look in the mirror and everytime I did there was new white heads everytime. I will stop. It's just your face purging out all the gunk under that hasn't come out yet. It's a good sign. As frustrating as it is its a good thing. Keep remembering that. As far as the sleeping patterns I was similar to that too. Worst sleep ever for 7 months. Tired as ever but I never slept good.
Thanks for that. Could you give me a sense of the dosage you were on? I feel like perhaps the initial breakout was expedited for me due to a daily 60mg dosage, whereas others on this board start lower and experience fewer effects in the first weeks.
I started on 40mg and my 2nd through 7th month was 60mg. What I thought was my Inital breakout happened around the same point you are at. But it truly came at month 2 for me. First month and a half was whiteheads after whiteheads. After that I started to get acne in places I never have had it before like my forehead and my jawline. Normally my acne liked my cheeks. A lot. The good news about all of this though is the new acne didn't last long at all. A normal pimple for me would last a week or more but my accutane acne would dry up in a couple of days. And the oil goes away quickly which makes a huge differnce. Just to feel your skin like that is amazing. If you have any questions feel free to ask away, sometimes it's nice to get advice from someone who has finished a course. Also I spot treated my first couple months with neosporin cream. Not the ointment, not that you couldnt use a ointment but it's easier to leave the house without big shiny ointment ridden areas on your face. It helped a lot really calmed things down and took away redness and the pain. I think you are going to clear up wonderfully though!
Day 9
Now things are very predictable. Continued breakouts in the same places. There is still a lot of pain around the problem areas, particularly around my nostrils now. At a party: "Did you catch some sun?" Nope, just a side effect of Accutane. "That sucks, man."
Day 10
A slight "improvement," meaning less of a breakout than usual. I am hoping that this is the new trend. I swam the night prior so presumably the chlorine did not cause an adverse reaction.
Tools of the Trade
Here is the "equipment" I use from day to day. Most of this was acquired based on reading the forums here.
Day 11 - 13
These days have been identical. The number of whitehead breakouts has gone down, which is certainly good. You can see in today's photo that the number of actives is the lowest it has been thus far. However, you may also note that my face is rather red compared to my neck and under my eyes. Have I inadvertently been sunburned or is the medication causing my skin to be red? I presume the latter.
Looking good! Things are clearing up nicely! Hopefully this is the end of your IB already and you are lucky. I think your going to clear up wonderfully. On the face turning red thing. It's called tane burn and it's super common I got pretty pink but not until my 6th month and it got worse and worse over the rest of my course. It goes away quickly after stopping though.
Day 14 - 15
The whiteheads continue to come in, but less frequently. Today's photo shows a more flattering picture than the last, due to artificial indoor lighting. The red spots around the face and on the nose are more apparent in natural light. Day 15 marks the end of the first box of Absorica (two boxes per 30 days).
Yeah that last photo looks pretty awesome! I'm having trouble with 'tane burn' right now too. It's embarassing when people ask me if I've gotten a lot of sun or went tanning. I just say, yeah I've been outside a lot lately, and that's the end of that.
I don't want to tell people I'm red because of Accutane, so I just keep it to myself.
Yeah that last photo looks pretty awesome! I'm having trouble with 'tane burn' right now too. It's embarassing when people ask me if I've gotten a lot of sun or went tanning. I just say, yeah I've been outside a lot lately, and that's the end of that.
I don't want to tell people I'm red because of Accutane, so I just keep it to myself.
It was through reading your log that I found out about the 'tane burn' (as you and Like Moonlight referred to it). It took me a while to notice it since I typically look in the mirror of my restroom with tungsten light that shows skin pretty even, but photos in natural light do more to show the contrast. Additionally, people do notice and let you know. It seemed like your coworkers are more vocal about it than my friends, though.
Days 16 - 21
Accutane is moving the acne away from my mouth to my cheeks. You can see in today's photo that most of the action is now on my cheeks, spreading to the forehead. My blood test on the 15th day came back fine. There have been no new side effects to speak of.
When I was on tane I stopped breaking out in all my usual places almost instantly. But I broke out in places I never have before like my jawline and around my mouth, oddly enough now that I am off acutane those places that I broke out in while on tane and the places I get my pimples now. I don't break out on my cheeks anymore which was my problem area. That and my forehead. But instead my jawline. Weird that accutane does! Lucky your seeing no side effects! Not even chapped lips? Have you noticed your oil going away yet? Those are normally the side effects everyone gets.