Day 62
Had my end-of-2nd-month appointment with the derm today. She's upping my dosage to 60mg, and also said that 60 won't necessarily be my maximum. Had my blood taken right after. Will know the results tomorrow afternoon. I'm not too worried about it: although I had drinks over the weekend for my gf's birthday, and have had a beer on occasion throughout the past month, I think the effect it's had on my liver would be almost negligible.
So far my face is still breaking out, but my back is feeling pretty smooth. I'm really dry overall... I don't feel as "sleek" as I used to. My hair feels rougher and I get occasional bouts of "dandruff" (not really dandruff, just dry scalp). Lips get pretty dry too, and sometimes peel at the corners. I've been avoiding rashes and eczema though, which I'm happy about. Also many evenings my ears flush (feel warm and sometimes turn red), which is undoubtedly an accutane side effect.
Hopefully my bloodwork will come back fine and I'll be able to continue on an increased dosage.
Day 67
So this is my fourth day on 60mg. I'm taking Claravis now instead of Zenatane... two 30mg pills a day. I take them both at once instead of spaced out.
Acne-wise, I've had a couple new prominent ones in the past couple days, so I think it could be the initial breakout from upping the dosage. In the last week or so on 40mg I didn't really get any major breakouts though. Also, my derm told me that 60mg might not even be my maximum dosage and that we could push it to 80.
Side effects-wise, I had a splitting headache Wednesday evening, which continued into Thursday. Then, from Friday through Sunday I had major stomach issues... it hurt after every meal and anything I ate would usually come back out in under an hour (sorry if TMI). Today the headaches and stomach pains seem to have calmed down. I honestly am not sure whether it was accutane - related or just a case of stomach flu. I told myself if it persisted for more than a week I'd stop the medicine and consult my physician as well as my dermatologist, but looks like I won't have to (fingers crossed).
Also, dryness has increased somewhat... the skin around my lips is pretty peely, and another area that has gotten super-dry is (sorry again if TMI) the tip of my private parts. Other than that, nothing new to report... hanging in there!
Day 69
The headaches and stomach aches gave gone away. Got sore throat / cough but there's absolutely NO way that's accutane related.
I am pissed off though, because I'm still breaking out pretty bad. It's not consistent at all... just painful red cysts that come up in random areas of my face, as well as on / behind my ears. The reason is bothers me is a) red marks do NOT fade on accutane from what I've read and experienced thus far, and any pimple I get is going to leave hyperpigmentation until well after the course is over, and b) the pimples take SO long to heal. Some people say acne heals faster on accutane.. for me this is not the case. In fact my acne heals much, MUCH slower now.
I was feeling pretty good about my skin at the end of the 2nd month, but these new breakouts made me feel down in the dumps again.
Day 71
Breakin' out still... maybe not as rapido but still breaking out. Trying not to think about it at the moment. In about two or three weeks I'll be starting a new internship though, so I wish the breakouts would subside a little by then so I'd look a TINY bit more presentable.
Day 74
I think, 10 or so days into 60mg, my breakout from the increased dosage might be coming to an end. Old pimples are calming down and few, if any, new ones are coming up (if there are new ones, they are quite small so I can't really tell). Downside is, I'm really dry - pretty much everywhere. My lips are super-dry, chapped and even peely (especially today because it's below freezing outside), I have flaky patches under my mouth and in my eyebrows, and eczema along my right hairline. Also, "dandruff" (not really dandruff though, just dry scalp) persists.
Day 75
Back is getting noticeably smoother again after a slight breakout following the dose increase. New breakouts are still minimal to nonexistant.
I did forget to mention that I got a huge cyst on my chest a while back, and recently popped it. Now there's a big, red, slightly raised area which doesn't hurt anymore. Other than that, except for one other active cyst and a couple old ones, my chest isn't a real problem area.
Felt really upbeat today.. better than I've felt in a while. Not only because of my skin, but because it was my birthday yesterday, AND because I got an offer for the paid internship I was hoping for with a MUCH higher salary than I anticipated. Good times!
Day 81
Breaking out still... got some cyst-type ones on my face, and one on my back, an area that has been relatively clean for a while. Super-dry overall... mad flakes in hair, and been getting eczema / rash-type stuff on the back of my hands. Also I seem to have peely skin on my face every morning that I have to pick / scrub off.
Day 83
A couple cysts on face, another big cyst growing on chest... lips are extremely peely. Also the dry eczema / rash thing on the back of my hands has become more severe. I've started putting Lubriderm moisturizer on it, hopefully it helps some what.
My "dandruff" has eased up though, so that's good.
Day 87
Still breaking out, at the rate of maybe one cyst a day. Skin on face continues to peel / shed a lot. Old cysts take FOREVER to heal unfortunately. Not having fun atm.. Accutane really likes to mess with me, getting me clear-ish and then ruining my face again. Supposed to see my derm for start of 4th month appointment this coming week. Time flies by fast!
Day 89
Nothing new. Lots of huge embarrassing cysts on my face, and still breaking out on my back - with numerous small ones and one cyst-type one. There are a few smoother areas on my face that give me hope, but unfortunately these tend to get lost in the massive pimples I am getting on a daily basis.
Day 91
My left cheek / cheekbone area looks like I have severe acne because of all the inflamed redness, cysts and pustules pushing out. Also have a couple cysts on my chin and stuff along my jawline. It's amazing how much acne affects me. Days when I'm semi-clear I feel like I'm on top of the world, but days like this I just feel so low. Typing this at work because I have nothing better to do at the moment. Bloodwork / dermatologist appointment tomorrow.
Day 92
Had derm appointment and bloodwork. Was told I'd get my blood results Monday. The derm told me they'd keep me on 60mg for month 4 because of the eczema I've developed on the backs of my hands and on my upper arms. Honestly, I'm fine with that. If the dosage was increased I have no doubt that I'd break out even more than I currently am.
Day 95
Breaking out hard and not healing AT ALL. My skin looks horrendous. Red, flaky, irritated, dry, and broken out like there's no tomorrow. Haven't gotten my month 4 accutane yet. Called pharmacy today and they said they only had 30 pills in stock and had to stock more.
Hi,
I just started Accutane 8 days ago and feel like I am sort of hitting my initial breakout. It's not nearly as bad as your seems to have been 8-10 days in but I'm guessing mine is just going slower and it'll probably get worse. I'm taking 40 mg a day. Hope your skin is doing well, thanks for writing this log, I love reading about others in the same situation as I am.
On a side note, perhaps you've already mentioned this, but care to share what kind of soap you're using? My derm said not to use bar soap, and I read online that lots of people use Cetaphil, so I've been using that on my face in showers and using their facial moisturizer where my skin's getting dry.
Thanks
Austin
Hi,
I just started Accutane 8 days ago and feel like I am sort of hitting my initial breakout. It's not nearly as bad as your seems to have been 8-10 days in but I'm guessing mine is just going slower and it'll probably get worse. I'm taking 40 mg a day. Hope your skin is doing well, thanks for writing this log, I love reading about others in the same situation as I am.
On a side note, perhaps you've already mentioned this, but care to share what kind of soap you're using? My derm said not to use bar soap, and I read online that lots of people use Cetaphil, so I've been using that on my face in showers and using their facial moisturizer where my skin's getting dry.
Thanks
Austin
For the face I use Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser. Try that one... bar soap will really dry you up, especially later in the course.
At the moment, though, I find that I don't have to cleanse as often just because my skin isn't producing any oil whatsoever. Sometimes just water is enough, and cleanser ends up irritating my skin more than it should. Also, especially right now since I have active cysts, I try to avoid rubbing my face with my hands because any pimples I accidentally pop can lead to scars. A lot of times I just let the water run over my face in the shower.
Also try to get a shampoo formulated for dry hair. When I used regular shampoos on accutane I got extreme "dandruff" (but it wasn't really dandruff, it was just really dry / flaky skin on my scalp). I ended up switching to Head & Shoulders "dry scalp care with almond oil" and since then I've had literally no dandruff. My hair is still dry all the time, but at least my scalp doesn't flake. Although, I can't be sure if it's the shampoo or my body just adjusting to the medicine, but I'm not taking any chances 
Hope that helped somewhat. Good luck on your journey, and remember, no matter how bad it gets, don't give up!
Day 99
Left cheek cysts continue to push out / tighten up / dry up. Right now they're kinda bloody and crusty which is really unsightly. I'm going to resist picking though, and wait for them to heal on their own. Also have another painful cyst growing on my forehead. Other than that, my face hasn't had any new breakouts aside from small comedonal stuff. My back continues to break out though.
Day 105
Past the 100 day mark! Merry Christmas to anyone reading. My left cheek cysts and any other cysts I had last time I updated have continued to dry up / push out. Healing is reeeeally slow so I figure the remnants will still be around for a while. Besides that, I've had maybe 3-4 new ones come up, some of them also really big and unsightly. Overall though, I can tell the breakouts are slowing, despite being pretty intense when they do happen. Hopefully by the end of the fourth month there'll be noticeable improvement.
Day 108
Old breakouts are slowly but surely dissipating and so far no major new ones have formed. My right cheek is super-smooth at the moment. I'll probably break out again and again, but I have to say, despite how annoyed I get when I get new cysts, I have to give accutane credit for what it's done thus far. I haven't broken out near my mouth or on my lipline in AGES, which was one of the major reasons I took accutane to begin with. I've also more or less stopped breaking out along my jawline / beard area and my back breakouts are limited almost to the point of nonexistence.
Overall, breakouts just seem really controlled now... as in, I can always tell when I get a new pimple just because they've gotten so few and far between. I don't even get much comedonal acne anymore.
Also, my left eye hurt last night, and I thought it was just dryness and I'd sleep it off... but this morning I realized I'd gotten a little stye on the upper eyelid. Although it's my first stye (my dad, mom and brother have all had them though) I don't think it's accutane-related.
Day 110
Face looks horrible for New Year XD
Got two new cysts since my last update, my old cysts are all crusty and bloody, and my left eye is swollen from the stye. I got put on antibiotics for it because the doctor was sure it was infected. Sorry for the graphic details! XD
One of my new cysts was along my jawline too, of all places. And here I was celebrating that I'd stopped breaking out there. Yay accutane. I can't wait till I can actually go a couple days without getting a new pimple.
Day 112
Happy New Year!
Drank a lot on new year's eve, but since this is my first time having more than 1-2 drinks in my entire course I don't think it should be a problem.
My skin continues to suck... got another pimple on jawline and some more on my forehead. Also, my stye / swollen eyelid have dissipated thanks to antibiotics. However, instead I've gotten red patches of dermatitis / eczema on both sides of my nose and between my eyebrows. Not sure which one it is, although I'm leaning more towards eczema, since SD is associated more with oil, and my skin hasn't been oily in months. Anyway I've started putting the prescription steroid lotion I got for eczema back in September (near the start of my course).
Also shaved the crazy beard I've had for over a month now. I can't decide if I look "cleaner" or "dirtier". I definitely look less like a hobo, but now my acne / scars are a lot more apparent.
Anyway I hope everyone gets clear skin in 2014!