Hi everyone, happy new year! This is the first time that I am writing on a diary, or something like that. As you might have noticed, this log is about my accutane journey and I will be posting regular updates about my acne condition. (I'm so scared of what is about to happen! )
I started taking accutane yesterday on the 1st January (new year new face i guess hehe!). My doctor told me that the course might take 6-8 months so hopefully I will be acne free by the 6th month! Just to give some more information I am taking 1 pill of 40mg every day. I guess depending on my condition, my doctor will change the dosage each month.
And now, here's my story! (sorry if it's too long )
I am 23 years old from Greece (if you notice any spelling mistakes please forgive me ), I have never had any acne problems on my face, not even when I was a teenager. My face was glowing! I only had one or two zits every month when my period was due but that was normal. However, I had back acne when I was a teenager, again, not that much, I guess I was having 5 or 6 large pimples only on the upper back.
In 2011 I went to the UK for my master's degree and I remember getting very stressed about my studies and my cheeks got full of whiteheads. I could not stop picking them! That was new to me so I would just try to vanish them on my own! That was a mistake. For every whitehead I picked, I got two pimples! Huge pimples, cystic ones! And until I got back to my country for the holidays, I bought the heaviest foundations I could find, just to hide my horrible face as much as possible. I knew that heavy foundation would clog my pores and give me more zits but I could not walk around in the university with all that acne!
As soon as I went back to Greece I went to a dermatologist who told me that I should start a course with cremes and gels. I never trusted creams to be honest. I always said that creams are doing good only to the exterior. They do not fight the problem from its root. But anyway I did what he suggested and was using a day cream with benzoyl peroxide, a benzoyl peroxide face gel, and a gel for spots at night. I should mention that I was having facials with chemical peeling every month (yeap, I was spending a lot of money). The combination of the cream, gels and facial did me good. In a three month period my face was as good as it was before acne. My treatment was over but I continued having facials every 2 months. And then, After about 4-5 months, it all came back, the large pimples, the cysts. It was as like I never had a treatment before! So as you might have guessed I went back to the doctor, had the same treatment for the second time, again after three months I had a clear face and again for about 4-5 months I didn't have any problems.
And here I am now, three months ago the pimples came back but this time even worse! I have cysts all over my jaw line and my cheeks (that's the only places I have acne on my face), and now my back is full too. Not only the upper back, but all the surface of my back!
I feel disgusted and it is very painful. I do not even want to go out anymore. I feel bad that my boyfriend cannot touch my face and that I never go out of the house with him or my friends. He suggested that I should not stick to the opinion of just one doctor and so he suggested someone he knows. I took his advice and went to his dermatologist and to be honest I am happy I did! The doctor told me that this is hormonal acne and that my cysts cover a large surface of my body (face, neck and back), and If I continued to use cremes, I would need gallons of them each month, hence tons of money and that my acne would probably never stop coming back. So my last treatment would be accutane!
I am on my second day now and so far I can't say that I noticed any side effects except of some crying spells but I don't really know if that came from accutane or because my period its due (i'm very sensitive ). Other that that I can say that nothing changed.
I hope I gave you a clear view of how it all started and what my condition is now! I will probably post some pictures later and give you updates on my side effects. I will be happy if you share your experience or any tips!
Talk to you soon,
Anta
DAY 3
No noticeable side effects yet but I thought I'd share some photos of how my face looks now. Nothing changed since the day I started the treatment. The only thing I've noticed so far its my lips are not dry yet but I have the need to constantly apply lip balm on them! Oh and I have the need to drink 2 litres (or more) water per day everyday!
Here are the photos (they're gross! 
)
The right side of my face is mostly redness, not many active pimples, whereas the left one is.... you know yukk!
DAY 10
Woohoooo I can't believe it's been 10 days! Not sure if time passed fast or slow! 
Here's what happened! My lips are very dry and chapped but not painful! Vaseline lip balm does a great job though! My skin is flakey where the pimples are but my face is still a bit oily. Has anyone else experienced this? I though that you have to be very dry to start flaking! 
Anyhoo, My pimples have not been reduced yet and I also got a few unwanted visitors on my jawline and forehead.. I still look like a margarita pizza with all the redness and the yucky zits. Small whiteheads appeared around day 4 and 5 but they were so small and thin that whenever I wiped the makeup off my face they would disappear! I noticed that the pimples are getting very painful!! It hurts to even put make up on them and also my skin is very itchy around my cheeks and hair! I haven't notice any changes on my back, pimples are still there although I think they are reduced (Sorry I can't take any photos of my back it's difficult 
).
Umm, no headaches, nosebleeds or dryness on the rest my skin yet. I guess its early for those??
Another thing I've noticed is that I get very tired easily! Before accutane I was very energetic even after I finished my workouts! Now, when I stop my workout, after half an hour i'm dead!
I think I already like this little pill but it better do its job because I really want to start going out clubbing again! 
Im very glad that you are not having any other hard side effects like most people have when they are on accutane. Just be patient the results are gonna come slowly but it will eventually, remove all of your pimples and the redness of the skin. Am glad to see people on this forum that are somehow happy, because their skin is getting better.
I´m very glad that you are not having any other hard side effects like most people have when they are on accutane. Just be patient the results are gonna come slowly but it will eventually, remove all of your pimples and the redness of the skin. Am glad to see people on this forum that are somehow happy, because their skin is getting better.
Hi Aiko1992, thank you for your comment! yeyyy you are the first one who commented on my post! 
Yes I am confident that it will work soon Are you on the treatment too?
DAY 21
Heeey guys, its been 21 days already! ok now i realised that time flies away very quick!! Sometimes I forget that im on accutane, I guess I got used to it 
Ok, now for the updates... During the last 10 days my face got from oily to dry! Yeeey the good thing is that now its ok not to wash my hair everyday! I experimented a little and I didn't wash it for 3 day and guess what! it looked as if i washed it two hours ago! My poor hair are finally going to get some rest from all that chemicals The pimples on my cheeks have not exactly vanished but they are starting to disappear day by day (very slowly though. it takes a lot more time than it took before accutane). And other 3-4 small pimples appeared these past days but nothing major. The only thing I can't understand is that I have some pimples (or nodules I'm not sure what they call them) that are under the skin on my jawline, you cannot see them but you can feel them and they are not painful. it is like I have small rocks under my skin (very small, don't get terrified 
) and they won't come on the surface!
Another side effect that i've noticed is that I get very itchy some days and especially when I sleep. In the middle of the night I might wake up and start scratching everywhere for a few minutes and then that's it! Lips are dry but not that much... The tiredness that I had goes and comes back every two days or so..Oh and I noticed that my period is very painful and it takes a lot more days to clear! (Usually it didn't hurt at all and I was on my period only for three days but now it took longer than 5).
I believe that's all.. nothing dramatic so far
. I have just a small suggestion to make that I recently learned!!! Some of you might know this already but anyway here it is--------> Change your pillow cases every two days! Those with moderate and severe acne is even better to change them everyday. The reason is that the pimples are so infected that the bacteria get stuck on the pillow case. Your face touches that case for over five hours every day so imagine how many bacteria your face collects back everyday! Yuckyyy 
So my suggestion is to change your pillow cases as frequently as possible!
I am going to post my updates every 10 days and at the end of every month I will post my progress pictures! But my next post will probably be on the 40th day because in a few days I will fly to Germany and as soon as i come back I will fly again the next day to Hungary for another week so I don't think i will have time to post anything but I will try though!!
That's all for now 
See you sooooooon 
DAY 21
Heeey guys, its been 21 days already! ok now i realised that time flies away very quick!! Sometimes I forget that im on accutane, I guess I got used to it
Ok, now for the updates... During the last 10 days my face got from oily to dry! Yeeey the good thing is that now its ok not to wash my hair everyday! I experimented a little and I didn't wash it for 3 day and guess what! it looked as if i washed it two hours ago! My poor hair are finally going to get some rest from all that chemicals
) and they won't come on the surface!
Another side effect that i've noticed is that I get very itchy some days and especially when I sleep. In the middle of the night I might wake up and start scratching everywhere for a few minutes and then that's it! Lips are dry but not that much... The tiredness that I had goes and comes back every two days or so..Oh and I noticed that my period is very painful and it takes a lot more days to clear! (Usually it didn't hurt at all and I was on my period only for three days but now it took longer than 5).
I believe that's all.. nothing dramatic so far
I am going to post my updates every 10 days and at the end of every month I will post my progress pictures! But my next post will probably be on the 40th day because in a few days I will fly to Germany and as soon as i come back I will fly again the next day to Hungary for another week so I don't think i will have time to post anything but I will try though!!
That's all for now
See you sooooooon
Hello MISSanta, just want to wish you the best luck with your course! I recently started accutane myself, Day 9 today (20mg/day). I also have some small nonpainful pimples under my jawline that won't come to surface. I think it will take longer time for those to disappear. I'm not that bothered by those tho since they are not painful or too apparent. I'm more bothered by the big red nodules since sometimes they hurt. Since I've been on Accutane, the pimples/nodules became ripe faster, which is a good thing.
Enjoy your trips to Germany and Hungary!
DAY 21
Heeey guys, its been 21 days already! ok now i realised that time flies away very quick!! Sometimes I forget that im on accutane, I guess I got used to it
Ok, now for the updates... During the last 10 days my face got from oily to dry! Yeeey the good thing is that now its ok not to wash my hair everyday! I experimented a little and I didn't wash it for 3 day and guess what! it looked as if i washed it two hours ago! My poor hair are finally going to get some rest from all that chemicals
Another side effect that i've noticed is that I get very itchy some days and especially when I sleep. In the middle of the night I might wake up and start scratching everywhere for a few minutes and then that's it! Lips are dry but not that much... The tiredness that I had goes and comes back every two days or so..Oh and I noticed that my period is very painful and it takes a lot more days to clear! (Usually it didn't hurt at all and I was on my period only for three days but now it took longer than 5).
I believe that's all.. nothing dramatic so far
I am going to post my updates every 10 days and at the end of every month I will post my progress pictures! But my next post will probably be on the 40th day because in a few days I will fly to Germany and as soon as i come back I will fly again the next day to Hungary for another week so I don't think i will have time to post anything but I will try though!!
That's all for now
Hello MISSanta, just want to wish you the best luck with your course! I recently started accutane myself, Day 9 today (20mg/day). I also have some small nonpainful pimples under my jawline that won't come to surface. I think it will take longer time for those to disappear. I'm not that bothered by those tho since they are not painful or too apparent. I'm more bothered by the big red nodules since sometimes they hurt. Since I've been on Accutane, the pimples/nodules became ripe faster, which is a good thing.
Enjoy your trips to Germany and Hungary!
Heyy whatanata, thank you very much and good luck with your course too! those nodules are the worst! But i from what i've hurt the first three months acne gets a little better and then worse.. and the on the 4th month everything calms down and starts to get better !! i dont have in mind the 6month course. all i am thinking is the first 3 months.. i don't care how much worse my acne will get until then because afterwards i will get a baby face 
so for now im just counting 2 and half months to go it makes it easier that way, try it )
DAY 21
Heeey guys, its been 21 days already! ok now i realised that time flies away very quick!! Sometimes I forget that im on accutane, I guess I got used to it
Ok, now for the updates... During the last 10 days my face got from oily to dry! Yeeey the good thing is that now its ok not to wash my hair everyday! I experimented a little and I didn't wash it for 3 day and guess what! it looked as if i washed it two hours ago! My poor hair are finally going to get some rest from all that chemicals
Another side effect that i've noticed is that I get very itchy some days and especially when I sleep. In the middle of the night I might wake up and start scratching everywhere for a few minutes and then that's it! Lips are dry but not that much... The tiredness that I had goes and comes back every two days or so..Oh and I noticed that my period is very painful and it takes a lot more days to clear! (Usually it didn't hurt at all and I was on my period only for three days but now it took longer than 5).
I believe that's all.. nothing dramatic so far
I am going to post my updates every 10 days and at the end of every month I will post my progress pictures! But my next post will probably be on the 40th day because in a few days I will fly to Germany and as soon as i come back I will fly again the next day to Hungary for another week so I don't think i will have time to post anything but I will try though!!
That's all for now
Hello MISSanta, just want to wish you the best luck with your course! I recently started accutane myself, Day 9 today (20mg/day). I also have some small nonpainful pimples under my jawline that won't come to surface. I think it will take longer time for those to disappear. I'm not that bothered by those tho since they are not painful or too apparent. I'm more bothered by the big red nodules since sometimes they hurt. Since I've been on Accutane, the pimples/nodules became ripe faster, which is a good thing.
Enjoy your trips to Germany and Hungary!
Heyy whatanata, thank you very much and good luck with your course too! those nodules are the worst! But i from what i've hurt the first three months acne gets a little better and then worse.. and the on the 4th month everything calms down and starts to get better !! i dont have in mind the 6month course. all i am thinking is the first 3 months.. i don't care how much worse my acne will get until then because afterwards i will get a baby face
it makes it easier that way, try it
Wow that's smart! I'm on 20mg/day for the first 30days and 40mg/day for the second 30 days, after that, I will be on 60mg/day. I'm sure THREE months go by fast! I heard that start from low dose will help minimize the initial breakout. For me, I have had a mild initial breakout during the first week. I heard every time when we increase the dosage, there might be a breakout period. I'm not looking forward to that haha.
DAY 43
Hi everyone! i'm back from my holidays! it's been more than 20 days since I last posted here! So this is day 43! Here are my updates:
I had a nosebleed during the 30th day! 
it was mild at first but then when i went to take a bath it was like my nose had a period! it was only for that one day though.I never had a nosebleed before so it was a bit uncomfortable but anyway. i have the experience now Eyes are very dry, not every day but some days i feel like i need to put some eye drops to feel better! ummm face is not as dry as the last time i posted but its not oily either. Oh, during the last days of the first month my pimples were gone! i felt my face a bit more relaxed for a few days and then i started to look like a pizza again! this time is worse though! The pimples are big but they are also dry and when i smile they might break!! Not funny! 
But i'm not surprised at all because the doctor informed my that this will happen until the end of month 3.
That's all i think.. Nothing big or painful... 
Aaaand as i promised, here are the latest photos. These are today's photos (I didn't have time at the end of the first month to take pictures):
