So I'm excited and scared at the same time,
but after battling cystic acne for the past few years, which left me with scars and marks, I've decided to try Accutane.
So I'm 100 pounds and my doctor has started me off on 40 mg, which I was hesitant at first since I was hoping that I'd start on a lower dose and then build my way up but I thought, "well I'll eventually get to 40 mg, mind as well start right away and hope taking a higher dose will help me in the long run (avoiding the relapse that happens with a lower dose).
I started on January 25, 2013
First Week!
First Day (1/25/13) - I didn't feel any different, didn't expect anything anyways. It is the first day
Second Day (1/26/13) - Didn't feel or see anything different, I got a new spot, but I felt that bugger coming out before starting anyways. Still oily mess.
Third Day (1/27/13) - I don't know whether it's because I prepared before hand and started moisturizing and putting on lip balm, but my face is still oily and lips are still A-Okay. Nothing new, no new cystic spots but I did get two small zits, one on my chin and another on my jawline which I'm not too worried about. I really don't ever get zits (small spots with heads) and if I do they go away within a day or two, it's honestly just cystic spots which I can't stop and take forever to leave.
Fourth Day (1/28/13) - Still nothing new, no new spots, just old ones still holding on. One large one on my left cheek and small little ones on the sides of my cheeks. My face is still oily, though I'm beginning to notice it's not an oily mess as it usually is. I'm still oily, but not to the point where I have to blot my face every three hours or so. Lips are still okay. Sorry, I'm paying a whole lot of attention to my lips because I feel that'll be the first place I see a difference. (since that seems to be the most common side effect).
Fifth Day (1/29/13) - My face is still oily, bracing myself for what is to come. Nothing new yet.
Sixth Day (1/30/13) - Again Nothing new, face is still oily just not as oily as it use to be. No new spots, but all my old spots are still there which annoys me. I can't use my AHA stuff which is what I had previously used to get rid of my spots faster. I might try sulfur-- is using sulfur okay? (a low concentration like 4%? I know it tends to dry the skin but is it alright?- just to use it as a spot treatment since I'm staying away from all acids).
Seventh Day (1/31/13) - Face is quite normal instead of oily, my T-zone though is still quite oily. My cheeks aren't dry, just normal- I like it. Nothing new, no new side effects, lips are fine. I'm nervous for the Initial Breakout though, from reading other people's experience it seems to happen right away (within the first two weeks) or after the first month. I'm just worried about added scars and marks, and I'm hoping for the best. I'm hoping accutane will give me a break since I already suffered from a horrible IB with Yaz which left me with a handful of marks and a few scars.
My face got weirdly oily in the first couple of weeks too, and then by about the beginning of the third week that tapered off dramatically. Weirdly, my IB started as soon as my face started to dry up more. From what I can tell, most people who experience a dramatic IB have it in the third or fourth week. Mine started at the third week and slowed down towards the end of my fourth week and has altogether calmed down completely now that I am in my 5th week.
Good luck, and keep us posted!
@megtree I guess my only real concern is a horrible IB, since I had a horrid one with Yaz, it's honestly one of the worst decisions I have ever made. Three and a half months of constant acne on my jawline (and it was on my jawline, it's like they lined up all together) and I started getting acne on my neck (not too much) and cystic spots, all of them leaving marks. This was devastating since my jawline and neck were clear, I had no acne or spots on them now...it's going to take months for the marks to go away..hopefully they haven't left any scars. Now that I'm close to my fifth month on it, it has lighten up, I'm not getting much acne spots on my jawline and no new ones on my neck *knocks on wood*, I am getting a few ones on the right side of my jawline, but they're small. I just hope it's either the birth control or accutane working, I'm too afraid to change birth control now in fear of a horrible IB (plus I need birth control since I have pcos, and it's the only thing that regulates my cycle and stops the horrible cramps I'd get).
Oh dear, third week is coming up soon..about to finish my second week. I just hope accutane will be kind to me on valentines week. Would putting manuka honey on my face for a bit after shower help?(healing wise)
Also do you know if I could exfoliate? I use to use aha pads which would exfoliate my skin and make it all smooth (despite the acne) now I'm getting flakes and I wonder if it would be okay taking a wash cloth or use a gentle exfoliater (none of the harsh beads or anything) and gently get rid of the flakes.
@lalaland24 I wish you luck! So just body acne? I hope it goes well. Hopefully in the future there will be a safer solution for this problem which guarantees the person to be 100% cured.
Day 12!
My T-zone is now normal-slightly oily, my cheeks are still normal, they get a bit dry if I don't moisturize (of course). my lips are starting to get dry, no peeling yet, and I don't know whether it's because of the lip balm or if it was because my face was naturally super oily to begin with.
new side effects! ITCHY SCALP. Gosh, I woke up today at 4 am cause my scalp was super itchy and could not go to bed because the itch would keep waking me up. I'm also getting dandruff, something I haven't had since middle school. It's kind of weird since my hair is still quite oily, not super oily as it usually is but still oily. Also my cheeks are getting flakes. Besides all of this no new side effects.
Acne-wise, I've gotten one small spot (which could be cystic since it has no head) on my chin. I'm not discouraged because it's small and usually when I get a cystic spot they're pretty big. I also got two small zits on my jawlines. they're small but my skin likes to exaggerate it by making the skin around it super red (which makes it look x2 bigger than it is). I've noticed the acne spots I have are going away faster than they normally do, and haven't gotten any new spots that would make me concerned *knocks on wood*. Still I'm not going to relax until I hit the three month mark. Don't want to get my hopes up, but I really hope it just gets better from here.
Day 20!
Flakes, flakes, and more flakes. I don't know whether it's because i'm using a really good moisturizer or if it's the fact that I'm indoors 90% of the time where it's nice and toasty but my face isn't horribly dry. My cheeks are dry, yes, and it's getting extremely flakey(there's no way people aren't able to see it), but it's not horribly dry. Maybe it's the stories I read but I was expecting my skin to get really tight (perhaps some cracks, that tight feeling you get when your skin is dry) and having to constantly moisturize every 5 hours that had me thinking I'd be at that state by now.
perhaps I'm still too early into the treatment.
Side effect wise, the only ones I've gotten are dry skin and dry scalp(which I'm using hydrating stuff for). I don't know whether it's because of the lip balm I've been using but my lips aren't really dry (if I don't drink something or apply bals for a day they'll feel dry but no cracking or peeling).
I forgot to mention the brand I'm taking- it's Absorica (40 mg a day). I'm using the gentle Cetaphil cleanser, which is true to its name "gentle". I used cetaphil moisturizer spf 50, but I felt it wasn't moisturizing enough, so I'd apply the cetaphil moisturizer for dry skin (but that was way too much, it didn't absorb all the way so all my flakes were x10 more noticable- probably because of the sunscreen). I changed my moisturizer to a brand called "First Aid Beauty". The moisturizer is called "Ultimate Repair Cream"-it's honestly wonderful. It's very moisturizing, absorbs, and seems to calm my skin (my dermatologist okayed it) and the fact that it has oatmeal probably helps.
Acne wise, the cystic spot that appeared on my left cheek dried up and is slowly shrinking day by day. This is amazing! since a spot like this would be there for weeks perhaps months before going away. All my old spots are drying up and shrinking. I have only had a couple of small ones appear on my jawline but again they dry up quickly and within days are gone/almost gone. *knocks on wood* I really hope it just keeps getting better from here because so far I have not had an IB. One major thing I did notice are black heads! They don't really bother me because I know they wont leave a mark and are so small, but it seems that the medicine is pushing all the gunk out from my nose. When I run my hands down my nose (when cleansing) it feels a little bumpy. It's going away now, but it's really cool seeing all this icky stuff come out from my pores).
wow I'm making it sound a lot more gross than how it actually looks. I'm sorry
I'll probably update after the first month and upload pictures. I wish I had a before picture with good quality so I could compare, oh well.