Day 4 - a little bit of a change, I guess. Skin and hair are less oily, but I am still blotting every 2-3 hours. The oil is different though...maybe it's thinner? Pores are getting smaller, which is nice. I'm exhausted but I think it's because I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep. I have a headache too, but that could be from the lack of sleep as well.
Hoping the oil keeps dissipating every day!
Day five - t-zone slightly oily. I am still blotting every three hours but the oil is thinning out. My cheeks are normal, not dry, same with my neck. I may be having some side effects, but not sure. I slept all night but I was exhausted by 3 p.m. It may still be leftover exhaustion from my lack of sleep night before last. I was so tired that I had to take a nap between 5-6 p.m. when I got home, because I had to take my daughter to dance practice at 6:30. I felt a little better after that, but the crazy fatigue is worrying me.
I also had a slight headache early afternoon.
I have a bottle of moisturizer I bought for use during Accutane...still haven't opened it! *sigh*
The oiliness stops quickly, but it will probably take a couple weeks before you really notice the difference. Do not worry - you WILL get to use that moisturizer. I use two layers of moisturizer every day! I do my whole face, let it sink in, and then apply a second layer to the dry spots I get. My bottle used to last me about 6 months, and I have gone through 2 in the last 5!
I do find that I get tired a bit easier - I think this is a common side effect, but nothing to worry about unless it is severe.
I have never gotten a lot of headaches - I just seem to not be prone to them ever, even before Accutane. But I did get a couple very mild ones this course, and found that it was very much related to not drinking enough liquids. A few glasses of water seemed to make it go away pretty fast.
So - get lots of sleep, drink lots of water, and get ready to invest more money on moisturizer than you ever thought possible!
Looking forward to your progress!
Thanks Kim! I really appreciate the feedback. I never get headaches either so I thought it was probably Accutane-related. I know it sounds strange, but I can't wait to use moisturizer. The discomfort I've felt from oily skin has been constant over the years, and I'm tired of it.
Day six - pores are definitely getting smaller, but oil remains. I noticed tonight about 30 minutes after I washed my face that little dots of oil weren't coming out of my pores, so there is improvement. My skin overall is shiny, even my cheeks which aren't oily, so that's something new. I was not fatigued at all today, but it's Saturday so I got to sleep late.
Day seven - slow and steady progress. I've only blotted my skin twice today, and both times the sheet wasn't completely saturated in oil like it usually is. Pores continuing to shrink, but definitely still there. My face is still shiny all over, while not being as oily. Strange. Perhaps because of the exfoliating?
Got one other new side effect today: bloody nose. Sorry, this is going to be gross, so you've been warned...I have allergies so every day I use two nose sprays. Because of that, sometimes I'll have a little blood in my mucous when I blow my nose. Today, it was just straight blood. Only a couple of drops, though, so it's not a big deal.
Hopefully skin will be a little drier tomorrow!
Oops, forgot to add that I feel some bumps/pimples under the surface of my skin. They hurt if I scratch or touch them. I thought perhaps 10 straight years of retinoid use might have saved me from the dreaded IB, but perhaps not. Time will tell.
Day eight - skin still oily but getting drier. I have three pimples that are drying out, and three cysts that started out big yesterday but feel like they are getting smaller. Got really fatigued at around 3 p.m. at work--felt like I could close the door to my office and take a nap. That was rough. Other than that, no side effects.
Day nine - skin a little drier upon awakening, bit it's oily by the end of the day. 
Have the fun angular chelitis on each corner of my mouth, which I had before while not on Accutane, so it may or may not be a side effect.
No new pimples--active ones are drying up on forehead and chin.
Each morning when I wake up I feel my face to see if it's gotten drier...still waiting to feel zero oil!
Day 10 - well hello there, IB! My forehead is full of deep, under the skin cysts. I have some cysts developing around my mouth and one on my chin. I guess steady retinoid use over the years didn't save me from the IB.
Still the same amount of oily skin, in my t-zone. I'm so ready to be done with this oil! Keeping lip balm near me during the day and Vaseline on lips at night is keeping dry, chapped lips away, I suppose. Pores are still big and clogged. I haven't changed my skin care regimen, because my skin hasn't changed that much. I hope next month my dosage will be increased and I can see some progress.
It's funny, the IB doesn't really bother me that much--I knew it would probably come around, and I can hide it for the most part with makeup. What's really bugging me is my consistently oily skin! That's what depressing me. Hoping that by the two-week mark I'll have dried up a bit more.
Thanks PersnickityChick and megtree! I know the oil will dry up. I just got so excited once I saw that was going to be a side effect. I imagined the complete cessation of blotting my oily skin every two hours and WOW--I might not have to wash my hair every day??!! I was ecstatic as managing my excessive oil problems have taken up way too much of my life.
Anywho, I suppose today is day 12 - IB is still here. Lots of cysts and smaller pimples dotting my face, but because my face is less oily, they are drying up quicker than usual. I think because of the drier skin, they're not as red as those pimples usually are. I was stressed because I was in charge of a big media event today for my work, but thankfully none of the news crews wanted a one-on-one interview with me--seeing those cysts and pimples on high-def TV would have been awful. So the event is done now, and I'm MUCH more relaxed about the IB. I'm doing a lot of work with the door closed to my office, so I don't have to see too many folks or watch them talk to me but look at the smattering of pimples across my forehead and cheeks.
Day 14 - IB is getting worse. My face has exploded in pimples like I haven't had since I was a teenager. They're everywhere. I won't even try to count them, because that will just depress me. They're mostly painful cysts. I think it would be worse, though, if I weren't using beta-hydroxy acid and vitamin c serum. The BHA helps with them staying someone flat, and the c serum helps in healing. My skin was nowhere near this bad when I started--I would just have two or three pimples, although it was all the time. At least the oil has diminished somewhat. My face just looks terrible. But, I know it's part of the process so I'm comforted in that.
I wonder, for those of you who got the IB, did you get it again when you upped your dose? I'm still hoping to be brought up to 60 mg on my next visit.
Other than the IB, no side terrible side effects. I use Vaseline on my lips a lot, and I use my lubricating eye drops more often, but the dryness isn't much.
I wonder, for those of you who got the IB, did you get it again when you upped your dose? I'm still hoping to be brought up to 60 mg on my next visit.
Kim, I spent 2 months on 60 mg, and after switching to 80 mg at my last doctor's visit, I did have a minor freakout on my face. It wasn't as intense as my initial in my first few weeks, but it was a breakout caused by the change in dosage. You'll be fine though. Make it through the first few weeks and it WILL get better!
Keep your head up, the IB is gonna pass eventually and pimples will start to heal and fade faster and faster!
The other end of the spectrum (dry skin) is no amusement park either, but I can understand where you're coming from as a fellow oily skinned acne sufferer(?). It gets better, good luck!
Day 15 - Oh boy - coming back to work today (Monday) and my skin is much worse than it was Friday. Luckily I only have two meetings today, and only one was a small meeting. So for the small meeting I just looked down at my printouts and notes for work and prayed no one took a close look at my face.
Makeup hides the red marks of the IB pimples, but there's nothing I can do about the bumpy surface. I put loose powder over my foundation and that's keeping my skin drier, which hopefully will make the pimples shrink up quicker.
The fatigue is hard to deal with. I slept so much over the weekend, and I still feel like I can hardly make it through the day. I'll be glad when I can put this side effect behind me.
The good news--yes there is some good news!--my skin is definitely getting drier. I've only blotted my face once today, and the sheet hardly had any oil on it.
Day 17--IB is calming down. No new eruptions to add to the initial horror show. Skin around my chin is dry. Pores are much smaller and not clogged at all. No blackheads. I didn't need to blot my face once today! It's such a nice feeling at the end of the day to not be covered in oil. No other side effects!
I'm super excited for your dry face!
The IB is some bitch ass shit! I didn't even have one the first time I went on Accutane, so I was super horrified. Like you, I was cruising with a couple actives at all times, and suddenly it was some double digit numbers! The time from day 15 - 30 seemed like a thousand weeks to me - it was so stressful. Every time things seemed better, some other yucky thing would get infected.
Now that I can see it in hindsight, it was really only that bad for a couple weeks.
Hang in there!
Thanks Kim28! It seems there are some other new cysts popping up on my face--it really is a horror show. I thought I'd only have to deal with this for one week, but maybe it'll be two.
Day 18--After being oily for so long, and now going to dry skin--it really is hard for me to put moisturizer on my pimple-filled skin. It's going against everything I've conditioned myself to do. Putting moisturizer on meant acne would spring up for sure. I think once I clear up I can start using it.
I wish I could take time off work and just hide out at home until this IB is gone!
Day 22 - IB is almost all gone. Still a few little bumps, but makeup is covering everything well. No dry skin, I guess I have normal skin now? I'm using a very light moisturizer at night, Paula's Choice Hydralight, and I think it helped my acne heal quicker.
One weird side effect is facial flushing. Out of the blue, for no apparent reason, I'll feel my face get slightly warm. It doesn't happen too often. Other than that, my only side effect is that my lips are drier, so I'm using Vaseline at night and EOS lip balm during the day.
