A little background history: I've struggled with acne for 4 years. I saw plenty of derms and tried everything and nothing ever worked for me. I have moderate acne but get scarring and hyper pigmentation EXTREMELY easily. As my acne and marks worsened the past 2 years I've become much more self conscious. I then requested to be on Accutane after all of this and have just finished my first month on 40mg!
The first week and a half I didn't notice any side affects at all. Wasn't dry and ashy, itchy, nothing. My acne wasn't any better or clearer. Then between week 2-3 is when many side affects kicked in. I became really dry that I would have to moisturize every 2-3 hours, even at night or my calves and arms would itch like crazy. My face didn't peel but my skin was dry, and I got a few pimples here and there but nothing major. The third week my scarring faded a lot more than when I started and I had less acne. The last week, everything remained the same as the week before.
Products: I use Johnson's baby oil all over after every shower and also use st ives oatmeal soothing body wash. I also purchased cetaphil and it's a great cleanser. For my face I use, day: aveeno SPF 30 and/or neutrogena SPF 70 sport (I'm an athlete). NIGHT: I've just used cetaphil moisturizing cream for my face that's in a jar. Other lotions I use besides the baby oil is the Johnson's baby lotion and st Ives with Vit E & aloe ( when I'm itchy). These have worked for me and have kept me moisturized. ALSO I used an entire tube of blistex Chapstick in the month I was on this, I'm constantly layering it on. As for hair washing, I'm down to about 2 washes a week, but still find my scalp itchy. Head and shoulders relieves it for a bit but would LOVE to get some advice on taming that.
*NEW* : up until I started I never left the house without makeup. After the first 2 weeks on it, I stopped caring as much about my marks and 95% of the time I walked around bare faced. I rarely use makeup, only for outings or get togethers! I figure, my face is only going to get better Over these few months so I might as well embrace it!
So far so good with Tane!
