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On 2/16/2017 at 8:52 AM, cloudydreamer said:On 2/16/2017 at 8:04 AM, suite said:Hang in there...that's awesome that your oil production has dramatically decreased and you're only 2 months in. Maybe the redness is a sign you need to start moisturizing more? Also, what kinds of supplements are you taking right now? Tumeric is a great anti-inflammatory for pain, redness, etc.
I just came to provide an update and I appreciate the post. To answer your question, I moisturize more than enough. I use Ceravae and plenty of it. It takes a while to soak it but those of you on Accutane know it's necessary so we don't get cracked skin. I'll look into Tumeric. I'm not huge on supplements, other than vitamin D in the winter, so I'll do some research. Anything to help with redness would be GREAT. Hell, if Tumeric helps with muscle inflammation from workouts It'd be worth a shot.
Thanks again. Back to my update. I wrote a discouraged post yesterday morning. If you've been on this drug for a couple months (sometimes earlier), 24 hours can make a huge difference in your appearance. My forehead spots have shrunken and don't seem to be coming to a head. The spots on the side of my mustache are diminishing too, but they've already come to heads and popped so they did their time. The spot on my temple is gone.
Take the bad days with the good days and stay dedicated to the process. Drink water. Eat healthy. Workout. Do all of the things that you did before Accutane and never helped clear your face. Surprisingly they all benefit other parts of your life. Then in a few short months you'll be acne free, 10 lbs lighter, and happier.
8 hours ago, suite said:I just came to provide an update and I appreciate the post. To answer your question, I moisturize more than enough. I use Ceravae and plenty of it. It takes a while to soak it but those of you on Accutane know it's necessary so we don't get cracked skin. I'll look into Tumeric. I'm not huge on supplements, other than vitamin D in the winter, so I'll do some research. Anything to help with redness would be GREAT. Hell, if Tumeric helps with muscle inflammation from workouts It'd be worth a shot.Thanks again. Back to my update. I wrote a discouraged post yesterday morning. If you've been on this drug for a couple months (sometimes earlier), 24 hours can make a huge difference in your appearance. My forehead spots have shrunken and don't seem to be coming to a head. The spots on the side of my mustache are diminishing too, but they've already come to heads and popped so they did their time. The spot on my temple is gone.
Take the bad days with the good days and stay dedicated to the process. Drink water. Eat healthy. Workout. Do all of the things that you did before Accutane and never helped clear your face. Surprisingly they all benefit other parts of your life. Then in a few short months you'll be acne free, 10 lbs lighter, and happier.
Yeah, sure thing. I personally hate Cerave, I feel like it never really hydrated my skin enough and it irritated me too...have you tried Japanese/Asian skin care? I like Hada Labo products. Snail creams are also super intensely moisturizing. Yeah, try the vitamin shoppe's ultra strength 900 mg version. It's actually helped fight off migraines for me, so that means it has to have a potent anti-inflammatory affect on the entire system. In terms of redness relief, Cosrx has a redness relief gel that some people have had success with. Aloe and rosewater hydrosols could also be a good option, they're on Amazon.com.
I have heard that turn around can be pretty dramatic on accutane which gives me hope. From a hormone imbalance and stress etc., my oil production has exploded on my forehead and I just can't wait for it to be dried out again. I'm not disgustingly greasy or anything, but way worse than I ever was, especially when wearing makeup. It's awful. Thanks for the encouraging words, I think accutane is my best option right now [I'm going low dose to mitigate side effects] until my hormones are straightened out. I'm hoping the drug will actually help my other treatments become more effective. Like, the supplements I'm taking and products I'm using are working somewhat, but just aren't strong enough...I need to nuke this lol. Anyway, I appreciate your positive energy as I am a bit nervous [but hopeful!].
Week 9:
Great week 9. Picked up my third month of boxes. Still pretty excited every time I see $25 ring up on the register instead of $300. The breakouts from week 8 have diminished and I only have one small active on my cheek-bone. It's the waxy type and I expect it to dry up instead of pop. I have noticed a lot more pimples that would usually come up as liquidy white-heads, have now come to the service looking like sebaceous filament. They either dry up or I squeeze out a solid guck and it heals.
Face is still red a few hours each day and I have the accutane glow most of the time. Water brings down the redness so I'm staying hydrated.
Oil came back a bit this weekend but I think it was, again, due to the weather. It was 70 degress in February, whereas it's usually in the 0s here. I'm never going to worry about oil again after this course. I'll use blotting sheets 5 times a day if I have clear skin.
I'm not sure if my doctor will have me complete 5 months for a 150 mg/kg course or stop me at 120 mg/kg after 4 months. If I do go for a 5th month, i'll probably take 120mg a day to finish the course before summer gets here. Need my photo-sensitive skin to go away so i can go get a tan.
Week 10:
Sub-par week 10. The active on my cheek did end up being a hard waxy type and dried up but I developed two new white heads on my temple, one on my forehead, and another last night pop up beside my mustache where I had issues a few weeks back.
White heads are still not working themselves out as quickly as I perceived them during the first course. One spot on my temple started to show on Friday and today, Tuesday, it still hasn't come to a head or disappeared. I remember spots only being active on my face for a day or two, never 5 especially this far into the course.
I think I stopped posting after this week during my last course because I saw so much progress and wasn't seeing day-to-day changes. I'll have to keep posting because I'm still breaking out, I'm still red all of the time. The biggest difference is I'm oil free, a change I didn't see as drastic of changes during my first course.
I'm hoping by next week I can report on an acne free week. It's aobut time.
hey I'm also on my second course for moderate acne (mostly clogged pores that can become inflamed this time around). I'm about five months in and i have still been breaking out... it SUCKS. my first course cleared completely within two months and now I'm still breaking out pretty bad month 5 this time. and like you said too, my pimples usually stuck around a day or two...now its like 5 or 6. idk why its so different and awful this time around. guess its just the luck of the draw...I hope your skin clears up faster than mine is
Week 11:
Here we have it folks. After a bad week 10, I'm sitting here week 11 complete with no active spots. The spot that sat on my temple for almost a week required a pop and yes the redness stuck around for a few days longer, but enough was enough. I finally had that quick turnaround I have been hoping for with a nasty whitehead that popped up next to my beard. It was light red for 12 hours, nasty whitehead for 12 hours, and 12 hours later it was a non-inflammed dried up shell of its former self.
Redness is way down. I look like my old self when I wake up in the morning. I can go through most of the day looking like a non-sunburned human being but when I eat or take a pill, I have a couple hours of redness. I expect my coworkers are either used to it or don't notice (i'm not sure what the lighting in my office makes me look like). Either way, just about 2 months left and spring is around the corner so everyone will be red from going outside without sunscreen.
The most amazing part of this course is that I have yet to breakout on my cheeks or my nose. These areas were the reason I went on Accutane in the first place. Embarrassing spots to breakout as an adult. Even my friends with the clearest skin will breakout on their foreheads or chins once every blue moon. Let's hope I have to deal with neither after this course.
Week 12:
Not a single flare up this week. Went to the doctor and picked up my 4th month of pills. The doctor said I can do 1 or 2 more months. I told her I'd do the 2 and hit 150mg/kg again. Better safe than sorry.
Redness is the same. No oil.
Will be in the sun a lot next week so it'll be nice to even out my skin tone with a tan. Obviously will be sure to cake on the sunscreen.
Will update next week, flare up or not.
Week 14:
I wrote my Week 13 post halfway into Week 14 but I didn't want to give away any spoilers. Like I mentioned, I was on vacation and that that meant a lot of sunscreen. I had one nasty white-head pop up on my beard during the trip but it blew up and blew out over a 12 hour period. Mostly overnight. Not a problem but slightly disheartening after a few weeks without a breakout.
I had another waxy whitehead pop up on my cheek a few days ago. It was barely visible so I let it be and it's pretty much dried out now. Just a touch of red leftover.
I thought I beat the system with my n ew insurance and only had to pay the $20 copay but got hit with a $200 bill today for all of my blood tests. Still fine since I have money on my FSA. Only one ore blood test and prescription fill and I'm done, so that's a good feeling. All-in-all I will have paid around $300. That's what I spent each month on medication alone last round. I'm happy.
Still get very red when I take the medication. My joints are a little sore but I'm still working out and lifting, it just takes a little longer to recover.
Remember to lotion your whole body during the course. I didn't over vacation and have a rash on my arm and leg that is slowly going away with my daily moisturizing sessions.
Week 16 (late):
No big changes. I went to the dermatologist to get my last blood test and prescription but after I told her I had one spot pop up over vacation she mentioned one or two more months. There's no chance I'm doing six months. I'll reach 15mg/kg after this month and I have no intention of going higher. I understand her reasoning, in she wants a full clear month before stopping but I know I broke out because of the mix of sunscreen I lathered on my face, chlorine, and salt drying me out.
4 more weeks and this course is over. Im already completely clear so I'm most excited about not turning bright red twice a day for a couple hours, whenever I eat, exercise, movetc too fast. I also remember my skin tone being awesome after my first course. No more uneven, red skin.
Week 17:
i started my final month of pills today. I just had a white head come to a head today that had sat under my skin for three months. I never thought it was infected but it finally came up. A warm compress got rid of the problem and I'm back to 0 spots.
Even though I'm on my final month, hopefully ever, of accurate I feel like this will be the hardest. I'm acne free but I have 29 more days of taking a pill that gives me joint pain, makes my face red, and mornings intolerable. I've been tired for 5 months. Im sick of drinking the same high fat smoothie every morning (peanut butter, avocado, almond milk, blueberries...it's not bad if you drink it once or twice a week, just wearing on me).
Im excited to get my life back to normal. Accurate gives a lot of people a new found sense of confidence but my red skin and tiredness has put my life on pause. I still go out and enjoy myself but hate meeting people in bright light and I'm too tired to focus a lot of times.
58 more pills. 29 more days. Anxious but pumped to almost be done.
Week 18 & 19
I was down on these weeks before they even started and when a nasty red spot throbbed on my temple three days into week 18 I really started to worry. I didn't touch it and it never came to a head. It's almost gone and was an odd spot. My hope is it was something that's been lying under the skin for months like last week's instance.
Then I go and shave for the first time in a year and get an ingrown hair that immediately gets infected and filled with puss. I'm throwing his one up to bad luck and I expect it to happen whenever I fully shave but it was still discouraging having two red spots on my face in my last month of accutane.
I'm headed on vacation for a few days and the sun will even me out. I've got my good sunscreen packed so I'm not worried about burning too much. After I get back I'll have 7 days left on the pills. If I even get the slightest whitehead in my last week I'm going to have a panic attack...but I can always chalk it up to all the beer I'll be drinking in thevery next few days.
Week 20:
5 more pills. Vacation was great. Kept the sun off my face. The only problem was that I was unable to wash more than once a day and without my typical products. We'll see if this results in a breakout in a week or two but I'm not too worried since I'm towards the end of my course. I didn't have any pimples pop up over the week and I'm totally clear at this point.
I'm very excited for next Monday when this is all over and my skin texture starts to return to normal. Things I'm most looking forward to:
1. Not being tired all of the time
2. Not being red all of the time
3. Not having to eat high fat meals
4. Not having a sore sternum and back
That's it. I'm going to start a new workout regimen and diet next week. I'm going to completely cut out dairy from my home cooking so that when I do go out or go to my parents, it's the one time I'll be eating dairy and won't affect me constantly and cut the chances I break out because of it. I'm going to limit drinking, since breakouts always seemed to follow big drinking nights in the past. Finally, I'm going to workout every day and get into a rhythm. I'm in great shape but I only workout three/four times a week and don't do much cardio.
I'm not going to post next week, as I'm going to try to leave this experience behind me. I'll only be back if the acne comes back.
I won't do accutane again, so if I'm back it'll be to document my journey with another solution. Two courses was enough, more than enough. Goodbye for now.