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On 2/10/2019 at 6:13 PM, acneruinsmylife said:@ajaxz @3wishes14 I have a question to ask since we are all on our 2nd or 3rd round. First, what sex are you? I am female. Second, what regimen did you use on your skin AFTER accutane? What cleanser, any exfoliation, any masks, what moisturizer, did you put anything else on your face or change your diet? I am wondering if our acne came back because we weren't cleaning our skin the way we are supposed to for acne prone skin. Maybe some people just need several rounds, maybe its sex-related, maybe some people need higher doses or micro doses, maybe a diet is required in addition, or maybe we need to care for our skin differently?
After my first round I continued using cetaphil thick moisturizer and gentle cleanser, every morning and night. I also used a CVS brand simple exfoliation scrub maybe twice a week. I also used epiduo as tiny spot treatment. Isn't this all that clear skin people use? I thought that was all I needed since I was then a clear skin person. But, maybe I should have done some crazy complicated mask every other night? Maybe I should have gone to a spa and had them do some crazy pore opener and cleanser once a month or something? After accutane I was so afraid to try something new for fear of causing more breakouts. I can't decide if I wasn't cleaning well enough or if I was being too harsh and caused irritation and more breakouts.
I really want/need this to be my last round of accutane. I'd like to hear your thoughts.
oh I also didn't wear a lot of makeup at first then wore it on weekends then wore it more often when I started relapsing. Is makeup the issue???
I™m female.
Hm hard for me to answer the rest, as I can™t remember what my regimes were like after coming off accutane both times! Also my relapses were both very gradual and so not triggered by anything I don™t think.
To be honest, accutane is such an intensive treatment, that for us multiple timers, I don™t think products/not using the right products wouldn™t have helped people like us. I think our issue is likely to be internal issues like hormones or food related issues you know?
Makeup definitely isn™t my issue. My skin was so good in 2017 and early 2018 I didn™t even bother wearing makeup and still relapsed.
Day 18
New side effect this morning - dry eyes. They were red and sore, and people at work actually noticed and asked if I™d been crying!
Also noticed some joint pain around groin - no idea why.
Also had small amount of blood in nostril today.
Last night a really horrible pimple started brewing on my left cheek. I was hoping my cheek purging was done 
it had come to a full on whitehead by the time id returned home today, so I just squeezed it! Will BP up before bed tonight.
On 2/11/2019 at 2:44 AM, ajaxz said:I am male.
After my second round i was using salycilic acid + benzoil peroxide(clyndoxil), no moisturizer, i had few pimples here and there ocasionally they didnt bother. Butafter like 2 years in this regimenmy skin start to become very dry.Its when the acne started to get out of control.
i started to get irritation from salycilica acid + benzoil peroxide, so i started to use a jojoba oil moisturizer and wasnt enough.
i stopped the salycilic acid, then my skin start to get worse and worse because they were working for my clogged pores. But i couldnt come back because irritation was breaking me out to. so i give a break of everything. and was just using moisturizer, then i was experiencing some sort of cystic acne, its when i realize the battle was lost, then jumped to accutane again.
I will follow this topic, since i started to use basically at the same time of the OP, and will eventually share my results
Really interested to keep track of your progress too ajaxz!
Day 19
Right cheek feels really nice and smooth today and looks a lot less red. Definitely a good skin day for my right cheek at least. Spot from yesterday on left cheek is flattening.
Side effects... Im extremely tired today despite getting my 8 hours sleep. My joint pain is still bad around pelvis.
Day 20
We are in the 20s!
Had a full on nosebleed when I woke up this morning. Aside from dry lips and some dry skin on top of right hand, all other side effects have come and gone.
Spot wise - Ive had a few things pop up (not from closed comedones) on parts of my face I dont usually get acne, such as chin and forehead. Nothing major.
Acne on cheeks continues to flatten.
Still have hundreds of closed comedones on jaw that arent progressing, although they were really itchy yesterday evening..!?
EDIT - urgh MORE cheek purging! Its the evening now, and Ive had another spot come up (from a closed comedone) on my left cheek again! I feel like every single cc is having to come to the surface, rather than just disappear
Day 21
Three weeks!
Left cheek back on track. Right cheek continues to look really good. No active spots there and redness seems to be fading.
Overall, I could be imagining this, but my face seems more bareable to look at in the mirror then it was when I was on antibiotics...? I™m not sure why, because I see such little progress with closed comedones. Anyway, I™m not complaining.
Lips are worst they™ve been today. Constantly peeling and red.
Rung for blood test results yesterday and apparently my hormones are normal... 
Day 22
Bad skin day. Had a whitehead pop up yesterday on bit under nose but above lip. I hate getting spots there!
I went to town on my closed comedones yesterday. I know it™s bad, but I feel like unless I squeeze them, no progress is made. Sure enough, about four of them on my left side jaw have become inflamed and painful today my own fault.
Blackheads on nose are definitely getting closer to the surface and purging! I keep thinking I™m wiping dry skin away until I lean closer and notice it™s œstuff purging!
Nothing else to report. Oh, forgot to mention I had another minor nose bleed yesterday morning
Day 24
Im still suffering from the squeezing on the left hand side of my face the other day, Ive had about 4 nasty inflamed spots as a result, around jaw/chin,but I think Im over the worst of it now. Right side of my face is looking the best its looked in AGES! Flat and no actives (apart from weird bumps along jaw).
Ive had a LOT of movement this weekend in terms of blackheads. Gunk continues to fall out the sides of my nose. Blackheads on my nose are getting closer to the top so my nose looks like a strawberry. My pores down the side of my nose and cheeks are filling up with blackheads so will hopefully shrink once theyve emptied? Ive also noticed my chest feeling very textured with blackheads as if its purging (I never get whiteheads in this area, just blackheads).
Side effects are the same. Lips are still so bad! Everything else manageable.
Bring on the one month mark!
Day 25
Not a lot to report today. Lips have been on their best behaviour today for some reason...
Feeling very spotty around chin and jaw, still got lots of actives.
its been a very sunny day here today so have sadly caught my reflection a lot and the amount of closed comedones on my face is honestly insane
Day 26
Another bad day.
Can feel another angry spot brewing on my left cheek. The purge on right chin/jaw area continues. There™s so many inflamed closed comedones, I now don™t know what™s new and what isn™t there™s one section where I™ve got 5 of them in a row! My only saving grace is that at least they™re closed comedones and it means they™re going away...
Had a bad nosebleed this morning. My nostrils feel very dry and my eyes too.
My attention now is turning to my one month check up tomorrow. I™ve thought long and hard about what dose to ask for as my derm seems flexible. I™ve decided I don™t want to do 60mg as it was so hard last time. That said, I accept that if I want to go reach a cumulative dose for once, that means I™ll have to extend my course. I™m thinking maybe 40/50/50/50/20/20 but we™ll see what she says. I™ll blog after my appt!
Day 27
Bad day.
Woke up with another small nosebleed. My skin continues to look awful. Lots of those inflamed/clogged pores have come to a yellow head, which I thought was progress, however squeezing them just made them even worse. The spot I mentioned on my left cheek is still really painful and there's no sign of it emerging at all so its just under the skin and nasty. I have so many closed comedones and catching my reflection in the daylight makes me want to cry. Lips are now cracked on the sides which is painful.
Sadly, my day only got worse when I went to my derm appt.
She thinks my skin is worse - she's not wrong. She said she wasn't panicked, and described me as being "sensitive" to the side effects which show that accutane is doing its thing. She thinks im in the IB/purge stage, basically.
Like you guys know, I went in there with a plan in my head of what I wanted. So my heart broke a little bit when I saw her write 40mg on my prescription. I asked her why? She said because I was very sensitive to the side effects (wish i never told her about the nosebleeds now, she was totally fixated on them even though they have been VERY light and I told her i had the same on my previous two courses!?) and because she believes the side effects suggest that accutane is working.
I'm now panicking, because what i'm trying to do is reach a higher culmulative dose than I did last time (6600mg), which I will now only surpass by doing 6 months of 40mg. This means being on 40mg throughout both of my summer holidays which I'm devastated about. When I told her that I was upset about this, she said "well you're worrying about something that hasn't happened, you may be completely clear after 4 months and be off way before your holidays" - but even if I am completely clear after 4 months at 40, i'm not going to want to stop as my culmulative dose will only be 4800mg!!
Anyway. On a more positive note, she did say she was flexible and that there were loads of options for dosing. She was open to the idea of longer courses at lower doses such as 20mg. She also said I could have a few days break from the drug on my holidays altogether. She also said that she would schedule a follow-up appointment for me a month after i've stopped (whenever that would be) and would re-start me straight away if i'm not 100% clear or have broken out again. Also, I guess the main benefit of staying on 40mg is that I know my side effects aren't going to get worse now! A part of me was dreading going higher for that reason.
She "promised" (I don't think she should have said that!) my skin would start to get better now in 1-2 weeks. Obviously I told her I'm very skeptical because last time this was not the case and that I was still breaking out the whole time! She said she would schedule a phone call in 2 weeks with me because she can see I'm worried and doesn't want to go a month without contact. Contrary to what she said about staying on 40mg and side effects, she said she would consider posting a diff (higher) prescription depending on the results, but that she fully expects me to have cleared up a lot when she phones me.
I'm not so sure. But one thing I do know, is that I hope to god she's right and I am wrong!
Day 28
Inflamation on left jaw is down a tiny bit, I think. However annoying (and painful)blind pimple on left cheek is still brewing. Ive also got a nasty infected pimple bottom of right cheek about 2cm from corner of mouth. Its painful and I can feel it when I talk.
I really hope and pray this is the worst its all going to get that, although seeing how many closed comedones ive still got - its unlikely.
Day 29
Spot on left cheek popped and is flattening. The horrible cyst like spot on my right popped this morning whilst I was washing my face. It must have been the largest spot in diameter Id had in at least 5 years! Acne along right jaw continues to flare up, which leads me to think that Im having an IB rather than the result of picking/squeezing because I havent touched my right jawline at all! Overall my chin and jaw area, particularly on the right side,is looking really bumpy and bad. On the right jaw Ive got about 6 inflamed comedones right now. Reminds me very much of my second round (see other blog!)
Nothing new to say about side effects. Dry lips are still the only constant.
Yesterday I had a very interesting Drs appt. Whilst my blood tests for hormones came back in the normal range, my testosterone levels are on the cusp of being high and I also have cystic ovaries. Although he contradicted himself at times, he did indicate this could be contributing to my acne or certainly not helping. Although a part of me is devastated, another part is greatful for this huge step forward in discovering whats causing my acne and relapses from accutane, and so when Im finished I will be focused on natural ways of balancing my hormones. If things get worse hormone level wise, I will be pushing for spironolactone - nearly impossible to get in UK a for acne, but having polycystic ovaries and high testosterone would mean I would meet the criteria.
Day 30
ONE MONTH!
Today Ill pop my last pills in the packet.
Right hand jaw is still most problematic area. Ive also got *yet another* spot brewing above lip/below nose. I literally hate getting spots there! So painful.
Month one has been a rollercoaster. My right cheek has flattened right down, but most other parts of my face have got worse. My left cheek, chin, and right jaw have all been really problematic. Ive experienced some really nasty cystic spots and inflamed comedones. Im pretty confident Im purging. Im predicting that month 2 is going to be more of the same as I can see so many hundreds of comedones still under the surface.
Side effects on month 1 have been manageable. Even my lips are manageable as long as I drink a TONNE of water and apply aquaphor.
Ive also made a huge discovery this month in terms of hormones/polycystic ovaries which I think is going to be huge in helping me manage my acne in the future.
Lets see what month 2has to hold.
Day 31
Month two.
The only way I can describe my face right now is painful. I dont think my face has felt as painful as this from acne since before the first time I went on accutane. Ive got inflamed actives on left cheek, chin, above lip, right bottom cheek and right jaw. They hurt so much.
Feeling reallydown about it as the pain serves as a constant reminder that my face looks crap.
I am of course blasting them with BP as much as I can, but did give my skin a break last night as I was starting to get dry patches on the spots Ive been BPing a lot.
In other news, loads of theenlarged pores Ive got down the sides of my nose have turned into proper blackheads. This feels like good progress to me, as they are clearly all emptying out and pushing everything to the surface
Day 32
Urgh. Whilst I™ve not had any new spots since yesterday (I think I™ve got about 11 actives altogether) the problematic ones I™ve got have turned so nasty. I can™t even explain how painful and tender they are. I woke up last night in pain from them. I™ve got some sort of super spot above my lip where three have merged into one, and then two volcanoes - one on each cheek. I™ve also got another two actives heading that way. I™ve got two very small actives in corner of mouth above lip which combined with super spot means that talking and eating is so hard.
My face has never been this painful from acne in my life. I™ve had to pop painkillers to go to work this morning.
Obviously makeup does nothing for my face right now other than hide some of the redness.
In other news, I™ve got a new whitehead on chest and comedones have been hanging around on my neck as well.
I can™t understand why after 5 months of antibiotics and now 5 weeks of accutane, the type of acne I™m getting is worse.
Bleugh
Day 33
Still bad!
In a bid to not be all doom and gloom, though, Ill start with some good: blackheads on my nose have pretty much vanished out of sight!? Noticed this morning!
Woke up this morning with two or three closed comedones that had turned into little whiteheads, no problem.
The major issue for me right now are my three super spots, the ones Ive mentioned: one on each cheek, and the one above lip. The ones on my cheek are gigantic and red and no sign of a head in them, like theyre blind pimples. The one by my lip did have a little head and popped a bit yesterday but has now grown in size and turned into the same type of spot as the others.
Due to the position of these spots it makes it harderto eat, talk or smile.
Ive also got something horrible brewing on my chin which is tender to touch.
So frustrating. Im getting to that point where everyone who has been on accutane roughly the same time as me are just seeing their skin get better and better. Meanwhile my skin looks the worst ever and I know Ive still got hundreds of spots still to come. Annoying, but I guess Ive just got to be patient...
Day 34
Day 34 already, will be in the 40s soon!
Super spot above lip is shrinking but ones on cheek arent. They are just chilling on my face.
I had about 3 new whiteheads pop up on the right side of my face yesterday, on lower cheek/chin. I think two of them are quite straight forward that will go away soon but one seems inflamed. Again this must be an IB as none of these were ones before Id tried to squeeze or pick.
I also got another small spot on the front of my shoulder and one on back of neck.
Overall the picture is improved from Monday, but its just very frustrating how long spots take to heal on accutane, and I know I havent hit my turning point yet as there are so many closed comedones still to come out. Sadly I think Im in for another 7 or 8 waves at least of awful breakout phases before I start clearing permanently.
Side effects - lips still bad. Very bad joint pain on my knee today, never had joint pain before. I did exercise yesterday so could be purely from that but Im not convinced.
Day 35
Superspot above lip is now pretty flat. The mega spots on cheeks are flattening down which is weird as they havent come to a head. Ive got another nasty inflamed spot on my left cheek now, which is my fault as it was a whitehead I squeezed.
The little whiteheads that popped up this week are going away.
Overall picture continues to improve but as I said before I am fully expecting more phases of breakouts.
Only major side effect are dry lips right now.
Day 37
Hello week six!
What a difference the last few days have made.
My skin is feeling really good today, so much flatter.
I now have only two actives, both of which are inflamed closed comedones: one on my chin that popped up overnight, and one on my neck.
Obviously I know I have a lot more breaking out to do, but it™s nice to enjoy flat (ish) skin for a while 
Day 38
Skin still feeling flat but I feel like things are going to deteriorate very shortly.
The downside about my skin having been good these past few days is that I™m now seeing new indented scarring which makes me very sad I™ve got a large line (rolling scar I think?) on left cheek that wasn™t there before. Gutted
Day 40
In the 40s. Another milestone!
More of the same.
Inflamed comedones still on jaw, chin and neck. These are definitely my problemareas right now, as opposed to my cheeks.
Still no horrible deep cysts. I really hope Ive seen the back of those.
Overall progress is very slow.
Day 41
My skin is still improving generally, but closed comedones along jaw, chin and neck are still getting inflamed and turning into whiteheads. Right now Ive got about 6 or 7 maybe, most of them being on the right side. I much prefer lower face acne to acne on cheeks!
Side effects: lips are absolutely awful today, to the point where a colleague brought it up in the middle of a meeting! So embarrassing. Ive also felt tired and brain-foggy past few days but not sure if thats because of accutane or not?
Had a call from derm today. Shes happythings have improved and so doesnt see need for a dose increase today.