Day 65

Week 10.

Feeling down.My skin looks terrible. Twomega spotson cheek are flattening, but the third has doubled in size. Its a huge hard lump with no head.

to make matters worse, Ive now got about 4 or 5 other hard lump type spots with no head that wont pop, as well as a new active on leftcheek.

Monday will mark 6 months to the day I went to the doctor and got help in the form of antibiotics and cream.

My skin has got worse and worse. I just compared side by side pics of accutane day 1 to today and my skin just looks worse. Im so devastated.

Day 67

The horrible wave of actives (I counted at least 12 in the end) appear to be flattening out, including the biggest megaspot on right cheek which just seems to leak blood or clear fluid every now and then.

Lips are still manageable with lots of aquaphor, but the cracks on side of mouth are getting bigger and uglier.

Sore joints seem to have passed, but I have had mild but shooty kind oftingling in my right arm on and off. Not sure if accutane related?

Anyway. Feeling a lot better today knowing that this breakout phase is on its way out. Still got a very long way to go! Not even half way through yet.

Day 68

Things continuing to improve. I caught my face in that mirror at work again yesterday and had a good look; texture on my left cheek is perfect! Right cheek not so much, but getting there.

I am purging big time right now but in very concentrated places; jawline and the problematic area left side of chin I keep going on about. Ive got loads of inflamed comedones there at the moment.

Lips are still dry and corners cracked. Still losing eyelashes! Still got red scaly patches all down left arm too.

hey just stopping by again to offer support. I have the dry scaley spots on my upper arm too. I had it my second round, so it was expected. I just have more now. (maybe because I've been on a higher dose this time?). haha I also lost a few eyebrow hairs, pretty much had a tiny baldspot last round. Haven't noticed it this round yet. Last round I didn't see noticeable improvement until my fourth month, so hang in there. Im starting my fourth month in about a week, and I still have pimples arising here and there. I really just cant wait for the steady improvement phase. I cant wait to be done. Id literally be SO OK with completely missing this part of my life and jumping into two months later.

hey I've got loads of what look like harmless comedones on my chin and idk when they will come to the surface but I want to just get it over with! I hate the slightly bumpy look they give, and I know what they are capable of becoming! I want them to just quietly come to surface, empty their contents, then heal ):

22 hours ago, acneruinsmylife said:

hey just stopping by again to offer support. I have the dry scaley spots on my upper arm too. I had it my second round, so it was expected. I just have more now. (maybe because I've been on a higher dose this time?). haha I also lost a few eyebrow hairs, pretty much had a tiny baldspot last round. Haven't noticed it this round yet. Last round I didn't see noticeable improvement until my fourth month, so hang in there. Im starting my fourth month in about a week, and I still have pimples arising here and there. I really just cant wait for the steady improvement phase. I cant wait to be done. Id literally be SO OK with completely missing this part of my life and jumping into two months later.

hey I've got loads of what look like harmless comedones on my chin and idk when they will come to the surface but I want to just get it over with! I hate the slightly bumpy look they give, and I know what they are capable of becoming! I want them to just quietly come to surface, empty their contents, then heal ):

Hello! Thanks for the support, and its good to know that people are following and Im not just talking to myself, haha. Any tips for dealing with the scaly skin on arms?

Im with you on that. Why cant we just skip to two months time!? Im ready for the improvement phase too, rather than the oh maybe things are getting better? No wait, heres a bunch of purging again! Id take two steps forward and one step back, rather than one step forward and one step back which is where I think Ive been most of the time during this course so far. Also cant wait for all my closed comedones to surface!

Day 69

Cheeks continue to flatten. Jawline and left side of chin continues to purge. I counted the closed comedones today in that problematic patch I mentioned on left side of chin. I counted 22 including 4 or 5 inflamed ones.

The rest of my closed comedones are on jawline (both sides) and some on neck (mostly right side), with a few scattered on my cheeks still for good measure. I would say the total amount of ccs on my face is less than 50 now? Or maybe roughly 50? This must indicate progress because I know for a fact I used to have 100+.

Side effects wise, I used a 1% hydocortisone cream on my cracked lip corner last night which seems to have helped. Lips still very dry. Still losing loads of eyelashes and hair feels quite dry and brittle too.

My regime has stayed constant throughout this whole course:

AM

Wash face with Cerave hydrating cleanser, apply Cetaphil daily defence spf50 moisturiser, then makeup.

PM

Take makeup off with La Roche Posay makeup remover. Wash face with Cerave hydrating cleanserand use the Cerave moisturising cream (in tub) on face. Then apply BP (acnecide) to problematic spots. My skin has also been able to tolerate my origins charcoal face mask onceper week too.

Day 70

70™s. Another milestone hit

Nothing to add. Jawline and chin still bad and inflamed but cheeks are flattening further which is the main thing.

Day 71

Things continuingto calm down overall.Ive had this one stubborn little closed comedone on my right cheek thats becoming inflamed, but hard to know if its going to turn into a little whitehead or big ugly cyst at the moment!

Day 72

WEEK 11!!!!

Skin is still quite good. Feels smooth. Lots of continuing purging on bottom offace, particularly rightjawline, right ofchin,and leftbottom of cheek. I can handle it as I dont mind getting acne there really, and I know its all the closed comedones emptying out which is progress.

That 1% hydocortiosne cream has literally saved the cracked corners of my mouth!

Ongoing dry lips, arms, and some lower back pain as well. All manageable.

Day 73

Things are still quite good! Cheeks are fine apart from another new brewing spot on left cheek that could turn out to be tiny (like the last one) or a big one. Well see. Continue to purge along bottom half of face generally, mostly the right side.

Lips have been particularly dry last few days, they cracked and bled for first time yesterday

Day 74

Down day but it™s mostly my fault. Tried to squeeze spot on left cheek and naturally, nothing came out. It will be a megaspot by Wednesday, guaranteed  

The scarring on my left cheek is bad guys. I™m not talking about redness, I™m talking about indented marks. It was bad before, but I™m sure it™s worse. I saw it in mirror today and it made me sad  

Day 75

Spot on left cheek is still there, argh! As is a new one below it. Apart from those two pimples,my face looks quite smooth.

Corners of lips are bad again annoyingly.

Forehead has seemed oily past few days? Weird

Day 77

Bottom of my face continues to breakout. Purging all along right neck, right jawline, left of chin and bottom of left cheek.

Lips are probably the dryest theyve ever been.

Still losing eyelashes. Arms still dry and scaly and red.

Energy levels still very low. Theyve been consistently low for some time now so Im thinking this is definitely an accutane side effect

Day 80

As of yesterday, week 12!

Skin is hard to describe at the moment. Its clearly improving in some ways, probably because it feels and looks smoother overall. But the bottom of my face is still not looking great. Ive also got about 8 or 9 of those spots which are just flesh coloured and hard with no pus in; one of which is on my right cheek and is really painful.

I also couldnt help myself earlier and went on a bit of a squeezing spree of stubbornclosed comedones so I think I might have set myself off badly for the week now! Woops.

nothing else to report. Energy levels still low. armsstill dry. Lips still dry. Drank alcohol this weekend and I have been feeling very hungover today.

Day 81

Bad skin day. One mega spot on left cheek and another nasty spot from a closed comedone I squeezed. Left side of chin is extremely inflamed from where I went on a squeezing spree last night.

From the symptoms you describe, you quite possibly have an outbreak of candida and/or malasezzia (which are fungi), which are causing your skin problems, rather than "ordinary acne".

If you have a white tongue, itchy or painful red rashes, cracks around your lips, and the skin symptoms you describe then you probably have candida.

If you have dandruff, scaling skin (especially around eyebrows), and the skin symptoms you describe, then you probably have malasezzia. You could, of course, have both candida and malasezzia.

Both candida and malasezzia outbreaks are caused by taking oral antibiotics.

Get back to me if you have a white tongue and/or dandruff and I can provide information on how to control the "outbreaks" on your skin.

19 hours ago, Aussie Scientist said:

From the symptoms you describe, you quite possibly have an outbreak of candida and/or malasezzia (which are fungi), which are causing your skin problems, rather than "ordinary acne".

If you have a white tongue, itchy or painful red rashes, cracks around your lips, and the skin symptoms you describe then you probably have candida.

If you have dandruff, scaling skin (especially around eyebrows), and the skin symptoms you describe, then you probably have malasezzia. You could, of course, have both candida and malasezzia.

Both candida and malasezzia outbreaks are caused by taking oral antibiotics.

Get back to me if you have a white tongue and/or dandruff and I can provide information on how to control the "outbreaks" on your skin.

Thanks, I dont think it is though given that accutane is working whilst anti-fungal treatment hasnt.

Day 82

So much for my oily skin... my face is SO dry today! Really annoying and no idea what thats about. Spots still bad.

Depends on the antifungal cream that you have applied. Antifungal creams are specific for different types of fungus.

Accutane will help control malasezzia fungus, because it controls sebum, which malasezzia feeds on. I would try using terbenafine antifungal cream (sold as lamisil). Topical terbenafine cream is safe.

The azole antifungal creams do not control malasezzia.

21 hours ago, Aussie Scientist said:

Depends on the antifungal cream that you have applied. Antifungal creams are specific for different types of fungus.

Accutane will help control malasezzia fungus, because it controls sebum, which malasezzia feeds on. I would try using terbenafine antifungal cream (sold as lamisil). Topical terbenafine cream is safe.

The azole antifungal creams do not control malasezzia.

Thank you!

Day 83

Still no change to skin. Progress is extremely slow. Problem areas are left side of chin, right cheek and bottom cheek, right jaw and right neck. Face skin is still dry. Im wondering if its because my makeup remover pump broke and Ive switched to micellar water? It seems to be irritating my skin!

Today I had my 3 month check up, a few days early because of the holidays. Derm was very happy with left side of face. She wrote me out a prescription for 40mg again, 60mg wasnt in the mix despite her saying it would be; luckily I wanted to stay on 40 anyway.

She indicated that after 4 months the we need to take things week by week... I asked if this means she wants to stop my course before 6 months? She said maybe. I expressed my worries about too low a cumulative dose but she didnt say very much

"Still no change to your skin...."

Why not try a topical antifungal cream with terbenafine it it ? Cheap and safe .... Your call, of course.

5 hours ago, Aussie Scientist said:

"Still no change to your skin...."

Why not try a topical antifungal cream with terbenafine it it ? Cheap and safe .... Your call, of course.

By still no change to my skin, I mean since my last post. Ive seen loads of progress in my skin since I started accutane. With all due respect this is a blog documenting my journey on accutane, not a post asking people for advice on non-accutane acne treatments

Day 84

Good skin day! Face feels smoother overall  braved work with just a bit of concealer on!

Day 85

Skin is still good! I do have a nasty pimple brewing on right cheek which is my own fault, as its come from a blackhead I squeezed.

Day 86

WEEK 13/MONTH 4!

Hi month 4! So month 3 was kind to me on the whole. There were some low points, but it was the first month I saw actual progress.

Nothing to report skin wise really. Spots still slowly flattening out and there™s no doubt in my mind I™ve hit a major turning point over the last few days

lips dry as always. Had mini nosebleeds yesterday and the day before. Still finding eyelashes all the time. Eczema on arms still bad. 

Day 87

Skin looks better and better. I have ONE active; the inflamed blackhead I mentioned 2 days ago. Even the hard lumps that were hanging out on my bottomright cheek have flattened down without doing anything else. Im so pleased right now and my confidence is returning very quickly.

Side effects are weird though. Eczema has now spread to shoulders. Ive got very dry eyes today and also mytop lip on the left has randomly swollen up!

Day 89

Things aren™t great  I mean, overall my skin is still good. But that inflamed spot I told you about is now a megaspot, and to make matters worse, another megaspot has appeared directly below it. So I™m now sporting two huge spots on right cheek, about an inch from my nose. They are honestly huge, both pea sized and too tender/painful to squeeze with no visible whitehead but clearly loads of gunk in there somewhere

Also, those hard lumps have either come back or new ones have formed. So my texture isn™t feeling too great today.

Im also getting very upset about the deep rolling scars that have been left behind everything.

hard to tell at the moment if certain things are side effects or hay fever. My eyes have been so dry and itchy every day!