So I finish Accutane tomorrow and I'm wondering what I should do post tane. My derm wants 6 months of a retinoid which I agree with. After seeing him though, I am still getting small whiteheads on my chin that he said was razor folliculitis so he prescribed veltin which is a topical that is clindaymcin phosphate and tretinoin. I'm worried that I will fall back into the same cycle of reliance on topicals that i was in for the past 4-5 years before accutane. I also used clindamycin for about 4 years already so its affectiveness is suspect at this point. I'm also concerned that it will make me oily which I lbelieve clindamycin may have in the past. I was think maybe just stick to differin or retin a first?

what yall think?

 

Overall, you didnt say what your before and after condition is? are you happy with the turn out after 6 months? why 6 more months with a retinoid?

I not sure i would go with retinoid after 6 months on accutane, did your acne not clear in 6 months or is this just reassurance? clindamycin lotion or creme is a antibiotic, i would continue to use the lotion (the creme is too heavy, switch to lotion) after your accutane to keep any new bacteria from forming on or under your skin, You are a acne "lifer", meaning you will need to take care of your skin prob for the rest of your life, the accutane gets you started to clearer skin, you must continue daily regimen years after accutane, only use mild soap with moisturizers (Dove works well) and i know if your a guy, gently exfoliating every other day isnt one of your strong suits but it helps keep the dead skin cells off and any new bacteria. Since accutane dried up your natural oil, esp your face, i would use a alpha-hydroxy repairing lotion on top of the clindamycin lotion.

After your daily regimen of soap and lotion, i find it helpful to splash cold water on your face, pat dry, morning starting your day and evening before bed

So I finish Accutane tomorrow and I'm wondering what I should do post tane. My derm wants 6 months of a retinoid which I agree with. After seeing him though, I am still getting small whiteheads on my chin that he said was razor folliculitis so he prescribed veltin which is a topical that is clindaymcin phosphate and tretinoin. I'm worried that I will fall back into the same cycle of reliance on topicals that i was in for the past 4-5 years before accutane. I also used clindamycin for about 4 years already so its affectiveness is suspect at this point. I'm also concerned that it will make me oily which I lbelieve clindamycin may have in the past. I was think maybe just stick to differin or retin a first?

what yall think?

 

Overall, you didnt say what your before and after condition is? are you happy with the turn out after 6 months? why 6 more months with a retinoid?

I not sure i would go with retinoid after 6 months on accutane, did your acne not clear in 6 months or is this just reassurance? clindamycin lotion or creme is a antibiotic, i would continue to use the lotion (the creme is too heavy, switch to lotion) after your accutane to keep any new bacteria from forming on or under your skin, You are a acne "lifer", meaning you will need to take care of your skin prob for the rest of your life, the accutane gets you started to clearer skin, you must continue daily regimen years after accutane, only use mild soap with moisturizers (Dove works well) and i know if your a guy, gently exfoliating every other day isnt one of your strong suits but it helps keep the dead skin cells off and any new bacteria. Since accutane dried up your natural oil, esp your face, i would use a alpha-hydroxy repairing lotion on top of the clindamycin lotion.

After your daily regimen of soap and lotion, i find it helpful to splash cold water on your face, pat dry, morning starting your day and evening before bed

 

60mg is a rather high dose, normal is 20-40, can you post before and after pics?

I was actually almost clear when starting accutane other than a few chin cysts and horrible bacne. I was using minocycline, retin a, clindamycin, and a benzoyl peroxide wash (not all at once of course). The mino was showing signs of weakening due to resistance so I figured just bite the bullet and do accutane instead of destroying my skin with all these topicals. I am 100% clear with just 2x daily cleansing and moisturzing at this point. The retinoid is very commonly prescribed after accutane to continue the affect of accutane seeing as accutane itself is very similar to a retinoid in it's mechanism.

I guess I just worded my question wrong.... I know how all these different treamnts work and all, I'm just wondering if y'all think that introducing 2 new medications (Veltin like I said is clindamycin and tretinoin) would be a bit of an overkill after success on accutane. My derm says its great for razor folliculitis which I am getting even whilst on accutane. But I'm thinking a gentle retinoid like differin would be just as effective without introducing too many more variables. I just dont want to mess up the success i've had by going down the topical road again.

Also, I'm going to have to strongly disagree with you on your suggestion of using soap. I think a gentle cleanser like cetaphil or cerave is much more effective. But as we all know, this acne thing isn't an exact science so hearing other opinions is important.

And I think 20-40 is pretty low. The goal is to get 150 mg per kilogram of body weight so figure the average course last 5-7 months so that puts you around 0.8-1.0 mg per kg. I weigh aroound 70 kg so 60mg is a very standard dose.