Hey guys,
I'm about to start my 8th month on accutane, my face is probably about 75-80% clear, but because I wasn't happy with the progress thus far (I expected to be 100% clear by now) I asked my dermatologist to increase my dose from 40mg, once a day to 60 mg, one 30 mg pill twice a day!
Does anybody have any advice on what I can eat or do to better my chances of this month clearing me up for good. I know I should drink a lot of water but anything else? Any advice on eating habits or what have you that may be helpful in getting rid of the acne on my cheeks and chin would be very much appreciated!!
Even if nothing is proven, anything you guys have tried or heard of I'm open to hearing about! thanks!
Always take the Accutane with a fatty meal- it increases it's bioavailablilty. Obviously a healthy diet & some sensible supplementation (Vitamin C, D, Zinc, but avoid vitamin A) cannot hurt but the effect of anything will be quite negligible compared to the effects of Accutane.
It sounds like your acne was very severe & in which case, it takes a long time. Sounds like you're making progress nonetheless though!
The weird thing is my acne was never "very severe," I was refused accutane by one dermatologist because my acne wasn't "severe enough." My current dermatologist was the one who allowed me to take accutane b/c I had/have very stubborn acne that hadn't responded to anything else. Maybe its taken so long to work b/c I skip doses sometimes when I forget to take it...?
8 months is a long time to be on it continuously, especially for acne that is not severe. Is 40mg a low/moderate dose for you? (Can't tell since it would be based on your weight). Skipping the occasional dose won't make a difference to effectiveness as Accutane gets stored in the body and is in your blood even weeks after you completely stop taking it.
I hope you get to 100% clearance, just be aware the longer and higher dose you are on, the higher probability of adverse side effects. Make sure you back off on the dosage if you start experiencing any serious side effects.
I agree 8 months is a really long time, which is why I'm getting very worried and anxious that it won't work for me. My dosage for the last 8 months has been: 20 mg (once a day), 20, 30, 30, 40, 40, 40, 60(current). I weigh 115 and I'm a female, my derm really likes long-term (7 months or so) small dose accutane courses & in the beggining he was going to keep me on 20 the whole course through. Everytime my dosage increased it was at my suggestion, since I felt like I wasn't seeing any results. I almost feel like the first 5 months was such a low dose for my moderately-severe acne that its was useless in helping me, I don't know though. Do you think my dosage is enough for my weight?
Thanks
You have been on a pretty low dose until now & your derm has an opposite opinion of mine! She prefers the short & sharp approach. Which I have to say I agree with.
It seems like your dose just hasn't really been high enough & hopefully you'll get better results on the 60mg a day. Don't worry about the time you're on the drug as long as you're getting your blood tests done- people react differently but slightly raised liver enzymes are the worst damage that most experience, which resolves within weeks of finishing your course.