I've always had ance prone skin. This problem has been moderate over the past 5 years, and I have been on countless perscription medications as a result, including 1 round of accutane about 4 years ago. The first treatment of accutane worked well and cleared up my skin for the most part. However, about 5 months ago upon going off birth control, my skin broke out in tons of small blackheads all along my jawline and chin, and my skin was always oily. These blemishes made me very insecure so I consulted my new doctor about going back on accutane.
I am going on my third month of accutane and my skin is WORSE than it has EVER been. Cystic acne is covering my chin, jawline and on my forehead along my hairline. Never in my life have I had such sevre acne on my face. The small blackhead/blemishses also remain. The past 2 months I have been on 40mg, and continue on 40mg this month as my doctor refuses to up my dosage. I am completely embarrassed and depressed over my skin and refuse to leave my house without makeup, and try to stay home as much as possible to avoid the need to wear makeup. I am extremly insecure in my appearance and again just flat out embarrassed. I also tend to pick and pop my acne as an anxious tendency, which I obviously know does no good.
I'm at the point where I don't know what to do. Is there any advice/tips/suggestions anyone could give me? I have an extreme sense of hopelessness at this point
Hi -
I've always had ance prone skin. This problem has been moderate over the past 5 years, and I have been on countless perscription medications as a result, including 1 round of accutane about 4 years ago. The first treatment of accutane worked well and cleared up my skin for the most part. However, about 5 months ago upon going off birth control, my skin broke out in tons of small blackheads all along my jawline and chin, and my skin was always oily. These blemishes made me very insecure so I consulted my new doctor about going back on accutane.
I am going on my third month of accutane and my skin is WORSE than it has EVER been. Cystic acne is covering my chin, jawline and on my forehead along my hairline. Never in my life have I had such sevre acne on my face. The small blackhead/blemishses also remain. The past 2 months I have been on 40mg, and continue on 40mg this month as my doctor refuses to up my dosage. I am completely embarrassed and depressed over my skin and refuse to leave my house without makeup, and try to stay home as much as possible to avoid the need to wear makeup. I am extremly insecure in my appearance and again just flat out embarrassed. I also tend to pick and pop my acne as an anxious tendency, which I obviously know does no good.
I'm at the point where I don't know what to do. Is there any advice/tips/suggestions anyone could give me? I have an extreme sense of hopelessness at this point
Hi - I am so sorry you are going through this. Sometimes the skin can get dramatically worse before it improves on accutane, although from what I understand a severe initial breakout is somewhat rare. When I was on accutane, I noticed my skin improved a bit in the first 2 weeks, and then broke out pretty badly around the 4th week. After that, my skin continued to breakout (especially during the first 3 months), and I didn't see significant improvement until probably the end of my fourth month. It rapidly improved after the 4th month, and continued to improve after my course ended. You may still be in the initial breakout stage - so don't be too discouraged.
Your dermatologist may be avoiding raising your dosage because he / she doesn't want to make the initial breakout worse. That is what my dermatologist did (he bumped me from 40-60 at the third month instead of the second month, which made me break out pretty badly again - though not as bad as the first time). Also, there are some options you can talk to your doc about. For example, a short course of Oral steroids like prednisone can help with the inflammation while the IB runs its course.