Hello all,
So about a year ago today my face was completely smooth with an occasional pimple. I had taken accutane in HS and it had kept me clear for about 7 years. I started my first real job and had some breakouts. I would say I controlled popped 20 or so with a needle, definitely a mistake in hindsight and I will admit to that. Anyways, The derm prescribed me retin-a somewhat blindly and I used retin-a for about 3 months. Definitely may have overused it a few times but mostly did what I was told. My pores started getting enormous, clear, but enormous. Didnt have any pimples over that 3 months but these tiny scars and enlarged pores kept appearing. I had never been able to see my pores before then all of a sudden my cheeks were riddled with them. Some weird icepick scars started forming seemingly out of thin air every day that passed so I quit taking it. My pores started getting clogged and now not only could I see all my pores but they were clogged.
To unclog them I sought out a diff derm to prescribe me what I know had worked on my face in the past - Accutane. Started off good and i could see my pores shrinking and some of the clogs coming to the top. However after a few months the progress kind of stopped and then my pores started getting even bigger and now there's more of them all over my cheeks and nose. Not only that but more little scars and pockmarks are appearing out of nowehere! I cant even pretend to know when the last time I had a pimple in these spots was. Pores and tiny scars everywhere. I really need some advice, guidance, or something from someone. Will I see any kind of improvement after accutane on some of these pores or scars? I am very depressed and am obsessive about looking at my face. It's hard for me to stay focused and im constantly anxious. Could drinking on accutane cause any of this? Everywhere I read says that just can do liver damage but my liver has passed every blood test.
P.S. maybe im self-diagnosing but there could be a chance I have rosacea, lately i notice when I am nervous or anxious or embarrassed at work I can feel my face heat up and my cheeks get red, nose too. Same thing happens when I drink occasionally.
I attached some pictures of my cheeks, they probably look worse than that in real life honestly. Somebody please tell me this will improve post-accutane. There are just so many pores and they are red inside, dialated almost.
I just want to stop the damage, It seems like everyday I wake up and my face looks worse than the day before. I am still on accutane by the way. I am on month 5 so pretty much done.
Some of these scars start as almost shadows on my skin that look like hyperpigmentation or something in a spot. Slowly they sink into my skin and then bang a small shallow scar is there. I repeat again I haven't had acne in these locations at any point that I can remember, probably not in the past year. Is it possible that the rapid skin turnover from accutane is revealing some scars that I didn't know I had?
The other scars are small, not even icepicks but they look like icepicks. These scars are clearly formed from pores joining together but my problem is I don't know how to stop it and if accutane isn't stopping it then I don't know what will. Is it possible that flushing bouts from Rosacea or otherwise while on accutane is irritating my pores and causing them to scar?
Nobody has experienced anything like this at all?
I'm not sure what's going on but to address a few things --
Alcohol & Accutane -- Yes, it's bad for your liver, but alcohol also inhibits the accutane from working properly.
Rapid Skin Turnover -- accutane does not result in high cell turnover. It actually slows the growth of new cells, which is why your skin heals slowly while you are on accutane,
Are you sure they're scars? I used to have huge, clogged pores on my nose that collectively gave it a very uneven texture. Once the accutane got all that crap out, the skin is much smoother. Derm is probably the best one to ask about the whole rosacea thing.
I guess I am not positive that they are all scars but some definitely are and it's strange because like I said, cant remember I had cysts or large pimples in these places. I guess I'm just concerned because the texture of my skin is pretty bad and hasn't really improved at all. I can see a lot of the pores are still clogged though so maybe that has something to do with it.
I'd say your skin looks pretty great. Guys tend to have thicker texture of skin to girls, and honestly most guys I know have some sort of visible pores going on. It might be to do with testosterone or something? I will say though that if your pores were clogged before retin a, then they might just look large since whatever was clogging them has been removed. Also having rosacea or flushing will make your pores seem larger, I suffer from the occasional flush and my skin always looks worse when my cheeks/nose are red. Do you use any particular moisturiser that might help calm down the redness and hydrate your skin making it look more plumped up. I know when my skin is dry my pores look much bigger. Do you ever look at people close up, no one has perfect skin. My boyfriend has pores and marks on his skin and the only acne he had was a few blackheads in high school, skin is skin, it's not flawless. I know some things maybe look worse in person but honestly I would say you have pretty great skin, once you stop over analysing your anxiety will go down and these little imperfections wont bother you anymore. Try and stay positive
Thanks a bunch for the reply. Yea I definitely over analyze my skin and have had some serious anxiety issues over it the past year. And I definitely agree that nobody has perfect skin, I have come to realize that as well. I think the reason I'm so sad about it is its like watching a slow car wreck....every day it seems a little bit worse. Just thinking back to the way my face used to be it's pretty depressing, in certain lightings my face looks riddled with scars or something. I moisturize a lot, especially since ive been on accutane. I use a cetaphil moisturizer with 30 spf most mornings. I use regular cetaphil lotion at night after I wash my face. Usually only wash my face once a day.
I just wish I could pinpoint the problem and whats causing this shallow scarring or big pores and fix it. I guess I have to wait til the course is over and even a half year or so after the course and reevaluate. Maybe my skin will heal some of this and it is just purging.
When I put my phone flashlight on my pores/cheeks in the mirror or just get very close in the mirror my pores look very red and almost look to be joining together. I can also see little lines in them which I believe to be junk probably. Is that just the accutane still purging? Is there anything I can do about that and/or has anyone experienced something similar? The pores are just so big and it still seems like there are scars forming.
I've had this before and I know exactly how you feel; one of the worst feelings ever.
It is definitely from the Retin-A.
This happened to me when I switched from a lower concentration of Retin-A/Tretinoin to a higher concentration of Retin-A.
What Retin-A/Tretinoin does is open up your pores so that they won't clog (prevents blackheads/whiteheads) -From my personal doctor.
I am no doctor but what I recommend you to do is to lay off the Retin-A; the accutane should help shrink the pore because it reduces the size of oil glands (acne.org).
Hope this helps.
So should I just finish the accutane and kind of take it easy and let my skin heal up for a while (obviously avoiding major procedures but I mean also just topical regimens) after my course is over? Did your experience with this improve? I'm past the point of expecting perfect skin and I can live with a few scars here and there but I can see like every pore on my face if my skin is having a bad day.
Does anyone have any advice for treatments after accutane? i heard vitamin C serum before, among other things. I guess the good (maybe?) thing is that even though im in month 5 I can still see little white stuff rising to the top of some of my pores which maybe indicates that they still aren't done purging. I know that they were very deeply clogged before I started accutane.
#1) If you are on Accutane, stop using the Retin-A (All topical retinoids should not be used)
#2) Accutane will most likely shrink your pores because it decreases your sebum production (pores tend to be bigger when you have more oil on your face)
#3) I have those little white stuff on top of my pores too (I think that's the dried whiteheads coming out of the pores)
#4) Accutane is probably one of the most potent medication for acne because of what it does to the rest of the body (you should definitely stop all other topical regimens unless your doctor/dermatologist prescribed them)
#5) If you're on Accutane, just make sure you wash your face with a gentle cleanser such as Cetaphil (Gentle Skin) and apply lotion (once or twice daily depending on how dry your face gets)
#6) Don't do any of those dermarolls, laser treatments
Accutane will shrink your pores!
"All patients treated with oral isotretinoin noted improvement in wrinkles, thickness and color of the skin, size of pores, skin elasticity, tone, and reduction in pigmented lesions and mottled hyperpigmentation. A statistically significant difference was found in the improvement of group A (Wilcoxon test <0.01). Using minimal amounts of this drug, the side effects were practically negligible."
Yea I am doing all of those things. I don't use any topicals besides moisturizer and the cetahil gentle cleanser like you said. I have about 45 pills left (40 mg each) to go. Like I said, my pores were all open and kind of stagnant for a while with no white sebum in the middle but now it looks as though they are cleansing again because I can see the clogs again. I think that is good but i don't know how much I like that happening at the trail end of my course. Could make sense though because my pores were very very very clogged after retin A.
I will say though, for certain, that either the retin A or accutane has caused past scars (some that I didn't even know existed) to become more visible. 100%, no doubt. I know this because before retin A and accutane I had one scar on my temple from a bad cyst in high school and now that same scar which had since faded pretty much to skin color, is now a red/purple color again. Almost like the scar is being unearthed from my skin layers. Accutane/retin-a is supposed to thin the skin correct? Maybe that can give me some hope for post accutane life for some of that to heal over.
I understand your worries. I know exactly how you feel.
I'm pretty sure accutane/retin-a makes your skin more sensitive to sunlight which probably means that the skin's barrier is affected from the acne medicine.
Nonetheless, just stick to the accutane and nothing else; trust me, it'll make your pores a bit smaller.
Good luck!
On June 7, 2015 at 6:32 PM, jmd1568 said:has anybody else experienced something similar? I just want to stop it from getting worse
Yes nearly the exact same thing!!
have you recovered yet??
would love to know
mine occurred after only two uses of the retinoid tazorac, I ALSO used accutane almost 4 years ago for isolated cystic acne caused by birth control and it ridded of it, no issues besides some temperamental redness and chapped lips at the end which all went away quickly after stopping the accutane.
my other issues, the pores and what not, exactly as you describe, appeared LITERALLY overnight after using the tazorac so I am 100% positive it is the retinoid/retin a.
in fact I'm wondering if some of the people who complain of the same reaction blame it on accutane when maybe they were also prescribed retinoids during or around the time they used accutane, as MOST people are actually prescribed the topical retinoids to try before the Accuatane, not the other way around....idk
All I know is that I am beside myself now 4 months later, have been to countless derm appointments in a panic and my skin is still not going back to normal.
I'm heartbroken.
On June 18, 2015 at 8:23 AM, ohhhhhhnooooooo said:I've had this before and I know exactly how you feel; one of the worst feelings ever.
It is definitely from the Retin-A.
This happened to me when I switched from a lower concentration of Retin-A/Tretinoin to a higher concentration of Retin-A.
What Retin-A/Tretinoin does is open up your pores so that they won't clog (prevents blackheads/whiteheads) -From my personal doctor.
I am no doctor but what I recommend you to do is to lay off the Retin-A; the accutane should help shrink the pore because it reduces the size of oil glands (acne.org).
Hope this helps.
Could you tell me more about your experience with this issue, I'm dealing with the same and it's literally killing me. ??
@JMD 1568,
I'm so happy I found this forum! The same thing is happening to me! I totally understand what you're going through. You may not see this as your initial post was 9 years ago but for anyone who has the same issue, its definitely a side affect that isn't talked about. A little back story on my skin and the medication...
I've had cystic acne for 16 years before I finally got on accutane. I am current on it and the brand I'm taking is called Zanatane. I don't know if it's the specific brand (or not) that's causing the large pores but I chose the brand because I wasn't able to afford (out of pocket) absorbica, which may be a more common brand. The price was too high and everything was out of pocket, dr visits, lab and medication.
I've always had smooth skin on my nose and somewhat smooth skin on my cheeks by my nose and kind of my forehead. My nose looked like it did not have pores and despite the permanent scarring (ice pik/box scar) on the outer cheek area and jawline, I loved how the center of my face (especially nose) was smooth and barely affected by my acne throughout the years. I can count with one hand how many times I had a breakout on my nose.. maybe 3 throughout the whole 16 years. So I never had textured skin on my nose. When I say it looked like I didn't have pores, it was perfect and honestly I cherished that it was the only part of my face that was smooth and when I wore makeup (because it was the center of my face), it didn't look like I had textured skin unless I turned to the side or I was under bad lighting.
My first month on accutane, I was on 40mg. Although I noticed dryness on my face (esp. my lips) it was mostly on the outer area of my face (like chin, jawline). My second month, the dose increased to 60mg. (20mg in the morning and 40mg in the evening). When I tell you, I noticed IMMEDIATELY, I was SHOOK. Within 2-3 days of the increase, my nose had the biggest pores I've ever had on my face. I had noticeable pores on my face prior to this on my cheeks but it wasn't huge, just noticeable. This was huge. So huge that it looked like it was forming ice pik scars because the pores kept getting bigger and connecting! I can't explain the toll it took on me because I know that its not easy or impossible to shrink your pores for good. I kept hoping that it was a temporary side effect but it has yet to go down or back to normal. Of course I told my dermatologist at the next appt. She said she thinks its because my skin is dry and accutane is suppose to shrink your pores, not enlarged them. (My skin was dry, but it wasn't that dry I don't think.) She also tried to reassure me that we'll work on it when we're done with the accutane but the look on her face wasn't reassuring enough. I think she wasn't sure what was going on either.
I'm so upset because when someone makes the decision to take a drug like accutane, it because they want to fix a problem (despite the crazy side affects) not add to the problem, you know? I'm trying to get rid of acne so I don't have textured skin, not get more textured skin without the acne. I want to cry right now, but I'm trying to tell myself its not the end of the world. Maybe it's the pharmacy? Maybe I should have gotten it from a regular pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens? I have so many questions. I'm on my third month, just completed the first week of month 3. I still break out as of right now. I just want to get it over with without any other issues. I hope this helps anyone on accutane or thinking about getting on it.