Please help me
I am a 19 year old girl, who has had the worst year imaginable. Lots of horrific stressful things happened to me and my family, and I got the most severe case of acne I've seen on any girl my age. Huge cysts covering my cheeks, jaw and forehead. When this was 'starting' in March I went to a sk:n clinic (I'm from the UK) and although my spots were everywhere, they were small whiteheads. I then had three chemical peels based on the advice of the 'experts' at the clinic. My peels went wrong, I had a bad reaction and have come out in huge under the skin cysts. My skin has NOT stopped severely itching since. It feels like my face is constantly burning, I use only the most gentle of cleansers and moisturisers but STILL my face isn't stopping itching. My skin tone, texture etc have been so severely worsened by the peel. I was given a partial (!) refund and sent on my way with the instruction 'keep out the sun'. My skin is so severely dehydrated I have a long deep line across my forehead now.
Enter Accutane, last month. With no sign of my skin getting any better I started on Accutane. I'm 5'5 107 pounds and I was put on 20mg to start, with the view to up it to 50mg eventually. I've been on it for five weeks and my skin... is horrendous. It's even worse than it was before and the itching WILL NOT STOP. It's bright red, inflamed and I'm covered in blackheads.
I have tried every single antibiotic on the UK market, diets, exercise, meditation, the works. This is my last chance, but it appears to be making it worse. I'm 20 soon, I don't go out, I don't socialise and I cry every day because of my painful face.
PLEASE CAN SOMEONE HELP!
Have I permenantly ruined my face with whatever chemical they put on???
What products should I use?
How often should I moisturise my dry face? Especially because of the blackhead issue I do it at night and first thing, should I be doing it more because of the peel?
Please please help me.
You should talk to your doctor IMMEDIATELY about your symptoms. Are you using a chemical peel while on Accuntane? This will definitely cause more irritation to the face.
You should try to stay moisturized. I'm on week 6 of Accutane now and I suffered from itchy, flakey red face during weeks 2 and 3 but was able to get it under control with moisturizer. Actually, at first I was just putting Aquaphor straight on the troubled areas at night. This got the issue under control pretty quickly for me. Now I use Vanicream Moisturizer 2x a day and that keeps things at bay.
Everyone's face seems to stabilize differently while on Accutane but your face will eventually start to clear up.
You should talk to your doctor IMMEDIATELY about your symptoms. Are you using a chemical peel while on Accuntane? This will definitely cause more irritation to the face.
You should try to stay moisturized. I'm on week 6 of Accutane now and I suffered from itchy, flakey red face during weeks 2 and 3 but was able to get it under control with moisturizer. Actually, at first I was just putting Aquaphor straight on the troubled areas at night. This got the issue under control pretty quickly for me. Now I use Vanicream Moisturizer 2x a day and that keeps things at bay.
Everyone's face seems to stabilize differently while on Accutane but your face will eventually start to clear up.
Thankyou so much for your response - I just spoke to my GP and have been prescribed a sort of anti histamine which will hopefully stop itching!! I'm not touching chemical peels at all now no!
I was wondering whether it'd be worth just washing my face with water and applying aloe vera gel, since almost every cleanser I pick up has crazy ingredients, and my skin is so dry I haven't exactly got oil clogging my pores??
You should talk to your doctor IMMEDIATELY about your symptoms. Are you using a chemical peel while on Accuntane? This will definitely cause more irritation to the face.
You should try to stay moisturized. I'm on week 6 of Accutane now and I suffered from itchy, flakey red face during weeks 2 and 3 but was able to get it under control with moisturizer. Actually, at first I was just putting Aquaphor straight on the troubled areas at night. This got the issue under control pretty quickly for me. Now I use Vanicream Moisturizer 2x a day and that keeps things at bay.
Everyone's face seems to stabilize differently while on Accutane but your face will eventually start to clear up.
Thankyou so much for your response - I just spoke to my GP and have been prescribed a sort of anti histamine which will hopefully stop itching!! I'm not touching chemical peels at all now no!
I was wondering whether it'd be worth just washing my face with water and applying aloe vera gel, since almost every cleanser I pick up has crazy ingredients, and my skin is so dry I haven't exactly got oil clogging my pores??
Its very difficult to find pure aloe gel (most are loaded with preservatives like denatured alcohol that will make things worse), so you may want to confirm the ingredients of your aloe.
You should probably wash your face with more than just water, since accutane is very drying, your skin will likely flake and the build up can cause breakouts to become worse. Try to look for a gentle cleanser, one used for baby's skin. Here in the US we have Cetaphil, I am not sure if you have anything like that in the UK. As for a moisturizer, look for moisturizers meant for people with eczema or very sensitive skin. They usually have less ingredients and are meant to be irritant free.
Heyy you should know that although you may see these stories abour accutane showing improvement after a week or two in, yhe truth is that for most cases, accutane takes it time to work.
I am 5 days from my 2 month mark and breaking out like crazy. I used to have moderate acne but now my skin is the worst i have ever seen it.
However im very confident that it will work because its just pushing the shit out of my face. My acne used to be not the kind on which you see the face with many pimples. My face was full of closedncomedones, you could see it was very very bumpy and oily. So I think my case is the one that will get the worst ib cause everythinf is pushed outside, so all these bumps come to the surface as pimples.
So my advice for you is to be patient, accutane works for most of people, and im sure it will work for you too 
just give it time.
Hi MTS, sorry to hear you're feeling so rubbish!
I doubt you have permanently ruined your skin with the peels. The body is an amazing thing and will heal itself eventually.
I like La Roche Posay or Avene skincare. You can get it in Boots. It's what Harley Street Dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting recommends. Look up her blog, youtube stuff.
I would moisturise whenever you feel you need it.
The blackheads probably just show the crap is coming out your pores! Welcome them!
Good luck. xx
Hello!
First off Im really sorry to what happened to you. I know what it feels like youre in pain and dont know what to do anymore.
Im sure your skin will recover but it will take time.
There is just one thing that kinda bothers me. Why does your doctor gived you accutane. Your skin must been already really irritated from the chemical peels! Accutane helps acne yes but thins your skin so it makes it even more fragile!!! I dont know if its a good idea to take that drug. Im no doctor but I feel its not right. Maybe you should talk about this with him?
Wish you good luck ))
Thank you everyone for your replies, this has made me feel way less alone!!!
I'm gonna speak with my dermatologist about it, but yeah I guess the body is pretty amazing at healing itself!
Another slightly strange thing is that my skin looks really really dull and kinda grey, like smokers skin? Anyone??
Please help me
I am a 19 year old girl, who has had the worst year imaginable. Lots of horrific stressful things happened to me and my family, and I got the most severe case of acne I've seen on any girl my age. Huge cysts covering my cheeks, jaw and forehead. When this was 'starting' in March I went to a sk:n clinic (I'm from the UK) and although my spots were everywhere, they were small whiteheads. I then had three chemical peels based on the advice of the 'experts' at the clinic. My peels went wrong, I had a bad reaction and have come out in huge under the skin cysts. My skin has NOT stopped severely itching since. It feels like my face is constantly burning, I use only the most gentle of cleansers and moisturisers but STILL my face isn't stopping itching. My skin tone, texture etc have been so severely worsened by the peel. I was given a partial (!) refund and sent on my way with the instruction 'keep out the sun'. My skin is so severely dehydrated I have a long deep line across my forehead now.
Enter Accutane, last month. With no sign of my skin getting any better I started on Accutane. I'm 5'5 107 pounds and I was put on 20mg to start, with the view to up it to 50mg eventually. I've been on it for five weeks and my skin... is horrendous. It's even worse than it was before and the itching WILL NOT STOP. It's bright red, inflamed and I'm covered in blackheads.
I have tried every single antibiotic on the UK market, diets, exercise, meditation, the works. This is my last chance, but it appears to be making it worse. I'm 20 soon, I don't go out, I don't socialise and I cry every day because of my painful face.
PLEASE CAN SOMEONE HELP!
Have I permenantly ruined my face with whatever chemical they put on???
What products should I use?
How often should I moisturise my dry face? Especially because of the blackhead issue I do it at night and first thing, should I be doing it more because of the peel?
Please please help me.
I'm going through this right now to a lesser degree! I did a mild peel and my skin is dry, has patches and tight. I do think skin will heal but only if you baby it. Being on accutane is definitely going to slow that process down for you....a lot. I recommend Benadryl or an anti histamine when you're itching. Try not to use hydrocortisone cream on your face, even if your derm recommends it. Also, hydrate, hydrate, hydrate so try cerave products or avenue as those cater to severely dry, dehydrated skin. In the end , your skin will just need time to get back to normal.
Good luck. You're not alone.
On 12/9/2016 at 7:56 AM, BrokenPorEcelain said:Hey...was wondering if your skin ever recovered?
Im going through something similar
Hey! Really sorry for late reply, I haven't had any success, but I think partly that's because I'm sure I don't actually have acne. Here are some pics of my face in my latest thread: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/365083-pretty-sure-i-dont-actually-have-acne-possible-folliculitis-that-got-a-staph-infection/#comment-3547049