So I've been on 2 doses of accutane.. quite mild acne came back so I'm on a low dose of 20mg of accutane a day to keep skin clear (body weight being around 70kg.)..I honestly don't know wtf is going on..But random little scars are appearing on my skin and overall face just looks shit with hyperpigmentation,etc.. I'm thinking about using Retin-A 0.05% every night to even out redness,clear marks, etc while on the low dose accutane... good or bad idea?
Thanks.
I have sebaceous hyperplasia around my chin and I started low dose accutane (20 mg/d) about 10 weeks ago. I previously had been using Retin-A and my skin had a nice glow to it, but I stopped using Retin-A as soon as I started accutane.
Between stopping Retin A, and continued use of Accutane, my face is now lackluster, mostly pale and dull looking, and in the areas where the bumps are around my chin, previous breakout spots and some broken blood vessels make that area of my face appear bruised. I am having to use cover-up on the hyperpigmentation spots, and a bronzing product to give my face some color. It really looks dull and old. The bumps are about half of what they were when I started, so that part has improved.
So I think I am going to experiment with cutting back on Accutane, to 20 mg every other day, and trying to gradually start back on the .05% retin A, diluted heavily in moisturizer, and running a humidifier at night while I sleep.
Does anyone know if the hyperpigmentation or bruised look clears up when you cut back the dose, or do you have to quit accutane altogether for that to clear up? My derm said that when people are done with accutane, about three weeks after they stop they have the best skin ever, and the hyperpigmentation goes away.
Update- I quit the accutane about ten days ago. I started back on .05% Retin-A on the same day I quit the accutane, and I used a pea-sized amount diluted in an equal amount of moisturizer. I only applied it every other night for a week, and to my surprise, my skin is able to handle it much better than before the accutane. I am now using it nightly, and getting good results without side effects. I wonder if having the Vit A from accutane in my system makes my face better able to tolerate it topically? Granted, I only took 20 mg/d of accutane for two months, but I didn't use Retin-A at all during that time, so I would have expected my skin to be very sensitive to it.
My glow and color has returned to my skin, it no longer looks pale and dull, but the slightly bruised look and hyperpigmentation from old pimples and damage is still visible. It seems a little lighter though. It's only been nine days, so we will see what it looks like in a month.
On 7/10/2016 at 6:25 PM, HuskyChef said:So I've been on 2 doses of accutane.. quite mild acne came back so I'm on a low dose of 20mg of accutane a day to keep skin clear (body weight being around 70kg.)..I honestly don't know wtf is going on..But random little scars are appearing on my skin and overall face just looks shit with hyperpigmentation,etc.. I'm thinking about using Retin-A 0.05% every night to even out redness,clear marks, etc while on the low dose accutane... good or bad idea?
Thanks.
Good idea is to come of accutane.