HI guys,
I wanted to share my experience with everyone in hope that It can help. For starters , I am a 39 year old male who has had cystic acne since I was 15. I have let this rule my life for roughly 25 years and i hope to finally take my life back. My acne was strictly shoulders, chest , and back but never the face. I can remember being a sophomore in high school being on the football team and being the last one on the field everyday because when this started i wouldn't take my shirt off in front of anyone. I was the weird kid who hated summers because i wouldn't go to pool parties , bbqs, or to the beach with others . I was the kid who would be sitting in the corner baking in 100 degree sun with my shirt on. I hated this always felt miserable. Fast forward 25 years later and i am still the same exact person. I am a triathlete who loves to workout and stay fit and the acne still ruled my life. While doing swim workouts in the pool or lake I would always be the one wearing a swim top. If i had a bad breakout i would just skip my workout because i didn't want to shower in front of people. Even if i had a great day with very little breakout and i took my shirt off i would never let anyone walk behind me and i felt as if everyone was staring at me. What a terrible feeling. As a 15 year old kid my mom had taken me to the dermatologist to try accutane but after the first month i had to come off of it because i had no insurance and it was too costly. In my 30s i have been to the dermatologist close to 20 times trying all different products. I have used cleansers, foam topical , doxy , and every other product you can imagine. The only thing that helped me in the slightest was bactrim but i had to come off it because i found out i had a sulfa allergy. AWESOME! i have tried cutting out all whey products and changed my diet and nothing worked. Finally at 38, i had enough . I went back to the dermatologist and said I am ready to try isotretinoin . I have heard all the stories and nightmares about it, but i was already letting it rule my life so could it be worst?
My first month i was taking 80 mg a day and felt great. Other then some initial dryness i really had no side effects. In month 2 and 3 my dose was pushed up to 120 mgs a day. The skin dryness really started to kick in and my skin started to develop some red blotches on my arms and legs. My skin was hyper sensitive to the sun and i would burn after a few minutes. At this point my acne had not changed at all and i still had breakouts on my back and shoulders. I was totally frustrated at this point and was debating if is i should just pull the plug. I chose to stick it out, and I went back to the doctor and after reading my blood work he decided to lower me back to 80 mgs for the month. at this point he also stated we would extend to 6 months vs 5. i had no idea how to feel about this but did it anyway. Months 5 and 6 I was back up to 120 mgs a day. Being extremely active i found that i was really tired all the time. I had this crazy muscle soreness that would not go away for days and always felt like my back was super tight. As far as the acne goes i can honestly say that from month 5 to 6 was like flipping a switch. For the most part my back and shoulders are clear and i am thrilled and yet petrified that its going to come back. Last night was my last dose and i felt like i needed to share this story with others. Some of the things that i have found was that carmex worked way better for my lips then aquaphor however i would use it on the inside of my nose and also on my eyelids and it was perfect for that. I also used the carave lotion for light dryness because i found found the cream was just too thick for me. I'm sure there are plenty of other things but I just cant think of any right now. Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. I am not in anyway endorsing isotretinoin, however i am just saying that it worked for me and that I wish i had done it sooner. To all those struggling with this i can honestly say to hang in there because i did for 25 years. I know the mental pain and anguish is worst then physical pain but do not give up because things will get better. Thank you for reading my story.