DAY 39 - My skin is doing well, but I must admit that since I started up the Bactrim again it has cleared significantly. Man, that stuff is amazing. It gets to work in 24 hours! The first 2 weeks on Tane were horrible - I was considering coming off...breakouts galore and flaking skin galore. What a combination!!! I was adamant that I wouldn't use moisturiser through my course though because A) i hate the feel of it & B) I didn't want to clog my pores and exacerbate my terrible IB skin problems (I know about the whole non-comedogenic thing but I don't believe it - whenever I've used moisturiser in the past my skin has gone mad and quite a few people I know are the same...even the Clean & Clear, Neutrogena Oil Free etc)...Anyway after a couple of weeks it's as though my skin kinda got used to the Tane and it hasn't been anywhere near as flaky. I just use a tiny bit of Jurlique Calendular Cream around my mouth/lips/chin area, but leave the rest of my face clean. I cleanse with Clinique Mild Facial Soap AM+PM. At the moment, 2 small scabs on my forehead from pimples I squeezed (I'm terrible), and 3 other tiny ones that are under the skin but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll go away. No one else would be able to see them, but I know they're there. So all in all, not bad. No other significant side effects except the really dry lips (Lip EZE cherry balm is a God-send). I will probably update my skin on a weekly basis but will check every day in case anyone has any questions. Thanks for listening and good luck to everyone! Kate

DAY 43 - So I made the big mistake of attempting to squeeze the 3 tiny pimples...and because my skin seems to thin and sensitive on the Tane, I have been left with 3 horrid looking scabs. Grr why can't i just leave my skin alone??!! Otherwise no new activity to report and skin is dry, as usual. Hoping the scabs will peel off by tomorrow!!

hello... congrads on your successful progress so far. seems like everything is going very smoothly aside for the picking!! tsk tsk! hah oh who am i to talk.. i do it all the time all day long in fact! hah but i am also trying to nip it in the butt once and for all. i once read this sad sad article about people who pick... not just their faces but their scalp,lips,just skin in general and it made me really uncomfortable to know that i am one of those people. i should print it out and post it on my mirror to stop me whenever the habit creeps up on me.

i have a question for you...im supposed to see my doc every two weeks for the first two months of my course i think. he said that if my IB gets bad then he can give me things to keep it at bay idno if he meant like topical stuff or antibiotics but i was skeptical about that since it seems like accutane with antibiotics can be ind of harsh on the body?

the stuff that ur using now with your accutane.. what is it exactly... how strong is it... how effective is it... would i be able to ask my doctor for it if he recommends something else for .... and lastly is it available in canada? if your derm found out u were using both would they be upset...

i guess im just very eager to know what i can do before my ib begins to prevent it from coming up extra bad.

thanks so much and much support .. keep me updated on how ur feeling and the progress of your skin

it is so hard not to pick! but you can do it. just remind yourself that no picking will help you heal quicker. :] keep going strong <3

Homegirl: Thanks for dropping by! I would imagine that your dermo would have been suggesting antibiotics or maybe Prednisolone - which is a steroid (but has loads of side effects - it's a bit of a dirty drug) for your IB...topicals generally aren't prescribed as the skin is too sensitive to be putting anything on whilst on Tane. I am now taking Bactrim DS , which is a pretty strong antibiotic (the Oncology patients at my work who are having chemo take it to prevent a life threatening type of pneumonia through the duration of their treatment)...the ingredients in the Bactrim DS are sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim. I only take 1/2 a tablet AM + PM though, which is a pretty small dose. I am sure that it would be available in Canada, it is common worldwide as far as I know. I guess you could just mention to your dermo that you are keen to take some antibiotics for the first couple of months to prevent the IB and see what he suggests - maybe mention that you've heard of Bactrim and see what he thinks? I know quite a few people on acne.org have taken it for the initial few months of their Tane treatment. My liver probably isn't loving me for taking Tane and Bactrim at the same time, but it's only for another 6 weeks or so (I'm going to stop at the end of month 3 which is apparently when the skin gets really clear from the Tane). Plus I barely drink alcohol, eat strictly Paleo (no wheat, grain or dairy), and drink a cup of Detox tea a day and 2-3L of water. So I guess I'm pretty healthy otherwise. My dermo is a strange man - I'm not sure what he would think about me taking the Bactrim, but it's my body and I feel I'm pretty educated about my treatment. Hope that answers your questions! How far along are you on the Tane? How old are you and what is your acne history? If you don't mind me asking of course!! Keep me posted on your progress! I am going to endeavour not to pick again!!! Thanks for your support

Myresults: Thanks also for dropping by! And thanks for the encouragement! As I said in the above entry, I am going to endeavour not to pick again...easier said than done though, right?? Hope you are going well, I will check out your log. I remember seeing you on Debra's log - I am also following her progress. She seems kind of down lately though...she was so bubbly at the beginning of her log. We have to keep encouraging her! I guess the frustrating part about Tane is that it takes so long to kick in and work. I really hope she sees results. Good luck

DAY 44 - So last night I had a friend's wine and cheese night that I had been invited to earlier in the week...but I wasn't going to go because of my scabs I thought to myself "I'll just see how I look after having a shower and putting some makeup on"...but I looked terrible. I was ready to text her to cancel and I just thought "No!!! I don't want to be on one of those people who cancel plans anymore"...so I went - I was late, but when I got there, 5 of my girlfriends were sitting at the brightly lit table and I felt so uncomfortable at first. Then I just said to my friend hosting, "I'm lighting some candles to get this night romantic (joking around)", and so I did! I turned off the down lights and lit some candles and it was much better. I ended up having a great night and I'm so glad I went now. I am meeting a friend for brunch this morning so I'm really hoping my scabs will peel away when I have a shower this morning (it's been 2 days...maybe!?). Fingers crossed. No newbies on my face though. I just wanted to post that whole story to try and encourage people to get out there and see their friends and family, no matter how horrid they look or feel. Life's too short to let acne destroy it! Have a great weekend everyone xo

hey hey!

thanks for getting back to me about that. thats really weird because my derm is also a very very strange man. i think they might all be. they kind of dont really tell you anything you dont already know or like they tell you what you want to hear i find.

anyho...i am a recently turned 23 yr old female who has had problems with my skin for about 6-7 yrs ... i kind of dont remember when i initially started breaking out.. i mean i remember having like zits in high school and not wanting to go to school someday because of it. but then i remember not thinking about it as much as i do now. when i went to university, my first yr was literally hell on earth for me. i broke out soo bad like i never had before. i became extremely depressed and to make it worse i lived in a dorm room so i never wanted to leave my little box if i wasnt wearing make up but it was like i was stuck in a prison and never wanted people to see me. i remember people would knock on my door and i would have a full face of zit meds on and would ignore them until they went away.. like how sad is that! at the end of that awful yr i told my mom i needed to do soemthing so i went on diane 35 that helped me a little in second yr i remember my spirits were up more and i went out alot more. i think i was using proactiv then too. then third yr my skin got even more better i was in a realtionship and i think the joy of that made me forget about my skin and i didnt pick as much so it got alot better as well. then in my forth yr i came back home to do school and i broke up with my boyfriend and eventually from the stress of all the change my skin got terrible terrible terrible again!! I broke down to my mom again and we tried all these natural things like changing my diet (no yeast or dairy) took liver cleaners, candida stuff, all these vitamins and started using more natural face products but none of that worked. finally after another breakdown to my mom (who is as you can see a very big supporter for me) we went to this acne doctor who put me on retin a and bp and that was 8 months ago. so that stuff gave me a little ib but dont even remember it to be honest bc i was soo down about my skin to begin with that i didnt even notice my skin getting worse before it completely got better.. which it did for a lil bit... maybe like 4 -5 months with the odd break out here and there. but recently those meds completely stopped working and the bumps on my face have slowly crept back.

so i went back to him and said i think im ready for accutane... a large part of me felt motivated to finally do it because of what i saw on this website. i really love that this thing exists i feel so much support and similarities among everyone here its great.

so last week i went to him to get it and he told me can have it by next week which is this tuesday.. its sat now so only a few more days. im really stoked.. but as you can tell very nervous for the ib.. idno i can handle taking two strong drugs and i dont think my mother will back it (she is not all on board about the whole accutane thing..of course bc she doesnt think its bad enough)

i have mild acne where its more like the texture of my skin than anything else that gets me down. i have that bumpy complexion when i tilt my head you can see all the pores and very often theyll form into zits or red marks that i pick and turn into much bigger things. then i get the random cyst that last like 3-4 days. but i dont rally have like a problem area. they just come up anywhere. but the most annoying places i could think of that they do appear are on my forehead (i hate those stupid pores on my forehead.. i always pick those!) or i hate when i break out on the lower pars of my cheeks near my mouth or along my jawline. rrr! those hurt.

so thats the type of skin i have and thats my history.

oh i just remember.. my doc said that i could start taking retin a after like two months of being on accutane? who knows. i just want to have like something at home that i can have as a back up for when or if i get a really bad or painful breakout...

i will keep in touch with you along your course... once again goodluck with the upcoming weeks and good for you for going out like that. i love it when i do that.. it makes me realize the exact same thing you did... there is more to life than my skin.

DAY 51 - So it has been a week since I last posted and no new breakouts since my scabs! Woo hoo. I hate writing it down bcos I feel like I'm cursing myself! But I am so stoked, I can't remember the last time a whole week passed without a new pimple. So just thought I'd share that with you!

Homegirl - I'm excited for you, how's it going? The Retin-A sounds good & I know what you're saying about the whole 2 strong meds thing...although I'm sure I wouldn't have clear skin yet if it wasn't for the Bactrim!

Good to hear, hopefully you'll continue to not get breakouts!

hey good to hear no new breakouts! things are looking up for you.. and im happy to hear it.

i started my tane about 6 days ago and am taking 20 mg a day

so far so good. minor side effects like dry chin and nose, a couple headaches here and there and joint pain when walking for a while.

no new major breakouts. if anything the texture is changing for the better. trying to not put anything on my skin besides face wash and moisturizer. hopefully that will make things less complicated for when my skin gets even more dry.

thanks for your support. keep us posted. your so far along already!

xoxo

hey good to hear no new breakouts! things are looking up for you.. and im happy to hear it.

i started my tane about 6 days ago and am taking 20 mg a day

so far so good. minor side effects like dry chin and nose, a couple headaches here and there and joint pain when walking for a while.

no new major breakouts. if anything the texture is changing for the better. trying to not put anything on my skin besides face wash and moisturizer. hopefully that will make things less complicated for when my skin gets even more dry.

thanks for your support. keep us posted. your so far along already!

xoxo

DAY 56 - Well of course, I cursed myself...2 new pimples - one small which I squeezed and has disappeared...one huge, which I attempted to squeeze (I really felt like something would come out!!!), but with my super sensitive skin I have caused a massive scab and it just looks revolting. I'm calling in sick for my shift tonight because I can't face the world. And I thought all this was over Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

HI there! just wanted to say thanks for dropping a line on my log. Im going to try and update it as much as possible, but sometimes my 2 yr old just doesn't let me hve 5 minutes to myself. Im soooo with you on the picking! its soooo hard!! and then when you pick it.. and it becomes worse, you're just like.. damn! why did i even look in the mirror!!! lol... i'll be seeing how you're doing on your progress!! good luck!!!

DAY 66 - Still no great skin success - had 4 breakouts in last 10 days, since my last post. All pretty large and scabby. Wishing I could just be clear already!

hey hey

just wanted to pop in and say hello. youve come a long way so far. its been so long already and just think how amazing youll feel when your done.

my course is now about 3 weeks in. if you read my log youll get a good sense of where i am. and with the antibiotics that we spoke about eariler to avoid IB... well you can see i am switching doctors as of now so i wont be asking that old doc about anything of that sort. maybe if my skin gets super bad ill mention what you said to my new derma.

how are the side effects. hows the picking going. sometimes when i pick certain things i totally forget that im on these meds and that the scarring effects can be different/worse when on tane than it would be if we werent on anything.

we need to remember that all the picking will be seen in scars when were done... soooooooooo we must stopp touching..... ughh!

ill stop if you stop hehehelol:)

keep up the posting

DAY 71 - Just the one breakout since my last post...which has cleared up ok...feeling pretty good about my skin at the moment. Booked a trip to Bali, told my husband (we have recently separated), he is keen to come along...we both really want to work things out but not sure if I can handle a week around someone else with my mad skin at the moment. He's gonna wonder why my lips are bleeding when i get out the shower!!?? But it's a great opportunity to try and work through some of our issues so I do want him to come...decisions decisions decisions

Oh wow you are EXACTLY like me when it comes to moisturizer. I HATE moisturizer. I hate the way it feels, and every moisturizer I ever used on my face made me break out. The only two ones that don't make me break out are emu oil or jojoba oil. I guess my skin likes them because they're completely natural.

Good luck with your course and your husband.

Hey there,

Accutane is a journey and I know how you feel with the breakouts. You just want it to end so that your skin can begin to heal. Hang in!

DAY 100 - Wow, it's been AGES since I've been on here...I am so unbelievably happy with my skin. I haven't had a break out in I don't know how long, my skin is dry, but manageable. My major problem has been my eyes - they are always so sore and red...but I'll take that any day over bad skin. My husband has moved back in, we are going to Bali together in 2 weeks, things are looking good in that department. I cannot recommend this drug enough to anyone thinking about taking it...very very very worth the side effects. My major concern is that I questioned my derm about the acne returning after finishing my course - he said that for many people it will never return, but that acne is a genetic problem and it's almost like trying to change the shape of someone's foot - you just can't. So it's a case of the drug lasting long enough to control the symptoms until your body naturally grows out of it...hmmmmmm is all I can say to that. Fingers crossed. Hope everyone's well xo

It's good to hear you and your husband have moved back in together and are taking the trip with each other, too. Communication is so key! I came across your log as I am going on Accutane in a couple weeks. Your progress sounds very good.

Quick question: what do you wash your face with? And do you take any fish oil or anything like that?

congrads on the bali trip and your relationship. good to hear things are going well with you.

in the skin department i feel the exact same way as you. i couldnt be more happy with my progress. im around half way behind you in days so i can only imagine how much better it will get when i reach day 100 like you.

its so great! glad were bothing having awesome experiences. and totally worth the minimal side effects. dido the recommendation for being on this med for skin. like who everrrrrr is self conscious about their skin should go on these meds bc its worth the risk and even if the progress isnt as steady as some peoples i feel like the end results are so amazing .. so much more amazing i think than any other topical,remedie,antibiotic, or bcp!

cheers to you and keep us updated still on the trip,beau,and skin!

xoxo

It's good to hear you and your husband have moved back in together and are taking the trip with each other, too. Communication is so key! I came across your log as I am going on Accutane in a couple weeks. Your progress sounds very good.

 

Quick question: what do you wash your face with? And do you take any fish oil or anything like that?

Hi Angie, see my signature comment at the bottom of my posts for all the vitamins etc I take...yep I take fish oil and wash my face with Clinique Mild Facial Soap. Good luck with your course, very exciting!!! It will be great

congratulations on this! i had a question, were you taking any supplements while on tane? i see alot of signatures with info on vitamins and suppplements. i just started today msyelf