I am so frustrated tonite, ahh! I started taking accutane in November 2008 20 mg for 1 month 40 mg for 4 months then 20 for the remaining last month. My skin cleared up in no time and was flawless! Yes, I was dry and had back pain and it made me very short tempered and moody. I thought once I got thru with the accutane I would have my life back and not have to deal with acne.....WRONG! Here I am, depressed because, once again, I dont want to leave the house. I have 7 big bumps on my face and I am so oily. Really, my forehead shines, its disgusting. I have two kids that suffer, bc I dont want to go to bday parties, ect, because my face is ugly and the bumps hurt. I am on 25 mg spiro now, since begining of this month, but I'm still oily. I am using clinique products, makeup remover gel, acne wash, and acne toner. I tried some of my sons differn gel but nothing seems to help.
So, tonite I remembered that I had 14 accutane tablets left, 20 mg from my last month. My husband made me stop early in my last month of accutane bc he said I was too frustrated, and I was. Anyhow, I just took it because I know it will clear me up fast. Any advice on how to stay clear afterwards. Maybe I should up my spiro to 50mg. I am going to call my derm in the morning but honestly, other than accutane, she hasnt been much help to me or my son, who also suffers from acne, at the tender age of 10. He has had it since he was about 7 yrs old.
Hi,
I know exactly how you feel trust me I've been there.I took 3 courses of accutane in over 10 years each time with great success but after couple of months the acne and oliyness came back.
after 3 times of unsucessful tries and really I tried everythingelsfrom bcps to antibiotics to minocylcin nothing works as soon I stopped them.so I kept my slef on maintenance dose 20mg every 2 weeks after my 3red course of acutane.well it worked for me 7 years with nice clear skin.
then I realized I was on it for a way too long time,and even my derm was like"its all in your head you dont need accutane 1 pill every 2 to 3 weeks doesnt have an effect"well it had I stopped them all las jan and my oily skin and acne came back.I fight it thou for 7 months but I just couldnt take it anymore.I had acne everywhere my back,face,chest...
next time I went to my derm call me acne severe case and send me home with another accutane course.
well now I have to start all over again 6 month of 20mg and I know I cant stop it anymore at least I tried and nothing worked.
sorry for the long post but what I'm saying is that we are prone to acne and what ever you start accutane or spiro you should be on them I mean maintenace dose for I dont know I guess the time of menupause.
spiro takes time to work but once you are on it then u cant go back you really stuck with it and also it might not clear your acne as much as accutane did.plus other problmes irregular menses spotting and stuff...
I didnt do well with bcps and specially yasmin that has spiro in it.I had more side effects from them than accuatne.
my derm just suggested I can be on 10mg accutane only weekends for many years and it would not have any side effect but just to make sure you wont get pregnant
No problem about the long post. I am desperate!!! I want as much info that I can get. My husband didnt even want me to take accutane in the 1st place, neither did my parents but I did it anyway. I did clear me tottally, but now its coming back. I only have it on my face, and my scalp. Yazmin made me feel crazy and I was on Yaz and sprio 25mg before getting pregnant 3 yrs ago and my skin was clear. During my pregnancy I had no problems with acne but right after my son was born, my acne became horrible. We did move to a different town, maybe its the water. It smells like chlorine or something idk. Im back on spiro 25 but no birth control. I am wanting to up my dose to 50 mg. I dont wanna leave my house cuz my face is so oily and broke out. My hubby works offshore so I dont have much choice, I have to keep this place running and the kids taken care. Acne sucks.
Hi,I know exactly how you feel trust me I've been there.I took 3 courses of accutane in over 10 years each time with great success but after couple of months the acne and oliyness came back.
after 3 times of unsucessful tries and really I tried everythingelsfrom bcps to antibiotics to minocylcin nothing works as soon I stopped them.so I kept my slef on maintenance dose 20mg every 2 weeks after my 3red course of acutane.well it worked for me 7 years with nice clear skin.
then I realized I was on it for a way too long time,and even my derm was like"its all in your head you dont need accutane 1 pill every 2 to 3 weeks doesnt have an effect"well it had I stopped them all las jan and my oily skin and acne came back.I fight it thou for 7 months but I just couldnt take it anymore.I had acne everywhere my back,face,chest...
next time I went to my derm call me acne severe case and send me home with another accutane course.
well now I have to start all over again 6 month of 20mg and I know I cant stop it anymore at least I tried and nothing worked.
sorry for the long post but what I'm saying is that we are prone to acne and what ever you start accutane or spiro you should be on them I mean maintenace dose for I dont know I guess the time of menupause.
spiro takes time to work but once you are on it then u cant go back you really stuck with it and also it might not clear your acne as much as accutane did.plus other problmes irregular menses spotting and stuff...
I didnt do well with bcps and specially yasmin that has spiro in it.I had more side effects from them than accuatne.
my derm just suggested I can be on 10mg accutane only weekends for many years and it would not have any side effect but just to make sure you wont get pregnant
If you're starting to feel desperate, I highly recommend that you research acne formation, at least a bit... it might help you feel a bit more in control... You often need to attack stubborn acne from multiple angles, and if you've relapsed after accutane, than your acne is certainly stubborn!
If you have a better understanding of the angles you can attack your acne from, it might lead you more successfully to clear skin. As you learn more, you'll notice first off that most treatment options only effect one or two factors involved with acne formation on their own (even "hormonal treatments")...
Let me give you a quick overview:
Researchers generally consider four factors to be involved with (chronic) acne formation: sebum (over)production, hyperkeratinization causing blocked follicles, called microcomedones (i.e. dead skin cells block the hair follicle creating microcomedones), presence/activity of P. acnes bacteria, and inflammation.
Microcomedones will become open comedones (blackheads) if the follicle is not completely blocked and thus allows some drainage, otherwise the microcomedo becomes a closed comedo (whitehead). Closed comedones can become inflamed lesions, such as pustules or cysts.
This post by alternitavista I find to be one of the most useful posts on these boards. It details the different mechanisms in our bodies which contribute to the different factors of acne formation. Her post is very up-to-date with current scientific research, and a must-read if you're looking to understand your acne.
I think you'll find a lot of the information in that post helpful since it sounds like you're trying to find the safest ways to improve acne, to avoid worrying your family.
I should also mention that hormone imbalances can cause accutane relapse in women... they can also cause stubborn acne, since the imbalances usually have to be dealt with before you can maintain clear skin... imbalances are not necessarily common, but if you do have an imbalance, it can greatly hinder your success...
To be clear, "normal" fluctuations in women's hormone levels have been blamed for accutane relapse as well, so I'm not saying that it's probable that you have an imbalance, just that it is possible that you have an imbalance.... gynos often want to do a blood test to double check hormone levels in women with acne, since hormones are directly related to acne formation.
please don't make your kids suffer because of it...that's not cool. and your son is going through it, too...and he's so young. i think you should take them out...if not for yourself, for them. i think it'd be good for you too, though. i had a kid 6 years younger than me tell me "it's okay, don't worry! we can edit the photos" when he saw my hesitancy at taking a staff photo for our ad that our boss bought in his yearbook. it was a very sad moment for me. i'm realizing that i care too much about this crap, and i'm tired of coming off so self conscious. no, forget about "coming off" as self conscious...i'm tired of BEING self conscious. it's not good for me and it's ruining some of my best years. you have to stop caring so much at some point...you have kids counting on you. i have nobody counting on me but myself at this point...but i'm starting to think that that's good enough for me. i'm ready to try my best to start caring less and less each day.
I'm right there with you. -- I'm taking a second course of Accutane (took it 10 years ago and it worked, but when I got pregnant things just started going downhill). I am becoming basically a hermit and it is hurting my kids. I do the birthday's, school functions, etc. -- but other than that, we stay in most of the time. I feel too guilty to deprive them of the big things but there are so many things I want to do with them -- trips to the library, the park, playing outside with the other kids -- that I just don't get to do because the acne makes me too self-conscious. I actually drive to the bus stop each day so I don't have to spend a lot of time with the other mothers who try their best not to stare at my acne ...
I think I have a hormonal imbalance, but can't get my doctors to take me seriously. My mom was diagnosed with PCOS. My gyn just argued with me about my mom's diagnosis instead of checking me out to see if I should be concerned about it. (My mom was diagnosed post-menopause and she doesn't think you can be diagnosed after menopause -- but my mom has elevated levels of testosterone, weight gain around the middle, heart disease, etc. which all point to her most likely having PCOS and PCOS doesn't go away after menopause ... but whatever). My GP just blames everything on depression. I had really bad post partum depression after my son was born and now every freaking thing wrong with me gets blamed on that.
It is NOT normal for adults to have acne. And I really don't think that Accutane is the best answer for me -- it isn't a permanent solution, but it is all I can get them to do at this point.
Wish I had some answers for you, but I just wanted to say thanks for sharing because I know I'm not alone in struggling with this. It helps to know there are other mothers out there struggling with this. I hope we can find the right answers for us 
