Time to get clear! (26yo/F/60mg)

[Julius Jones 1]

You are really pretty, glad your skin is improving

[inuk 0]

Wishing you well!!

It will be done before you know it!!

[NYgirl83 0]

Day 73-ish (I think!)

Had my derm appointment today -- he was really happy with my progress as I progress towards month 4 (yay!).

I'm happy that I don't have any huge active pimples (knock on wood), especially since I'm going on vacation next week.

Now I'm just bummed out about the red marks all over my face! Constant reminders of pimples past is not cool. I always thought the after-marks were worse than the real pimples, and I think that now more than ever! My derm said today that a month or 2 after I finish accutane we can start doing chemical peels again (I used to do them) -- I hope they fade a lot on their own before then --- a girl can dream.

Does anyone live in a sunny/warm weather climate while on accutane right now? I'm going to Miami next week and I'm just wondering what others experience has been with sunlight + accutane. i know I'll be super sun sensitive, but want to hear that I won't have to become a vampire or something

[Kevin N 0]

Hey Amy,

glad to hear most of your actives have gone done. Mine have too! It's cool that we got to start on the same day and on the same dose. I like having some one to compare success stories with. I know what you mean about the red marks tho.... This is killing me! My derm told me that accutane makes your red marks stay longer, but once you are off the drug they will fade pretty rapidly. And have a blast in Miami! keep the sun block (spf 10,000,000,000) around haha take care

[NYgirl83 0]

thanks Kev! we're definitely accutane twins

[NYgirl83 0]

I'm so frustrated!

My doc wrote my prescription on Monday 3/15... Got the OK from ipledge and I brought it to the pharmacy on Thurs 3/18... I got a call from the pharmacy the same day saying my insurance won't accept the prescription because I last filled the prescription on 2/25 ... so I'm too early.

Problem is.. my 7 day window ends Monday 3/22. The pharmacist says I can try again on Sunday 3/21 ... but if they don't accept it then I'm screwed because I leave for vacation at 5am on Monday morning, when the pharmacy is definitely not open... and I won't be back for over a week! Which means I'll be locked out of ipledge, need another blood test & get a new 'script from the derm.

So I'm really nervous that I'm going to go Sunday morning and they'll tell me my insurance still won't accept it ---

does anyone know how many days between 'scripts most insurance companies make you wait for this drug? I have aetna if that helps!

I hate having to worry about all this!

Edited March 19, 2010 by NYgirl83

[NYgirl83 0]

phew!! they filled my prescription right before my trip, thank god!

[faithinhim 0]

I'm glad you got your scrip filled! It's such a hassle to have to coordinate all the dates with ipledge!

[NYgirl83 0]

Day 98

I'm at 3 months and 1 week and my skin is not happy this past week or so. I have 2 big actives -- cysts! And I can feel tiny bumps under my skin in certain parts. Not sure what's going on!! I'm really aggravated and frustrated. I'm not sure when things will start clearing up totally!!

And to make matters worse, yesterday was my 27th birthday -- shouldn't I be acne-free?? I guess acne doesn't care how old you are --- but still.

I'm just in a bad mood! I have my derm appointment in 2 weeks so hopefully things will be improving around that time.

Stats --

My skin isn't dry and my lips are doing fine because of my constant aquaphor application!!

I'm still on 60mg a day (this has stayed consistent my entire 98 days).

[blueasyou 0]

Hi. I just read your entire log. I'm on day 14 of accutane and just turned 26, so it's very interesting to read your experiences with accutane and see what I should expect.

I'll be following your log.

Happy belated birthday!

[Kyza 3]

Great clearup! Never give up and stay positive...(also you are very pretty )

[NYgirl83 0]

Day 105-ish (3 1/2 months)

Still breaking out --- argh!! I have 3 decent sized zits on my face this week. One has been sitting under the surface for a very long time -- it had been a huge cyst about 2 years ago and my derm had removed it and injected it, but I could always still feel something under the skin. Well, he's started to emerge to the surface over the past few days. I'm almost hoping it comes to the surface a bit more because I have a derm appointment in about 6 days and want that thing taken care of once and for all.

Also have a small cyst on my neck which is just bizarre because I never get body acne except for the occasional back acne.

I hope this is just a hormone related flare up, as I am having my period right now. Hopefully the accutane is working, although I have my doubts. I still haven't experienced any dryness at all. I don't know, I'm giving up hope a little bit.

[blueasyou 0]

Don't give up hope just yet. I know it's hard to stay positive, but accutane works differently for everyone. Some people don't see improvement until the very end of the course. I know it's hard to be patient, though. I hope things improve for you soon.

[Kevin N 0]

Hey amy, YOU ARE BEING TOO HARD ON YOURSELF! Look at your before pictures and compare them to today... How can you give up hope with that amazing transformation right in front of you??? I too have had some recent breakouts on my face, and neck (i never got that either). We are almost done with this medication (I'm the end of May, granted nothing goes wrong), and my derm told me that the accutane continues to help your skin 30 days after you stop taking it. Plus when you get off the drug, your redness will fade quickly! Keep your head up, we are going to have clear skin soon!

[NYgirl83 0]

wow thank you guys so much for all your support! Coming to this board and reading kind words of encouragement really make all the difference.

I'm not giving up hope!! I have a derm appointment tomorrow and I'm always more positive about my skin when I'm heading there. I currently have 2 cysts on my face -- I would label them as my "medium" size. Hopefully the derm will inject them and they'll fade away forever. One is slightly deeper in the skin so I hope injecting it doesn't make it angry --- I've had that happen, it's awful!

My big-ish neck cyst is still there, I'll point that one out to him and hopefully he'll take care of it. So strange getting a cyst there -- never happened to me before!

My right hand has that weird, bumpy accutane rash going on right now. I have to remember to lotion up my hands more frequently. I've been blessed (?) with not having dry skin during this treatment so far. My lips are getting more dry lately, but I think that's because I've stopped using as much aquaphor.

I promise I'll post new photos within the next couple of days.

I really think some of my red marks on my right cheek have faded! Either that or the bright new red mark on that cheek is making the others look pale in comparision, haha. I hope the first statement is true!

Amy

[NYgirl83 0]

Day 112

So I had my derm appoint on Monday and met with this new Physicians Assistant instead of my normal derm. She seemed nice except she said, "wow that's a big one," to the cyst that I had classified as "medium" sized for me. Ouch. She injected maybe 4 pimples and told me that if I have big ones that I should just show up to the office for injections and to not wait a whole month. I've tried this in the past but usually the receptionists would book for like a week after I call, but now that there's this extra "doctor" in the office I guess they have a lot more free time!

There was one cyst lurking under the surface forever and it came above the skin a bit so she injected it.... it's 4 days later and the thing is HUGE now. I can't tell you how many times I've had injections that have actually made the cysts worst. My derm said this happens when the cyst is too far below the skin.

This particular cyst actually has a history. About 2 1/2 years ago it arrived with a vengeance. It was injected twice, about 2 weeks apart, and would NOT go away. Finally after living with this huge raised, dime sized cyst in the middle of my left cheek the derm made a small incision and drained it. It was gone until about a year ago when I could feel it under the skin but not actually see any bump on my skin... that is until about 2 weeks ago. Now it's back (although slightly smaller than last time). I made an appointment for tomorrow morning -- hopefully he injects it and it goes away forever. I really hope he doesn't have to drain it again because that involves a huge bandage on my face which is embarrassing when you have a 15 minute subway ride home in NYC.

Again, I promise new photos will be up soon. I honestly don't want to document this cyst until after tomorrow when (hopefully) it's gone down in size about 1,000%.

Edited April 22, 2010 by NYgirl83

[inuk 0]

I was feeling pretty bummed around day 112 so rest assured, there is a way to go

are you taking any BCP or anything?

[jimmyjammy 0]

great progress you can really see it on the pics Don't give upp accutane is a bumpy journey but you'll get there. Hope that cyst goes away sharpish.

[NYgirl83 0]

DAY 121

Hi! So last I wrote, I had a huge cyst on my cheek that didn't go away after the first injection. I went back about 4 days later and had her inject it along with a few smaller cysts. Well, days later and the cyst was still there! So I made yet another appointment and saw my actual Derm and not the Physician's Assistant and he injected a whole buttload of small cysts and the huge one.

That was 2 days ago, and so far (crosses fingers) the big cheek cyst appears to be subsiding somewhat. I really thought he was going to have to open it up and extract it, but luckily it hasn't come to that yet.

Bad news? A bump that's been lurking under my skin for over 2 years appears to be coming to the surface. This cyst gave me hell last July-August --yes it stuck around for over a month! It is about an inch or 2 under my right eye and WAS huge. It was super embarrassing and killed my confidence last Summer. After it was injected twice it finally went away -- but I could always feel it under my skin.

Tonight I started icing it and I've slathered some BP goodness on it just for good measure. I'm really hoping this doesn't surface, or at least it waits another 2 1/2 weeks until my next official Derm appointment. I really don't want to have to go into the office AGAIN just for an injection. 3 times in 1 month is enough for me! Those $20 co-pays don't pay themselves. I'm so pissed this cyst starting coming in 1 day after I saw my Derm. I HATE YOU SKIN!!

On the plus side? Some of my red marks are fading away. Yay.

@inuk -- yes I'm on Orthocyclin right now!

Here are some photos that I took BEFORE my last derm appointment.

[NYgirl83 0]

DAY 126

So the cysts I mentioned last week have definitely gone down in size a lot. Phew!!! I just have a slightly large normal pimple on the corner of my forehead, but I'm not really worried about it. I'm pretty sure it's just hormonal.

My hair has been falling out a lot though. I have a lot of hair -- pretty thick, big and wavy. I've always shed a lot of hair but now it seems like much more. I've been using a Tressemme conditioner that has B vitamins in it, but maybe I should add Vitamin B pills into my diet. I have some Vitamin E pills which I really should start taking on a regular basis as well. The hair thing makes me nervous because even though no one else can tell, when I touch the hair in the back of my head, it feels so much thinner than ever before. ACK.

My red marks are okay. The marks on my right side have definitely subsided a bit over the last 6 months -- but that's about the normal amount of time for them to start fading. It's hard to tell whether I have actual scarring from my acne. The redness kind of hides any small indentations or ice picks that I might have -- you know what I mean? Not sure how that happens, but I really can't tell what the texture of my skin is right now! I'm hoping for the best.

I still have another 2 weeks or so until my next Derm appointment, so we'll see if he says I need another month or 2. Definitely think I'll be on 1 more month, I'm kind of hoping for 2 just because I want the severe acne gone for good!

[Time_traveler 0]

Looking good !

[jas_d 0]

Hi I've been reading your log and just wanted to tell you in the last pics you posted your skin is looking fantastic! total improvement- and you are gorgeous- so remember that when things get stressful Anyways I will be starting my treatment in 2 weeks and I have a feeling my skin is similar to yours- perhaps more darker scarring because my skin tone is a little darker than yours- so will definitely continue checking your log. All the best! You'll be completely clear before you know it!

[NYgirl83 0]

Hi Everyone --

Well I finished up my pills this week. And my skin looks pretty good -- no actives!! Now I just have to deal with the red marks, but I'm starting to be ok with them.

I'm having major panic attacks though -- the past month and a half my hair has been thinning A LOT. Whenever I wash my hair (every 2 or 3 days) tons of strands fall out, and then when I put my styling products in my hair afterwards, a lot more comes out. NOT a normal amount at all. I'm talking a lot.

I mentioned to my derm that my hair was very dry and felt like it was thinning. And he said he's never seen anyone with permanent hair loss and that was the end of the subject. It was like he didn't believe me!!

I bought argan oil to use as a conditioning treatment twice a week. Yesterday I just purchased Nioxin, a shampoo for thinning hair. Last week I started taking iron pills, vitamin b and e.

I'm getting really worried though! I've always had very thick, voluminous curly hair... and now my hair feels baby fine, looks dry and my curls look flat and lifeless!

BLAH. I really hope I can stop the thinning and then work towards growing it back, if that's possible.

Amy

[faithinhim 0]

Congrats on finishing! I hope you get the hair thinning thing worked out.