A few photos show my neck acne. A lot of redness... could that be because of the two weeks of accutane so far? should the redness subside? nervous...

Yay, good for you! Stick it out with the Accutane, it WILL work.

You'll see more dryness within a month and definite clearance within 2 months. In the meantime, maybe you can pinpoint exactly why you breakout on your neck. Do you sleep on your stomach or side? Have you tried switching up your shaving routine?

I have similar issues that you do, except in a different spot. Completely clear on parts of my face, then cysts all along the jawline. I started sleeping on my back instead of my stomach, and my cysts got 50% better.

I'm now on Spironolactone for my acne, we'll see if it works 100%....I wish I could go back on Accutane but I've already been on it 3 times, and it just comes back a year after I stop taking it...and I don't mean to be discouraging! Accutane is great for clearing your skin 100%, but for some people the acne WILL come back once the drug leaves your system, then you need to find alternative ways to maintain the clear skin.

That being said, for some people they can take Accutane once and POOF, cured forever.

Thanks for the response I do sleep on my side... I have tried so hard not to do that but it is the most confortable sleep for me :/ I will really try and not sleep on my face anymore and see what happens. Do you think the accutane will clear me up and that redness on my neck? I'm optimistic but also prepared for the worst :/ I have no idea why I get it so bad on my neck... mystery to me and my derm

Oh yes, you'll be clear like a baby's bottom. Trust me..You can always ask your doctor to up you to 40mg a day if you don't see even the slightest difference in a month...but you saying you have abdominal pains at 20mg is a bit worrisome.. so you'll want to discuss it with your doctor.

As far as training yourself to sleep on your back..When I first started I found that I had to put one normal pillow under my knees & one pillow underneath each arm. The arm pillows will help you from turning over in the middle of the night. As far as placement of the pillows. It should make an upside-down U shape with your head pillow... I hope that makes sense, i'm terrible at explaining.

It may look silly at first but it's pretty comfortable, and after a week you can probably take away the arm pillows and just use the pillow under your knees.

If you really really CANNOT sleep on your back, look into changing your laundry detergent if you haven't already. A lot of fabric softeners and irritating detergents can be on your pillow cases, creating breakouts. Also, if you wear collared shirts or polos...the laundry detergent could be the case too because it's touching your neck. I would buy some of the natural detergents, rewash all your clothes and see what it does for you.

You can buy the "Tide Free and Gentle" stuff....it doesn't have any harsh chemicals in it..You may find a big improvement in doing just this.

Thanks I'll try it out

hi james! great idea, i'll be following! im on day 19 of accutane, and love to see and hear everyones progress! good luck!

Hey awesome! Let's do this together!

Hey James! Congrats on starting Accutane! I think it is a great idea to be doing a video log! It should really help with tracking your progress.

I understand why neck acne would be just as terrible as facial acne. No one wants bumps and lumps on their bodies. Hopefully there is no issues with your liver this time around! I look forward to seeing your progress. By the way I wouldn't say your acne is a 9 out of 10 or 10 out of 10. I would say it is around 6 out of 10. Don't be so down about yourself. You are going to heal up nicely! Hang in there.

Thanks for the support and suggestions. I will adress them in the next video

redness going down a litte bit?

@beelazek

Some updated pictures showing redness (and dryness) : Should it go away after accutane?

Any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated

Hey!! My name is Betsy by the way Your video was sweet, I'm glad I can be of some use and give some advice and encouragement. I think it is needed while being on this medication. I know I have needed kind words and support more times than I would like to admit. I'm on my 6th month now and have been through all the common side effects so is you have any questions or need support seriously just ask. Private message me or go to my log whatever

So I think your neck is looking so much better already! The redness is common and should subside after you come off accutane. I have face flushing around my cheeks and nose, worse some days and better the other. This medication is weird. Glad to hear your blood results came back good! Great news! Have to tell you, your smile is great! Keep on keeping on and stay positive and smiling and time will fly by and those neck cysts will be a thing of the past!

You're awesome. Thank you so much. I'll message you right now, because I do have a couple questions about side effects.

the mirror trick in the car only works at night haha maybe it's just my car. I don't think I could ever give up ice cream either! And YES after I shower I feel like everything gets more red, it's really annoying, but just trying to stay patient. And I'm anything but composed on the inside, I do my best to act as confident as possible but on the inside I am very very insecure about my acne :/ I just feel more confident talking to other people with acne because I feel like I'm not being judged, like other places where I have a constant fear of being looked down upon because of my cycts and acne. Thanks for the response

Here are a few more updated pictures using the flash on my phone. Easier to see all the acne and dryness this way. Sorry for the overload of pictures, I just want to show my acne at its very worst so I can see improvement later on. There are cysts and nodules that are un noticable in other pics. You can kind of see them more clearly in these pictures.

Right side of face: Can see cysts coming in on the neck. Painful. :/

Left side of face: Small cysts forming

Under chin: Can see a big nodule and a few small cysts coming in. The bald spot is a big nodule under skin.

Front of face: Can see some dryness around the mouth and my initial breakout coming in on the forehead

Hi James, I am on accutane too, but really low dose . Only 10mg on Mon, Wed, Fri, and 20mg Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday

So far, how's your improvement ?

I think if the acne only on your neck,maybe it related on the shaving tool you use, maybe you can change the shaving tool, or you can shave slowly

The irritation that you have from shaving, can lead you to cystic acne if treat improperly.

You can give attention to the food you eat daily, maybe the food factor makes that too

Try to drink more since you are on accutane, no alcohol, no junk food ( I think you know this early )

Anyway success for your journey

Oh yeah I forgot to tell you about Folliculitis. Have you find in the google about this one, since the symtomp look like acne. I found picture in the google that look like your neck when I search "Folliculitis on the neck" . The acne on your neck itchy ?

Wow, great observation, I will bring that up to my dermatologist when I am in his office this week. I will let you know what my derm says in the next video. Thank you for pointing that out. That may very well be what I have had. People have mentioned the shaving thing to me before but I just don't think that... I think i may swich up my shaving technique and move to a different razor just to change the variables and see what happens. I will keep you updated. Thanks for the response

Haha not really observation, just curious because I ever in your condition too, I got acne all over my face (but not cystic), I didnt know why because I still use my acne topical daily without skip them..Even my derm didnt know what caused the acne break out so badly.

Suddenly after 6 months I just realize that I got allergy from the air in my office room I got allergy from the very bad humidity there. I moved to another room, the acne slowly healed.

Yeah let me know about your improvement later, James

About the redness, I can't say for sure if I had redness or not during Accutane. Honestly I've always had a pinker tone on my face (probably because of the nightly topical use) and makeup just covers up any pink/redness on my face. What I do know is that acne has left red/pink scars on my face which is super frustrating, but getting better each day!

I know sleeping on your back is hard, have you switched your laundry detergent to one for sensitive skins (no perfumes, or harsh ingredients)? I use one called Tide Free & Gentle. Also, eliminate fabric softener/dryer sheets from your drying cycle.

I've been taking Vitamin D3-5000mg once a day and Saw Palmetto 320mg once a day. You may want to look into these as well, (definitely ask your dermatologist before adding it with the Accutane). I feel like it's helped my skin, either that or the Spironolactone is kickin' in. Hard to tell.

Your skin is looking better already, and I think the 40mg will help the process go even faster! Stay strong

Just got home from my dermatologist appt. I will make a new video later tonight! Feeling really really depressed :/ I will elaborate more in the video. Here are a few pictures I just took after getting some injections in my cysts:

Right side of neck:

Forehead:

Right-center of neck:

Haha, and me as a baby with zero acne!! My mom just found this picture of me so thought I would share.

Yeah Jamesss keep fighting !!! I hope everything goes better

With accutane, there are sometimes we feel worse before it become better. Even me with low dose, I got that feeling too, so depressed because all of the clogged thing in my face surfaced. And it need time. Btw do not extract acne by your self, let them heal, I worry they can lead to scarring.

Sometimes when I feel it being worse and depressed, I watch before-after accutane video in youtube, there are so many successful video, and I think I just need to wait the success time comes you must see them.

But now after 3 months I just maintain my low dose accutane, since there's very good result

Thanks too for the answer about the folliculitis.

Always take your accutane with full stomach (after lunch/after dinner) + drink more water,

Btw do you use any topical cream (maybe acne spot treatment from your derm, or anything else) ?

And I have information about acne mapping in face, this is according to chinese medicine.. haha maybe It is true...

Chin and Jaw Acne

• Reduce the habit of eating before bed

   

• Eat more fresh fruit and vegetables

   

• Get more rest

   

• Get your hormones checked for imbalances

   

• Get 20 minutes of exercise each day

   

• Sleep early and wake up early, getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night

   

• Reduce stress as much as possible (yoga, meditating, listening to music, writing in a journal, etc.)

   

• Massage your body for relaxation, particularly the abdomen

   

• Practice proper hygiene

   

• Check toothpaste, mouthwash, and chapsticks

   

• Drink spearmint tea

   

• Take omega-3s to help regulate hormones

   

James, there's no way Accutane makes your skin worse. I mean, there may be an initial breakout. But since it disables your oil glands, it WILL clear your skin. I think you'll see a big difference in 40mg..

Personally, getting injections on a regular basis scares me! I know a handful of people who have permanent icepick scarring from cortisone injections. Aren't they expensive too, $100 a pop? Your dermatologist gets paid out really well for those shots. Those injections may even be irritating your skin around and turning into more cysts.

I think that you would benefit from a topical until Accutane really starts to kick in. For instance, I was on a perscription topical WHILE on Accutane. 3 months in, my skin started to get really dry so I slowly weaned off the topical and only used a facial cleanser. The topical will really help with this transition stage. I really like Acanya, been using it for awhile. DON'T get on a retinoid (retin-a,tazorac, etc.) as it will make your skin irritated.

For stubborn cysts, I really like "CVS Drawing Salve Ichthammol Ointment" to use when i'm randomly at the house for a few hours. It brings the cysts to the surface so that they essentially turn into white heads. It smells terrible though!