Hey guys, i've been lurking the forums for years but never made an account. Finally got an accutane prescription yesterday and started straight away, i'm very excited but also scared as f**k..
Derm started by giving me 3 months worth - 40mg a day - took my first pills yesterday evening with dinner.
My background. Acne started on my upper back at about 14, went to the doc for the first time at 15. Since then i've tried all they have to offer - tetracycline, doxcycline, topicals etc etc. Now at 20 years old my acne is the worst it's been and i decided it was time to take the plunge and start taking the 'tane.
Photo below is just my face and chest - my worst acne is on my entire back, and my neck (but my phone camera doesnt have a self timer lol).
Really hope this goes well
UPDATE: New pic from day 14, see post #14
UPDATE 2: New pics on post #49 - awesome progress (30th nov)
hey bro, i have acne like you on my body. Its very depressing.
Please let me know how accutane is working for you
Sorry to hear that, you on the 'tone yet?
I must say, you're cute. Acne or not, you're still cute :
Accutane will clear you up for sure.
Good luck!
Haha, why thank you. Hopefully I'll look better when I clear up CD
Day 5
Whiteheads everywhere and more facial acne than I've ever had at one time. I guess this is what the call the initial breakout. I hope it doesn't last too long, body acne can be hidden, but this is the first time I'm experiencing constant facial acne, usually its just a few spots here and there. I hate that wearing clothes doesn't hide it.
On the plus side, apart from waking up thirsty as hell every day I haven't really noticed any sides. Skin is dryish but Its always been dry so its hard to tell if there's any difference there. Lips, eyes and nose don't feel any different but I do think I need to get some ChapStick soon for when it inevitably happens.
Probably no pics until about the 30th unfortunately as I have no internet and am on my phone.
Just taken my 7th set of pills. Today seems to be the arrival of the standard sides. My facial acne is worse than ever, tonnes around my mouth and even a couple of my cheek which I've NEVER had before 
As well as this IB, my face is a little peely and I've had to moisturise the rest of my skin numerous times today. Gonna take a pic tomorrow and upload it
Hows the body acne bro? Any huge breakouts?
Same old same old tbh, existing spots are dry as hell but i havnt noticed any breakouts being worse than they were before accutane.
My eyes have been horribly dry over the past few days, need to pick up some eye drops on monday i think. Lips are very swolen but not too chapped. i've been using vaseline lip balm but i may have to upgrade so i ordered some of that Dr dans cortibalm online.
The huge facial breakouts i had are slowly starting to heal, although my jaw and neck are still pretty covered. The ones around my mouth arnt as red anymore so that's a relief i guess.
Bought some QV cleanser from amazon - it's pretty nice on my skin. I went for it because it doesnt contain SLS which i believe irritates my skin, plus its a fairly gentle cleanser, frag free etc. It's a great product and my skin has been far less itchy than it was when i was using regular shower gel.
Still using E45 moisturiser, does the job, when it runs out i may try cetaphil to see what the hype is about.
That's weird your derm gave you a 3 month prescription at one time...I'm guessing accutane is not as strictly regulated outside the states. How bad was your initial breakout on your face? Glad you are starting to heal up already. I start on October 1st! I am so nervous but so exctied. Good luck with everything. I'll be following your log!
do you moisturize your back/shoulders while on tane?
i have always moisturized my upper body
That's weird your derm gave you a 3 month prescription at one time...I'm guessing accutane is not as strictly regulated outside the states. How bad was your initial breakout on your face? Glad you are starting to heal up already. I start on October 1st! I am so nervous but so exctied. Good luck with everything. I'll be following your log!
Haha, funny you should say that. As far as regulation goes the UK is generally very strict. It took me almost a year from my GP telling me she recommends accutane to actually getting it because you have to be forwarded to consultants in the hospital rather than regular GPs
The 3 months thing i believe is because im away at uni so i wont be back home until christmas. I'm still going to be getting bloodwork done after a month though.
The breakout on my face was pretty bad - they were big, angry and puss filled - but whether or not that was an initial breakout i'm unsure of, it may have been coincidence (people seem to have them a few weeks in from what i can tell)
Do you have body acne too or just facial acne? I was pretty nervous too but im glad i made the decision to do this and so far i havnt noticed any abnormal side effects. Good luck with your cycle.
Day 14!
Lots and lots of breakouts on my chest, back and neck - awesome. I dont think i've ever had this many brand new spots at a given time. Can also feel the early stages of some angry f**kers on around my mouth so that should be fun. Been trying not to touch the facial ones cause it seems to make them heal quicker but the ones on my chest and back i just can't leave alone - they're itchy and painful and so i just find myself picking without even noticing.
Got new lip balm thing because the vaseline wasnt working at all - Nivea Hydro Care. Picked it up for about £1.50 at tesco express and it does a much better job than vaseline. Also have some aquaphor on the way from ebay since so many people here rave about it - £5 seems pricey but it stops my lips from being so big and weird looking it'll be worth it lol.
Uploaded a new pic, lighting is slightly different because im at my student house now (really to fill this place with posters, walls are looking very bare lol) but i'm going to make sure all of my comparison photos are done in natural light for the sake of consistancy.
Day 14
Excuse my language but: Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu*k.
3 Days ago i woke up my the right hand side of my lip all swollen and weird. It seemed that a nearby deep spot had caused it to swell up weirdly. Out of reluctance to stop accutane and take antibiotics i decided to leave it and see if it improved as the spot healed. NNow the spot is less painful and inflamed but the lip swelling is still exactly the same size.
Looks like i'm gonna have to go to the doctor for this and either - find out that its an infection and take antibiotics, therefore a week off the accutane, OR find out something worse and have to stop taking accutane altogether. Which would be devastating.
Ah mate, serious crap time at the moment!! It's day 17 today, like you I guess, and it's been ok up until now. Ive been sooooooooooooooo thirsty it's stupid, drinking 4 plus litres of water per day, Guess my liver is working it's nuts off. Lips have bled, using blistex moisturiser cream for it, 2.20 from tesco. Done the job so far. Ive had headaches, tiredness, nose bleeds and my pores are on the surface. They don't notice but if I out my tongue behind my lower lip and push it out you can see all of them. Ive has about 20 small spots in total over the past 2.5 weeks. No IB so far. Good luck matey x
Good news! Went to the doctor and she thinks the lip swelling will go on its own, so no need for antibiotics - i just need to walk around with a weird swollen lip for a little while longer =/
Ah mate, serious crap time at the moment!! It's day 17 today, like you I guess, and it's been ok up until now. Ive been sooooooooooooooo thirsty it's stupid, drinking 4 plus litres of water per day, Guess my liver is working it's nuts off. Lips have bled, using blistex moisturiser cream for it, 2.20 from tesco. Done the job so far. Ive had headaches, tiredness, nose bleeds and my pores are on the surface. They don't notice but if I out my tongue behind my lower lip and push it out you can see all of them. Ive has about 20 small spots in total over the past 2.5 weeks. No IB so far. Good luck matey x
On 9/29/2012 at 3:52 PM, whoartthou1 said:how much acne do you have on your back/shoulders at the moment? Number of lesions? Have fun at the party.
Hard to say really, it's in such a state that i cant really count them. + its hard to tell which ones are active and which are just raised scars. I'll take a video then edit this post, hang on.
EDIT: heres the video. Sorry about the music, it was just what i was listening to at the time, didnt even think about the fact that it'd be picked up by the video lol.
Acne doesnt look as bad in the video asin real life but it gives an idea i guess.
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Had my first nosebleed yesterday, milestone I guess? Was extremely minor, it was over as soon as I realised it had begun. Not such a bad side effect I guess.
Acne wise I haven't been too bad in these past few days, facial acne is mostly old stuff that is slowly healing, neck and jawline is currently quite bad though, I keep getting new ones there as the older ones heal.
Sides wise, lips have been super dry as usual but my lip product collection is doing a good job. Skin has actually not been as dry as it was. I've been moisturizing far less frequently yet its been fine. Hair is suuuuper dry but its not noticable when I put product in it so not a big deal.
Also, I noticed I don't have enough pills to last till my next derm appointment, any UK people have any advice? Should I just call the hospital and tell em I need another weeks worth of prescription to keep me going?
hey bro, so i just looked at your video. Your body acne seems to be similar to mine, except i have a shitload of discoloration (but i am brown skin, while you are white skin, so maybe discoloration shows up more on me than you).
I might take accutane bro... but i am scared