No way! I got IB so you better get IB or I'm gonna

Those are not no IB good vibes!!!! haha.

Hey. Making out sounds tempting, but our lips are way too damn dry for it to be enjoyable. So I'm 16 and on my first (hopefully last) course of accutane. I have been on for about a month and a half (on day 47) and I still do break out, but usually just one large pimple/cyst here or there. I have scarring so the results aren't all that noticeable, but I think it's generally getting better at this point. I'm just excited for what's to come; I've heard that the good results usually come around the 3rd to 4th month. So I'm hanging in there...probably won't enjoy homecoming tonight as much as I would if I were clear (which I was hoping for by today) but I've become much less self-conscious about my acne since getting on isotretinoin. Good luck to the both of us and to everyone else out there struggling with acne.

P.S.-Get eucerin aquaphor or carmex for your lips. They both work, but honestly, carmex feels better and lasts longer. I haven't experienced or noticed dryness elsewhere, or any other side effects for that matter. Most don't, I think.

P.P.S-I'm also on 40mg a day. I started at around 175 lbs; now I'm about 160. So yeah, you may lose weight.

Bahaha I love your first post. Im tellin ya that's how it has been for me. I can't stand ipledge!!! How's your course going so far?

Okay so today was day 2 and it did not go well! I was talking all day about how I felt 100% normal blah blah and then I was out to eat at a restaurant and had like a full blown panic attack and I am not prone to panic attacks at all! I don't even know if it was a panic attack... all I know is I had trouble breathing and swallowing??? I have a lot of food allergies though and I started feeling really weird after I ate so maybe that could have been it but I have never had that severe of a reaction to food in the past.

This was at like 5ish pm and it's 9:30pm and I feel normal again and I am supposed to take another pill right now but I am kind of nervous...

I really really hope my body can tolerate this medicine or else I will have seriously gotten my hopes up. I guess I'm going to just keep on going and see if it happens again.

F

That doesn't sound good. I know the first day I took Accutane I was very dizzy after working out and passed out come bed time. Maybe your liver is processing the medication. To be safe you should consult your doctor.

Day 3:

Okay so the possible anxiety and breathing trouble/trouble swallowing are completely gone. However, my stomach has been super upset today. I will spare you guys the details (you're welcome).

So far it has been kind of a rough start for me. I'm anxious to see how tomorrow will go since it will be my first day taking accutane at work. As far as skin goes, there has been no change yet. No dryness, no breakouts, etc but it is still very early. I'm hoping my body adjusts better soon.

F

Even though these pictures are hard to look at... I wanted a reference so that I could see my progress more easily.

Day 3 pictures: Most of what you see are red marks. I have two big actives( one by my lip and the huge one on my cheek). Everything else is easily covered with makeup, thank the lawwwd!

This is def my bad side.

This side is much better.

My third day I was in a really bad mood all day and I was wondering if it was the drug because I'm usually a happy person. I'm going to give it time and see if it happens again before I decide what's going on. I hope tomorrow goes better for you! From your pictures, I think that'll clear up in no time

Thanks Fair

Day 4:

Today was a very good day in terms of side effects. I did not notice anything concerning today. Woo hoo! I think working really helps me not worry so much about the medication.

I did notice my eyes are drier today. As far as skin, nothing really big to report yet. I noticed my face felt tighter after I washed it and there is slight peeling around my big actives.

I'm still using my clarisonic every night and I'm hoping that will keep my IB at bay.

F

Day 5.

Things went okay again today.

Things I've noticed:

Anxiety ( I'm shocked by how quickly this side effect happened to me) I'm feeling very anxious at night and in the mornings. It diminishes as I carry on throughout my day, and maybe this is from being subconsciously afraid of the medicine. Not sure though.

Skin on my chest is turning red. Looks like a slight sunburn.

No new actives yet but when I washed my face it felt pretty bumpy so I'm scared to see what I will wake up to.

F

Dude I had suppppper bad anxiety again last night. I feel Iike I can't breathe. Like I have to work extra hard just to get a normal breath. WTF. Again I'm sleeping like shit. I feel like I am just barely alseep when I am.

I don't know what this means. I wonder if I should just keep sticking it out and it will get better, I am worried about it getting worse though. I'd rather have any side effect except the one that messes with my breathing cause that shit is scary.

fml

f

Day 6

So after I got up and went to work I felt fine. All day I felt fine. The anxiety seems to only be right before I go to bed and right when I get up. I'm wondering if I should skip tonights pill because I really need a good night's sleep.

Skin is starting to change. My makeup is starting to flake which would happen with dry skin yet my skin is extremely oily in my tzone. Weird.

So aside from the anxiety, things are going well. I might talk to my derm about taking a low dose anti-anxiety before bed.

F

Day 7

I ended up not taking a pill last night, so I only took 20mg yesterday. I slept much better. I took the full 40mg today though. I took tonight's pill a lot earlier and I'm hoping that will help with the night anxiety. My skin looked realllllllly oily today but it may be because of the cervae cream I am putting on at night. It is very thick. Other than that, not much else to report.

F

Good news guys!! I have been taking my full dose and have been sleeping great. I think this night anxiety is finally over! I'm so happy because that was hard to deal with.

Today is Day 10!

I can definitely say my lips are chapped now.

I'm breaking out a little but nothing too bad. I'd say my skin looks better than when I started.

I'm really happy that this medicine hasn't affected my appetite. It also hasn't affected my mood either. In fact, I've noticed myself being happier since I started

When should I make an appointment to have my 1 month check up? Should I do it when I get to the last week of pills?

F

Faded, glad you are sleeping much better - it's definitely the accutane. When i had started my course in November 2011, i remember being extremely tired and just wound up super tight- not fun! An option might be to tak one pill in am and one in pm. The anxiety went away though. Pictures are a great idea for when you are feeling down - that way when you look back, you can see that you've made progress.

Make your one month appt from the date you got your prescription or soon there after. If you wait more than 30 days after that initial 30 days (60 days in total, you'll be locked out of the ipledge system and will have to re-register again after a 30 day waiting period).

In any event keep posting as i enjoy reading what others are going through. I go to my derm tomorrow to see if i will be going on accutane or not (depending on my blood tests which may be iffy). If you have any questions, feel free to PM me as i have done this drug twice before (both times at incorrect dosages -which is a possibility why my acne came back)

Thanks Sasch! Good luck with your appointment. I hope this course will cure you for good!

Day 11:

Definitely starting my IB. It's pretty bad. For a second there I thought I was going to bypass it. . But I'm going to try and be positive and think of it as my body getting rid of all that crap so that I never have to have acne ever again.

Not much else is new. Side effects seem to be going away. Still not too dry.

F

Day 13.

Lips are sooooo chapped.

So my derm apparently already scheduled my appointment for Nov 8th but I will be out of pills by then. I called and asked them to make it sooner and they were like we don't have anything open and don't worry it's not a big deal at all, the drug stays in your system for a while even when you're not on it. Then they proceeded to tell me this may happen again in the future. Like wtf... that is not cool with me. I want to take the drug like it's supposed to be taken... EVERYDAY!

Aside from that things are still going okay.

F

Faded, don't stress it - a few days off should not make a HUGE difference but you want to make sure your derm is not making a habit out of it. It's amazing how the dryness can sneak up on you. I am on day 3 and so far not too dry but i now its coming so i'm moisturizing my face,lips and inside of nostrils.

Keep on keeping on

Day 15

Yeah you're right sasch. I'm glad you were able to get back on accutane! I'm experiencing anxiety again... and this time it's even during the day. I'm just gonna fight my way through it though. Starting to get really dry. My scalp is extremely itchy but I was having dandruff issues prior to starting so now its just more aggravated. Skin is slightly red all over. If I push my finger on it will leave a white mark like a sunburn. Face is still doing pretty good and I am happy about that . I'll feel better once I make it past day 18 though because I've read a lot of people got their big IB around that time. *Fingers Crossed*. Mentally, aside from the anxiety, I feel great. No mood swings no feelings of sadness.

F

Oh yeah and is anyone still using a toner while on accutane?

Day 17!

I am finally finished with my first box (3 packets worth). Last night I went to a show so I drank a little. I only had two beers and they were pretty spaced out. I did notice I felt really dehydrated when I woke up but other than that it was fine. I am not going to drink often but I don't see anything wrong with occasionally having one or two drinks every now and then. Everyone makes a big deal about drinking on accutane but weirdly it doesn't say anywhere on the packing not to drink nor did my doctor mention anything about it... but I don't know...

Face still looks the same, not bad not great. The areas that do not have acne feel so smooth when I wash my face it's nice. I've hardly been wearing make up so I think that has helped my skin to stay somewhat decent.

F

Remember when these logs were poppin????? Must not be a popular time to be taking accutane. Feel like I'm talking to myself....

Anyways my lips are SOOOOOO chapped. They are pretty disgusting, like skin hanging off, no amount of vaseline in the world could fix, chapped lips. However now when I am talking to people I am concerned they are staring at my gross lips and not even worrying about my skin at all. So there's a plus. My skin has actually been really good. I know I mentioned a little bit of an IB before but I don't even think I had one. I had like 3 pimples come up at one time which isn't out of the ordinary. I'm hoping it stays this way!

F

Sounds like you're on the right track! I found that boots has an amazing lip balm (in cocoa butter and coconut i think) that keeps me moisturized. I found vaseline to be drying myself.

Dryness sucks but it usually will subside after a while

Good Luck!