Hey heyyyyy everybody! =)

So I've just decided to document my own Accutane process after checking this site out a fair few times and finally making the decision to try out this stuff for myself.

I'm a 20 year old female from NZ and have suffered from acne for almost half of my life. I started getting pimples at age 11/12 and from there it just got worse and worse. My type of acne only affects my chin, that being said I do get the occasional pimple on my cheeks or even forehead but my chin is always covered in the things. I first went to the doctor at 18 when I realised this wasn't going away on it's own, especially after trying every topical over the counter treatment under the sun (including Proactiv, different facial cleansers, tea tree oil and even changing my birth control pill etc) My doctor actually diagnosed me with perioral dermatitis which is a kind of skin disease that only affects the areas surrounding the mouth and has an appearance much like acne but it isn't. So from there I was put on the antibiotic doxycycline and given a topical gel called eryacne. I did several courses of this but to little effect.

Suddenly - about 8 months ago now, my "perioral dermatitis" got WORSE. It all started spreading up from my chin and I was getting more and more pimples on my cheeks and jawline (which I had never got before) I was getting SO upset with what I saw in the mirror everyday after taking off my makeup, I started trying things like changing my diet, not using anything with sodium lauryl sulphate, only using natural products and so on but nothing was making a difference so I went back to my doctor and he said, oh you actually have acne. -_-

From there he referred me to a dermatologist, who then told me he could put me on Oratane (Accutane) or I could try a hormonal birth control pill specifically for skin disorders. I decided to go with the latter as I was opposed to taking such a strong drug without trying absolutely every single other possible way first. So I tried Ginet 84 for a few months (long enough that I should have noticed a difference in my skin) and it didn't work, so it was time to go back and get myself some Oratane.

SO! I am now officially 1 month into my treatment and nothing has changed, in a bad way that is! The only side effect I have is dry lips, and even then they're not really dry as such, they just feel weird haha. I do use lip balm religiously but more as a preventative thing then a cause and effect dealio. My hair doesn't get so oily so fast any more - another definite plus - and when I get pimples (which I still do) they dry up pretty darn fast, they have a high turnover rate so to speak.

I felt this stuff working straight away, after 2 days I started getting more pimples, not sure if it was the IB or not but I definitely got a few more then I'd be having the last weeks, however there were a few days where my skin was PIMPLE FREE!! Something I haven't experienced for almost a decade. Great feeling guys, great feeling! (Can't wait till it's a total reality!)

I should probably mention my first month I was on 20mg a day, tomorrow, the beginning of my 2nd month I am being bumped up to 2 pills for a total of 40mg per day, after that I see my dermo for a review.

Sorry this is super long ha just thought the first post should have the nitty gritty details, the following can just be updates!

Also should mention I've gone into this with an attitude where I don't think about it often/at all, I'm just letting the drug do it's thing, I don't like the idea of stressing myself out thinking about it all too much or whatever, I'm just going with the flow and so far it's suuuuuuper sweeeeeeet! I did the whole researching it thing and reading all the negative side effects and so on, no point freaking myself about it though. Deciding to make this topic was spurr of the moment after I read a few others haha!

Cool bananas so that's my story so far, let's hope it has a happy ending yeah? Oratane for the epic fairytale win! =D

Thanks guys, pics posted progressively.. =)

xx