Today is day 1 of accutane.
I am 32 y.o female with cystic acne, started on 30mg PO 3x day----1mg/kg/day. I am really excited to finallly kick this awful condition, but am crazy nervous about the possible side effects. I stocked up on auqaphor and moisturizer and healthy foods. I am going to increase my fish oil and will try to take the medicine with good fats--coconut oil or olive oil. I am hoping to lose some weight, as a secondary effect in maintaining healthy triglycerides. My trigs started at 71.
I would rate my acne as a 5 on a 1-10 scale. It is mostly microcystic, meaning tons of tiny clogged up pores, with about 5 inflammed, reddened cysts at any given time. I have ice pick scars scattered all over my face. Pretty awful.
I feel itchy already, but I might be imagining that.
Today is Day 3.
Skin: no changes at all. Same blemishes are present and more, but just at the usual rate. No dryness or chapped lips.
Face care: Wash morning and night with Vanicream face bar for sensiitve skin. I am moiturizing with Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Sensitive Skin morning and night. Aquaphor healing ointment on my lips at all times. Drinking plenty of water.
Accutane: 2-30mg pills in the morning, 1-30mg pill at night. I am taking them with 1-2 T of coconut oil.
Side effects: Very minimal, barely noticeable. Accutane makes me a bit tired. After my first dose I immediately fell asleep for 5 hours...in the middle of the afternoon. Maybe I was just super tired, I don't know. But it has improved. I also immediately began itching...all over and felt a little bit of a flush, similar to a niacin flush. Definitely nothing that was too distracting to function, but did notice it. Especially on my chest. Headache developed day 3 also, 3 on a 1-10 scale. I assume I need to drink more water.
Emotional aspects: No changes. Just fearful of the near future, i.e. initial breakout and insane cracked and dry face with dead skin flying all over the place.
Hi, sounds like we're in a similar situation. I'm 30 y/o, just started my treatment last week. Took my sixth pill this evening. Like you, I'm having a few side effects. Fatigue, headache, very dry hair and throat so far. Good luck to you, if you ever want someone to talk to, feel free to message me.
Day 4
Some minor changes....a couple itty bitty pimples in my eyebrows, where I pluck them, that are whiteheads. Barely noticeable, but strange for me. A persistant cyst on my forehead is finally surfacing. Lips may be requiring a bit more aquaphor, but not chapped. Face still getting greasy after a long day. Headache still somewhere in there, if I think about it.
Overall....absolutely nothing unusual or worse than dealing with my baseline acne. No side effects that are bothersome, just a little noticeable.
I am starting to wonder if I am absorbing the accutane?? Maybe my diet isn't fatty enough?? I am taking it with coconut oil, so that should be plenty of fats.
nomo did you ever get spots on your back before you started taking Accutane? I am on day 20-ish and I have started getting them, never had any before now. Try not to worry too much about what might happen, any side effects are all very gradual. Gd luck.
I would get the occassional pimple on my back, but nothing like these guys...they're large. not too concerned since they are covered.
Thanks!
Day 13: Well, things are really starting to happen....I am breaking out like crazy. Prior to starting, I would have 2-3 cysts at any given time and a ton of microcysts. Now I have a humongous mass on my chin that hurts to the bone---so big it's not really even visible. Slightly red and in the right ange, I can see the side of my chin is swollen. It's deep and painful. I also have 6-7 cysts popping up that are painful. Even one right above my armpit. It sucks.
My vag is dry and itches like crazy. I had bloody TP after a BM tonight. A bloody nose today at work. And, bloody gums when I brushed my teeth this evening. lips aren't bad, as long as I keep the bag balm on them. My face is not drying out yet, but I use a heavy moisturizer every night. I notice slightly less oil after a long work day.
I hope this doesn't last soon.
I'm on Day 19 and have been having some similar side effects but I find that mine wax and wane a lot. Some days I feel exhausted, some days I feel pretty much fine. Some days the dryness of my throat and lips is almost too much, other times I almost don't noticed. The most disturbing thing for me has been that my hair is very dry and shedding more than usual. I've been trying to take better care of myself while on this medicine...get more sleep, eat better. I was very hesitant to take this drug and still not sure I made the right choice. Hope your side effects diminish and you feel better!
yeah thanks, same to you! I, too, was extremely hesitant and only decided to take it at 32, when I realized the acne was never going to go away and my face was just getting more and more wrecked. I am also unsure if it was the right choice....it's incredibly harsh on the body for a condition that is not life threatening. If it works, I keep my hair, and everything goes back to normal, then it will be worth it!!
Day 19: Awwwwwe, everything is starting to settle down a bit. I don't know why, but day 13-18 was rough. Physically, I felt as though my body was just in overdrive, painful, and just ill. It has gone away, for the most part. The monster on my chin has gone down, just slowly shrinking. I'm still in the middle of the intitial breakout, which I imagine will last a long time for me. I have true cystic/microcystic acne, so it only makes sense that the crap has to come out. It's tolerable...I mean, I've dealt with acne for years, it's just a little worse than my norm. At least, now that the big mongo thing has gown down.
Face is definitely less greasy. Some slight drying at the crease of my nostrils. Using vitamin E oil and emu oil. As long as I moisturize my lips and face, the dryness is totally fine. Nothing major at the moment. I, too, feel like the severity of the side effects waxes and wanes. I started taking oral vitamin E at therapeutic levels.
Hey Nomo I started 3/6 so I'm just a few days behind you! I'm a 19 year old male and I'm on 40mg a day Claravis. I too had that lame breakout in the second week of march I got some cysts on the side of my nose and my chest and back (the worst parts of my body) are doing really well!! They are all reducing in size big time and all my shoulder acne has dried up and just like flakes off after a shower! I'm blessed to be taking this stuff. My lips aren't dry at all but I'm taking zinc for scarring (helps a LOT) Selenium to fight toxins in my body and vitamin e pills everyday and they really help! Plus I drink a gallon of alkaline water everyday and I use witch hazel on a cotton swab to clean my face. The acne on my face gets big in one day and then scabs over the next day which is great! I'll keep you posted on my progress too! Keep your head up 
you can do it!
Starting to see some improvement! I love not having oily skin. Jeez, I didn't realize what I was missing. It really makes a difference on the appearance of your skin. Acne is minimizing. I still have a ton of microcysts and a couple regular cysts that I know need to come out, so the breakouts are nowhere near done. I have also noticed they heal faster.
Side effects....not bad at all. Some days are tougher than others. Fatigue is still the one I notice the most. Lips get dry, but not cracked and bloody. Dry eyes, dry scalp. Nothing some oil can't take care of.
Happy with the drug so far, but just coming to an end of the first month. See derm today.
Went for my first lab tests since starting accutane....not so good. Triglycerides up from 71 to 255. That's quite a jump. However, I did have two glasses of wine the night before. I am wondering how much of the trigs elevation was due to the alcohol. My doc is gonna let me stay on it and just follow them, maybe end up on lipitor for a bit if they continue to climb.
I thought I was doing really well watching trigs...no dairy and minimal animal--chx or fish only--only 1-3 times per week. Only egg whites once a week. Apparently, I could do better. I didn't realize the close relation to carbs and trigs, so I am going to cut those out also. Plant based entirely and low carb.
I am really, really, really starting to see results. I am loving this shit and will be sadly disappointed if I must stop....I am willing to do anything for clear, smooth face now that I have a taste of what it feels like to not turn away from mirrors all day. I didn't realize how less oil made you look so much clearer.
Day 38: Any side effects are barely noticeable at this point. My lips become chapped if I go without something, but no crack peeling. My face hasn't cracked or peeled or flaked either. I use Emu oil at night and sometimes vitamin E oil. The only side effect that I still notice is fatigue. I sleep a full night, which I never did before, and enjoy a good nap on day's off. Not too bad.
My skin is looking 30% less bumps and the texture is smoothing out also. My pores are minimizing in size. I still am happy with accutane.
Well, my face is a bit of a shit show right now. Probably 10-12 zits. Decent sized ones. It's kinda like the initial breakout again. I'm sure this won't be the last! Scalp is no longer dry. I always go through phases of pretty dry scalp and the over the counter shampoos dry my hair out way too much....I have finally found a perfect shampoo: Dermorganics. Works wonders. I tried everything.
The skin on my hands feels smoother and thinner. With a few tiny scattered blistery looking bumps.
I sure hope so! It is still a mess. I just read over some other people's logs and do feel a bit more hopeful...we all progress at different rates. I sure wish it would stop already.
I have my 2 month appointment tomorrow...I'm sure my triglycerides are thru the roof considering they went from 171 to 255 in one month. I considered cheating by not taking the med for a couple days, but decided that logic was beyond ridiculous. I'd rather take Lipitor for a few months than risk pancreatitis.