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2Nd Round Of Accutane (Claravis)

 
MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 05/23/2013 6:57 pm

 

Okay so I'm starting this log to keep track of my 2nd course of accutane which starts today 5/23/2013.

 

My first round was in Nov 07- April 08 and it worked great, almost no acne for almost 2 years, after that only an occasional minor breakout once in a while that was no big deal.

 

I did have a pretty bad breakout a few years ago which I was able to control with proactiv, bentonite clay and SA peels. I was maintaining with proactiv for a while until Nov of last year when I wanted to get away from BP. About a month later I stared breaking out pretty bad, I tried a bunch of more natural products like burts bees, tea tree oil, better diet, green smoothies and no dairy with no results.

 

So I gave in and tried the new proactiv plus for six weeks. I liked it but it had no effect on my acne so I went back to regular proactiv for four weeks with no results.

 

So now I'm back where I started with the more natural approach and I'm only using Lerosett topically. It's been a week and I've been breaking out pretty bad which I hope is just an IB but who knows.

 

I also started a second round of accutane today as well. It's only 20mg a day to start so I don't expect to see any results in the first month one way or another but at least I'm on the right track. I don't remember the dosage I had the first time around but this time I'm going to push for the 80mg as soon as I can get it because I only had some dryness the last time.

 

I plan on posting progress picks every week. If anyone has any questions don't hesitate to ask.

 

Btw I'm 26/m/~170lbs and 99% of my acne is on my face.

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MemberMember
9
(@richardb)

Posted : 05/23/2013 8:01 pm

I'm the same age as you, on my 3rd round. Like you it worked great the first 2 times, but came back after about 2 years. I think it was in remission longer after the second round, but it eventually came back and is resistant to all the standard medications and approaches, so here I am again just like you.

Good luck, i'll be watching your thread!

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MemberMember
29
(@cw24)

Posted : 05/23/2013 10:52 pm

Good luck man! I maybe starting round 2 next month also.

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MemberMember
3
(@ambitiousone)

Posted : 05/25/2013 8:48 am

Good luck Tim!!!

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 05/30/2013 4:44 pm

 

Week 1

 

First, thanks for all the support. So it's been a full week of taking the 20 mg and my forehead went crazy which started the week prior after I started using Lerosett. I'm not sure what to think about that because my forehead was never like this before, but it has calmed down in the past day or two.

 

About the Lerosett for a minute, it's been two full weeks of using it twice a day along with the lerosett cleanser and as you can see they won't be putting my before and afters on their website just yet. I am going to keep using it though because it doesn't dry out my skin.

 

So this breakout can be from the Lerosett, the Claravis or because I stopped using BP almost cold turkey two weeks ago. I guess time will tell.

 

As far as side effects go I haven't really had any yet and I didn't expect to. My lips are dry but I dunno if I'm going to give credit to the claravis for that yet. I've also been to the gym five times since starting and no unusual aches or soreness at all, I'll be paying close attention to that as I didn't really exercise much the first time. My eyes have been redder than usual lately too but not too bad and it goes away with drops.

 

I'm going to start trying to count how many new ones I get each week starting tomorrow. I'd say I've gotten about 15 this past week ranging from tiny whiteheads to painful cysts. I also got a pretty big one on my neck as you can see which isn't unheard of for me but pretty rare.

 

I think that's it for now, any questions just ask.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 06/06/2013 4:28 pm

 

Week 2

 

So it's been two full weeks now and although I probably got 15-20 new ones between today and last Friday, the ones I got were less inflamed and smaller for the most part. The cysts seem to be healing and not replacing themselves.

 

So overall it was a good week but I broke one of the Accutane rules by staying in the sun longer than I should have. I used sunscreen but not enough. It doesn't hurt but up close, my skin looks very congested and feels greasy. It must be the accutane because I've never reacted to the sun on my face like this. Overall it looks pretty good because it blended a lot of my marks but I have a feeling I'm gonna break out like crazy from this but we'll see.

 

My lips are definitely dry from the medicine because they're never this bad at this time of year. My hands are getting dry too, the sun definitely made that worse. It's not too bad though, lesson learned. I also went way way off my diet for a few days and lived very unhealthy so well see if that has any effect ( I don't think it will ). Still no other side effects.

 

I've been using Bag Balm on my lips and I like it a lot, I want to find a gentler cleanser the one I've been using has SA in it and I'd like to get away from that while I'm on it.

 

That's pretty much it for now, hopefully it the sun won't mess me up too bad. I'll know a lot more by next week.

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MemberMember
9
(@richardb)

Posted : 06/06/2013 5:11 pm

Hey Tim, overall it's looking pretty good. I got way too much sun on Sunday, and I used SPF 30 sunblock, but I'm paying for it a couple days later. Everyone's commenting about how sunburned I look.

I bought Carmex in those tiny tubs so it's easier to slather all over my lips.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 06/13/2013 3:50 pm

 

Week 3

 

So this week has definitely been the most active since starting Claravis. I've gotten about 35 new ones since last Friday. On the plus side, the majority of them were very small so my face doesn't look too much worse.

 

My right cheek has been going pretty crazy, about five of the thirty five came in one spot and created a dime sized mess. It's been slowly getting better the past couple days and it doesn't hurt too bad. I have two new cysts coming in near my left cheek bone, not sure how big they're gonna get, we'll see.

 

The corners of my jaw have calmed down for now but that can change real quick. My forehead has calmed down too compared to the past couple of weeks. I've noticed and increase in blackheads on my nose, and I can feel them when I wash my face coming above the pore. That's something I never felt before, hopefully it's a good sign.

 

I've been really bad with extracting them this past week and I've noticed they don't heal as well as before so I'm going to cut back on that a lot. The one on my neck is not active anymore and doesn't hurt at all, even if I push down on it, but it won't go away. I've never had that happen before.

 

The dryness on my hands has reduced but I have developed a small amount of eczema on my left hand which happend the last time so no big deal. Still no joint or any other issues. I've gotten much better control over my dry lips thanks to the bag balm. Great stuff.

 

I have my one month Dr appointment next Thursday so hopefully I'll bump up my dosage a good amount. In the past couple of days I've noticed a reduction in oil production which I'm very happy about. I still feel like the worst is yet to come so I'm ready for it, but I definitely wouldn't mind steady improvement form here on out (duh). Time will tell.

 

That's pretty much it for now.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 06/14/2013 5:26 pm

Forgot to mention that I've switched from the Lerosett cleanser to Dickinsons foaming facial cleanser because the lerosett had SA in it. I don't think it was irritating my skin but I just want to keep things as natural as possible while I'm on the Claravis.

 

I also started doing the Lerosett mask once a day as well as a Manuka honey and cinnamon mask at night. Too early to tell if it does anything but I like it, I put it on my lips as well and I think it's really helped with the dryness.

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MemberMember
9
(@richardb)

Posted : 06/14/2013 10:10 pm

I'm finding it doesn't matter *what* i use on my dry lips, but it matters you *always* have that handy or something similar, i.e. vasoline

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 06/20/2013 5:58 pm

 

Week 4

 

Okay so this week was much better than last week in terms of new spots, only about 13 give or take. That spot on my right cheek that's so popular has really calmed down and I think/hope that the worst is over but ill definitely get more spots there before this is all said and done. The one between my mouth and chin looks worse in the pictures than it really is, no pain there and its on its way out. The redness has been taking longer to go away I've noticed which seems to be common so I'm not worried. I still have clogged pores and closed comedones throughout my face, mostly on my forehead and near the sides of my mouth which are annoying but I'm done trying to extract them because I make it worse more often than not.

 

Other than that yesterday was the first time in a looong time that I could make pretty much any facial expression without feeling at least one of those little pains that I had become so familiar with. I don't know how long that will last but I'm gonna enjoy every second of it. Also this week I really noticed a reduction in my oil production, it's so nice not to feel so oily.

 

I had my first derm appointment today and my triglycerides were a little high but I think that was because I ate not too long before I got my blood taken. So next time I won't eat before and hopefully they'll go back to normal. She upped me to 40 mg which I think is still kinda low but I really didn't think I'd be getting the results I've been getting (knock on wood) with the 20 mg so we'll see. I was expecting to break out like crazy until my second or third month so things have been very pleasant so far considering. I've read enough of these logs to know I can still get hit with an IB so I won't consider myself out of the woods until I get past the third month. Anyway time will tell.

 

As far as side effects go I've really gotten much better control over the dry lips by using the bag balm when I'm home, any one of my many Chapstick type things while I'm out, hydrocortisone creme to bed once a week and I've been rubbing my manuka honey & cinnamon mask on them while I have the mask on (30-60 minutes). No other side effects to speak of.

 

I've been doing the honey mask almost every day for a little over a week and I really like it, I feel like it helps with the inflammation. I still use the lerosett once a day as well and will continue to use it, it doesn't dry me out and it's very convenient as far as masks go. Today I bought some Cerave moisturizing lotion after reading a bunch of good reviews on here. I've had the Cetaphil one for years but its just so greasy for me so I switched.

 

Oh and I got some injections at the dr also, maybe like 7 which is less than I got at the first visit. Another good sign.

 

That's it for now. Till next time.

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MemberMember
9
(@richardb)

Posted : 06/20/2013 10:43 pm

Tell me about the honey mask. I have 3 bee hives I keep, and I have plenty of raw honey. Do you just put some on your face and leave it there for a few hours?

Your progress looks great... I think starting as such a low dose kept you pretty clear without the IB.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 06/21/2013 3:43 am

I use manuka honey UMF 20+ which is supposed to be the most antibacterial form of honey but ive read that raw honey is good too. I mix between a tsp and tbsp of the honey with some cinnamon and just put it on my face after i wash. I leave it on for 30-60 minutes but they say the longer the better so however long is convenient is good. Then i just wash it off.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 06/23/2013 11:08 pm

So after just a few days of using the CeraVe lotion I can already tell I like it much better than the Cetaphil. Once it's on, I can barely feel it which is what I've been looking for in a moisturizer all along. Certain really dry spots need to get reapplied but I don't mind that much.

 

I did the math and during the first 30 days on Claravis I got about 80 pimples which sounds pretty bad but a lot of them were small. It seems to be calming down but they're still coming although not as big or as painful. The redness is pretty apparent but that's much easier to live with, I'm actually surprised at the amount of progress so far. Hopefully I keep seeing steady improvement from here on out.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 06/27/2013 7:10 pm

 

Week 5

 

Five weeks in and almost a full week with 40 mg per day. I've gotten about 18 new ones this week which is up from last week but I think that may be due to the increased dosage. No big painful ones or cysts thankfully, just little ones and medium sized whiteheads. Nothing new on or below my neck which is normal but I still appreciate it. There has been a huge reduction in blackheads on my nose as well.

 

The redness is the biggest issue now, and I still have a good amount of clogged pores which will probably turn into pimples at some point. I think there are less of them though. Overall I'm happy with the progress so far.

 

As far as side effects go there's nothing new to report, just dry lips and some dry spots on my face. I've been doing much better with not picking or popping anything and I still use Dickinsons foaming facial wash twice a day and 1-2 masks per day as well. Either the Lerosett or honey mask is all I use. CeraVe is my go to moisturizer now and I really like it, it's not greasy like Cetaphil was.

 

That's pretty much it for now, if I think of anything else I'll post it.

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MemberMember
9
(@richardb)

Posted : 06/27/2013 8:42 pm

That's such steady progress... I'm starting to believe low dose treatments are a good idea.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 07/04/2013 2:05 am

 

Week 6

 

So there has definitely been an increase in oil production since starting with the 40 mg which is discouraging but it's still better than it was. I'm still consistently getting 2 or 3 new ones a day so I've gotten about 20 new ones this week. My forehead is purging again I think, it's very bumpy with clogged pores and there's a painful one on my right temple that's been there for a week now but it's finally come to a head which is good.

 

I still have clogged pores throughout my face so I think I'll be getting close to 20 new ones a week for the foreseeable future. Also, the red marks are kinda piling up since the number of pimples hasn't slowed down. They are generally still minor compared to before but Ive gotten two bad ones in areas with a lot of red marks so it looks worse than it is. On a more positive note, there has been a huge reduction in the amount of blackheads on my nose. Hopefully it gets better soon but it's still better than it was so I'm grateful for that. I've been going out a lot more lately and not worrying about it and although its rough at times it's way better than hiding out at home.

 

The only side effect right now is dry lips and its definitely gotten worse since going to 40 but nothing I haven't seen before.

 

Still using the Lerosett mask pretty much everyday, but I don't think it's making a difference so I'm not going to replace my current tube. I will continue the honey and cinnamon mask though, a couple times a week.I think it helps somewhat.

 

I've taken 12 40mg pills so far, I noticed the reduction in oil after about 20 days on 20mg so I'm hoping the same will happen this month.

 

No pics this week because I'm not home and to be honest it looks about on par with the rest of the weekly pictures, but definitely next week.

 

Hope everyone has a happy 4th! Please don't stay in on account of your skin.

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MemberMember
9
(@richardb)

Posted : 07/04/2013 5:25 pm

Tim, it always looks worse when you bump up the dose... it takes a couple week for the body to adjust. But the higher the dose and longer the course, the better chance you have at full remission.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 07/11/2013 5:01 pm

 

Week 7

 

Well this week wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I only got about 10 new ones which was definitely a welcome change of pace. I actually had a day or two where I didn't get any, 4 or 5 of them are from the past day or two alone. My forehead is still the worst area with plenty more clogged pores left to come out. The lower portion of my face is doing much better with less spots and the ones that do come aren't a big deal although there might be a bad one coming in so we'll see. Until yesterday, this was the best week in terms of new arrivals, I'm a little worried about the flare up but it's still an improvement so overall I'm happy.

 

The oil has reduced a little I think and the dryness is now pretty much only effecting my lips, I use a lot less lotion than I was. I also stopped spot treating at night with the Lerosett mask because it wasn't really doing anything, now I just wash, do a mask and moisturize.

 

With the 4th of July and all that, I ate a ton of things that I shouldn't have but I don't think those things break me out. Something I should mention though is that a couple of weeks before starting Claravis I stopped eating peanut butter and then nuts altogether, except almond milk. I haven't had a legit cyst since probably my first week so I don't know if that's related but now I'm afraid to eat peanut butter which sucks because I love it. Oh well, I'll have to test that theory at some point.

 

No new side effects and no acne on my neck or below which is great. The pics this week are much closer up just to show the skin more since that's what this is all about, I definitely will not miss taking these pictures when this is all over, I don't photograph well as it is but I feel like they show the progress or lack thereof from week to week much better. Plus it's easier for the people who just like to skim through. Anyway that's pretty much all I got for now. Overall it was a good week.

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MemberMember
29
(@cw24)

Posted : 07/11/2013 11:43 pm

looking good man!

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 07/24/2013 6:21 am

Week 8/ 2nd month recap

 

Thanks CWR!

 

I know it's late but Ive been preoccupied lately. I wanted to put something for week 8 so since I finished the second month a couple days later I figured I'd combine them.

 

Well week 8 brought me about 12 new spots, some worse than others but anything under 15 and I'm pretty satisfied. I even had a lip line one which is kinda rare for me but it came and went probably faster than any other lip one I've ever had and not painful considering where it was. The 2nd month total for new ones was about 65, which is down from about 80 in the first. I think ill get around 45 in the third but ill be okay with anything under 65.

 

Lips are very dry now and today was the first time my nose felt dry on the inside but I'm not complaining, it's manageable. No other side effects to speak of thankfully.

 

Went to the Dr on Thursday and she put me on a 40/80mg every other day program, so basically 60mg per day which is nice. I have a feeling ill start to really make progress soon because its been pretty steady so far. Time will tell. The oil has gone back down which is good so if it goes back up a little with the increased dose, I won't worry about it.

 

I haven't been doing as many masks lately so I can pretty much say now that Lerosett would not have worked on its own for me but I still think its a good product and worth trying.

 

My face looks pretty much the same as far as number of marks so ill wait till Thursday to put pics up. That's it for now, if you have any questions, don't hesitate.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 07/27/2013 4:42 pm

 

Week 9

 

So I've been slacking with the updates, I know. I've had a lot on my mind the past couple of weeks but thankfully, acne has not been one of them. The ninth week brought 10 new ones which is good. I've been in the 10-15 range for the past couple of weeks now so I'm pretty sure the worst is over, I hope anyway.

 

My lips have been really really dry which is annoying but manageable. No other side effects really. I got another one on the side of my lip, right where the two lips meet but it wasn't big or really that painful, even while eating. The ones that come in are getting consistently smaller as well.

 

I ordered Dr Dans Cortibalm after seeing a bunch of good reviews so hopefully that helps with my lips. I'll let you know how it works for me next week. That's pretty much it for now, all in all the course is going really well.

 

Oh and I tried to put a front pic but it wouldn't let me so hopefully next week I'll be able to.

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MemberMember
2
(@heftymug)

Posted : 07/27/2013 5:33 pm

Looking awesome man! Thanks for updating, I've been following your log. I just started month 2 of my first course of accutane.

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MemberMember
1
(@jamie-ann)

Posted : 07/27/2013 5:58 pm

Wow you look awesome! I'm on my 2nd round too, with Clarvis as well. I'll keep reading to see your progress! Your story is very similar to mine.

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MemberMember
13
(@tim714)

Posted : 08/01/2013 8:05 pm

 

Week 10

 

Thanks Jamie and Hefty, good luck to you too!

 

Well the tenth week has gone pretty much the same as the last couple have. Slow but steady improvement. My forehead has been pretty calm this week and is looking as good as it has in a while. My cheeks and jawline are doing well too. That one in the corner or my mouth where my lips meet decided to be very stubborn and is still around but I think the worst is over for that one. I think it was the location that made it so stubborn, lots of movement and irritation there. In total I got about 12 new ones this week and none of them were very painful or huge. Today I woke up with one in that area just under the corner of my mouth, between my lips and chin which is one of the most annoying spots for me. It doesn't hurt really at all but it looks like it could stick around for a while so we'll see.

 

As far as side effects, my lips are getting so fn dry, the corner with the pimple is all cracked and they just look so dry too. It's getting to be a pain but still totally worth it, just makes the light at the end of the tunnel that much brighter. No other side effects to really speak of, thank God.

 

The Cortibalm works pretty good but I try not to use it so much, the website says 2-3 times a day max. I feel like when my lips are just normal winter dry this will help out a lot. I would recommend giving it a try.

 

Also I've been forgetting to mention this but the blackheads on my nose seem to go through cycles where they get pushed out, go away, then start over. Each time it happens they get less and less and I never really sweated blackheads anyway so it's just kinda cool to see.

 

I still have clogged pores that don't want to go away or come to a head, Sunday I might try to force one out even though I'll probably regret it. I'll see how I feel.

 

Sorry no pics this week, the selflies are a pain with an iPad. Next week. Hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

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