This is my fourth day of Accutane, and I felt it might be interesting to keep a log of my Accutane "journey". I'd like to see my improvement from start to finish and possibly get some advice in the comments.
Just a little background information:
I'm 15 years old and I've had mild acne for a few years. During the beginning of this summer, I started breaking out horribly only on my cheeks. The rest of my face was mostly clear (except for my chin sometimes), but I would get new pimples daily on my cheeks. I picked at my face a decent amount initially, and I have some scarring. However, even if I don't pick I still get scars. After unsuccessfully using Retin-A, doxycycline, salicylic acid, and benzoyl peroxide, my derm finally prescribed me 40mg of Absorbica (a generic form of accuatne). Right now, I'm 5'9 and 160 lbs. I eat okay, and I get exercise and lift weights. I'm also taking vitamin E, as I heard it could help reduce side affects.
Day 1-4: Nothing too drastic has happened so far. On days 3 and 4 I've noticed I've been breaking out a little more in areas that have been generally okay, including my forehead, chin, and around my nose. None of the pimples are very big or noticeable though, and they go away quickly. I'm still breaking out on my cheeks, and I noticed that today my nose has been pretty dry. Also, the end of my nose is pretty red and hurts to touch but there is no visible mark. In addition, popped a pimple (something I haven't done in a while) on my lower cheek that kinda opened on its on. I can tell its going to scar a little, so I was wondering if there was anything that could reduce that? Aloe vera (straight from the plant) usually helps. but it makes me break out near where I applied it. I'm still waiting for that huge initial breakout I've read about.
Day 5: I'm breaking out a tiny bit on my forehead and temples. My cheeks are still pretty bad, although I only got a few new pimples there today. My chin is kinda a mess right now. I had one big lump with a tiny whitehead, and I popped it with a sterilized needle and a lot of guck came out. I believe this will be alright, because I don't really scar on my chin. I still have this problem on the tip of my nose. It's incredibly red (like I got a really bad sunburn or something), and it painful to touch. Its not really raised or lumpy or anything, but it is really annoying. Still no side effects yet (not even dry skin), and I'm still waiting on a huge breakout.
Day 6: I didn't really break out anymore on my forehead, and my chin hasn't broken out anymore and is still healing. My cheeks are pretty bad still, although I didn't gain any noticeable pimples today. Kind of a shitty day regardless, because I went to a neighborhood party thing in the afternoon and I could just tell that some people were just staring at my face. Even better, I can see 2 huge ones underneath the skin on one of my cheeks. These will most likely surface tomorrow and probably leave some scarring. I noticed a lot of blackheads around my nose and upper cheeks, but I really don't care about these because I know this is what Accuatane does and they're hardly noticeable. Anyways, my nose is still red and very painful to touch, and it's bugging the hell out of me. Does anyone know what this is?
Good luck with your course
The first couple of months of accutane are almost definitely going to suck. But wait a little longer and your skin will magically get clearer every single day. I'm almost halfway through month 3 and it's amazing. The first 2 months however, were not.
Just hang in there, that day you have clear skin will be here before you know it 
Day 7: My face actually looked alright today. Still a lot of acne on my cheeks, but it is looking better today than it has all week. I know this is probably not because of the Accutane, as I am only just finishing my first week. Hopefully I am one of those people whose acne will be reduced in the first 4-6 weeks, but I will just have to wait and find out. My chin is still alright, and my forehead and nose are still blemish free. I still have that large red and painful area on the tip of my nose, and it makes me kinda look like Rudolph or something. I really wish It would go away on its own, because I have no idea how to get rid of it. Those two large pimples eventually came to a surface, but I managed to reduce some of the swelling by rubbing ice on the troublesome areas for a few minutes every morning and evening. I find that it initially makes the area really red, but after a few minutes reducing a redness and inflammation. I'm really bothered by all these scars on my cheeks. I've only had bad acne for 4 months, but for the first 3 months I was always picking my face and now I've got a decent amount of small but noticeable scars. I also found that regardless of whether I picked or not, some of the pimples would scar anyways. Does anyone know anyway to reduce the look of these scars that will not interfere with Accutane? Right now I'm trying to put Neosporin on open pimples or whatever ( not a spot treated, but as a preventive measure to reduce infection as the pimples start to disappear).
Sorry I wrote a novel, I guess I had a lot to say.
Day 8: Kind of the same. No new large pimples, but a couple smaller ones popped up on my chin. They're hardly noticeable though, so I'm really not worrying. My lips were pretty dry today, so I've just been applying vaseline every couple of hours. I did have my first nosebleed today though. I've had nosebleeds every now and then in the past, but I'm going to guess this is from the Accutane. My active acne seemed a little more red and noticeable today, most likely because the smaller pimples are getting bigger prior to fading away. I've only been using Neopsporin on active pimples that might scar, and Clean & Clear Popped Pimple Relief on ones that won't. No need for moisturizer yet, as my skin is really not that dry. I will try to get some pics up soon, so I can see the progress from beginning to end instead of just relying on posts.
