I am 26 male and have been suffering from acne for more than a decade. I thought that acne will eventually go away once i enter adulthood but sadly that is not the case.
I started suffering from cystic acne around 22 , i get these cystic acne regularly about one a month. Most of them would leave a scar. I have numerous bump that are under the skin on my face which had remained for years, eventually some of them get bigger and become cysts. I have to keep going to the derm office to get coritisone shots for them.
I have seen pictures in the forum where people complained about cystic acne, but most of them seems like regular acne whereas mine would swell to at least 1cm in diameter.
I also have extremely oily face that would get oily a hour after i wash my face.
I have been on many diet , supplements(no diary , cod liver oil, vitamin b5.., green smoothie,..etc) they do improve abit but eventually the cystic acne would come back.
The only time that i was clear was when i was on doxy for 8 months, but have gotten folliculties because of it. Whenever i sweat and do not bath within 1-2 hrs i will developed painful bump on my chest and back, because of this i have avoided sport activities in the sun.
To make matter worse , i also suffer from eczema since birth. Over the years my eczema has been under control and mostly remained on my hands and face.
I am worried that if i take accutane my eczema would get worst. I read that acctuane will cause dry lips and i currently already suffered from cracked and teared lips at the side. I was thinking maybe i could try a low dose of accutane and see if it does help my acne.
Is there anyone who suffer from eczema and have taken accutane for acne able to share his/her experience.
Sorry for the long wall of text. Just frustrated and tired from battling this disease for so long and things just keep getting worse..
Thank you.
I'm almost 4 months through my course of accutane. I did not suffer with eczema at all before starting it but I developed it terribly during month 2 . I seem to get eczema now when I get lazy about moisturising.
I don't think having eczema should stop you from taking accutane, just discuss this with your derm to check. If you do go for it, be sure to take extra good care of your skin, my derm recommended moisturising 4 times a day (although moisturising 2/3 times a day has been enough for me).
Good luck 
Well I dont have eczema but I can tell you the number one side effect of accutane is dry lips. I think you could definitely get through the treatment though if needed. Youll just have to be very persistent applying something on your lips etc. Accutane also gets rid of folliculties because it gets rid of the oil on your skin. The lower the dose the less side effects youll have.
I am 26 male and have been suffering from acne for more than a decade. I thought that acne will eventually go away once i enter adulthood but sadly that is not the case.
I started suffering from cystic acne around 22 , i get these cystic acne regularly about one a month. Most of them would leave a scar. I have numerous bump that are under the skin on my face which had remained for years, eventually some of them get bigger and become cysts. I have to keep going to the derm office to get coritisone shots for them.
I have seen pictures in the forum where people complained about cystic acne, but most of them seems like regular acne whereas mine would swell to at least 1cm in diameter.
I also have extremely oily face that would get oily a hour after i wash my face.
I have been on many diet , supplements(no diary , cod liver oil, vitamin b5.., green smoothie,..etc) they do improve abit but eventually the cystic acne would come back.
The only time that i was clear was when i was on doxy for 8 months, but have gotten folliculties because of it. Whenever i sweat and do not bath within 1-2 hrs i will developed painful bump on my chest and back, because of this i have avoided sport activities in the sun.
To make matter worse , i also suffer from eczema since birth. Over the years my eczema has been under control and mostly remained on my hands and face.
I am worried that if i take accutane my eczema would get worst. I read that acctuane will cause dry lips and i currently already suffered from cracked and teared lips at the side. I was thinking maybe i could try a low dose of accutane and see if it does help my acne.
Is there anyone who suffer from eczema and have taken accutane for acne able to share his/her experience.
Sorry for the long wall of text. Just frustrated and tired from battling this disease for so long and things just keep getting worse..
Thank you.
Hey there,
I too have been on isotretinoin whilst suffering also from eczema, though I must admit my eczema is very mild. I am currently on my 4th course of isotretinoin and now also a hydrocortisone cream for any dry patches - as I'm taking a low long dosage of tane this combination seems to be working very well for me. The only issue I have is some lip irritation, which can easily be rectified with good lip balm, and unfortunately, sore joints (though I do strenous exercise everyday, weightlifting/cardio).
Please feel free to drop me a message if I can help you in any way.
Best of luck
Rob
Thank you for all the replies.
Hi rob , i have a couple of qns if you don't mind answering them.
What is dosage are you on currently and how long have you been on?
You mentioned this is your 4th course, does that mean you have already taken tane thrice already? Did the acne came back?
Have your eczema gotten worse with accutane?
How bad are the sore joints? I am also lifting weights, would it accutane affect my gains?
Do you have trouble with shaving because of the dryness caused by tane.
Thank you.
Thank you for all the replies.
Hi rob , i have a couple of qns if you don't mind answering them.
What is dosage are you on currently and how long have you been on?
You mentioned this is your 4th course, does that mean you have already taken tane thrice already? Did the acne came back?
Have your eczema gotten worse with accutane?
How bad are the sore joints? I am also lifting weights, would it accutane affect my gains?
Do you have trouble with shaving because of the dryness caused by tane.
Thank you.
Hey there,
Im currently on my 4th sortie yes, I weigh 80kg and am taking a low long dose of 20mg a day - it was 20mg 3 times a week but I upped my dose slightly to every two days, then to each day. My previous courses were 1st: 60mg for just under a year, 2nd: 40mg for just under a year and half, 3rd: 80mg for two months (my derm was a douche and took me off - I saw another with whom I am doing current regime with success). I have always relapsed yes, for me it seems I need to be on this drug to keep the acne at bay - hence the low dose. The eczema did get noticably worse on the higher doses, but at the moment it is pretty negligible with the hydrocortisone cream i'm using.
The sore joints have only really noticably happened to me recently - I was training to run a 10k race for a few months but found the pain was hindering my progress far too much - I would not be able to jog a long distance, or even walk without pain for a few days after a run. Currently I do experience pain in my elbows when weightlifting, but I am able to just grit my teeth and bare it - I also use a lot of ralgex/deep heat on the area to kill the pain temporarily. Additionally, I also take cod liver oil supplements each day. I am getting gains but obviously theres always that nagging doubt that I'd be able to get bigger if I didn't have the lingering pain in my elbows - some days I kinda like the pain in a strange masochist way though, reaffirms my determination.
Shaving is not really any more of a problem for me - I both wet and electric shave. It's more of a problem when I have active acne, i.e. when I'm not on isotretinoin.
Hope this helps. I have written about 'my story' tens of times on my profile if you want further info.
All the best to you
Rob
I read that tane will make your skin sensitive to sun, do u get sunburn easily even with sunscreen?
Do you also have oily skin? Did tane help you to get less oily.
Did you experience any hair loss during your course?
After completing your course does the above symptoms continue to stay?
I read your story and i hope this is your last course on tane and you finally be able to say goodbye to acne.
I read that tane will make your skin sensitive to sun, do u get sunburn easily even with sunscreen?
Do you also have oily skin? Did tane help you to get less oily.
Did you experience any hair loss during your course?
After completing your course does the above symptoms continue to stay?
I read your story and i hope this is your last course on tane and you finally be able to say goodbye to acne.
Hey there,
Yes you will sunburn easier when on isotretinoin - apply non-comedogenic sunscreen if in hot conditions, cetaphil do a good one. Yes I did have oily skin and the isotretinoin cleared it up. I have experienced no hair loss in my 13 years of taking the treatment. Side effects dissipate after treatment. If you're lucky then you will not relapse, but some people do.
Regards,
Rob
i am on my 2nd day of 10mg accutane daily and have already experience a initial breakout. Does the drug work that fast?
Do you apply any topical on active acne while on accutane?
I still feel very oily though and have not experience any of the mentioned side effects yet.
Hey there,
You won't notice anything after 2 days - it'll take a few weeks before the medication gets into your system enough to cause noticable side effects. You will most likely get the IB around week 2ish, it differs for each person, some earlier, some around a month. Similarly you won't stop feeling oily until you're well into the course I'm afraid, but it WILL happen for you, it just requires dedication and a lot of determined patience I'm afraid. I can recommend some good products to deal with the side effects from my experiences if you wish, just pm if you'd like info.
I only use a non-comdogenic soap and no topicals. I do however apply some ibuprofen gel to active bumps personally just before bed - takes the swelling down massively in my opinion - but I'm sure you'll find ppl who doubt this method.
Hope you're progressing ok on the 'ol tane train.
keep truckin
Rob
Thanks rob, been applying ibuprofen gel and icing my massive cysts. Feels strange as i normally do not break out with that many cystic acne at one time so i thought it was the initial breakout.
I have numerous under the skin bumps ranging from small to medium, will tane get rid of these? some of these has been there for years and only be seen under good lighting or if i stretch my skin.
Face look like shit now , hopefully will get better the next month.