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23 / Male - Accutane For The First Time

 
MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/17/2013 3:13 pm

So, a little about me. I'm a 22-year old college student, 23 in two months... been suffering from acne since middle school. It got really bad around 11th / 12th grade, and since then has been messing with my life. I've swung back and forth between periods of severe acne and periods of being relatively clear...

I got prescribed Accutane last Wednesday... my derm told me that given how inconveniently placed my acne is (a lot of it is around my mouth and even right on the lipline), it would be preferable to use some kind of oral treatment... she started talking antibiotics, and then I brought up Accutane, which kind of threw her off... but what she ended up telling me was that she wasn't against putting me on 'tane, seeing as how even though my acne is only mild / moderate, its a) incredibly resistant and b) has been scarring heavily in the past couple years.

This wasn't a decision I took lightly. I pestered my derm with questions about side effects and risks for permanent damage. She assured me that none of her patients had suffered long-term damage, simply because she monitors them closely and at the slightest sign of side effects outside the norm, she pulls them off the medicine.

I got put on 20mg the first month, to a) test my reaction and b) hopefully avoid the initial flareup, at least according to my derm.

Day 5

Today is day 5... looks like I won't be avoiding the initial breakout after all, even on this low dosage. I've been getting whiteheads galore lately... I have seven around my mouth, really embarrassing... don't want to pop them though, as people have warned against that... more stuff coming up on my cheeks, my nose, my forehead, and my neck.

In terms of symptoms, nothing so far... a headache or two, but those could be entirely unrelated.

I'm really hoping the initial breakout doesn't get too bad, because I'm currently going to school full-time, and I feel sooo uncomfortable sitting under the bright light with my crappy, oily, skin covered in whiteheads and hyperpigmentation. Not to mention I also have to work on top of going to school, and whenever I get a bad breakout I just lose all drive and motivation. That's how it's always been with me and acne... it just runs my life. My emotional ups and downs coincide with the ups and downs of my skin.

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MemberMember
3
(@clear-my-skin)

Posted : 09/17/2013 3:53 pm

Hey! Long ago you helped support me whilst I was on the DKR regimen, so I am going to follow your journey and support you.

 

About the whiteheads, I use a technique which is effective and doesn't irritate my skin or spread bacteria:

1. Soak a cotton ball in very warm water

2. Squeeze the water out

3. GENTLY apply the cotton to the whitehead, and wait until about 30 seconds

4. GENTLY wipe the whitehead away (the warmness has brought all the white stuff to the surface)

5. Voila, it's gone. You might wanna splash a bit of cold water though to close the pore.

 

But good luck! If anything goes bad, just keep calm and imagine yourself in a few months time when you've conquered acne! :)

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/19/2013 4:18 am

Day 7

Initial breakout worsening, whiteheads coming and going, more coming than going. Mostly around mouth. Nose is of particular interest, there are a lot of reddish areas, I'm guessing from gunk that's on its way out.

My skin looks pretty bad even at this early stage, I can't imagine how much worse it's going to get. Oh well, just need to tough it out!

Oh also just noticed I'm getting an eczema / dermatitis - like rash on the front of my neck... fun times!

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/20/2013 7:43 am

Day 8

Woke up to more whiteheads near mouth and on the lipline, as well as painful red spots in my moustache where pimples are on the verge of coming up.

The eczema near my upper eyes, near my nose and the rash on my neck haven't spread, but haven't dissipated either.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/21/2013 8:45 am

Day 9

Skin getting progressively worse. Whiteheads galore around my mouth and on my lipline, a bunch of new ones coming in. If this keeps up, soon I won't be sure how I'll manage to shave. A big tender red spot coming up to the left of my nose, where I can feel at least three individuals pimples grouped together. Redness on my nose, from pimples surfacing, blackheads getting more pronounced. The rash on the front of my neck persists and actually looks a little worse. Eczema near my eyes / nose hasn't spread. Also, eyes have been slightly drier, and I've been getting itchy scalp / dandruff.

So overall, no positives, all negatives! Lol. I wish I could just hide and not come out until the breakout passes, but unfortunately I have to go to school looking like this.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/22/2013 9:09 am

Day 10

Dang! It's crazy how much stuff Accutane is pushing out around my mouth region. And I thought it looked bad yesterday... well this morning I wake up to find sooo many pustules everywhere... especially on my lipline and in my moustache area... which is a pain in the butt, because I hate moustaches.

It'll be interesting to see how bad it gets today and tonight. Although I'm not really all that eager to see, because I have class tomorrow... nothing like sitting in a brightly lit room with a mouthful of juicy pustules!

Overall, skin looks pretty bad... reddish, angry... greasy from moisturizer... and of course broken out worse than it has been in months. Still got that rash on the front of my neck, eczema / dermatitis near my eyes and in my eyebrows. Also been getting dandruff, caused by dermatitis on the scalp I believe.

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MemberMember
23
(@eatsrainbows)

Posted : 09/22/2013 9:27 am

At the beginning of my course I suffered with terrible eczema due to the dry skin. My derm told me to moisturise constantly, I did it 4 times a day and the eczema went away :)

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/22/2013 10:46 am

At the beginning of my course I suffered with terrible eczema due to the dry skin. My derm told me to moisturise constantly, I did it 4 times a day and the eczema went away smile.png

Thanks! I've been trying that the past couple days, so far the red flaky patches haven't gone away but they haven't spread either. I've also been applying hydrocortisone, but I'm kinda scared of using too much, especially near my eyes. Plus, I'm actually not sure whether it's eczema or seborrheic dermatitis... I think I'll need a derm's opinion in regards to that

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/23/2013 7:51 am

Day 11

Skin still looks awful. Pustules around mouth coming, going. Some of the ones from yesterday have dried up and become crusty / yellowish, only to be replaced by new ones which last night were nothing but red marks. Luckily the breakouts aren't as painful as they could be... my mouth just feels really tight and uncomfortable because of all the pustules surrounding it. There is one really painful area to the upper-left of my lip... I feel it pretty much every time I move my mouth.

In addition, feeling a bit more dryness around the lips / mouth. A dermatitis (?) patch on my chin which I'd had earlier in the summer also got REALLY flaky overnight, but the flakes came off pretty easy and I applied cortisone on it afterwards.

EDIT: Also, just noticed my first "accutane rash" / eczema patch on my body! I was wondering when those would start coming in... this one's on my leg, on the right side of my quad. It's itchy too, unlike the stuff on my neck. I'll put Eucerin lotion on it over the next couple days just to see if I can avoid dumping cotrisone on everything.

EDIT #2: Evening update... everything is happening rapido rapido! By the end of the day, the breakout around my mouth looks nothing like it did in the morning, simply because stuff is pushing out / drying up so fast. Overall though, the skin around my mouth looks freaking horrible. Red marks, flakes, scabs, pustules and yellow crust all over. I haven't done any major squeezing because I know I'm not supposed to, but I have been removing some of the flakes / crust just to look slightly less like a monster tinydan.gif

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/24/2013 9:20 am

Day 12

Skin still looks like crap. Pustules, cysts, flakes, crust, dermatitis, redness, you name it. I'm really worried about the dermatitis expanding so I've been keeping an eye on it. So far it still seems to be confined to above my eyes, as well as scalp / eyebrows. There's an area of redness at the bridge of my nose which is also a common dermatitis area for me, but I can't tell if it's that or if it's just growing pimples. Also I haven't been able to shave my moustache just because the area is so pimply / irritated, so I just look dirty as hell overall.

It's going to take a lot of effort to force myself to go to class today! XD

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MemberMember
0
(@birdsxfeathers)

Posted : 09/24/2013 12:43 pm

I've only started accutane 2 days ago, and so far I haven't noticed any side effects. I can totally relate though, sometimes when my skin is really bad I just can't make myself leave my room and I'll lock myself up all day with the curtains closed and the mirrors covered. But just try to stay positive I'm sure your skill will get better soon! :)

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/25/2013 8:32 am

I've only started accutane 2 days ago, and so far I haven't noticed any side effects. I can totally relate though, sometimes when my skin is really bad I just can't make myself leave my room and I'll lock myself up all day with the curtains closed and the mirrors covered. But just try to stay positive I'm sure your skill will get better soon! smile.png

Thanks! I hope so too.

Day 13

So it seems that the breakout has shifted somewhat to the left side of my mouth. A LOT of pustules there, both above and below the lips. I'm counting maybe 18 white heads total around my mouth (of course, they're not really whiteheads). This means that in a week I've managed to go from maybe four active heads to 18... Plus there's painful red lumps that are bound to sprout heads probably within the next 24 hours. Simply moving my mouth hurts so much at the moment because of all the inflammation around it :(

Fortunately, there seems to be an upside! First, my neck rash and the dermatitis above my eyes isn't as red anymore. The stuff on the bridge of my nose which I thought was more dermatitis is actually just tiny pimples coming out. Whew! Also, the massive cyst that was growing to the left of my nose seems to actually have receded somewhat, and isn't painful anymore. Same with the other cyst I was worried about, to the lower-right of my mouth.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/26/2013 7:14 am

Day 14

2 weeks... basically the left side of my mouth is a disgusting mess. Massive bumps, inflammation and pustules. The right side looks better comparatively but still awful. Also got pustules on my nose, which has never happened before, and one big painful one in my left eyebrow. I actually woke up at 5am and couldn't fall back asleep because of the deep pain around my left mouth. Also got a MASSIVE hickey last night, which I'm kind of worried about because I've heard things take much longer to heal on accutane.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/28/2013 8:30 am

Day 16

Initial breakout still going. Two nights ago was the worst - lots of inflammation, hurt to move my mouth, and an area to the left of my jaw swelled up so much that at one point my mouth was slanted to one side slightly. At this point, the swelling has gone away, and a lot of the inflammation has died down somewhat. Today, spent the morning just peeling off a lot of dried-up pus and crust from my face. Fun times! Breakout is far from over, still got tender active spots, but at least there's some relief.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/29/2013 10:15 am

Day 17

Last night found dry red skin patches near both my sideburns and itchy patches in my beard. Decided to shave all my facial hair, which I had been putting off because I was concerned about irritation. There is a lot of redness on my face overall, some of it from pimples surfacing, some of it from eczema, some from PIH. I've also been getting these tiny red bumps, mainly on my cheeks - not sure what those are all about.

I guess the upside is that I thoroughly cleansed / moisturized my face last night, so a lot of the crust and nastiness is gone, but it's been replaced by major redness. I guess I can deal with the breakouts and the PIH, but the dry red eczema patches on my face bother me.

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(@bhollowa)

Posted : 09/29/2013 11:20 am

Hey bud, good luck with your treatment. I'm currently on day 12( 40mg) and am in the middle of my initial breakout period as well. It definitely sucks, but I just keep telling myself that in a few weeks it should be getting better. From most of the people I talk to and things I read about after a month or so things start clearing up. Hang in there.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/29/2013 11:46 am

Hey bud, good luck with your treatment. I'm currently on day 12( 40mg) and am in the middle of my initial breakout period as well. It definitely sucks, but I just keep telling myself that in a few weeks it should be getting better. From most of the people I talk to and things I read about after a month or so things start clearing up. Hang in there.

Thanks! Good luck with your treatment. I don't want to jinx anything, but I think my IB is already starting to get better.

I just wish it was just the IB that was bothering me, but it's not even that anymore. I have maybe 10 dry red patches on my cheeks and near my sideburns now... and considering I'm only on 20mg, it can only get worse, seeing as how my skin is super-sensitive to begin with... if I could be assured that this was something that would go away once I was off the drug, I'd have some peace of mind... but it seems like there's no guarantees on Accutane. I think I need to schedule a derm appointment asap and voice my concerns.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 09/30/2013 7:23 am

Day 18

Well I think the crazy IB has subsided... I'm still breaking out a bit, but everything's really slow and chill now. Haven't had anything new appear overnight. Face is really red and blotchy-looking though... this sucks. Got flaky eczema patches running up the sides of my face. And, like I mentioned earlier, lots of little red bumps everywhere too, I'm not really sure if it's acne or what. Last night I cleansed and used CeraVe Cream as moisturizer, with some Aquaphor. I hadn't been cleansing much up to that point because I wanted to avoid irritating all those pustules, but I think I need to make it a regular thing now to avoid dead skin buildup.

EDIT: Well today in-between classes my face got SUPER red and the eczema seemed to spread even further... I got so frustrated that I grabbed some SPF 15 BB cream that was sitting behind my bathroom mirror... I had no idea how it got there, it's definitely not mine... I think my gf might have left it... anyway I just smeared a bunch of that over my face so I at least looked presentable for my next class. Luckily my skin tone is pretty similar to hers, at least when I'm tanned. I wouldn't normally have done this, but it's a pretty small class and there is a lot of discussion... so yeah, just wanted to have some peace of mind.

Also called my derm to discuss my eczema... she said that seeing as how I've been getting an IB and eczema on just 20mg, I must be pretty sensitive to accutane. I don't know whether that's good or bad... could be both I guess, might mean it clears my acne faster, but could also mean I get nastier side effects down the line. She prescribed me a cream for my eczema which I'm picking up tomorrow.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 10/01/2013 4:08 am

Day 19

Today I woke up and my skin didn't look like complete garbage! Mainly because the eczema doesn't look as red as it did yesterday. It's still obviously there, just not as inflamed and in-your-face as it was. I used Cetaphil cream last night, maybe it was that. Looking forward to picking up my prescription today and seeing what it can do. Still breaking out sporadically in random places, but I'm fine with that, as long as I don't get another breakout on the same scale as my initial one.

I'm also super-stressed at the moment, mainly with work, so that can't be helping my situation.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 10/02/2013 7:44 am

Day 20

Face still red and blotchy. Lots of inflamed pores around my nose region. Some stubborn tender acne around my nose, and sporadically on other areas of my face. No massive cysts at the moment. Eczema is somewhat subdued.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 10/03/2013 11:51 am

Day 21

Same old story. Random pimples coming in here and there. My skin doesn't look as nightmarish anymore simply because the redness from the eczema is almost gone, and skin isn't all dry and flaky thanks to consistent cleansing and moisturizing. Been getting some strange pimples, like one REALLY close to my eye (but still far enough that I can tell it's a clogged pore and not some eye infection), and two on my left earlobe, of all places.

I've been using CeraVe lotion as a daytime moisturizer for the past couple of days, but it looked really greasy and I think contributed to redness somewhat. This morning I tried Aveeno lotion with oatmeal, and it makes my skin looks a little more civilized. At night I've been using Cetaphil Cream and been loving it.

I don't think I'll update as often now, unless something major happens, like if my face explodes again or if I magically clear up.

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 10/06/2013 12:57 am

Day 23

I said I wouldn't post as often, but I feel like posting anyway.

Skinwise I've been doing okay... not good, not bad. Breaking out more, ranging from cysts to tiny little whiteheads. Stuff is definitely pushing out: my nose has a rough texture from all the plugs pushing out, and I'm finding little white pus bumps and strings on my skin all the time XD ... eczema is still staying away so that's good.

Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of side effects. I have some "pimples" that really bother me though, because instead of pushing out and drying up like any self-respecting acne should, these guys have instead formed into tender red bumps that show no sign of ever leaving. I've had some of this stuff on my chin and chest since March, another one since May, and finally one that's been with me since the beginning of my Accutane treatment. My derm appointment is on Friday, but I can't see my dermatologist and instead have to see her assistant. I doubt she'll have any answers as per these "unique" pimples, so I guess I'll just have to hope that an increased (hopefully) dose of Accutane can do something about them.

Had a little alcohol craving today but firmly told myself "NO". Lol.

Stephen23 liked
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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 10/08/2013 9:07 am

Day 26

Still getting random breakouts, but somehow they seem more subdued and less monstrous than pre-Accutane. A lot of smaller red bumps, and much less large inflamed stuff. I haven't been getting eczema at all, so maybe my skin has adjusted to the medicine, or maybe it's the Aveeno lotion that's doing it. My one qualm with the lotion is that it's so sticky, and leaves my skin feeling kinda rubbery. But it moisturizes and has a matte finish, so I think I'll be sticking with it nonetheless (no pun intended).

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MemberMember
0
(@junkim)

Posted : 10/08/2013 6:49 pm

Still breaking out? I'm still breaking out at nearly month 2.. sigh

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MemberMember
17
(@wombat666)

Posted : 10/08/2013 10:39 pm

Still breaking out? I'm still breaking out at nearly month 2.. sigh

Yup... I've heard some people keep breaking out right until the end of their course! I hope that's not us though...

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