Hi! i am posting a one time post to tell you my roaccutane nightmare and recovery!
Firstly if you have bad acne, do NOT use Accutane or Roaccutane as a solution. I'm not even sure your GP can prescribe it anymore. However there are so many natural remedies which have little side effects. You just have to be patient!
Around 16-17 years of age i started getting very mild acne. However a couple of spots freaked me out. Being that age people are very impressionable. So i went to my GP and was prescribed some mild acne medicine. It didn't work. So i went back and got some stronger medication. This went on more and more and my acne got progressively worse. Being that age i started going out socially to parties etc and was drinking. What my GP didn't tell me was that alcohol whilst using these drugs would actually make my skin worse. This finally led to me being referred to this weird dermatologist. She had a leaflet with a long list of possible side effects of roaccutane. I didn't care i just wanted a solution. This was my first mistake. After months i had all the common side effects - dry skin, brittle hair, nosebleeds, sore lips even some mild depression and these weird aggro moments. I fought through it and after time my skin actually did get better. Once the treatment was complete around the 6 month mark. I was relatively content.
I was left with some red/sore acne scars on my cheeks which only looked slightly worse than having massive whiteheads. The one thing that bugged me was my hair!!! it was going! It finally hit me when i was on holiday with a friend and i suddenly woke up with hair all over my pillow. Freaked me out a treat. Being a naive teenager i left it and never mentioned it again, thinking it would get better after my treatment was over. This was not the case. I receded on my left temple and slightly on my right. I also had these little baldy patches on the two sides of my head. This sounds bad. but it was very minor hair loss. The main problem was the drastic reduced volume of my hair. It was such bad quality. For a number a years it rarely bothered me. My skin was improving slightly and it didn't seem my hair was getting worse. However it was getting worse. So 3 years later i started searching for treatments.
It began with various vitamins, Vitamin C, Iron, Zinc. These did not work! for me anyway. The only vitamin/mineral which did was Biotin which i take daily and highly recommend. I then looked for topical treatments which i could apply directly to my scalp. The first was this strange Loreal Hair Loss Targeting kit. it did not work and personally a huge con! The first BIG leap for my treatment was Rogaine. After 4 weeks my hair starting improving in quality and volume. This is the one product i highly recommend! Don't be embarrassed you can buy it discreetly off various websites. My confidence went leaps and bounds it felt great. I still use Rogaine to this day and my hair keeps improving every month (it has now been 6 months) In addition i would also highly recommend using a volume thickening shampoo, the one i use is called Nanogen and it's enriched with amino acids. It works wonders! I keep my hair short and smart. I get a short back and sides every 4 weeks (my hair grows incredibly fast) and i use Garnier Fructis Surf Hair to style my hair. This product is very durable, smells great and isn't gunky. it also adds more volume! I have stored 7 pots in my bedside cupboard it's that good!
For my skin after shaving i use Bulldog moisturiser for the day and this collagen cream which works great for skins. My scars have lost their discolouration and are barely visible. Massively pleased. All this stuff is expensive! But it's worth it for the results. I also buy in bulk for all these products when the price is low to save money. Also my girlfriend advised me to exfoliate to keep my skin clear, she was right!
Treatment is the best form of prevention! if these issues are bugging you sort them before it's too late! Also if you are using strong medication for your acne and you read this please get off of them! I hope this post is encouraging for people who have had a similar problem. If so i'm glad i have shared this story with you. Take care!
