Intro
Hey guys welcome to my log.
I decided to contribute to the log pages with my decision to start on accutane. i'm 20 years old, and a college student. A little bit about me, I had clear skin since i was young, but only had the occasional cyst on my nose or pimple until senior year. I thought i was blessed with good skin, then I started to get acne in places i never had like my cheeks. Then college came and it just got worse and worse. I was put on antibiotics (doxy) and differing/retin a for about a year. It would clear up my acne very slowly, but i always broke out more before it got better and it wouldn't even clear me up 100%. once my prescription ended my acne progressively got worse and i tried to take antibiotics again, but it continued to get worse til i got this
the acne i got was extremely painful, and i had huge nodular acne on my jaw underneath.
i went to a GP, was put on minocycline and decided to go to a different dermatologist. After a month of low dosage minocycline, my acne cleared up but not much. i went to a dermatologist, she recommended me accutane, i said no because i heard of the effects and wanted to take higher differin and continue mino. Besides i didn't think my acne was bad enough to go on accutane. After researching tho, i decided to take accutane because i knew differin and mino would not work in the end, only control my acne.
My acne: Day 1
Here is my acne from pictures i took today. It doesn't look too bad right now because i took minocycline and topical cream before i started, my acne was a lot worse last month.
I would describe my skin as moderate/severe.
Why i was hesitant about accutane
well all the horror stories online. i didn't want to get IBS, depression, etc.
also i like to lift weights and i was worried about my joints.
i luv alcohol and its summer. cant binge drink with my friends
side effects effecting my work, dating, life, mentality, school, lifts, etc..
Why did i go on accutane
well, nothing worked on my skin. BP, tea tree oil, antibiotics, creams, differin, lotions, etc..
my acne always left nasty scars on me, i don't even pick them they just get so inflamed and deflate like a balloon to leave a bump, indent, or a red mark.
Another thing , i find the internet over dramatizes the side effects and horror stories of accutane. its really a very small percentage of people that get these symptoms, and many of them i believe were pre-disposed to them. Also i would be getting monthly checkups to make sure my body is healthy and i trusted my doctor. Youtube videos and other logs made me more confident accutane was the solution. I also wanted to make this log for others to know if i get any of these horrible side effects. I'm not really sure how frequently ill post updates, but feel free to ask me questions or anything while I'm on it. ill gladly help you guys out.
Well on my journey to the tane!
TBH, i didn't really expect to start on 80 MG right away.
Day 1 Recap:
Well to be honest i didnt really feel anything, nothing different. I did buy a lot of products though, bee burts lip balm, Aquaphorus for my lips, cerave moisturizing cream, cerave facial wash
Whoa, you're starting on 80mg? I'm on a low dosage and it took me about a week to become completely dry, so I think it'll be less for you. Stock up on lip balm and moisturizer, it's gonna be a long, flakey ride. Good luck and keep us posted!
haha yeah, i was really surprised when i was started on 80mg too. i trust the dr though because my first month I'm getting three blood tests! one before, one in two weeks, one for the next prescription.
also for anyone looking for a moisturizer, cerave cream is fucking amazing!
Day 3 Recap:
So far so good, working out is fine, face is still oily and lips not dry at all. I believe this is because i am part fish and drink water a lot, and since i am on accutane i drink more water than i normally do which is insane. Also aqua and burt bees on my lips to prevent chapping. Planning on grabbing a few drinks at the bar tonight, will see how that goes.
Good luck on your journey.
Did your derm say how long you should expect to be on it for?
Thanks! About six months.
Hey buddy, good luck on your journey!
I'd be rooting for you and your progress
Thanks bud!
Day 5 recap
My nodular acne and oil calmed down , I am breaking out in regular pimples in some places but isn't anything that bothers me.
Side effects are more dry face but less than what topical a cause which I fix with cerave cream and my lips were a little dry this morning which I fix with water and balm.
Only side effect that bothers me is the alcohol. I can't really drink as much and drink small amounts because I'm worried I'll fail the blood test if I do, other than that a healthy diet and lots of water is making me feel great.
Working out is also fine.
I'll probably update once a week from now on or whenever I have something to report.
If anyone has questions feel free to post it in my blog or pm me!
My acne is A LOT like you. I don't have cysts but i do have some nodules or really big angry pimples that hurts and leaves a lot of awful marks.
It's funny because you also have your forehead kinda clear,i do too lol. Anyways my T-zone is super oily,but for some reason my acne is focused on my cheeks. I don't have any on my chin,around mouth or under the jaw.
I didn't tried antibiotics. My derm offered them to me (plus retin a).I thought about it for two weeks and came back to her to start the treatment. After she saw me,she told me that i got worse in these two weeks and that the antibiotics would helped be but she told me that the acne was probably to came back after ending them. So we discussed about accutane and i decided to take it. 40 mg a day for 5 months,maybe 6.
We are in the same boat my man. I also started to get acne at the same time i started college. Lucky me.
Good luck and keep upgrading your log.
My acne is A LOT like you. I don't have cysts but i do have some nodules or really big angry pimples that hurts and leaves a lot of awful marks.
It's funny because you also have your forehead kinda clear,i do too lol. Anyways my T-zone is super oily,but for some reason my acne is focused on my cheeks. I don't have any on my chin,around mouth or under the jaw.
I didn't tried antibiotics. My derm offered them to me (plus retin a).I thought about it for two weeks and came back to her to start the treatment. After she saw me,she told me that i got worse in these two weeks and that the antibiotics would helped be but she told me that the acne was probably to came back after ending them. So we discussed about accutane and i decided to take it. 40 mg a day for 5 months,maybe 6.
We are in the same boat my man. I also started to get acne at the same time i started college. Lucky me.
Good luck and keep upgrading your log.
thanks buddy, good luck to you too.
Day 6 Recap:
So its almost a week and surprisingly some of the redness on the acne has calmed down. I think this is due to my acne not being as inflamed, also the painful nodular acne isn't really that painful because it got smaller. So i am happy with that.
No real side effects except for a a little bit of dry lips (not too bad at all) and little bit of a dry face ( also not bad at all)
speaking of breakouts i got about 9 new whiteheads this week but its not that bad at all! It feels good to see my skin purging with whiteheads lol. Usually i would get some painful bump with no head. Very optomistic about this treatment.
No mental side effects either so far. My advice to everyone is just to stay positive and don't worry too much!
The only thing that really sucks about accutane is the fact that i cant binge drink! Especially since its summer.
Day 9 recap
I'm already clearing up which is really surprising. my skin does not look as bad and oily as before and so far I'm really content with the results. I've been breaking out in white heads the last couple of days but no nodular acne.
side effects are starting to come in though, a dryer nose which led to some nose bleeds in the morning. lips are also drier.
getting my blood test in 5 days so will update log at that time.
Day 13 recap:
Well almost 2 weeks into it. My skin is improving, a lot less oily and my right side of my face cleared up a lot. the left side of my face was purging a lot of gunk out though. My breakouts weren't too bad because i didn't have too much nodular acne. but overall a lot better than 2 weeks ago, I'm amazed.
I am starting to experience side effects though. First DRY lips. people weren't joking when there lips were SUPER dry. it took a while for mine to get dry with my water and balm but eventually it got to me too.
i also get frequent nose bleeds because my nose is so dry. annoying to wake up with bloody phlegm
also im not sure if this is from a workout injury or the accutane but i do get lower back pain. it feels like stiff or muscular pain but it might of been from my shoulder injury. weird.
other than that accutane isn't too bad! the worse part is the dryness and sore back.
