Hello, I finally started my Accutane course so I thought I'd make a log to track my progress and help anybody else who may be thinking about taking Accutane themselves. Let me tell you a little bit about myself...I'm a 23 year old male with a healthy lifestyle and through high school up until last fall I had clear skin but as soon as I started lifting weights 6x a week I had acne that I couldn't control on my back, neck, scalp, chest, and shoulders.
Recently my dermatologist suggested Accutane to me and I finally got my prescription and started on 40 mg/day. Today is my 4th day
Day 4: Skin feels sensitive to sunlight. My skin is starting to feel a little tight...not really dry though. No chapped lips yet. I kind of have rosey cheeks...no biggie though...other than that I think Accutane gives me restless legs at night. I'll keep updating my progress.
Day 5: I feel the accutane working! My skin is getting very oily...but it can also be dry too. If I don't put on lotion it's too dry and if I do it gets kind of oily...hopefully I can find some balance once my pores stop making so much oil. I think the oil is getting pushed out of my pores hopefully this stops soon. My face is very flushed. My cheeks and nose look like I have got too much sun but really it's just the accutane making me flush. I hope this doesn't get worse after I increase my dosage but for now I am putting up with the sunburned look. That's about it for today I can feel the accutane starting to work.
Day 6: Not much is new...skin is a lot less oily and more dry. When I get out in the sun my lips start to feel chapped too. My face is flushed but not nearly as bad...I was out in the sun a little bit watering flowers at work and it looks like I got a little bit of sun but the accutane is just making me a little red. My skin is a little itchy from drying out too.
BTW: I am also taking 20 mg of prednisone every other day as directed by my dermatologist.
What mg are you on? What kind of acne do you have? I started on 40 mg for my first month but will be going up to 60 then 80. I weigh 155 lbs. Good luck!
I am on 30mg once a day. I have very mild acne but I get cysts on my face and on my back 
. And they leave horrible scars. I weigh around 108 pounds so an average dose I think.
Day 8: So my skin has been less oily and less red. When the accutane was kicking in around days 4 and 5 my face was very flushed and very red and oily but it has calmed down. I've had a few more small whiteheads than usual pop up on my face the past few days. Also there are a few bumps coming up on my left cheek and I haven't had acne on my cheeks in a few months but I think the accutane is pushing whatever was left of it out. It's not red or inflamed but we'll see. It surprises me that the accutane felt as though it was about to kick my ass with the increased oil and the redness that looked like I had a mild sunburn but now it has calmed down significantly. Anyways my dermatologist told me that I wouldn't have an initial breakout but I'm not sure what's about to go on with my cheeks. I'll post again with updates.
Sorry I haven't been on it awhile. Well this is day 37...I was starting to feel a bit discouraged for a week or two about this acne in my back and shoulders until just a few days ago. Although I am dry....my shoulders and back are starting to clear. This dryness is sometimes unbelievable though...so dry that there is almost nothing you can do. You can make it a little better applying lotion a few times a day. Otherwise I have no other side effects. Clear skin here I come!