Hi all! I'm a long time lurker on the boards, and recently changed dermatologists after 2 years and no cure for my mild-moderate and very persistent acne. A bit of background knowledge on moi, had perfect skin until 16, then "suffered" with very mild acne with the occasional hormonal chin breakout until 18. Was clear for a brief year until I began university, and since then it's been one big downward spiral. I turn 22 in December and my acne is worse than it's ever been in my life. I spent a year on antibiotics and differin, only to immediately break out in February and continue to worsen up until now. My new derm prescribed me low dose accutane, and I am now on my 8th day of 20mg. I'm about 5'7.5 and probably weigh 115-118lbs, so hopefully this dose is effective, though I believe it will be increased at my 2 month appointment. I will try to update with photographs, so excuse my ugly mug! I try not to wear makeup, but the redness and irritation all over my face makes it difficult to resist the temptation. Along with my accutane, I take a multivitamin without vitamin A, and an iron+ vit c tab, to combat hair loss as I recently lost a great deal of my formerly very thick hair. Well, that's all for today! Ciao!
Hi all! My apologies for the lack of updates, but life has been extremely busy lately! Today is day 19, and an update on what's been going on is as follows: side-effects experienced so far include very dry lips and extreme exhaustion. The accutane is the only change to my life that I can document, but the exhaustion is really severe. I feel like I have had flu for weeks, but I'm gritting my teeth and bearing it because it's finally starting to show some positive changes! I've been keeping a photographic record, and the differences from day to day have been quite strange. I have definitely experienced initial breakout - my skin has never in my life looked as bad as it has these past few days. My face turned very red about 3 days ago, but seems to have calmed down a bit as of today. On to the pictures! They are as follows: Before starting, 24/07/2014, 28/07/2014, 02/08/2014, and today, 05/08/2014. As you may or may not be able to tell, before accutane I presented with very oily skin, TONS of clogged pores which I'd never experienced before in my life and my skintone was just looking terrible. Since starting accutane I've noticed my pores seem enlarged, and I have blackheads which I've never had before but my skintone seems more even. I've also noticed my skin isn't oily at all, despite it being the end of the day. My apologies for my incredibly unkept appearance in some of these!
EDIT: Upon uploading my pictures I noticed they don't look quite as bad as reality does, but in any case, even if my skin isn't as bad as some on here, it certainly interferes with my day to day life and my confidence.
Day 24. Still experiencing a very inflamed and painful chin breakout, and have also begun to break out all over my right cheek which is new and not something I've ever experienced before. My forehead seems a lot smoother and less angry looking compared to how it looked prior to accutane. Pictures for today are L and R sides of my face.
Day 26. Feeling pretty down about my skin right now. It feels and looks atrocious. I've been experiencing cyst after cyst after cyst on my chin which I've never had to deal with before. I used to just have one or two active cysts which only emerged around my period. Now, they won't stop coming and my chin looks like hamburger. My cheek which seemed to be clearing up is beginning to hurt and I feel some pustules are definitely emerging on my right cheek, my nose is red and has actual blackheads beginning to form on the sides. Feeling very demotivated, gross and very ugly overall. My forehead is the only part of me that's seen any improvement, with the angry lumpy red mess it was before accutane slowly receding, and I now only have about 4 active pimples on my forehead. I'm really hoping this is just the initial breakout, I can't stand walking around looking like this, and with my skin so lumpy and red right now I can't conceal any of it.
1st month complete! Today is day 31, and a small summation of my experience so far: my skin has experienced a significantly higher occurrence of red and inflamed blemishes, particularly on my right cheek and along my lower right jaw which I've not experienced before. My forehead is significantly clearer, with about 3-4 healing large red blemishes. My chin is still red and inflamed, with a huge red mark to the left of my mouth which will not heal and continues to break out repeatedly. My lips are much drier now than they were even a week ago, with a lot of cracking and peeling. I've noticed my skin itches around my mouth and is a bit more sensitive and dry now. Will post a photo tonight as I am wearing makeup now.
My skin looks absolutely atrocious today. I don't understand how the tone and appearance can vascillate so dramatically from day to day. I can't hide the redness and bumpiness even with makeup, and the swollen blemishes are peeling and horrible looking. My cheek feels less swollen and painful than it did yesterday, but for how long that will persist I can't be certain.
You are beautiful. Accutane is a crazy drug and while some people clear up in the beginning, some people only achieve results during the middle and end of their course so stay positive.
Thank you dear, I feel so terrible about myself right now, my skin has never looked so bad as it does right now. It's terribly hard to feel comfortable in one's own skin when it's painful and red and ugh. Why we have to suffer I will never understand.
Day 35. Looking marginally less red, no new cysts (crossing fingers), my right cheek is still red and broken out but it doesn't hurt per se, so that means it's healing? The stubborn cyst on my chin is still there, as is the remaining red splotch of infection next to my mouth, but again no hurting so yay! Pictures for today are front and right side.
You know there's light at the end of the road!! My skintone is really not looking too good. Rough, red and uneven. My right cheek looks the worst I've ever seen any area of my skin look, and red marks are not healing at all. Pictures for today are 2 from last night, and one from this morning. Feeling very low about my appearance in general, so the painful red marks all over my chin and cheek are really not helping. My forehead is also breaking out yet again.
My skintone is really not looking too good. Rough, red and uneven. My right cheek looks the worst I've ever seen any area of my skin look, and red marks are not healing at all. Pictures for today are 2 from last night, and one from this morning. Feeling very low about my appearance in general, so the painful red marks all over my chin and cheek are really not helping. My forehead is also breaking out yet again.
I can make u feel better by showing you my earlier pics lol
Update time! I figured it wouldn't be worth the extremely regular updates since not much had changed for a while. My course was updated to a full 9 month course on 20mg, and I am now well into my third month of treatment. My skin is beginning to clear completely at last, apart from a small weird patch of bright pink irritation which keeps flaring around my mouth (I think it may be eczema, as I am prone to eczema to start with). My beauty routine at the moment is nothing fancy:
Environ cleanser for blemished skin, Eucerin Adjunctive Hydrating Care moisturiser (spf 30 and very hydrating) during the day, and Eucerin Aquaporin Active Moisturising Cream (Rich) in conjunction with Eucerin Dermopurifyer Active Concentrate at night. I use Bioderma Sensibio mask for sensitive and red skin once a week as I'm still struggling with redness and uneven skintone. On to the pictures! Photo updates are front and L/R. Please do excuse my ugly hair, it's been extremely windy here lately! Feeling a lot more positive about my skin, and have stopped wearing makeup despite the red hyperpigmentation left behind by the breakouts of the past year.
