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19M Accutane Log (40Mg/day 8 month course Clarus) 10 Months Post Accutane Picture Update! PICTURES INSIDE!!

 
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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 07/29/2014 5:31 pm

Hey guys! So first of all I have a little confession that I'd like to make. I'm already on day 40 of my Accutane journey so basically I'm going to start off this log with a basic summary about myself and of how the past 40 days have gone and then I will be regularly updating this log every couple of days, starting from today. Now for a little background info of myself. I'm an 18 year old Canadian male that has been suffering from mild/moderate acne since I was around 13-14 years old. But on top of acne, I also have been suffering from mild seborrheic dermatitis on my face and scalp. Basically once I hit full-fledged puberty at age 12-13 I start getting a really itchy and flaky scalp and a year later I started to develop some acne. The acne and seborrheic dermatitis were mild but the seborrheic dermatitis was really starting to annoy me after a year or two and so I asked my family doctor for a referral to a dermatologist. So i went to the dermatologist and got a couple of prescriptions. The prescriptions actually helped and started to control the dermatitis on my scalp, but over all these years it has still been a problem to this very day for my face and scalp. My skin has always looked a little bit unhealthy and more inflamed than the average person but It's never been really noticeable unless you study my face close up for 10 minutes. None of the prescriptions I have prevent the dermatitis flare ups, but the prescriptions do heal the flare ups after they have occurred. Now let's move onto my acne history. So like I said, I've been getting mild-moderate acne since i was around 13 to 14 years old. At first I was getting acne on the upper part of my face, and as I got older it seems to keep travelling downwards. For the past 2 years my forehead never breaks out, but I've gotten more acne on my jaw/neck area and near my mouth and chin. My cheeks, nose, and the rest of my upper part of the face are almost always clear for the most part. Also I get quite a bit of acne on my upper back, but my arms and chest are completely clear. I get lots of black heads all over the place, and usually the pimples are almost always white heads, and I get the occasional cystic acne spots a couple times a month. The reason I wanted to start accutane is because as I have gotten older I've been noticing more and more scarring on my upper back and some scars around the lower part of my face where I normally break out and I don't want to continue getting more and more scars. Over the span of 5 years my dermatologist has prescribed me a couple of different cleansers and what not but they only prevented my from getting moderate acne, but did nothing for mild - moderate acne. I never did try any anti biotics, probably because my acne was not severe enough, and they were never offered to me, nor did I ask about them. I think the fact that I got prescribed Accutane was based on luck and that my skin looked pretty bad on the day of my dermatologist appoint, plus I sold them the idea that I want Accutane really well. During the appointment the nurse and dermatologist told me that they typically prescribe a 6 month course of Accutane 40Mg per day and they don't really prescribe high doses because of all the side effects. Right now today is day 40 on Accutane for me and I have my third blood test done on August 8th, my 2 month Accutane follow up appointment with the dermatologist on August 15th and then I will have taken my 60th pill on August 18th, so I will already have my Accutane prescription for months 3 and 4 ready before I run out of pills. I do think 40Mg a day might be low for me because I'm a 170lbs 6'2" male but I know that I have mild acne and I'm scared of what a higher dose might do with my seborrheic dermatitis. I actually researched Accutane and sebborheic dermatitis before I started accutane and it turns out that accutane has cured seborrheic dermatitis before in many patients that were suffering from it and took accutane, also there were tests done as well to see if Accutane can cure seborrheic dermatitis and apparently it can. If i remember correctly this is because Accutane targets the sebum glands and reduces sebum production. So it would be a miracle for me if Accutane helped my acne and sebborheic dermatitis. Over the past 40 days on 40Mg of Clarus Accutane I have noticed some changes. Week 1:The first week on Accutane my seborrheic dermatitis flared up really bad on my face and scalp, and it took about a week for it to calm down after using my prescriptions. I didn't see any change in my acne of course, and my lips started to become a little dry towards the end of the week. Week 2: My scalp was still itchy but the dermatitis on my face was gone. Lips were really dry and I was regularly breaking out but nothing IB worthy. Skin also became noticeably drier. Week 3: Scalp was still itchy, and face was still dermatitis free. Lips are extremely dry. Skin was pretty decent but still getting 1-3 actives per day. My nose and chin area also started to push out blackheads which is something I've read that happens to other Accutane patients, so it was nice to see something positive happening because of Accutane. Week 4: Hell broke loose again with the dermatitis on my scalp and face. Also I'm pretty sure I had my initial breakout over the span of 3 days between week 4-5 because I had at least 10-20 actives over those 3 days, and a couple cysts on my back, plus the dermatitis was really kicking in again on the face and scalp. Also I started to experience a tiny bit of dry eyes during week 4. Lips still very dry, and face was dry as well. Week 5: At the end of week 5 I started recovering from Week 4 and the beginning of week 5. My scalp was calming down again, and most of the acne was healing but now I had a lot of red spots that were once white heads. Black heads still being pushed out by Accutane in my chin and nose area. Lips and face are still very dry. I also felt that were eyes were mildy dry. Day 40: I haven't had any dermatitis on my face since the initial breakout of week 4-5. My scalp is still itchy but I haven't had any dermatitis growing on my scalp. I've also only had maybe 3-4 white heads on my face and one cystic spot near my ear over the past 5 days. However today I also have 2 big cystic spots and 2 big white heads on my back which hurt really bad. I forgot to mention that over the past 2 weeks my skin has felt a lot softer whenever I wash it with water in the morning or at night after I finish using the cetaphil gentle cleanser. And one more thing I forgot to mention is that over the past 40 days my routine is just washing my face with water in the morning and then I use my cetaphil gentle cleanser like 2 or 3 times a week at night time. I also use Eucerin Aquaphor for my lips, and an aveeno moisturizer for my face. A couple of black heads are still being pushed out around the crevice of my nose. So for all my skin is doing pretty well except for my back. I will post some pictures soon and I will post another update in a few days.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 07/31/2014 9:48 am

Day 42: I only woke up with 2 new actives today which was nice. One was on my chin and the other was under my chin. now hopefully the rest of my spots can heal if I get a break from new actives forming. Also my scalp was pretty itchy so I had a shower my medicated shampoo.

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(@harry1993)

Posted : 08/01/2014 10:20 am

Week 3: Scalp was still itchy, and face was still dermatitis free. Lips are extremely dry. Skin was pretty decent but still getting 1-3 actives per day. My nose and chin area also started to push out blackheads which is something I've read that happens to other Accutane patients, so it was nice to see something positive happening because of Accutane

I'm on day 23 on the same dosage as you, similar body weight/height and I'm experiencing similar side effects that you had around the 3 weeks mark. Although 40mg does seem pretty low to be on for 6 months, I guess they're just looking out for your best interests in terms of health and the side effects that come from the drug.

Best of luck though!

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 08/01/2014 7:03 pm

 

Week 3: Scalp was still itchy, and face was still dermatitis free. Lips are extremely dry. Skin was pretty decent but still getting 1-3 actives per day. My nose and chin area also started to push out blackheads which is something I've read that happens to other Accutane patients, so it was nice to see something positive happening because of Accutane

I'm on day 23 on the same dosage as you, similar body weight/height and I'm experiencing similar side effects that you had around the 3 weeks mark. Although 40mg does seem pretty low to be on for 6 months, I guess they're just looking out for your best interests in terms of health and the side effects that come from the drug.

Best of luck though!

That's awesome that you can compare your progress to mine since we have similar body weight/height. My dermatologist didn't actually tell me how long he thinks I will be on the course and that 6 months is the standard length, but I will definitely ask to be on Accutane for maybe 7 or 8 months if they keep me at 40mg per day. At this point I'd rather be kept on 40mg per day and just go on Accutane for longer than normal instead of changing to a higher dose and then having an increased risk of side effects, another IB, and another seborrhoeic dermatitis flare up. I have my 2 month check up appointment with my dermatologist in 3-4 weeks so I'm curious to see how it goes.

Good luck to you too!

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 08/11/2014 11:17 am

So it's been around 11 days since I last updated this log. Today is day 53 and I have some pictures for you guys that were taken yesterday (day 52) when my skin was kinda bad and I had a couple actives. Since yesterday those actives have dried out really well and are already looking better. After I posted the last update, my skin has still been regularly breaking out, but nothing major. My face and lips are still very dry, but you can't see that in the picture because I have Eucerin Aquaphor on my lips. My scalp is still itchy but at least I still have not gotten any dermatitis flare ups. I feel like over these past 2 weeks my skin tone has been looking healthier in some areas and my skin is definitely a lot smoother whenever I'm washing it with water or my cleanser. I can't wait for the day when I'm washing my face or in the shower and I don't feel any pain from touching any acne on my upper back or face. I also had my third blood test done on Saturday August 9th because it takes them 4-5 business days to get my blood test results to my dermatologist and I have my dermatologist appointment on Friday August 15th. The dermatologist appointment on August 15th is for my 2 month check up to see how I'm doing and to renew my Accutane prescription for another two months which will require them to see my blood test results. I want to stay on 40Mg/Day so I'm curious to see what my dermatologist will say and how he thinks my progress is going. I know some of you guys see your dermatologists for monthly check ups on Accutane but for whatever reason we are doing check up appointments every 2 months and my prescription of Accutane lasts me for 2 months. So yea in 5 days I should have my Accutane prescription renewed, and I can begin month 3 and 4 on Accutane.

Next time I post an update with pictures I will also try to get some pictures of my upper back because that's where I've always gotten acne as well. I forgot to mention as well that when I had my dermatologist appointment 2 months ago to start Accutane, the nurses took some 'before' pictures so when I'm finished with Accutane in the next 4-6 months I will try to get those pictures from them so that I can do a comparison.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 08/13/2014 8:41 am

Day 55: I currently have 4 actives on my face and another 4 spots that aren't active any more, but they are healing.

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(@stone-cold-71)

Posted : 08/13/2014 11:39 pm

I'm also on accutane day 15 and am a male 16 with hardly any severe initial breakout so far. I've had acne since 7th grade but calmed down in 8th and was moderate in 9th then inflamed horribly in 10th. I start school in about few weeks and I feel way better about my skin so far as to my face and body acne. I think I've only had an initial breakout on my chest with many scars that I hope that the accutane will help fade. As for back acne, it is clear except for some hyperpigmentations (discoloration) but I'm OK with that. My face has been clearing up quite rapidly which I believe is due to me using tretinoin for about a month before using accutane which I feel helped avoid an initial breakout on my face. My chest acne has been going through an initial breakout and some spots are clearing and some spots are breaking out. I'm hoping for the best within the next couple months. I also have had dry lip and dry skin but nothing unmanageable. I also think that this drug may be a bit harsher for girls for some reasons but I'm not sure. I also drink lots of water to prevent dry skin and to stay hydrated.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 08/14/2014 5:04 pm

I'm also on accutane day 15 and am a male 16 with hardly any severe initial breakout so far. I've had acne since 7th grade but calmed down in 8th and was moderate in 9th then inflamed horribly in 10th. I start school in about few weeks and I feel way better about my skin so far as to my face and body acne. I think I've only had an initial breakout on my chest with many scars that I hope that the accutane will help fade. As for back acne, it is clear except for some hyperpigmentations (discoloration) but I'm OK with that. My face has been clearing up quite rapidly which I believe is due to me using tretinoin for about a month before using accutane which I feel helped avoid an initial breakout on my face. My chest acne has been going through an initial breakout and some spots are clearing and some spots are breaking out. I'm hoping for the best within the next couple months. I also have had dry lip and dry skin but nothing unmanageable. I also think that this drug may be a bit harsher for girls for some reasons but I'm not sure. I also drink lots of water to prevent dry skin and to stay hydrated.

I wish I started Accutane as early as you. Now you will get to enjoy grade 11 and 12 in high school with great skin.

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(@stone-cold-71)

Posted : 08/14/2014 5:10 pm

Thanks but hopefully things turn out great for you also and I hope I don't ever have to relapse. The most difficult part about Accutane is I thinks staying clear after which I believe will require actual effort. If you never heard of acne Einstein.com you should check it out, its very informative and is really legit. Always keep positive attitudes bro, and who cares what other people say.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 08/15/2014 2:41 pm

So today is day 57 and I had my month 2 check up appointment with my dermatologist this morning. Everything went great and he said that judging by my skin and noticeable symptoms (such as dry lips),he can tell that Accutane is working for me and it's very likely that I will start seeing positive results in month 3 and 4. According to the nurse my blood work has been great and so my prescription for Accutane has been renewed for another 2 months which is awesome. I clarified my dosage with my dermatologist and he told me that they are going to continue to keep me on 40Mg per day and that my course will probably last 6-8 months. So that means I have about 4-6 months of continuing to take Accutane, which I'm happy with even though 40Mg a day is a somewhat low dose for a 165b-180lbs male, it just means I will take the 40Mg/day for around 8 months instead of taking a high dose of Accutane and doing a 6 month course.

Right after my dermatologist appointment finished, I went to the retail pharmacy store to give them my prescription so that I can pick it up the next day, and the pharmacist made me wait a minuite just to make sure they have Clarus (Accutane) in stock, which they did. So I can rest easy tonight knowing that my prescription for month 3 and 4 is ready for me to pick up tomorrow.

As far as my skin and symptoms go, everything is fine. Lips are dry as always but Aquaphor makes it manageable. My scalp has been really itchy this past week, but no signs of seborrhoeic dermatitis, so the itchiness must be from Accutane, which is a common symptom. I woke up with 2 new white heads today which sucked, but at least they were small and I already drained the puss so they should be healing. But yea days 50-57 have been pretty rough with 1-3 new white heads appearing everyday but I know that I haven't even finished month 2 yet so I'm not expecting my skin to be perfectly clear from acne any time soon.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 08/18/2014 6:35 pm

I just got finished taking my 60th pill and today marks day 60!

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(@stone-cold-71)

Posted : 08/19/2014 2:27 pm

Cool I'm going to start pill 21 today

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(@stone-cold-71)

Posted : 08/26/2014 11:27 am

My face has a lot hyperpigmentations and my chest is slowly clearing but I have breakout spots on my left side mostly and I have scarring that looks like stretch marks. I went to my dermatologist and we decided that I will move up from 40mg a day to 60mg a day in few day after some blood work. Hopefully my side effects won't be as bad but I feel they might be a little bit worse.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 08/26/2014 8:12 pm

My face has a lot hyperpigmentations and my chest is slowly clearing but I have breakout spots on my left side mostly and I have scarring that looks like stretch marks. I went to my dermatologist and we decided that I will move up from 40mg a day to 60mg a day in few day after some blood work. Hopefully my side effects won't be as bad but I feel they might be a little bit worse.

If you already had your initial breakout then you should be fine and upping the dose from 40mg to 60mg shouldn't be too bad. I would only be worried about a breakout or increased side effects if I went from 40mg to 80mg.

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(@stone-cold-71)

Posted : 08/28/2014 1:50 pm

Im going to start weight training in school starting next week maybe Friday because I start September 2 on Tuesday and they'll give us a few days to get a uniform. Is there any way that weight training can affect my acne while on Accutane. It won't be hardcore weight training because it'll be in school so I'm not going to do anything crazy.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 08/30/2014 9:10 pm

Im going to start weight training in school starting next week maybe Friday because I start September 2 on Tuesday and they'll give us a few days to get a uniform. Is there any way that weight training can affect my acne while on Accutane. It won't be hardcore weight training because it'll be in school so I'm not going to do anything crazy.

Weight training shouldn't affect your acne while on Accutane. If you started eating lots and lots of food to try and bulk up like crazy for weight training, then that probably would affect your acne.

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(@stone-cold-71)

Posted : 08/30/2014 11:29 pm

Have you or anybody on here experienced acne scars. I have a lot of small white stretch marks on my chest and some are fading but I have a few spots that stand out to me. Will a cream work once my acne goes away and also I upped my dose to 60mg and when I was at the dermatologist, they told me that they might down the road have to do injections but the lady didn't say anything specifically like a filler or a particular name of the injection they'd use. Thanks

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 09/01/2014 1:10 pm

Have you or anybody on here experienced acne scars. I have a lot of small white stretch marks on my chest and some are fading but I have a few spots that stand out to me. Will a cream work once my acne goes away and also I upped my dose to 60mg and when I was at the dermatologist, they told me that they might down the road have to do injections but the lady didn't say anything specifically like a filler or a particular name of the injection they'd use. Thanks

I haven't experienced much acne scarring so I wouldn't know,

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 09/02/2014 4:34 pm

Accutane has really been pushing up things from underneath my skin this week. Including two big flat red spots next to each other on the side of my face. They are really flat but red and they hurt when I touch them gently as if they are infected. at least they are easy to camouflage. Otherwise my skin has been pretty decent but I'm only on Day 75 with still a long way to go.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 09/04/2014 3:31 pm

Well this sucks. I just booked my annual check up that I book with dermatologist every 2 months to renew my Accutane prescription and the only appointment they could give me is for October 23rd. The problem is that I will run out of Accutane on October 17th and so I will be missing 5-6 days of Accutane which really pisses me off, but 2 different nurses that I talked to assured me that missing 5-6 days is hardly a big deal and won't make a difference but I still would rather not miss any days. This is all happening because the dermatologist is going on another vacation and he just loves to go on multiple vacations every year.

Anyway I'm currently on day 77 of 40Mg/day and I don't have really any new updates. Still breaking out regularly. Maybe I will post some pictures again soon. The only good thing is that when I run out of Accutane on October 17th and have to miss 5-6 days, I will have already been taking Accutane for 120 days everyday so hopefully the week of missed Accutane won't slow down the whole Acne extermination process.

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(@stone-cold-71)

Posted : 09/04/2014 5:12 pm

That sucks, I got a bit nervous when my first month just ended but luckily my appointment was 2 days before my last pill. I'm on day 36 and things haven't improved greatly but I see some improvements but my chest is still my concern.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 09/10/2014 8:29 pm

That sucks, I got a bit nervous when my first month just ended but luckily my appointment was 2 days before my last pill. I'm on day 36 and things haven't improved greatly but I see some improvements but my chest is still my concern.

The first month is always the hardest so that's awesome that you're already past it now

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 10/03/2014 4:52 pm

Day 106 and I still hate my skin so much. I do believe improvements are on the way though

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(@stone-cold-71)

Posted : 10/05/2014 7:30 pm

I'm on day 66 and my skin has overall improved greatly compared to day 1. I'm currently on 80mg for month 3 and worked my way up from 40mg to 60mg to now 80mg. I hope at the end of this course, my skin will be better. My concern is my chest scars which I hope the Accutane will at least help fade. Other than that I've had a minor breakout each time I move up a dosage such a new pimple on my face which I just had and it left a small mark, and random back and shoulder acne but I'm alright with that since I can cover it with a shirt or sweater. As for school, Im already in for a month and I feel like my skin is different than from the first day of school which is good. Gym class is alright since I have weight training and I change in the bathroom since its more private cuz I'm still uncomfortable with my chest acne and acne scars. Also when I sweat, I feel like its not ruining my skin as before and actually helping my overall health. My dermatologist also told me to eat a fatty meal with each pill so it can be more absorbed. Just an update cuz I haven't updated in awhile.

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(@mitchell1995)

Posted : 10/10/2014 6:03 pm

Well as of today (Day 113) I still hate my skin. I know some people have it a lot worse, but I'm so tired of getting these huge underground spots. I actually miss just getting plain old white heads. Here's some pictures from today of my stupid skin. Also my bathroom light makes everything yellow so sorry for the yellowness.

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