Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here and after reading several other logs, I decided to do one for myself. I figured it might help me get through this process, especially since Accutane has left a bitter taste in my mouth.
To start off, I'm a 19 year old male (sophomore in college) and I started getting acne in the beginning of my senior year in high school, so about two and a half years ago. That December - exactly 2 years ago - I weighed 175 pounds and was put on a 40mg dose. Just one week in, I had already gotten 4 bloody noses, and had a constant headache from third day on, and I was drinking plenty of water. I called my derm and we decided to stop the treatment.
Well here I am, two years later still dealing with this acne. It's not horrible, but it just won't go away. I'm sick of taking antibiotics every day, wiping my face with clindamycin pads 4 times a day, and applying creams every night, just to go out in the world still constantly self-conscious about how I look. I've watched friends with worse acne than me have amazing success with this drug, so I decided to give it another shot. My derm suggested going on 20mg to minimize the side effects. I weigh 185 pounds, so I suspect I may have to go on a higher dose eventually. I took my first 20mg pill Tuesday, December 23, 2014. Just 2 days in, I've got a long way to go. And I'm more prepared this time; I've got Aquaphor, nasal spray, a CeraVe lotion, chapstick, a humidifier, the works. I would love to be done with all of this by summer! Here we go:
Day 1:
I started treatment pretty broken out. I believe it's because I had to stop all of my acne regiment for about 3-4 days leading up to my first dose. I'll try to get some pictures up when I'm not so busy with the holiday season (Merry Christmas!). If anyone has any tips for minimizing side effects, I'd love to hear them!
My biggest fears going into treatment: bloody noses, the initial breakout (!!!), and redness - whether general facial redness or flushing problems.
Welcome aboard John19 
I'm on 20 mg/day as well for about a month and a half now. I'm 25 years old and weigh around 50 kg (believe that is around 110 lbs?) This is my second course of accutane and would definitely say that the side effects are more manageable at this lower dose than when I took 40 mg/day last time around!
Hope you experience the same
@GreatDane: Thanks! That stinks that you had to do a second course, but I'm glad to hear about the reduction in side effects!
Day 7:
Wow, it's been a week already. I really haven't had any side effects besides some dryness of lips. Probably because of the low dose and the fact that I'm using lots of moisturizer and nose spray. I'm happy that I haven't had any problems with headaches, as that was the main reason I quit after only a week before. I'm still fearing the Initial Breakout, it could sneak up on me at anytime.
My routine in case anyone is interested:
Morning - Wash with Cetaphil Cleanser, apply Cetaphil moisturizer to face, aquaphor on lips, and nose spray.
Night - Wash with Cetaphil Cleanser, apply Cetaphil moisturizer to face, aquaphor on lips, nose spray, and aquaphor inside my nose(yuck)
I'm attaching some pictures I took recently. There hasn't been any change in the acne since day 1 besides the occasional whiteheads.
It's day 19, at it feels like I'm looking worse every day. I have a bunch of big, red, painful actives mainly on the right side of my face. I really hope it doesn't get much worse; I think this is the most broken out I've ever been, at least on the right side of my face. On the left side, it's not looking too bad actually. Some of the bigger actives have gone down a bit, and I've just gotten a few whiteheads over there. It's weird how I'm being affected so differently on each side of my face. Could it have something to do with sleeping mainly on my right side? I do try to change the pillowcase often.
As for side effects, it's been pretty manageable, just some dry lips/face. Since I've started breaking out though, I've had a quite a bit of redness again mainly on my right side. Oh accutane, why you so cruel?
I experienced the same thing with one side of the face at a time being affected by Accutane! During both my courses, first my forehead broke out and calmed down, then the same for the right side of my face and then the left. I have no idea why, but it seems like Accutane works in one "zone" at a time - for some people anyways, so don't be alarmed
Day 22
Thanks for the replies! I'm still looking pretty bad. Broken out with some new ones as well. Also, my nose and some of the area surrounding are covered with black dots. I hope they don't turn into anything worse!
Even though I know this drug is going to clear me up over the next months, it's hard to stay positive. I'd love for my next update to be a good one!
End of Month 1
It seems like the breaking out has simmered down a bit (thank god) but I'm still left with the remnants of the IB, though they do seem to be going down and drying up - albeit slowly. Speaking of dryness, I love how my face doesn't get oily any more. I can be out all day and not have to worry about it!
I had my first visit with my derm today, and they bumped my dosage up, as expected. I'm now taking 20mg twice a day, for a total of 40mg/day - I'm fearing the side effects a bit. He also prescribed me prednisone, which is supposed to suppress the breaking out. I've heard good things about it, so I'm looking forward to seeing some results soon!
End of Month 2
These weeks go by fast! Sorry for the lack of updates; I wasn't seeing major changes that would have made for exciting posts. But looking back I was probably wrong.
First of all, the prednisone was amazing. After three or four days of taking it, everything on my face had flattened and I had no new breakouts. It was an awesome sneak peak as to what's to come with this accutane journey -- I would wake up without something new hurting on my face, and I wasn't afraid to look in the mirror in the morning. But all good things must come to an end. The prednisone dose was designed to wean me off after one month, meaning I took less every week. So after about 2 weeks into the month things started to go back to normal, the larger bumps came back up on my right side, and little red dots appeared on the left side, but not as bad as an IB.
I really had no issues with the dose being bumped up to 40mg. The prednisone likely fought off any new IB. I did have my first nosebleed a few days ago, but it was probably because I've had a cold for the last couple weeks - lots of sniffling.
Right now, I'm pretty happy with my left side. Everything is pretty much flat over there, and there's just red scarring thats being amplified by the accutane. My right side refuses to give up however. Bumps by the corner of my mouth won't go away, and there's a couple larger ones on my cheek. I saw my doc yesterday and he bumped my dose up to 60mg (one 20mg in the morning and 2 at night) - so much for "low dose" as my title suggests!
The third month seems to be most people's turning point, hopefully I have similar results. And I'll try to update more often this month!
Just a few days into 60mg, and I got two nosebleeds today. Both were on my right side (the first nosebleed last week was on my left side, and I was still on 40mg). This sucks; and one happened during class and I had to run out to the bathroom. This was one of my greatest fears in starting accutane, since I'm already fairly prone to nosebleeds.
Luckily I'm going home tomorrow for Spring Break, so I'll be able to relax at home while the higher dose does its damage to me. When I come back to school I'll be more than halfway done with my third month!
WOW - I completed 5 months on accutane, but not done yet!
For the last 3 months, I've been on 60mg. After the first week on 60mg, I didn't get any more nose bleeds at all. But strangely just during this 5th month I had some extra dryness. I would be out and about during the day, and all of the sudden I'd look in the mirror and see a white ring of dry flaky skin around my mouth. I'd rub it off and put lotion on when I got a chance. I started putting a vaseline-based lotion around the area at night which seemed to have helped, and I haven't had any issues with it causing breakouts.
General facial redness also increased during this time. I attributed this to the dreaded tane-burn as well as sunburn from just being outside for a very short time during these last warm months. I picked up some Neutrogena SPF 35 face lotion that I now use every morning. Its not cheap, but it works - if I forget to use it and go in the sun for more than 10 minutes I'm as red as a tomato.
As far as acne, I can happily say I'm acne free, and have been for probably the last ~2 months (except for the odd zit here and there which would quickly disappear). However I cheated a little bit in my 4th month by being prescribed the magical drug prednisone again.
My derm put me on 80mg for the next 4 weeks. He made it sound like this would be my last month, however I worked out my cumulative dose and I would need 6 weeks of 80mg to put me within the normal 120 - 150mg/kg range.
I'm not done yet, but I can see the finish line.