Today marks my third day on Accutane.

My acne started when I was 18. Despite what I thought at the time, I had mild acne. I tried over the counter products for about two years with no luck. I gave in and tried Proactiv, and after several months my face was clear again. Over the next three years I got annoyed with constantly having to use such harsh chemicals and would periodically stop using Proactiv and attempt to use something else. During those times I tried antibiotics (doxycycline & minocycline), countless different brands of cleansers/treatments, clarisonic, and several topical treatments that my dermatologist prescribed (Epiduo, Clindamycin & a couple of others I can't remember). Nothing else ever worked and after several months of failed treatment I would go back to Proactiv.

Last August I decided that I wanted to stop using Proactiv again. This time I tried oil cleansing. I did this for two months and was thrilled with the results. My skin was completely clear. Then after my two months of perfect skin, I woke up with what seemed like a rash one day. The following day I woke up with horrible, huge, cystic acne all over my face. I had a low grade fever for about a week, so I assumed it was an allergic reaction to an oil that I had been using. I work and go to school full time, so I put off going to the dermatologist as long as I could, thinking it would go away. It did not. It got worse every day. I had to start sleeping on my back because it was too painful for my face to touch the pillow. I dreaded washing my face because that meant I would have to make contact with my skin. My face was a mess and I didn't want to even look at it.

After about a month of horribly painful acne I finally went to the dermatologist. Pyoderma Faciale was the diagnosis. I had deep cysts on my face that tunneled together to form one giant cluster! That diagnosis seemed to fit what I had. What was the treatment? Either steroids and antibiotics or Accutane. I'd heard horror stories of course, I went with the former. I was put on Prednisone and Doxycycline for three months with the plan of starting Accutane if that didn't work. Well, it didn't work. It caused lots of horrible side effects, but my face remained just as horrible as when I started.

So I started Accutane. I was prescribed Absorica. I'm on day three and I've already started getting the dry lips, but haven't noticed anything else so far. A lot of the side effects of Accutane are similar to those of Prednisone which I'm still experiencing, so it will be difficult to differentiate between the two.

I discovered acne.org and I've been spending a lot of time reading other peoples experiences, and it has helped a lot. This has been an incredibly frustrating experience and reading success stories keeps me from going insane. It will get better. It just takes what seems like forever.

Pyoderma Faciale (Rosacea Fulminans) is apparently really rare and I haven't found many other people who have it. If you're part of the very unlucky few in that group, I'd love to hear your story as well.