So, Accutane is all go.

Derm wants me to start on 20mg every second day for the first month, followed by 20mg everyday then onto 40mg if everything is going well and Im not experiencing a flare up.

I will also be on erythromycin for the first few months of treatment to help alleviate any flare ups i might have.

Im a little nervous about a few of the side effects, especially the sun sensitivity and rosacea, as I spend alot of time outside for work but From what ive read, it will be worth it.

Will update as soon as i start the course, probably Monday next week.

Any advice, experiences would be great!

Okay so I have been delaying it, umming and ahhing for a couple weeks now but I think today is the day.

I have been on the Erythromycin for almost a month and my skin has settled down a fair bit so I'm guessing it is a good opportunity to start Tane and hopefully avoid that IB while the antibiotics are in full swing.

I am going on a 4 week holiday in February next year, so that has been the biggest thing stopping me, I guess I'm just scared of suffering a horrible IB or some other unfortunate side effect during the trip!

Derm has told me there is no harm in keeping the dose low during the trip or even discontinuing for a week or 2 if need be. I spose I'm never going to know how it effects me until i just get started, so here it goes.

Not sure if anyone is actually reading this haha but I will update once a week,

First 20mg tablet just taken.

I will be taking 1 x 20mg tablet every second day for the first four weeks and then increase to 20mg per day. A further increase to a max dose of 40mg once the IB has passed.

I have stocked up on a few different types of lip balm and tubs of Cetaphil moisturiser, cleanser and sunscreen. Also ordered some 'Dr Dans Cortibalm' off ebay.

Will be continuing Fish Oil and multivitamin and working out 3x per week.

I will also be making a point of NOT GOOGLING any symptoms I thinkI am having and will update this log once per week.

good luck, started Roaccutane yesterday as well, made a log, too

You too! Will be keeping an eye on your log!

Only 3/4 days into it and I have had 4 cysts pop up on my jaw at a strangely fast rate, whiteheads on my shoulders and some really random pimples on my thighs. My neck/jaw looks really bad, hoping this Erythromicin does its job and they pass without turning into anything major.

Surely this is way too soon to be getting a flare up, especially on such a low dose???

Had a headache the first couple days and some dizziness/fatigue.

Hello I am currently two weeks in as of today. I used erythromycin two weeks before starting and for the first 10 days, but stopped because the combination was making me bloated and nauseas. I had never got cysts before but experienced 4 in the first week. They all went away in about 3 or 4 days however and I haven't gotten any since. Good luck on your journey!

Hey,

I seem to be tolerating the Erythro pretty well but I am taking a probiotic with it. The derm has givenme enough to stay on it for a few months.

Will keep an eye on your log!Good luck with it!

Week 1

I can't believe how much I am feeling it already with only 20mg every other day. It blows me away that people are being put on 40mg+ per day right out the gate! It must be hell for them! Initial Breakout seems to have started super quick!

- Headaches the first few days, which seem to have passed.

- Vivid dreams, like crazy and waking up pretty groggy.

- Pretty sure my IB started day 3, had 5 cysts pop up on my neck and jaw which is unusual to have so many at once and my back is also breaking out pretty bad, all painful and deep. 2 cystson my jaw has decided to set up shop but most of the inflammation seems to have gone down fairly quickly. I am certain it is the IB now that i am also having painful lumps pop up on my thighs, arms and the back of my hands of all places!

- Lips haven't been too bad, using paw paw every night and applying chap stick 2 or 3 times throughout the day.

- Eyes were super dry this morning and a bit of gunky stuff when I first woke up.

- Skin is definitely dry, tight and slightly red. A few little flakes this morning. Time to start moisturising I think!

So today my eyes are dry and bloodshot and my face has gone really red. I did have a few drinks last night so that has probably made the situation worse.

It is a really horrible sunburnt type feeling. Even water seems to flare it up, hoping my skin will adjust and it will pass, will be making a call to the Derm if it gets any worse.

So I decided to call the Derm because my skin just wasn't feeling right. He managed to get me in straight away.

He is a little worried how quickly i have reacted and thinks the red skin is photo sensitivity, which could just be part of my initial flare, he also is a little worried about the flare getting out of control seeing as I appear to be so sensitive to the drug. He told me he has actually seen people have horrendous IB'safter just 1 tablet but has managed to get them through a course with the help of steroids.

He wants me to stop treatment until next week and once my skin has settled down to half my dose to 10mg every other day to get my body use to it. If i am still experiencing problems I can experiment with 10mg once or twice a week and slowly up the dosage. Basically i just need to find my sweet spot and take it from there.

So i will be keeping out of the sun for a few days and reassess where I'm at after the weekend.

If i am not tolerating it at all then he said it is possible to be allergic to it but he said that would be extremely rare.

aww man that sounds bad. From the looks of it, you are NOT wearing enough sunscreen. Also you need tomoisturizereligiously all over your body. Accutane is a very serious drug, with potentially life long implications, so I would highly recommend you take as many precautions as possible.

Yep it's a littledisconcerting. Apart from the sunburnt look I have going on, it actually seems to be making my neck a lot smoother (Apart from the cysts that came with that IB)Everything seems to be clearing fairly quickly.

Will stay off the Accutane 'til at least Monday, if the redness has subsided Iwill take a 10mg and see how it goes.

Being so sensitive to it I'm thinking Icould be one of thosepeople that respond well to an ultra low dose long term?! but time will tell, just gotta find my sweet spot.

Ok so had a 4 day break. Face is still sliiightly red and sensitive but has calmed down alot. Have been moisturising and applying sunscreen religiously. Skin has actually stayed really dry up until today so I took a 20mg to get things going again.

Will fill my prescription for the 10mg tablets and thinking ill start at 10mg 3 x a week and work my way up from there.

Derm has given me the go ahead to play around with the dosages with the aim to comfortably work my way up to 20mg a day, then will start thinking about 40mg. Funnily enough I still haven't had any new breakouts since that flare up at the start and my skin has NEVER been this dry.

Have read a few logs and the red face seems to be a pretty common thing, it seems to be only temporary at the start of treatment for a lot of people but can be pretty persistent through the course and sometimes 'arguably' permanent in people on high dosages.

Crazy how fast you are reacting! Is it because you are also on antibiotic I wonder. I'm on day 16 of 20mg/day and I only weigh 48kg and I've still no side effects. I suppose everyone is just different. No two stories are the same on here it seems! good luck!!

I know, it's weird!  I've got over 20kg on you and half the dose and It hit me hard n fast! Still having pretty painful spots pop up in pretty random places though.

The derm says the antibiotics are only there to help lessen the initial flare up, which he says he has seen get pretty bad even on low doses.

And yeah like you said, everyones experience seems to be different. I guess I'm just sensitive to Vitamin A, which I'm hoping is a good thing haha. Plan is to just up the dosage slowly n get my body use to it.

Good luck with it! I'll keep an eye on your log

Have had increasing pain in my knees and ankles over the last few days. Which is completely out of the norm for me.

Will be stopping Accutane all together until I see the Derm next week sometime and hopefully the pain settles down. No doubt he's just going to take me off it, maybe try to reintroduce in a week or 2.

It started out as a little discomfort but it is now all out sharp, throbbing and clicking. Have been taking fish oil and glucosamine.

Maybe this drug just is not for me, It's unfortunate too because it seems to be working on my skin! But I justseem to be so susceptible to its effects that I cant imagine it being a smart move to stay on this long term.

hi, I'm going to follow this since we're both on 20mg at the moment. My break out happened on my first month. Hopefully it will get better. Best of luck to all of us!

The derm has taken me off it for the time being. He thinks it is causing me tendon problems and is especially worried at how fast it is occurring.

He wants to see me in 4 weeks once everything is back to normal. This has really put me off the drug...There is no way I would trade bad skin for bad joints.

Staying on the Erthyro and thinking ill give Paulas Choice products a go for now.

15 hours ago, gms08 said:

The derm has taken me off it for the time being. He thinks it is causing me tendon problems and is especially worried at how fast it is occurring.

He wants to see me in 4 weeks once everything is back to normal. This has really put me off the drug...There is no way I would trade bad skin for bad joints.

Staying on the Erthyro and thinking ill give Paulas Choice products a go for now.

Paula choice is great! However, I recommend asking your derm for a prescription retinoid, as not only does it help clear acne, but it reduces pigmentation, shallow scarring and improves skin texture overall.
It is a lot better for your skin then slathering on BP and SA.

I am speaking from experience. I have used the acne.org regimen, paula's choice regular strength acne kit and they both really dried my skin out to the point that my break outs would look worse.

On 11/18/2015, 714, JDtane said:

Paula choice is great! However, I recommend asking your derm for a prescription retinoid, as not only does it help clear acne, but it reduces pigmentation, shallow scarring and improves skin texture overall.
It is a lot better for your skin then slathering on BP and SA.

I am speaking from experience. I have used the acne.org regimen, paula's choice regular strength acne kit and they both really dried my skin out to the point that my break outs would look worse.

Hey thanks for the advice! I did use Epiduo for 2 months before trying Accutane. It was horrible, the breakouts would not stop, probably the worst my skin has ever been while i was using that stuff!What topical retinoids do you have experience with and do you thinkis it worth trying a different type even since i had such a bad experience with Epiduo?

The dryness does not worry me too much as I have super oily skin anyway but the woman i spoke to at Paulas Choice recommended one of their moisturizers with spf and a pm one if i feel i need it. Also advised me to only use the BP as a spot treatment as the BHA is already pretty drying.

On 11/19/2015, 648, gms08 said:

 

Hey thanks for the advice! I did use Epiduo for 2 months before trying Accutane. It was horrible, the breakouts would not stop, probably the worst my skin has ever been while i was using that stuff!What topical retinoids do you have experience with and do you thinkis it worth trying a different type even since i had such a bad experience with Epiduo?

The dryness does not worry me too much as I have super oily skin anyway but the woman i spoke to at Paulas Choice recommended one of their moisturizers with spf and a pm one if i feel i need it. Also advised me to only use the BP as a spot treatment as the BHA is already pretty drying.

I pretty much use paula's choice exclusively, since its relatively cheap and convenient to order online. I used retin-A 0.05% before and it cleared me up after 3-4 months and left me skin smooth. I was then stupid and got off it and break outs came back. Then i went on the regimen for a year which had okresults, but I would still break out every 2 weeks and my skin was dry and red and sore (and I was also VERY oily).BHA is actually not too bad if you have very oily skin with lots of clogged pores, as BHA can improve skin texture.

As with paula's choice products, the acne cleanser is great, their moisturizers not so much (I find it too thick and heavy even while I'm on accutane) and I use the resist super light daily wrinkle defence as my sunscreen, it dries down really matte and feels nice all day. For moisturiser I use the clinique dramatically different moisturisng GEL mixed with 99% aloe vera (get it from chemistwarehouse).

6 hours ago, JDtane said:

I pretty much use paula's choice exclusively, since its relatively cheap and convenient to order online. I used retin-A 0.05% before and it cleared me up after 3-4 months and left me skin smooth. I was then stupid and got off it and break outs came back. Then i went on the regimen for a year which had okresults, but I would still break out every 2 weeks and my skin was dry and red and sore (and I was also VERY oily).BHA is actually not too bad if you have very oily skin with lots of clogged pores, as BHA can improve skin texture.

As with paula's choice products, the acne cleanser is great, their moisturizers not so much (I find it too thick and heavy even while I'm on accutane) and I use the resist super light daily wrinkle defence as my sunscreen, it dries down really matte and feels nice all day. For moisturiser I use the clinique dramatically different moisturisng GEL mixed with 99% aloe vera (get it from chemistwarehouse).

Yeah Ifound the Paulas Choice people really helpful, gets delivered within 48 hours as well. Iended up getting the Clear Extra Strength and a spf moisturiser (Clear Ultra Light )

I get pretty sweaty n dirty at work anyway so the moisturiser is just for before i leave the house.Ijust slather on some neutragenaultra sheerspf 50 whenever Iget a chance during the day.

I'm only a few days in and my skin feels smoother and actually looks a little less congested, a few little nodule things have popped up buthavefound spot treating with the BP is so much more effective after using the BHA so they are drying up pretty fast.I had actuallycleared up for quite a while but Ireally never looked after my skin properly in the first place and started noticing alot of clogged pores and blackheads all over my neck which got progressively worse for a few months before Istarted breaking out in the cysts (Which was made worse by the Epiduo)

Any way hoping Isee some results from this, I am feeling hopeful! Will be staying on the antibiotics for a while too just to help things along.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated!

Sorry to see you have had such bad luck on Roaccutane! Joint issues is one of my biggest fears with this drug and I agree with you, joint problems are not worth it for clear skin.

I reacted terribly to Epiduo also, lasted a week and had to come off it, broke out in itchy rash all over face, awful! I found Skinoren OK but it certainly didn't clear acne  

Someone told me about something called Light Therapy - it's new and some interesting stuff online. It's by Leo  who do loads of derma stuff may be worth asking dermatologist about although I suspect it will only be available privately and v expensive.  Not sure if you or anyone else for that matter has heard about it?