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Roaccutane journey (25M)

 
MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 10/27/2015 5:22 am

Hello everyone. Here I am, 5 years and 9 different dermatologists later. I started getting severe acne around 20y/o, avoided Accutane as much as I could and
tried pretty much everything in the last 5 years. Doxycycline, Mynocycline, Brevoxyl, Skinoren, Zynerit, Mask Plus Gel and many other substances prepared in
the laboratory/pharmacies. I've also had a few peeling sessions. Everything worked wonders while I was on antibiotics, but the acne would always come back, even worse, after finishing the course. In the last year I've completely changed my diet, for 7 months I haven't ate (at all) sugar, dairy, chips, fast-food, oceanic fish,
high glycemic index food, corn, eggs, bananas, grapes, nuts, almonds, soda, sweets, pasta, pizza, potatoes, foods rich in iodine etc. None, zero. The acne was
manageable while on this diet. I would still get breakouts, but not severe acne. However, with each month it was getting worse, probably because the antibiotics
took for 4 months until April, weren't doing their job anymore. My dermatologist told me I have to keep this diet for my whole life, but I can't do this. He also told me I wasn't eligible for Laser Genesis and I should get Fraxel done for my scars, but I can't do it while having active acne.

I started eating everything again in the last month and I still breakout, a little bit more than when I was on that strict diet. I went do a different dermatologist I've been prior to the last one and I decided to get on Roaccutane. I know about the possible (and permanent) side effects, I know they can be
very harmful, but so it was and still is my acne, even though is not as bad as it used to be. It has destroyed my youth and got me moderate scarring. I hope this is the last treatment I have to take for this horrible disease. I will try to ignore the side effects as much as possible and be positive throughout this journey. I will update this thread (with pictures) weekly, but I have learned that acne is like a rollercoaster, so I won't be expecting results immediatly, I want to be cured when I finish the course. I will also workout 5 days a week. Hopefully Roaccutane will K.O. my acne for good so I could put aside this horrible period of my life.

As you can see, my acne is not that bad right now, but the scarring/red marks suck. I have maybe 5 cysts and 15 pimples spread on my face, forehead, jawline, around the mouth. Much, much better than it used to be a year ago, but then again, I can't fix my scars and it might get worse.

I'm going to take 20mg/day of Roaccutane. My derm told me she doesn't want to up my dose too much and that I won't need to reach the cumulative dose of 120mg/kg, because my acne is not that bad. She said a cumulative dose of at least 66% of 120mg/kg will suffice, so hopefully I will be done in around 6 months.

Good luck to all of us, feel free to ask me anything.

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nas777 liked
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MemberMember
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(@gms08)

Posted : 10/27/2015 11:58 pm

Awesome! Looks like we are on around the same dose, except I'm starting on every second day.

What's your weight/age? Be interesting to see how it affects us both.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 10/28/2015 12:02 am

62kg/25yo

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MemberMember
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(@andrei11)

Posted : 11/03/2015 8:41 am

Week 1:Going pretty good, don't know if I had an initial breakout, or just randomly breaking out, but I had two days when my face was really inflamed and I got a few new cysts (on the back of my head, jawline, neck and cheeks). It wasn't worse than any of the breakouts I had in the last year and now my face looks good, the cysts are slowly drying, not inflamed anymore. If this was the IB, I got off very, very cheap.

Side effects:I had a few days with mild headaches and stomach ache, nothing special, didn't take any meds to make them go away. Everything is fine now, I feel great. Also, my hair is thinning a little bit, but so it did when I had breakouts earlier this year. My derm told me is because there's too much sebum drowning the hair at the base. My face was oilier than usual this week. Don't think it's because of Accutane, it might be from that breakout I had.

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MemberMember
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(@andrei11)

Posted : 11/10/2015 9:45 am

Week 2: Going good, had a few cysts pop here and there, less than the first week, my face is not inflamed and not oily anymore.

Side effects:Had just one headache, nothing special. My face and hair are getting drier and drier. I've got an itchy scalp and I've noticed minor hair loss, but that happened before when my hair was thinning, nothing special. Lips and nose are starting to get dry as well. Totally manageable so far.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 11/17/2015 1:36 pm

Week 3:Going good, again, few cysts popping here and there, less than in the first two weeks, face is not inflamed or oily and looking pretty good. Derm appointment next week.

Side effects: no headaches anymore, face, hair and lips are getting drier and drier, no itchy scalp anymore.

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MemberMember
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(@andrei11)

Posted : 11/26/2015 12:12 pm

1 month completed:Got 2 or 3 new cysts, way less than in the first 3 weeks, my face is looking better and better, healing, not inflamed or oily anymore, really satisfied with the way things are going so far. Had a derm appointment, upped my dosage from 20mg/day to 20mg/today, 30mg/tomorrow for this month and will start taking 30mg/day in January. She said the optimal cumulative dosage for me would be 80mg/kg, if my face is doing all right, so that would be 5 more months to go.

 

Side effects:dry face, hair and lips, totally manageable so far, nothing too harsh.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 12/01/2015 2:58 pm

Week 5:Skin improving day by day, don't think I've noticed any new cyst, face looking better and better. If it continues this way, I'm 100% clear in 2 months tops and my red marks will be at least 50% faded. Really happy with the results so far.

Side effects:dry face, hair and lips, totally manageable so far, nothing too harsh.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 12/08/2015 1:00 pm

Week 6:Going great again, face is healing nicely. Nothing new popped on my face, except one pimple right under my bottom lip. Otherwise is going very good.

Side effects:dry face, hair and lips, totally manageable so far, nothing too harsh.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 12/15/2015 4:02 pm

Week 7:Going great, nothing new to report, can't even tell I'm on Roaccutane, it has been a really easy ride so far.

Side effects:dry face, hair and lips, totally manageable so far, nothing too harsh.

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MemberMember
1
(@wa91)

Posted : 12/16/2015 1:16 am

Wow! . Great. I'm in 5th week,20mg orantane (accutane). Still no progress. 🙁

My acne is from steroid cream

 

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 12/16/2015 8:52 am

7 hours ago, WA91 said:

Wow! . Great. I'm in 5th week,20mg orantane (accutane). Still no progress. 🙁

My acne is from steroid cream

 

 

really? what type of cream?

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MemberMember
1
(@wa91)

Posted : 12/16/2015 11:29 am

Whitening cream. I was fool enough to use it as a night cream but later I came to know it got steroids and so I stopped using it. Since then trying to get rid of it. My acne is not cystic. I have small pimples all over face. no luck with accutane so far. feeling so depressed 🙁

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 12/16/2015 4:42 pm

5 hours ago, WA91 said:

Whitening cream. I was fool enough to use it as a night cream but later I came to know it got steroids and so I stopped using it. Since then trying to get rid of it. My acne is not cystic. I have small pimples all over face. no luck with accutane so far. feeling so depressed 🙁

 

we react different to the medicine, some people didn't see improvement until their last months of the treatment, so hang on ;D

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MemberMember
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(@wa91)

Posted : 12/17/2015 1:43 am

 I hope it's the case. But it's really tough to wait. Thanks though. wish you a flawless skin

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 12/22/2015 11:14 am

2 months completed:Going smooth, no cysts/nodules/papules/white headsfor weeks now, my face is healing nicely. The only thing I've noticed now and then (in the last weeksas well), are some white/reddishclogged pores (5-6 of them), barely noticeable, you have to look really close to see them, they don't hurt and don't form a white head. They go away in a few days and it might be from the way I use my beard trimmer, I don't know. I've also gotten a few small pimples on my scalp, right after I cut my hair, so that could be from the clipper as well.

 

Side effects: dry face, hair and lips, totally manageable so far, nothing too harsh, can't even tell I'm on Roaccutane.

 

Starting to take 30mg/day. Happy holidays!

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 12/29/2015 1:59 pm

Week 9:First week on 30mg/day is going horribly wrong. Woke up this morning with a loud ringing in my right ear, I guess it is Tinnitus. The volume has lowered a little bit, but I can still hear it even if there's noise in the room. When it's quiet in the room, the ringing/buzzing is pretty loud. Called my derm and she said to take a break from Roaccutane for a week. She said this is a rare side effect, usually happening on a higher dosage.Going to get my ears checked tomorrow. I also have a mild headache. I hope this thing isn't permanent.

Skin is healing pretty good though, even though I got a cyst on my jawline and one on my cheeck, I guess it could be from the dosage increase. The other side effects are barely noticeable.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 01/05/2016 6:22 pm

Week 10:Got medicine for the Tinnitus and it's slowly going away, I got lucky this time, as the nerve wasn't affected, therefore, the Accutane wasn't the culprit. Most likely I got it from a cold I had about a month and a half ago.Nothing new popped on my face, those 2 cysts from last week are slowly fading away and my skin is healing nicely. The side effects are barely noticeable.

Restarting Roaccutane with 20mg/day and when the Tinnitus is gone completely, I'll go up to 30mg/day again. Good luck to all of you and happy new year.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 01/13/2016 7:53 am

Week 11:Nothing new to report, going good, restarting 30mg/day.

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MemberMember
0
(@johnsmith117)

Posted : 01/13/2016 2:56 pm

What did they say the treatment would be if accutane caused the tinnitus? And by what mechanism do they suspect it affects the nerve? I'm glad to hear it went away.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 01/14/2016 7:51 am

16 hours ago, JohnSmith117 said:

What did they say the treatment would be if accutane caused the tinnitus? And by what mechanism do they suspect it affects the nerve? I'm glad to hear it went away.

What do you mean what mechanism? They said if the nerve was damaged, you have 24hrs to try and get oral or IV steroids and other stuff (corticosteroids I guess). But even then, the chances are not that great you'll get cured. If that doesn't work, there are many ways to treat it, but it seems like there isn't much success with those methods either. Mine still didn't go away 100%, it's still there but not that loud, my doctor said it can take up to 8 weeks to completely go away, so hopefully I get lucky this time and I get cured.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 01/20/2016 9:21 am

My Tinnitus wasn't caused by Accutane and even if it would have been, I would still take it, I can't go back to having severe acne at 25yo.

3 months completed:Going smooth, skin is healing nicely and the red marks are slowly fading. I have the same side effects, only slightly drier lips, can't complain about it though.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 01/27/2016 10:41 am

Week 13:Going good again, got 3 pimples that went away in 24 hrs, got them from tweezing my eyebrows (I did it wrong probably) and not putting any cream afterwards I guess. Same side effects, lips are really dry though.

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 01/28/2016 12:39 pm

15 hours ago, Chloe123 said:
My eyebrow lady that does my eyebrows told me that if you get your eyebrows plucked or threaded to apply toner afterwards and not apply water to the area for 24 hours. Its been working so far with me, so maybe you could try that next time you pluck! :)

yep, I usually put something afterwards, but I forgot :D thanks for the post

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MemberMember
30
(@andrei11)

Posted : 02/03/2016 2:03 pm

Week 14:Going good, nothing new to report. Same side effects, lips are really dry. Sucks that the red marks go away so slowly.

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