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Acne fading, red marks appearing.

MemberMember
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(@luciano-antonelli)

Posted : 10/28/2015 2:30 pm

I'm just about finishing my 3rd month of my course of 40mg per day of accutane. About2 weeks ago I started noticing the first improvement since the start of my treatment. My blemishes started fading, starting by the worst ones, the big under-the-skin nodules. After the worse ones disappeared, the less severe started going as well. I didn't stop getting breakouts yet, but the ones I do get are very minor in comparison to the ones I was getting the last 2 months, so at least I'm seeing improvement. My new blemishes are a lot less aggressive and small, and weirdly enough, most of them are white heads, which I didn't get before. My skin is starting to smooth up and that got my quite happy for a couple of days, until I realized the new problem. All the blemishes that are disappearing are leaving behind red marks that pretty much just as bad as the blemishes themselves. I might be a little quickto worry given that I only first noticed improvement around 2 weeks ago, but I don't want to be changing one problem for another.

Before going on accutane I had moderate acne, but besides the acne itself, the skin In between spots was clear and looked healthy. When my blemishes would fade, although new ones would surface, they wouldn't leave much behind. When I went on accutane my acne got quite severe. I know accutane makes you flare up a bit at the start but this was a lot more than I expected and also lasted 2 months. I'm going to give accutane the benefit of the doubt and say that I started my course after I noticed my acne was worsening around June/July. So maybe the state of my acne the past 2 months wasn't entirely because of accutane, but also due to the natural progression my acne would have had either way. Now my blemishes are fading gradually but any progress I might be having in that way is out-shined by the horrible redness left behind, so ultimately I'm not looking any better.

Bottom line, I want to reach December with a presentable face, as that month summer starts where I live (Argentina).I'm quite pale as I haven't been exposed to the sun much since March or so, making the redness more noticeable. I see the post-accutane pictures of other people and I see them with no marks what so ever, completely clear skin.Will accutane subside this redness or will I be left with a smooth but marked face? What are some things I can do to start December with a clear face?

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(@luciano-antonelli)

Posted : 11/04/2015 2:11 pm

Still waiting for feedback

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(@arte90)

Posted : 11/06/2015 12:54 pm

Accutane is known for leaving behind nasty red marks. I am afraid you are going to have to change your expectations.

I started accutane for moderate acne almost a year ago. It became very severe after starting the medication. Now, a year later and 4 months post accutane, my face looks way worse than before I began. My face is still covered in redmarks and the initial worsening left me with severe scarring, whilst I did not have any scarring before taking the medication.

Now I am an extreme example and not representative for the average accutane user. Yet if you look around, you see people complaining of red marks long after they quit accutane. I have also been told by two dermatologists that red marks can take up to a year to fade.

Now what can you do to speed up the process? There are three topicals that are proven to work (and since you are on accutane you cannot go for any more invasive procedure for at least six months after you quit). The first is cream or gel that contains aha (alfa hydroxy acid), the second is a serum that contains vitamin c and the third is tretinoin cream, like retin-a.

Hope this helps

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(@luciano-antonelli)

Posted : 11/06/2015 11:28 pm

I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with accutane. So far mine hasn't been very pleasing either, but I still have a ways to go. I'm also one of the less common cases that had a rougher response to the treatment than the majority.

The "initial" breakouts were horrible and I was in that state for over 2 months. I'm clearing out now andluckily I'm not showing any signs of actual scarring, as in 3 dimensional marks on my skin, but have very wicked red marks albeit mostly smooth skin. I've been thinking these last weeks that It was a mistake going on tane because I never really had marks on my skin after blemishes and never had this severity of acne before, but I still have a while until I can really say.

I scheduled an appointment with my derm for next week. I'll talk about this to him and ask him about these topicals. I'll try to be realistic but preserve at least some hope until the end of my course.
Thanks for the reply, I very much appreciate it and wish you luck.

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(@sfass)

Posted : 11/13/2015 7:09 pm

By redness are you talking about post inflammatory hyper-pigmentation, which fades slowly over time or another kind of severe redness or scarring? I am just over 3 months post accutane and I still have significant hyperpigmentation, but compared to how red and angry it used to be, I think it is fading quite well. My dermatologist told me it usually takes around a year for the marks to fade. My skin was incredibly red before and during accutane, but that was from the acne itself I believe. Keep in mind everyone is different, don't let the people whose skin looks perfect after accutane get you down. Maybe you have had acne longer or worse and everyone heals at their own pace. I too get discouraged by those pictures because I want my face to look like that too, but it's just not realistic and it's going to take time for my marks to fade and I have to accept that and be happy for how far I've come. :) Just find products that are meant for hyperpigmentation (if that's what you are experiencing) or to fade marks like the ones suggested above.

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(@luciano-antonelli)

Posted : 11/15/2015 2:51 pm

As far as I'm concerned there are 2 types of acne marks. Post inflammatory hyper-pigmentation and another type of mark that is like a lesion being healed, that usually have a more red tone because of leftover blood in the capillaries in that spot. One is due to an excess in pigmentation due to the inflammation and the other is damaged tissue being healed. My derm didn't specifically say the I had PIH or this other type of mark but he compared them to the marks you get on your knees when you scrape them, saying I need to give my skin time to heal.

I only really suffered from acne since around June this year. When I turned 13 or so I got my first breakouts but that only lasted a couple of months and was very mild. That was most likely due to me hitting puberty. After that I had clear and smooth skin without any marks at all. At around 16 I started getting a couple of pimples here and there every once in a while, but It was mostly only one small blemish at a time and they weren't very frequentso I had clear and smooth skin for the most part. Towards June of this year (being 17) I started getting more acne but it was mild acne, in my worst days it leaned more towards the moderate side but still wasn't that bad. When I went on accutane I flared up a ton, and I mean a ridiculous amount. My acne got quite severe and it was horrible. Now I'm clearing up and have around the same amount of acne as I did before I started but my face is full of red marks which doesn't let the progress show at all.

I have a friend that also never struggled with acne much and this same year broke out. But his acne was far more severe than mine, but when he started accutane, he quickly started improving, he was completely clear by month 2. He had some red marks but now, by month 4 it's was barely noticeable. I'm just not lucky I guess.

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(@robertitoo)

Posted : 11/15/2015 6:31 pm

As far as I'm concerned there are 2 types of acne marks. Post inflammatory hyper-pigmentation and another type of mark that is like a lesion being healed, that usually have a more red tone because of leftover blood in the capillaries in that spot. One is due to an excess in pigmentation due to the inflammation and the other is damaged tissue being healed. My derm didn't specifically say the I had PIH or this other type of mark but he compared them to the marks you get on your knees when you scrape them, saying I need to give my skin time to heal.

I only really suffered from acne since around June this year. When I turned 13 or so I got my first breakouts but that only lasted a couple of months and was very mild. That was most likely due to me hitting puberty. After that I had clear and smooth skin without any marks at all. At around 16 I started getting a couple of pimples here and there every once in a while, but It was mostly only one small blemish at a time and they weren't very frequent so I had clear and smooth skin for the most part. Towards June of this year (being 17) I started getting more acne but it was mild acne, in my worst days it leaned more towards the moderate side but still wasn't that bad. When I went on accutane I flared up a ton, and I mean a ridiculous amount. My acne got quite severe and it was horrible. Now I'm clearing up and have around the same amount of acne as I did before I started but my face is full of red marks which doesn't let the progress show at all.

I have a friend that also never struggled with acne much and this same year broke out. But his acne was far more severe than mine, but when he started accutane, he quickly started improving, he was completely clear by month 2. He had some red marks but now, by month 4 it's was barely noticeable. I'm just not lucky I guess.

If your lesions are predominantly red you're likely dealing with PIE (Post Inflammatory Erythema). Depending on the severity inflammation and your capabilities to heal, PIE can have a prolonged stay on your skin. PIE can also lead to disfiguring scarring. I've noticed that with some my past nodular-cystic or papular pimples, even after went down after a few weeks or months, some would remain there (red) for a long time (I figure this is left over inflammation). Which eventually and unfortunately lead 'permanent' scarring.' Apostrophes because over time, some of the scarring softened up (leveled out). Others I 

You said you're friend suffered with acne but his red marks healed quickly. I have two theories. One - he's probably a better healer than you. And/or two - his acne wasn't as deep as yours. Check this:  http://www.acne.com/types-of-acne/acne-types/  Basically, he could of just had a large amount of whitehead or pustule-type acne. I call them the 'nice' type of acne.  

I also have very light skin which makes acne appear much more severe than it is. 

Do you have pics?

By the way you have very nice sytax and grammar for being a non-native english speaker. :)
 

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MemberMember
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(@luciano-antonelli)

Posted : 11/16/2015 6:47 am

As far as I'm concerned there are 2 types of acne marks. Post inflammatory hyper-pigmentation and another type of mark that is like a lesion being healed, that usually have a more red tone because of leftover blood in the capillaries in that spot. One is due to an excess in pigmentation due to the inflammation and the other is damaged tissue being healed. My derm didn't specifically say the I had PIH or this other type of mark but he compared them to the marks you get on your knees when you scrape them, saying I need to give my skin time to heal.

I only really suffered from acne since around June this year. When I turned 13 or so I got my first breakouts but that only lasted a couple of months and was very mild. That was most likely due to me hitting puberty. After that I had clear and smooth skin without any marks at all. At around 16 I started getting a couple of pimples here and there every once in a while, but It was mostly only one small blemish at a time and they weren't very frequent so I had clear and smooth skin for the most part. Towards June of this year (being 17) I started getting more acne but it was mild acne, in my worst days it leaned more towards the moderate side but still wasn't that bad. When I went on accutane I flared up a ton, and I mean a ridiculous amount. My acne got quite severe and it was horrible. Now I'm clearing up and have around the same amount of acne as I did before I started but my face is full of red marks which doesn't let the progress show at all.

I have a friend that also never struggled with acne much and this same year broke out. But his acne was far more severe than mine, but when he started accutane, he quickly started improving, he was completely clear by month 2. He had some red marks but now, by month 4 it's was barely noticeable. I'm just not lucky I guess.

If your lesions are predominantly red you're likely dealing with PIE (Post Inflammatory Erythema). Depending on the severity inflammation and your capabilities to heal, PIE can have a prolonged stay on your skin. PIE can also lead to disfiguring scarring. I've noticed that with some my past nodular-cystic or papular pimples, even after went down after a few weeks or months, some would remain there (red) for a long time (I figure this is left over inflammation). Which eventually and unfortunately lead 'permanent' scarring.' Apostrophes because over time, some of the scarring softened up (leveled out). Others I 

You said you're friend suffered with acne but his red marks healed quickly. I have two theories. One - he's probably a better healer than you. And/or two - his acne wasn't as deep as yours. Check this:  http://www.acne.com/types-of-acne/acne-types/  Basically, he could of just had a large amount of whitehead or pustule-type acne. I call them the 'nice' type of acne.  

I also have very light skin which makes acne appear much more severe than it is. 

Do you have pics?

By the way you have very nice sytax and grammar for being a non-native english speaker. :)
 

I don't have any residual inflammation of acne that has already resolved and I'm not noticing any actual scarring, as in indentations. This past week I bumped up to 60mg per day of isotretinoin and have been applying Aloe Vera on my face 2-3 times a day. I've noticed a bit of improvement in the marks, but have also broken out once again these last days. These new blemishes are smaller and less aggressive, not cystic or nodular. They're 'normal' I would suppose. This breakout is probably due to the increase in my daily dosage and will likely resolve quickly enough.

I'll get back to you with those pictures by the end of this week or the next probably, I have quite a lot of studying to do and I want to let my face 'normalize'. I'm going to suspend my Aloe Vera use, as it was only experimental and I'm not sure it has helped me at all. I'll also let my body adjust to the change in dosage.

As for my friend; yes, I would say he had 'nice' acne. He had a lot more pre-accutane acne than me, but his was mostly white heads and/or very superficial blemishes, which resolved quickly. On the other hand I had significantly less acne but as soon as I started taking the pill, a lot of nodular-cystic acne that I didn't have before surfaced. Would I have been better of without accutane? Can't say yet.

Thanks!

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