Good luck!!

I squealed with excitement when I took my first pill!

Day 3 - just taken 3rd pill. Skin really not looking good - probably too early for the dreaded initial breakout, so hopefully will resolve itself soon. Skin is still ridiculously oily, cannot wait for the Roaccutane to curb oil production (hopefully within a couple of weeks?).

Anyway, here's my face on day 3 of accutane. I'm actually so unhappy with it at the moment. Time for this utter bullshit to end. (sorry about all the blurring out in pics, don't wanna be identified by anyone I know IRL do I  ). 

Good luck chicanery!

I really hope this will be your solution and that you won't have to think about acne ever again after this

I had a question about the supplements though. I take a multivitamin (one that doesn't contain vit a of course), vitamin d3 (it's winter...) and vitamin c with rose hips. I was thinking of taking vit E as well, just for the skin's sake. I took vitamin B on its own once and it broke me out, so I'm not sure whether that's something I want to try out. Do you benefit from the vitamins you're taking now? (of course it might be a little soon to tell :P)

Oh and doesn't cod liver oil contain vit A as well?

Have a nice day!  xx

3 hours ago, DarkenedCloud said:

I had a question about the supplements though. I take a multivitamin (one that doesn't contain vit a of course), vitamin d3 (it's winter...) and vitamin c with rose hips. I was thinking of taking vit E as well, just for the skin's sake. I took vitamin B on its own once and it broke me out, so I'm not sure whether that's something I want to try out. Do you benefit from the vitamins you're taking now? (of course it might be a little soon to tell :P)

 

5

Hey! If you take a multivitamin, you probably don't need to take a B-complex vitamin. I do because I can't find a multivitamin without vitamin A! If you eat well I don't think you even need to supplement the B vitamins - I just do because I feel extremely run down and fatigued after 9 months of antibiotics (should have gone on Accutane a year ago but oh well). I'm getting a severe cold with a high fever every 3 weeks, my body needs all the help it can get at this point! As for the cod liver oil - I managed to find one without vitamin A. It's called "seven seas extra high strength" and has added vitamin D and E, just no vitamin A. 

I think it's also important to keep an eye on iron levels as Accutane can deplete them - if you don't eat a lot of red meat/dark greens maybe look into supplementing that as well? To be honest, I take vitamins to convince myself that the accutane isn't absolutely killing my body, I don't even know how necessary it is to take any of them. Cod liver oil is prob a good idea though, as accutane does affect your joints (I'm already experiencing some aches). I've ordered Biotin for my hair as I'm so worried about hair thinning (my long hair is my best feature, honestly sounds superficial but my life would be over if I started going bald, fingers crossed!!). 

Day 5 - Just taken 5th 20mg pill. Skin drying up/clearing but I think it's just the breakout clearing, so not the accutane.Woke up with very sore, dry lips. Slightly achy joints but nothing else. No change in oil production - really looking forward to that. Wore contact lenses today - slightly sore eyes but not dry yet/they stayed in fine.Really hoping I manage to wear my contacts throughout the course - not gassed at the idea of having to wear glasses to parties and outings :(. Will be a minor compromise for clear skin though <3. Again, so grateful to be on this treatment. Love knowing that as time passes and things that I don't want to do end up happening (exams etc.), my skin'll be constantly improving.

Day 7 - Skin is pretty much the same, no dryness either (still really oily). It's clearing a bit. Woke up with the worst headache of my life but may be unrelated. Sat in the car yesterday and experienced INTENSE joint pains in my leg, close to agony! Shows how potent it is, as I'm only on 20mg as well.

So no major changes - hopefully I'm not gonna get the initial breakout because I was on antibiotics for 9 months (!!) prior to starting accutane. 

Skin isn't dry, but lips are! Woke up with enlargened, incredibly chapped lips.  Not a big issue, can cope with that (looks like I've had lip fillers ahaha).

Here's a pic for the end of Week 1. Sorry about insane covering-up but wanna stay on the safe side (i wore heavy coverage makeup when my skin was awful so I doubt my IRL friends even guessed that my skin was as bad as it was/that I have an issue with acne!)

On 18-12-2015 1303, chicanery said:

Hey! If you take a multivitamin, you probably don't need to take a B-complex vitamin. I do because I can't find a multivitamin without vitamin A! If you eat well I don't think you even need to supplement the B vitamins - I just do because I feel extremely run down and fatigued after 9 months of antibiotics (should have gone on Accutane a year ago but oh well). I'm getting a severe cold with a high fever every 3 weeks, my body needs all the help it can get at this point! As for the cod liver oil - I managed to find one without vitamin A. It's called "seven seas extra high strength" and has added vitamin D and E, just no vitamin A. 

I think it's also important to keep an eye on iron levels as Accutane can deplete them - if you don't eat a lot of red meat/dark greens maybe look into supplementing that as well? To be honest, I take vitamins to convince myself that the accutane isn't absolutely killing my body, I don't even know how necessary it is to take any of them. Cod liver oil is prob a good idea though, as accutane does affect your joints (I'm already experiencing some aches). I've ordered Biotin for my hair as I'm so worried about hair thinning (my long hair is my best feature, honestly sounds superficial but my life would be over if I started going bald, fingers crossed!!). 

Thanks! Yea I have a good multivitamin which I thought didn't contain vit a, but it contains betacarotene, like 10%.. Not sure if that really counts, but I'm on the lookout for a better multivitamin now

I'll continue taking some extra c and E though, that won't hurt I guess. 

Anyway 9 months on antibiotics sounds pretty brutal  I've never had them (for acne that is) but I can imagine that won't do much good to your health.

Your skin looks good in the picture! How's your hair doing by the way

Xx 

My hair's actually not dry at all at the moment, and neither is my skin (still really oily). Hopefully the oil production will be curbed by the end of week 2 (surely)! xx

Good luck, I think you have the type of skin that responds well to accutane (from seeing lots of diairies about it).

I suggest you take Zinc, I remember having good response to it, especially at start. I'm still taking it nowadays. It's actually good for hair and nail strenght by the way, not just skin !

Merry Christmas guys!!

Day 11: Skin is looking better IMO! Still have active acne forming, but looks better on the whole. (sorry, I'm red in the face in pic as I took it just after moisturising).

Side effects: sore throat, knees are achy and peeling skin near mouth (but skin is still producing so much oil, argh can't wait for that to go!).

Day 12 -Don't plan to update every single day but skin NOT looking good, ugh. Massive cystic spot on my left cheek and a few less cystic ones around my forehead. Maybe it's a normal hormonal breakout but really worried it's the beginning of the "initial breakout". Skin still oily!

Day 14 - Skin looking TERRIBLE! UGh. This breakout had better sort itself out asap and not get worse. Cystic breakouts on both cheeks and forehead. I swear to god, I'll be so upset if it's terrible for NYE. I wanna look nice. Sick of this - hope I'm not one of the unlucky people that don't see consistent clearing until like month 4. Oh well. I'll update when things improve.

Day 15 - Still baaaadbut didn't get worse overnight. I'm thinking that this is just a normal hormonal breakout, so a case of the accutane not working straight away (which is normal esp with 20mg) AS OPPOSED to the dreaded inital breakout, that my derm says isn't nearly as common as people make it out to be. Really hoping. It's miserable even having 3 deep painful spots on one cheek. Even if they don't look so bad, the pain and tenderness really makes you feel like you have a face full of aggressive acne. Ugh.

Time for this to end. Really hope that I'm happy with results in a week. But it's a slow process.

Day 18 -turns out it was a hormonal breakout. Hopefully it'll heal quickly and then I won't break out as badly next month (as I'll have been on the accutane for a while by then).

ALso - the oil has been stopped! My skin was extremely oily and now it's only slightly oily. I also have a lot of dry skin that comes off in flakes. My lips are extremely chapped and actually started tingling/burning for about an hour today.

Right now I'm happy as I feel like my skin type has drastically changed/I've really begun to start feeling the side effects. Hopeful that I'll be close to clear by the end of the second month as my skin isntthat bad.

Good to hear the oil is diminishing! But it sucks to get bad breakouts. 

Im not really having breakouts that are unusual, Just zits in places where they always tend to show up, cheeks mostly, and jawline. I fear that the i.b. Will visit me soon too though  

Do you use a product on your active acne? I know we're not allowed to, Just wondering.

Xx

23 hours ago, DarkenedCloud said:

Good to hear the oil is diminishing! But it sucks to get bad breakouts. 

Im not really having breakouts that are unusual, Just zits in places where they always tend to show up, cheeks mostly, and jawline. I fear that the i.b. Will visit me soon too though  

Do you use a product on your active acne? I know we're not allowed to, Just wondering.

Xx

It's absolutely amazing being able to moisturise my face and have NO oil an hour later! Haha, you 're right, we're not allowed, but I do anyway. I dot a bit of benzoyl peroxide on any active spots because my face isn't too dry yet. 20mg is a pretty low dose so I don't think using a product is gonna hurt. xx

Haha I know right? And the best thing is that I can use any kind of daycream right now, even the ones that broke me out before this. I keep getting one or two spots, but definitely not the big clusters anymore! 
And i think it's okay to use a bit of BP as long as you use sunscreen during the day  I use a spot treatment with lactic acid because my skin got immune to BP a few years ago, didn't have any effect whatsoever anymore. 
But it's just an awesome feeling to see the acne fading away day by day. Finally! 

Day 25 -Skin produces no oil, I'm loving it. My hair also looks freshly washed on day 3! My skin isn't looking good - no major breakouts but lots of little blemishes that are currently drying out. Eyes are a bit sore every morning. I can't wait until I start to see consistent clearing of my skin. I know it's a slow process and I'll probably notice a lot of changes in the next month, but deep down I kinda hoped I'd be one of those people who clear in the first month. Oh well

Day 26 - spots are drying up - hopefully I won't break out for a bit now. I'm now on a high dose of antibiotics for 10 days due to severe tonsillitis. I swear being on ABs for 9 months for acne has totally messed me up - I've never suffered from things like bacterial tonsillitis before. Now I'm really ill with bacterial throat things/high feverat least once a month.I hope this isn't a permanentchange to my immune system. Can't afford to take any time off school, so it's pretty much me sitting in school feeling miserably ill/feverish for a week out of every month. Aah sorry to rant, but I'm so annoyed that my derm let me be on antibiotics for so long(??). He knew they weren't gonna be a solution and they barely even controlled my acne. At least I'm now on accutane.

I'm sorry to hear about all the antibiotic issues you're having :/ I was on Bactrim for 4 months and I can't imagine staying on it 9 months. Although side effects weren't that horrible it does wear on your stomach after a bit and I got a yeast infection when I came off.

Also your acne looks like how mine use to in high school. Now mine is more severe with larger cysts and such so it's good you're getting it under control now - I wish I would of back then!

Day 29 - really happy with first month, has suddenly started clearing well! I saw my derm today and he's decided to bump me up to 40mg. Hopefully this'll start clearing me rapidly + won't come with horrible dryness (everything's maneagable now). I've had ups and downs this first month and my skin isn't close to perfect, but I'm so happy with the results!! Looking back, my forehead acne used to be so active - now it's p much dried up. One cheek is pretty much clear. I have hyperpigmentation issues but will sort that out after the acne. 

(weird edited out photos again, haha. Nearly all the red marks are hyperpigmentation - very few actives at the moment!).

Hey!  Since you were on antibiotics for so long, may I suggest adding a probiotic to the mix of supplements you're taking?  Antibiotics destroys the body's natural immune system, including good bacteria known as probiotics, which can help everything from digestive issues to issues with lady parts, the body's ability to fight off viruses and infections, and just generally feeling energetic and well! 

I do recommend a good quality probiotic - I wouldn't just buy the generic drugstore brand, I would do a bit of research and find one that suits you best.  Also, kombucha (a fermented tea beverage) is loaded with probiotics, so that can be something you use.  Greek yogurt is also a good source.  It should also be noted you don't want to overdo it - there is such a thing as too many probiotics in the body which can cause issues. 

Anyway - just a suggestion.  I always feel better after taking probiotics following a round of antibiotics.   

Will be following along on your course log!   

59 minutes ago, LoveLouisV said:

Hey!  Since you were on antibiotics for so long, may I suggest adding a probiotic to the mix of supplements you're taking?  Antibiotics destroys the body's natural immune system, including good bacteria known as probiotics, which can help everything from digestive issues to issues with lady parts, the body's ability to fight off viruses and infections, and just generally feeling energetic and well! 

I do recommend a good quality probiotic - I wouldn't just buy the generic drugstore brand, I would do a bit of research and find one that suits you best.  Also, kombucha (a fermented tea beverage) is loaded with probiotics, so that can be something you use.  Greek yogurt is also a good source.  It should also be noted you don't want to overdo it - there is such a thing as too many probiotics in the body which can cause issues. 

Anyway - just a suggestion.  I always feel better after taking probiotics following a round of antibiotics.   

Will be following along on your course log!   

Hey! Thanks so much for the advice - I'll definitely order some probiotics asap  

day 30: third dose of 40mg.My face flushes very red for a couple of hours every day. Right now, I can feel my lips absolutely burning. It's bearable though (just about). As long as I don't experience hairloss on this medication, I'll put up with ANY discomfort. Skin breaking out again, hopefully will sort itself out soon :/