So I'm on the very edge of going on roaccutane for the third time in my life. The first time I went on it I was around 15. The second time I was around 17 when acne came back and still formed scars. From that age up until age 32 things were all good, I'd get the odd manageable spot that would respond to salicylic acid and not leave a scar. Then, randomly, I started getting more stubborn acne that wouldn't respond to topical treatment, would take forever to go down and would leave a scar. I tried Expose Skincare, which uses BP and the usual stuff, and that worked for two months. Completely clear skin. And then it stopped working. And gradually since then, things have gotten worse. I went to the doc and wondered if had been any advances since roaccutane. Nope. On to doxycycline, which helped a bit, but then I developed eczema so I stopped taking it. I've been dairy free and gluten free the last two years. I avoid chocolate. I take probiotics, eat homemade kimchi, make homemade coconut yoghurt with dairy free yoghurt culture, change pillowcases frequently, exercise, meditate. You name it, I've done about all of the healthy lifestyle changes you can do and have had almost 0% change. My current topical routine is Cetaphil morning/night and Tretinoin, which I've been on for around three months. My acne has worsened in this time, I'm starting to get different acne than before, larger bumps that are sore to the touch popping up within the t-zone and on the forehead and sticking around for an embarassingly long time.
As most of you acne sufferers know acne is pretty depression inducing. It's really about the only thing that I can't meditate my way out of: those neural pathways have been pretty well worn from my times as a teenager. And now that life obstacle called depression is really getting in the way of living. Y'know, when you look in the mirror and the first word that pops into your mind is "Yuck!". Not healthy.
So I'm almost ready to take the plunge. Almost. The doctor, of course, is pretty happy to prescribe away. It's only my paranoia that's preventing me from jumping in for a the third time. I think perhaps the only long term side effect that has stuck with me from roaccutane is I need antiseptic cream when I get a graze otherwise it won't heal properly and might turn into an infection. I'm pretty sure everything else is fine.
What do you guys/girls think? I'm tending towards "yes" as I've handled it okay in the past with no major problems, but then I read the horror stories and comments such as "never go on it a third time are you crazy?!" and get nervous. I'm going to give myself three more weeks I think, perhaps Tretinoin, like magic, will suddenly start working...
Oh dear.. I'm sorry to hear about your situation.
Obviously, goingon another round of pills isn't a good idea though. Your body went through it TWICE already, and you still have Acne. Have you considered that maybe digestion problems, dryness etc from the pills is what is causing your Acne now? There's obviously inflammation somewhere inside causing the Acne.
I would recommend drinking more water, and give your skin a break!
If you're not allergic to honey, I would try honey masks for 30+ minutes every other evening, and then maybe every evening - it balances and hydrates and is antibacterial. It will help your existing Acne heal.
Get a blood test done and see what's going on with your hormone levels, vitamins etc.
Please be more gentle on your body!!
With Love,
Olena
[Edited link out]
I am not sure if I can advise for or against the 3rd course of Accutane. I took my first course Jr. year of high school and my second course Sr. year of college. I recently turned 30.
Some of the stuff that you mentioned is a little unsettling to me since you made so many improvements (diet, etc.) and the acne still came back... I've only been on a gluten-free diet for the past 6 months and also have followed the acne.org regimen for that amount of time too. It is concerning to me that at some point in the future, the acne.org regimen may not be able to keep me clear, despite all the other improvements I have made (diet, daily stress levels, etc.)...
Hopefully the regimen works and acne doesn't come back for you IchhasseAkne!
It really is ridiculous to still be getting acne at this age. It also solidifies being single into something (seemingly) forever-unchanging due to zero confidence.
And yes you'd think there was inflammation in the body to still be having this problem. It is odd, and upsetting, that an anti inflammatory diet followed seems to do basically nothing for (my) skin, despite being great for general health.
Just to clarify, I drink a lot of water, I've had blood tests fairly recently that were normal, I don't drink except for very special occasions, I make carrot/beetroot/broccoli/ginger juices a few times a week, exercise regularly, etc.
The latest silly and desperate thing I'm trying is fermented cod liver oil. But let's be honest, it'll likely not do a thing except empty my wallet faster. Acne has a way of bringing out the pessimist in me. Or perhaps the topicals only make things worse?
Your situation sounds familiar. I'm 37, and have had two rounds of accutane myself, one in my early 20s, and another in my mid-20s. Luckily at the time, I was unaware of any potential side effects, and came out the other side of both treatments relatively unscathed (my skin cuts very easily now, and I can take a chunk out with a blunt fingernail, but otherwise okay).
3 months ago, I reached the end of my rope again, largely because we're having our first child, and I don't want to be the 'spotty dad'. I guess most people would look at my face and say it was fine these days (and bar the odd deep, painful cyst, it looks so much better than it used to), but my back, the bane of my life, is/was as bad as it's ever been.
So, I'm back on the accutane. 40mg, and my 3 months has been extended to 6.
I'm terrified, obviously, as the stories are grim. I've had to stop running as well (my main hobby) as my knee joints are suffering, and I don't want to get any long term/permanent damage, so I'm putting on a bit of weight.
That probably doesn't help, but suffice to say, in your situation, I went with 'yes' as well. But it's such a personal decision. This third go around is definitely my last, regardless of the outcome, but I had to try, just once more.
I don't think I could give up exercise for 6 months, it's taken me around 3-4 months to get fit (poor recovery from exercise might be another side effect...). The knee joints thing is a real worry! I suppose in my case, if I do decide to go on it, and my knees start playing up (I do a fair bit of martial arts based exercise), I can always stop taking it and just give up that avenue.
Is the accutane doing it's job yet? I remember it working really fast.
For now I'm ditching the tretinoin and am going to just stick with cetaphil cleanser and am going to do a brief experiment with ketoconazole on the face every other day. Who knows, there could be a mysterious fungal element at play. And I haven't tried it yet. Isn't it ridiculous the things we try?
Good to know I'm not the only man in my 30s with bad acne. I see some women with it but literally never see men my age or know anyone with acne.
I'm so sick of it, I have a decent job but acne holds me back so much at work and in general life
im on lymecycline but it's not doing much...think accutane is the only answer for me
Yep, it sucks how there are so many things to try that people have reported success with and yet for some of us it's only accutane that makes any difference.
Anyway, I'm back on accutane as of today, I'm starting at 10mg to reduce those worrisome side effects and will be getting a blood test every 1 to 3 months to make sure the liver and platelets aren't getting damaged.
Fingers crossed the acne gets wiped out and I can go back to feeling like a regular human.
On 02/02/2016 at 7:14 PM, Jakethedog said:Hopefully the regimen works and acne doesn't come back for you IchhasseAkne!
It really is ridiculous to still be getting acne at this age. It also solidifies being single into something (seemingly) forever-unchanging due to zero confidence.
And yes you'd think there was inflammation in the body to still be having this problem. It is odd, and upsetting, that an anti inflammatory diet followed seems to do basically nothing for (my) skin, despite being great for general health.
Just to clarify, I drink a lot of water, I've had blood tests fairly recently that were normal, I don't drink except for very special occasions, I make carrot/beetroot/broccoli/ginger juices a few times a week, exercise regularly, etc.
The latest silly and desperate thing I'm trying is fermented cod liver oil. But let's be honest, it'll likely not do a thing except empty my wallet faster. Acne has a way of bringing out the pessimist in me. Or perhaps the topicals only make things worse?
I just wanted to weep when I read this. Basically the anti-inflammatory diet and water. We tend to think that diet plays a vital role in alleviating our acne because it's so easy to control what we put in our mouth but that's not the case for everyone (unfortunately). It works for some people but for the vast majority of us, it simply doesn't do a thing except to spoil our appetite. Water -- I drink like a camel but it's not doing anything, either. I don't exaggerate when I say I drink like a camel. I literally drink on the hour (500ml each time) for 8 hours straight. I drink 500ml first thing I get up in the morning. And this is on top of the fruits and vegetables I'm consuming. That works out to nearly 6 litres of water a day, I guess. Still? Nothing.
As I would like to believe, antibiotics is the only solution for people with persistent acne. We don't have the luxury of spreading honey on our face like most people with a teeny weeny spot and expect it to disappear the next morning. We're not the same.
I just want to weep. Your message just makes it sound so hopeless for me (and probably for others as well) because I can relate to so many things you said.
Oh god that sucks! I won't take it no matter what. God bless ya.
Accutane only helps while ypure on it so why bother? Its tertible for you and it will only come back if it did before. Some people get lucky and their anf it seems to work but maybe their acne would have resolved anyway.
So anyway I thought I'd post a follow up for anyone wondering about a third course of accutane. I've been on it since March. I was on 20mg for about 5 months and that mostly cleared it up, my face has been 99% clear I'd only get the odd pimple here and there on the body. After 5 months I got one larger than usual pimple on the body that will scar so I've upped my dose to 30mg since then. So far so good. I'll be on it for another 3 months so will probably have a cumulative dose of around 8000mg.
It is looking like this will be a temporary fix but right now I feel good, I don't wake up wanting to die, which is a bonus :). The only side effects are dryness in nostrils, dry-ish skin on forehead, sorer muscles/slower recovery at the gym.
My doctor says I can go on a short low dose course when it comes back to keep it at bay as my blood test results always come back excellent. It's the only thing that works and my body seems to handle it well so it'll have to do!
48 year old female, battling acne for well over 25 years now... I was on Accutane about 15 years ago. Since then I've been on Doxycycline, Oracea, Spironolactone, everything over the counter, everything 'natural', hormone testing, gone sugar free, dairy free, gluten free, etc...Several months ago I hadfood sensitivity testing done, and it was very eye opening! Several things that I would have never considered to be a problem for me, were actually quite high on my sensitivity chart. It was suggested that I eliminate the biggest triggers for 6-8 weeks, which I did to the best of my ability. I honestly have seen literally zero improvement as a result of my diligence... So, I have another appointment to see the dermatologist on Thursday. I am going to ask him to start me back on the dreaded Accutane. Having been on it before, I know what I'm in for with side effects, but at this point they can't be any worse than the pain, both physical and emotional, that I experience on a daily basis.
Any products that are not natural cause your skin to become addicted to them and it will not truly cure your skin, only work for a certain amount of time before your skin becomes immune to it. Try going the natural/organic way that I did to clear my skin, here's my blog post: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/blogs/entry/32202-how-to-heal/
Please reach out with any questions! Best of luck!!! 