I am about a year and a half post Accutane, and I hoped I wouldn't have to be back on the forum. In September of last year (2015) I moved into a house that gets its water from the pond in the yard. The water is filthy, and the landlord refuses to do anything about it. Since moving into the house, my acne has returned, far worse than it was prior to starting Accutane in the first place. The bumps are in my hair, all over my forehead, chin, above my mouth, my back, and even behind my ears.
There are several other people living in the house. The child living in the home broke out in a rash after bathing in the water (she and her father have since left the house) and my Chihuahua broke out in an itchy bacterial infection after I bathed her in the water. I no longer live in the house, but my acne remains. I saw a dermatologist who tried antibiotics to no avail, and then some topicals which also didn't work. She eventually decided that another round of Accutane would be in my best interest. I start on Friday, February 26th.
Today is my second day of Accutane. My doctor is starting me on 40mg this month, then bumping it up to 60 next month. My skin is getting worse by the day. I have quite a few spots on my back and shoulders now. I'm no longer able to hide my acne effectively with makeup. It's very evident that my face is covered in acne whether I wear it or not.
I don't notice any side effects yet, but it's still way too soon to tell. Below is picture of the spots that have developed today.
Yesterday was my 7th day of Accutane. Surprisingly, it seems to be working quickly. I haven't had any new spots appear in a couple of days, and the old ones are starting to vanish.
My friends and family are shocked at the difference between my face now and a week ago. To tell you the truth, I'm a little surprised myself. The spots on my back and chest are starting to disappear, and no new ones have popped up.
As for side effects? I don't notice much. My lips are a little dry, but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm sure that will change when the dosage is increased.
Hey hun. You've been so supportive of me through my journey with acne so i want to return the favor! Your skin looks great. Accutane is a great option for many and I am glad that it seems to be working quickly this time around. So many things can affect our acne outside of bacteria. I think eczema makes mine flare worse than ever before, especially when the weather is to hot or cold.
Keep us posted on your progress.
I'm about a month in, and oh what a rough road it's been. My acne skin is much better than it was before. At the moment I have about four active pimples; not too shabby. But the medication itself has been kicking my butt.
I have angular cheilitis up the wazoo. I have to eat with baby spoons so I don't have to open my mouth wide and tear the corners. Often when I go to take a bite, the corners bleed and blood pools around my mouth. And my mouth...it is painfully dry. It hurts even with Chapstick. And oddly, I sprouted these two unsightly bumps that later scabbed. My doctor said they weren't cold sores, we don't really know what they were.
I have eczema patches all over my legs and one on my arms. They itch and feel scaly, and aren't much to look at.
And last but not least. My nose. It is so dry, that the insides of my nostrils are caked with bloody crust. It's painful and annoying, and if I dare try to pick them out, my nose bleeds and more appear.
I am supposed to be starting on 60mg on Monday. Oh my goodness.
I had my dermatologist appointment this afternoon, and it came at a good time. I'm not really sure what's going on with my immune system right now, but I have impetigo, a staph infection in a finger, and this morning I woke up with bacterial pinkeye.
My acne too has been getting worse just within the past two days. The small pimples are virtually gone, but yesterday, 7 extremely tender large red pimples cropped up. I'm feeling very self-conscious about myself right now. I have to wear glasses to my first day at work tomorrow because of my eye, and I have quite a few unsightly red pimples. So I'm loathing going in there tomorrow. And in general just feeling a little down about my appearance. I've also gained weight (26 pounds in the past year), so I don't fit into any of my clothes. I am now technically speaking, considered overweight.
So today began a strict diet. I gained all of that weight while working at a call center, so my goal is to get all of that weight off one week at a time. But right now at this moment, I'm feeling poorly about myself.
My doctor told me that a purge like this is normal and not surprising. She said that after this, things should start to improve. She bumped me up to 60mg of the medication, and gave me a prescription for Absorica, which she said absorbs better, so my body will get the amount of medication that it should.
Monday I begin my 3rd month of Accutane. I saw my dermatologist today, who was disappointed in my progress. I've been having breakout after breakout, and I have some cysts on my forehead, some inflamed acne on my cheeks, jawline, and above my mouth. I also have what she believes is a staph infection, which is what some of the bumps on my face are. I also have pink eye, which she said is also caused by staph bacteria (in my case). She took a culture of one of the bumps today.
She did say that she wasn't ready to give up yet, and that because my back has cleared, it's a good sign that Accutane IS working. She prescribed Keflex (an antibiotic) for the staph infection, and is keeping me on 60mg of Absorica. She said that I may have to be on the medication longer than the usual 5 months. So what I'm doing now is praying that this medication starts to work now. I'm out of options after this.
This is the 3rd time within the past 6 months that I've had a staph infection. Maybe it's the same one and the Doxy never actually cleared it up. I was on that antibiotic for so long for acne, maybe it wont work for me anymore. I read a study that said that some people have staph bacteria in their noses, and that using a triple antibiotic for 5 days can get rid of it. So I've got some Neosporin that I've put up my nose, and I'll do that twice a day for 5 days. Hopefully it works.
I am empathizing with you - I am well into my 2nd month of Round 2 accutane and my acne is worse than it's ever been in my life. I have huge, painful cystic zits all along the lower half of my face, nothing is working to heal them and makeup does not hide them. It is humiliating to go to work like this.
For my lips I did get Dr Dan's Cortibalm from Walmart and it is helping the lips when nothing else even scratched the surface. For the inside of my raw nose I swab Cortizone 10 at night. But these side effects are a nightmare. I worry that the accutane isn't going to work, I am flat out scared that I will need to live with this.
IIDUO, I hope you're seeing some improvement by now. I can't sit here and say that I'm completely in the clear at this point, but I think that I may have crossed the hardest part of the treatment.
About a week and a half ago I suddenly developed four massive red pimples on my cheek. All on the right side. And I didn't pick them and they scabbed over with these huge golden looking scabs. My doctor thought it was impetigo again, but the test came back negative for staph. At this point, I have no idea what they are or why they look that way. I don't think my dermatologist knows either. Has anyone experienced anything like this before?
I haven't had a new pimple pop up since those previous four appeared, so it's been about a week and a half. I don't know if more will suddenly appear again, but I'm not confident enough to think that my acne and breakouts have finally subsided.
My dermatologist called me after she got my blood test and said that my cholesterol is rising. She said that I need to lower my fat intake a little bit to keep it at bay. So I'm trying to keep on a strict diet. I gained 22 pounds in the course of a year and for my height, I'm considered overweight. I've lost 8 pounds in the last two months, but it's certainly not enough. Does anyone have any cholesterol-lowering tips? I'm vegetarian, but I do eat dairy.