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Dramatic change to skin texture and pores after Accutane / isotretinoin. Any scarring?

 
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12
(@worriedscared1)

Posted : 04/08/2016 4:05 pm

I think I was overdosed on accutane / roaccutane / isotretionoin (6-7 months treatment using max dosage for my weight) . I hardly had visible pores or much of a texture before. My skin was normal before accutane.

As I neared the end it just got worse and worse. Once I finished my skin was completely changed. This carried on shortly after finishing too. Its like the pores blew up to several times their size and my whole face has big pores everywhere including my sides and whole forehead. Its very obvious when light shines over the area. The texture is strange and wrinkled.

Sadly I am desperate. I am not suicidal but I am very sad. I am now post 7 months and a half after accutane. I was told these would go away after afew months but nothing has changed despite assurances that accutane does not cause scarring or signifcant changes that would leave me worse off. I am now getting more acne than i did before treatment... My skin still feels very uncomfortable too.

I am at a loss.  But I would gladly appreaciate any help, recommendations or support.

Sorry for the super up close pictures as I am embarassed. IMG_0710.thumb.JPG.657d85203b0a8e3092f8eIMG_0711.thumb.JPG.bd2daa1a55c382ec98241IMG_0716.thumb.JPG.bc597e68140e535c4f7aa

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32
(@missamua)

Posted : 04/09/2016 12:37 am

Buy a good moisturizing and a silicone based foundation primer. It's deigned to fill in and soften pores/texture so it's smooth. Please don't do anything drastic, you'll just make it worse.

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12
(@worriedscared1)

Posted : 04/09/2016 8:33 am

Thanks for the reply. I wish it was ok for guys to wear foundation or something to even skin. I wont be thinking about actual scar treatment just yet give it more than a year). I want to see how my skin does as its such a drastic change in a short time towards the end of accutane. I am still shocked. For 6 months or so I didnt do anything other than moisturise/ wash or no moisturiser certain days (doctor's advice).

I was given Ziana / Treclin ( clindamycin phosphate 1% and tretinoin 0.025 ) for treatment by the dermatologist. In his words 'to even the skin texture and unclog pores'. So far its not easy to apply. I was told a tiny amount alot less than a pea. My skin gets a burning sensation though so I havent used it much. It goes on the finger like a liquid and is doesnt spread much to cover my face. Wodering if the doctor is correct with his diagnosis? my pores are way bigger than before.

I really wish i never too accutane. i'd rather have the mild acne i had than this skin texture.

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2
(@dontcrybaby)

Posted : 07/23/2016 9:44 am

The same thing happened to me. I regret taking Accutane so much. It changed my skin texture and gave me a lot of scars which I have never had before.Ididn't get any benefits from taking it. I look much worse than before.

Did you improve your skin after your lat post? Does your medications work? It has been 3/4 months since you posted.

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31
(@skinskinskinskinskinskinskin)

Posted : 07/23/2016 12:31 pm

i have the same skin texture and was about to take accutane to make it better but wtf am i going to do now

by the way that is untreatable, ive tried every treatment and only made it worse. like the user above said be gentle and keep moisterised

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2
(@dontcrybaby)

Posted : 07/23/2016 2:07 pm

1 hour ago, SKINSKINSKINSKINSKINSKINSKIN said:

i have the same skin texture and was about to take accutane to make it better but wtf am i going to do now

by the way that is untreatable, ive tried every treatment and only made it worse. like the user above said be gentle and keep moisterised

Worse? What treatments did you try?

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31
(@skinskinskinskinskinskinskin)

Posted : 07/23/2016 2:35 pm

27 minutes ago, dontcrybaby said:
Worse? What treatments did you try?

obviously its just my advice, dont do any lasers besides v beam and make sure to start on the lowest settings

some people accutane permently changes the way the skin can heal. if you start getting acne after accutane = GAME OVER

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20
(@starlite)

Posted : 07/24/2016 2:20 am

When I did TCA peels combined with copper peptides, it helped my skin texture. One time my roommate mentioned one side of my face near my nose had visibly smaller pores (I guess I didn't evenly distribute the peel). So I still see the difference in pore size on one side compared to the other, so I know the TCA peels are permanent and help with that.

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2
(@dontcrybaby)

Posted : 07/24/2016 9:03 am

18 hours ago, SKINSKINSKINSKINSKINSKINSKIN said:
obviously its just my advice, dont do any lasers besides v beam and make sure to start on the lowest settings

some people accutane permently changes the way the skin can heal. if you start getting acne after accutane = GAME OVER

What kind of lasers did you try?

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12
(@worriedscared1)

Posted : 01/20/2017 1:37 pm

Ok A quick update. Minimal change here. Approaching 1 and a half years.

None of the pore sizes or shapes have changed much if at all. I feel less discomfort in the skin but it is still there at all times. 

I was given Differin by the doctor (more vitamin A! ) but it does help keep the face clear. I wish I was given this rather than accutane /isotretinoin as this would have worked fine with the amount of acne i had. :(

I am also taking Efracea which is a low dose -time release doxycycline medicine. This seems to help with inflammation somewhat. 

Hope everyone is well. Recommendations would be great as i am so afraid of experimenting. 
 

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1750
(@beautifulambition)

Posted : 01/21/2017 8:02 am

Look under "skin" big pore treatments under the official faq below. I see excess oil production and enlarged pores. Have you tried moisturizing your skin with a "pure" Hyluranic Acid Serum. Excess oil is produced when the skin is not properly moisturized sometimes.IT does not cause breakouts.

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12
(@worriedscared1)

Posted : 01/21/2017 1:45 pm

My skin was not like this my whole life and early in the accutane / isotretinoin treatment period. It changed dramatically. Luckily i took pictures showing transition. The skin is badly scarred looking at a distance.

I had more acne in the second half of the treatment period mirroring afew others here.

I still have a burning sensation and numbness in my face.

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12
(@worriedscared1)

Posted : 01/21/2017 2:11 pm

Its difficult to find perfect pictures but here are some of how my skin is now. I never had any of this minus the chicken pox mark near my nose and horizontal lines on the forehead.

Whatever 'pores' that were there before were minimal and in the center area of the face.  

IMG_0078_Fotor.jpg

IMG_0077_Fotor.jpg

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20
(@sararey)

Posted : 01/21/2017 2:15 pm

31 minutes ago, Worriedscared1 said:

My skin was not like this my whole life and early in the accutane / isotretinoin treatment period. It changed dramatically. Luckily i took pictures showing transition. The skin is badly scarred looking at a distance.

I had more acne in the second half of the treatment period mirroring afew others here.

I still have a burning sensation and numbness in my face.

I am so sorry that this happened to you. I am experiencing something similar from using Tretinoin Gel. F**ked up texture, burning sensations, flushing, scarring, my face always feels. I used it for 7 months at the urging of Dermatologists, they said that it was not possible that Tretinoin was the cause. It has been 5 1/2 months since I stopped. I have had a little improvement in skin texture, but the burning/flushing is getting worse. I would recommend not using the Differin.
Best Regards
Also, I think I seea little texture improvement in your current photos.

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12
(@worriedscared1)

Posted : 01/22/2017 12:56 pm

Thanks. I hope it is better long term. Though i think pictures make it hard to tell as angles and lighting are misleading.

I am trying to stop the Differin, I now get more acne than i did in the past without any anti acne medication... The whole thing is a nightmare. Very few products work well enough to not cause irritation.

I will be seeing some dermatologists soon. So far no doctor has truly been of help.

sararey liked
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20
(@sararey)

Posted : 01/22/2017 4:01 pm

2 hours ago, Worriedscared1 said:

Thanks. I hope it is better long term. Though i think pictures make it hard to tell as angles and lighting are misleading.

I am trying to stop the Differin, I now get more acne than i did in the past without any anti acne medication... The whole thing is a nightmare. Very few products work well enough to not cause irritation.

I will be seeing some dermatologists soon. So far no doctor has truly been of help.

Yeah, I totally understand your frustration, it is a nightmare... and yes, made worse by no Doctor or Dermatologist really being able to help, or they make things worse themselves... Trust me, I get it.
Just know that you are not alone. And for what it's worth, I care (even though I don't know how to fix it)

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40
(@brokenporecelain)

Posted : 01/26/2017 8:11 pm

On January 21, 2017 at 1:45 PM, Worriedscared1 said:

My skin was not like this my whole life and early in the accutane / isotretinoin treatment period. It changed dramatically. Luckily i took pictures showing transition. The skin is badly scarred looking at a distance.

I had more acne in the second half of the treatment period mirroring afew others here.

I still have a burning sensation and numbness in my face.

Wait you have numbness?
So hard to find people with that same symptom as well as the rest.

I am dealing with This same thing but from a retinoid called Tazorac.
My skin has the same weird shiny pore texture and my forehead has a numb sensation, it's in my eyelids and sometimes inner cheeks and nose as well.

All my symptoms pretty much happened over night except the numbness and "pulling sensations"...that came maybe 20 days later .

ive been dealing with this for about 5 months now...it is devastating and I'm legit near-suicidal over it....I didn't evenknow it was possible for skin to do this.

I don't think it can be scarring tho...scars take awhile to form. And I have two very little scars from childhood that were never noticeable before that are now white (the color my skin used to be) because now the rest of my skin is mottled reddish yellow..and sometimes brownish purple indaylight...not healthy looking at all. That would be even more bizarre to have full facial scar. Tho I admit in certain lighting it looks like I am a burn victim.

Please update with any new info you have...
I've been to 3 derm's already, all said it would go away at first and then when it didn't, they completely flipped on me and acted like my skin is just naturally fucked up or something. Sorry but this is beyond abnormal. Even when I was sitting in the doctors office waiting rooms..the only people I saw with remotely similar skin looked like they were over 60. And oh my god, I got such anxiety from seeing people with what used to be "MY" skin. My heart broke.

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12
(@worriedscared1)

Posted : 01/27/2017 11:50 am

Your description of the your problem is very much how it seems for me!

Only compare to people over 60, sensations in the face, dermatologists so far unhelpful etc.

Something is clearly up. Its interesting we have almost the same side effects.

The fact we have sensory changes/damage is odd as it is not meant to happen with many powerful 'deep in the skin' cosmetic treatments. I will see a doctor soon. But everything is going slowly. Its been over a year for me and symptoms have not gone.

edit: Basically I think the reason i had more and more spots(odd ones not like acne i had before) and bubbles was that the deeper skin was affected. This is odd as its serious damage. Explains the sensory issues.

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(@maisondavinho)

Posted : 06/12/2018 7:54 am

Any updates for anyone in here?
ive had the same thing happen to me

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(@shubh87)

Posted : 07/20/2018 12:19 am

On Sun Jan 22 2017 at 12:41 AM, Worriedscared1 said:

Its difficult to find perfect pictures but here are some of how my skin is now. I never had any of this minus the chicken pox mark near my nose and horizontal lines on the forehead.

Whatever 'pores' that were there before were minimal and in the center area of the face.  

IMG_0078_Fotor.jpg

IMG_0077_Fotor.jpg

I got the same problem after Accutane 20mg I use clinroz BP gel contain clindamycin and benzoyl peroxide 5%
It increases my pores on my face too especially on cheek and nose and widen it 
It looks aweful so i decided to leave Accutane and gel hope it back to its original state 

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(@aaddeenn)

Posted : 10/09/2018 4:56 am

Have you tried a Tretinoin Cream (eg. ReTrieve Cream 0.05%) or Differin (0.1% Adapalene)?

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0
(@kaykay1212)

Posted : 10/25/2019 5:27 pm

Hows your skin now . This is the reason I stopped taking Accutane I have this texture but not quite as bad . Im thinking lasers next year tbh but non ablative as I dont want to make things worse

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89
(@rapharapha)

Posted : 10/29/2019 10:08 am

Have the same condition. It is interesting that I also described it as Accutane overdose :) . Skin cracking / wrinkling by itself at very fast pace during accutane usage. With feeling of pain and tension at cracking site. Longterm intermittent use of low dose accutane (now 10 years since first usage, 5-30mg dose). 2 years ago, after 8 years of first usage, during new course I increased to 30mg and then it started. I complained about the cracking and pain to my GP and even went to psychiatrist at the end, where they said I'm possibly inventing the pain (LOOOL), despite the skin cracking at that site (cheek).

 

I stopped accutane for 1 year, and used Mynocycline instead cause acne returned 2 months post accutane. I had excellent result in acne remission and skin healing with Mynocycline. Texture returned almost to normal (except the obvious scarring at the pain site). But then acne went Mynocycline resistant, so I'm back on accutane (very low dose), and the cracking returned. Winter is especially painful as skin is naturally sensitive and dry.

 

I plan to take Amoxicillin when the cracking will become unbearable, but this is last resort, as it is also an antibiotic with its resistance issue.

 

BTW: any moisturizing cream just made it worse (both the acne and cracking)

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(@tatters_cfchotmail-com)

Posted : 07/26/2022 5:01 am

I think I have the same problem but from use of Benzoyl Peroxide. My pores shine like crazy when I move my head back and look in the mirror. Under any kind it light it looks like my skin is extremely oily even when its dry. All sunscreens and moisturisers just make the situation worse.

 

I went to see a skin "specialist" 8 weeks ago and they mis diagnosed me as extremely oily and put me on the ZO Skin Health program.

 

8 weeks later I was left with horrendous acne and scars.

 

I'm now on roaccutane but it's doing nothing for me, on 20mg. I'm due to see a BUPA dermatologist next week, but I've lost all hope in this being fixed. I have scarring, acne, flaking skin, redness and shiny pores.

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(@orangelaser162gmail-com)

Posted : 07/27/2022 3:34 am

this is very interesting. i have similar damage from a co2 laser. what it seems to be is that your skin overproduced the fibrotic collagen (i forget which type that is). we are constantly turning our skin over and retinoids increase that. they also suppress healing pathways and could lead to overexpression of tgf b1. your healthy collagen has been replaced with the bad stuff so you need to work on replacing that with the healthy stuff again. i would do fractional treatments like microneedling or laser. clear and brilliant is a nice gentle one. vbeam can also help. low level laser therapy. hyperbaric oxygen. silicone gel. once things flatten a bit, a nice tca peel can probably get you the rest of the way. i think a lower dose retinoid would help, something like .05% tretinoin.

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