Hello acne fighters,
This is my first ever post on here. Hopefully I don't butcher it completely. I am doing this mainly to keep track of my own progress and share it with you guys.
My history:
I have had acne since I was 13 years old. I am now 19, turning 20 in September. I did not really care about my acne for the first 3 years cause everyone seemed to have had it back then. But, as the years passed, I kept getting worse. So, I took my first doctor's appointment when I was 17. She prescribed a BP cream for spot treatment (Tactuo). It had been helping to maintain the acne and keep it at a mild level but you could still see red scars and cysts on my face. I have been using Tactuo to this day (getting refills) but recently, I broke out terribly and had to book a dermatologist appointment ASAP. I got one 4 days after I placed my call and as soon as I walked in, and explained my whole story to the doctor, he prescribed me Accutane. I asked him if Accutane would affect my weight lifting and basketball hobbies but he said only a few people experience joint pains so I should be good as long as I keep on my routine.
I read up about Accutane afterwards and was excited at the thought of getting rid of my acne once in for all. I am going to pick up my Accutane on Monday May 30th 2016. That will be my first day. I will try to post weekly updates on here describing the effects it has on me. For any major breakout I experience, I will post it on here as soon as it happens so I can keep track of it as well as you guys.
I hope this thread helps a couple of you as well.
I will post my day 1 pictures on Monday.
See you all soon.
Here are the pre-Accutane pictures. Taken just a couple minutes ago. I will be starting Accutane tomorrow (Monday May 30).
I am prescribed 40 mg for this month.
Any tips/comments are welcome. Also, is this considered mild or moderate acne? This is the typical breakout I get. My face looks like this almost everyday and some days are worst with giant cysts around my nose and on my chin.
Day 2
I developed a huge cyst on my chin over night and it developed a head and popped on its own at the end of today. Other than that, the left side of my face still has a couple of cysts and my forehead got a bit of tiny whiteheads. No drying of the skin yet nor oil reduction. But, my eyes did feel dry today. Maybe i was just tired. Hopefully i get my IB this month and its smooth sailing from there.
Day 3
I started to break out on the left wing of my nose. Thats the oiliest part of my face. Also, the left cheek has settled down a bit, now its just red from the cyst. My forehead whiteheads disappeared and turned red. My face is more red overall. Still no drying happening.
Day 4
Got a new painful cyst on the right side if my upper lip. Also, two new pimples on my forehead and the left side of my nose still breaking out. Right now, i feel like i am developing a couple cysts around my left sideburn. Hopefully it's not too bad tomorrow morning. My lips are finally feeling dry but my skin is still just as oily as ever. I cant wait till that starts drying out.
Day 5
I broke out quite a bit around my upper lip and around me nose. Also, the right side of my nose got a big cyst growing there and my forehead has two big cysts growing. Hopefully this is my IB. My lips are dry and my chin and around my mouth area is dry and flaky but my nose is still really oily. Side note: I can feel really painful pimples on my head as well.
Day 6
I was out all day yesterday so I couldn't post. But, day 6 was just another normal day. I keep getting new pimples around/on my nose and around my lips. I woke up with a huge red bump on my right cheek. I feel like it is gonna form a head soon. Is this the IB? My skin is still just as oily around the nose. I wake up with an oil skick. My lips are always dry now but not too dry.
Day 7 (Week 1)
I broke out like crazy today. I woke up to a really really oily face (but my hair and lips were abnormally dry) and loads of painful whiteheads around my nose. Theres a deep under the skin cyst growing on my right cheek as well that hurts. I am praying that this is the IB and I don't break out like this again. I can't wait till my skin starts getting dry as well.
Question: I have been using Cerave moisturizer every morning and night even though my skin is oily. Is this recommended or should I stop?
Hang in there pal.The first few weeks are gonna be the worst.However,never opt to quit accutane even if your acne gets twice as worse than what you have now.Remeber accutane is the best thing you've done for your acne.
BTW we both are similar in many ways,same skin tone,about the same age and ughh,those red scars(I am much more scarred than you though).
I hope u keep us updated throughout your journey.GOOD LUCK!
5 hours ago, Naimur97 said:Hang in there pal.The first few weeks are gonna be the worst.However,never opt to quit accutane even if your acne gets twice as worse than what you have now.Remeber accutane is the best thing you've done for your acne.
BTW we both are similar in many ways,same skin tone,about the same age and ughh,those red scars(I am much more scarred than you though).
I hope u keep us updated throughout your journey.GOOD LUCK!
Thanks man! Yeah the red scars are so noticeable. Hopefully they go away.
I will make sure to keep you guys updated.
Side note: Is it a bad idea to use epiduo/tactuo as a spot treatmemt ar night alongside accutane?
any input would be appreciated
Day 9
Still going through my IB. Small white heads and cysts all around my nose and lips and painful ones on my cheeks and forehead. Eyes are getting super dry so i may have to buy eye drops. Also, i really hope joint pain doesn't affect me, i workout almost every day so that would literally ruin me. Fingers crossed
9 hours ago, Yung Raptor said:Thanks man! Yeah the red scars are so noticeable. Hopefully they go away.I will make sure to keep you guys updated.
Side note: Is it a bad idea to use epiduo/tactuo as a spot treatmemt ar night alongside accutane?
any input would be appreciated
IMO it's not beneficial to use any sort of topical that dry out your skin.You are not seeing any drying effects with accutane yet but once you are in your 3rd week,your skin is gonna get really irritated due to excessive drying(both BPO and adapalene cause peeling and drying) .Plus the red marks would be accentuated since your skin is irritated.
I used Benzoyl peroxide 4% throughout the first month and it caused horrible skin peeling which left me with saucer like(shallow rolling) scars.
3 hours ago, Naimur97 said:IMO it's not beneficial to use any sort of topical that dry out your skin.You are not seeing any drying effects with accutane yet but once you are in your 3rd week,your skin is gonna get really irritated due to excessive drying(both BPO and adapalene cause peeling and drying) .Plus the red marks would be accentuated since your skin is irritated.
I used Benzoyl peroxide 4% throughout the first month and it caused horrible skin peeling which left me with saucer like(shallow rolling) scars.
Damn. Thanks for the tip. I will stop using it from now
Day 11
Worst breakout i have ever had in my life. My whole face is so painful! Anytime i bend over to pick something up, the blood rushes to my face and it hurts all the under the skin cysts all over my face. Theres three on my nose, two on my left cheek and two on my forehead and theyre big and red and painful!! I almost want to call in sick tomorrow for work
Day 12
All my painful cysts from yesterday formed a huge white head and it was all over my nose and chin. Took a hot shower at night and most of them popped themselves. Is that okay or should I take less hot showers? Now my face is juat red all over and has so many bumps. I really really want this IB to end
Did you get these kinds of breakouts before accutane? How much worse is it than your average "breakout"?You said in your first post that your acne was sometimes worse than in the first pics you posted, with cysts/white heads around ur nose and chin, and then you posted about breaking out on day 2 and 3...so are you sure this is an initial breakout? Did your doctor say when you should expect the IB?
Thanks for sharing!
7 hours ago, Derek C said:Did you get these kinds of breakouts before accutane? How much worse is it than your average "breakout"?You said in your first post that your acne was sometimes worse than in the first pics you posted, with cysts/white heads around ur nose and chin, and then you posted about breaking out on day 2 and 3...so are you sure this is an initial breakout? Did your doctor say when you should expect the IB?
Thanks for sharing!
My usual bad breakout is just a little better than the one I am experiencing now. Usually i would just get a bunch of white heads in a big clump and then a few stray ones. And I would always have one or two cysts on my nose. But, in this breakout I have 8 on my nose, 2 on my right cheek, 2 on my left, 1 on my forehead and 6 on my chin. But its starting to dry out and go away a little now.
My doctor told me to expect an IB right in my second week and he said it may last all the way until the end of month 2. He was right about it starting on the second week but I hope he's wrong about it ending in month 2.
Thanks for reading mate.
Day 13
I woke up with a couple more whiteheads on my face than yesterday. Some were on the verge of oozing out and some were just forming. There's one on the top of mu nose that hurts really badly! There's three developing cysts on my left cheek and my face is all patched with red spots. The amount of oil on my face in the morning is still so horrendous. I glow and reflect light like water! I really hope Accutane kicks in now and starts clearing stuff up instead of pushing stuff out.
Week 2 Pics
Looking at these progress pics makes me feel like I'm progressively getting worse!!
Day 14 (Week 2)
Yet another day of more whiteheads forming! The right wing of mt nose and my chin are covered! I'm gonna hate going to work tomorrow!! Why is this IB lasting so long. Its already been a week. I havent been this bad for over 2 days and now its already been 7 days!
