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2nd time on isotretinoin - AndreaR

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(@andrear)

Posted : 02/18/2017 9:25 am

Hello all,
I'm about 1 month in to my 2nd course of roaccutane, my first was 9 years ago. I took it for moderate to severe cystic acne which was all over my face, the course lasted 7 months and I enjoyed clear skin for the past 7 1/2 years. Ive done a lot in that time and not least had 2 children, and even then my skin was great throughout. I developed BP related complications with my last pregnancy and my Dr wasn't keen for me to be on go back onto the pill I had been on so switched me to the mini pill, cerelle. This was when the problems began, it just didn't suit me and I wanted to come off it but my Dr said it would settle but it never did. I took myself off it after 5 months and my skin was in a sorry state, very very oily, hormonal, cystic spots along jawline/neck, enlarged pores and many blackheads and whiteheads, on forehead and temple. I thought stopping the pill would halt the spots but taking the pill seemed to kickstart my skin producing spots again. I waited 3 months to see if skin would improve but it didn't and opted to go onto antibiotics for a time, i tried Lymecycline, while these quelled the bigger spots and certainly stopped my spots from becoming infected, it didn't so anything to the blackheads and whiteheads and the overall texture of skin was bumpy, you could feel the underlying spots just waiting to come out. I mentioned after 2 months to the Dr I didnt think it was working and would they consider me for a dermatologist referral, they did but I had to wait 5 months to see one.
By the time I saw the Derm my skin was better but the spots weren't going and my skin was hiding a lot of spots underneath, I expressed concern that I felt i had not other option other than to take roaccutane again given that i had taking all the drug and alternative therapies to avoid them. He agreed I was a mild case on this occasion but I had jumped through enough hoops and he was satisfied I could have it.

Obviously there will be no future babies for myself and my husband therefore the pregnancy risks are null (he has opted for a more permanent solution!) and i was prescribed isotretinoin that day and began taking it that evening.
I rushed out to buy lots of lip balm and moisturiser, however I don't seem to get on with Carmex and have reverted to a product I used before; blistex Intensive moisturiser, which is a cream based lip balm and now comes in cherry flavour. I also bought a product which was my holy grail for roaccutane last time for my face which is avene skin recovery cream. I'm using neutrogena body moisturiser and some mild dermalogica face washes although may revert to Simple products like last time also.

Ive been on it approximately a month, 2 weeks at 40mg now the rest of the time at 60mg. Doing ok aside from the lips and dry skin/hair/eyes and the red hot flushes! Have some skin smoothness where I didn't before and skin is drying up and pores closing. Still some active spots around but going quickly and none are of the cystic variety. Due to get another prescription next week so had bloods taken this week, hoping all is well and I can continue.

With my first course I wrote a blog on the website reclaim your skin, I've looked but it doesn't appear to be around anymore, I found write the diary help process the changes and its a good comparison at the end, and importantly its good to get support from people who know what your going through.

Thanks for reading.

Andrea

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(@andrear)

Posted : 03/02/2017 5:14 pm

Month 1:
A whole month down, yippee!
Overall skin is ok, the usual stuff dry lips, skin. Ive been using my failsafe of blistex but have ordered some aquaphor and see if that suits me also. In my 1st course I came across a lipbalm from the states called Dr Dan's cortibalm and if my lips get any worse Id try to get hold of it again. Achy muscles especially if I've been resting and get up to move (which is a lot with two young kids) and I've had a few headaches, but i can't say for sure it is the isotretinoin and not just lack of water when I'm pretty dehydrated. I find that my face is the most annoying after a shower and oh the relief when you slather on the cream and by the end of the day, sometimes its noticeable, peeling skin around the mouth and nose.
About 2 weeks ago I broke out with 2 deep cystic spots and 1 I picked so I think I made this hang around much longer, it looks red and angry and still not gone now. My skin is still purging those deep down spots especially across my cheeks, but they seem to come out as a whitehead and are usually gone within 24 hours. Forehead has remained clear throughout.
The red beetroot face returned, ive had 2 instances of this red face flushing where it wont go away and its most definaitely noticeable that just your face is very red, no amount of blowing cold air will get it to go!
Dealing with some brain fog too but that could just be the life of a working mum.

The only benefit I've had so far is not having to wash my hair for 5 days so far, usually I'm a every 2 days kinda gal, and my hair was coming out loads but its thick so not that noticeable, but i am enjoying not having to wash and straighten it frequently.

Hope all your treatments are working out.
A. x

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(@andrear)

Posted : 03/26/2017 11:49 am

Month 2:
Into full blown side effects now, peeling dry skin, dry eyes, sore joints and THE worst sore lips. I got home of some Aquaphor but honestly it doesn't really work too good for me, kind of like Carmex. Im sure i got some hydrocortisone last time as I had this issue before, I remember it was difficult to acquire from the pharmacy even with my Dermatologists permission to get it, might see if I can get Dr Dan's Cortibalm and have a go with that. I have been using the thickest ones available, Avene Cold Cream and Aquaphor healing ointment although the brand is Eucerin here. Thick lip balms seem to attract my hair, when Im out my hair always blows in my face and sticks!

Speaking of hair its still very dry and I am down to washing once a week, styling is a chore for me anyway as I have long thick hair, Ive begun to use a n oil treatment to try to make it look healthy and shiny and less like straw...not too much mind as its still oil.

The cystic spots i spoke about last time, are still there and Ive broken out a few times more. Oddly more on the side of the face I didn't get many spots. I also foolishly pricked the ones sitting under the skin, I've quite a few scars from my last encounter with acne, ice pick scars for example and throughout that area on my cheeks there were plenty of bumps hiding spots. This was not a good move!!
I've just hit the stage where healing is taking forever and new marks and blemishes look red and sore, so I pricked a few, had some outstanding and my son scratched my face which made be look awful. There is no hiding them.

This month I began to drink a lot more water, i try to drink near a litre a day, its probably not enough but it was more than I did before, so I'm happy with that. My joints are very sore especially if I've been sitting for a while, i walk my dog regularly and tend to notice once i get back how achy I am but I enjoy the walk and walking I feel is good for you and I don't want to get used to the stiffness.

The instances of beetroot face are becoming more frequent and nothing seems to help that, we've had nice weather this weekend and Ive tried to stay out of it, given how sensitive my skin is. Ive noticed eczema patches on my upper arms, had these last time, just need to moisturise.

Hope your all progressing on your treatments.
A. x

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(@andrear)

Posted : 04/23/2017 3:00 pm

Month 3:
Yay! Half way through, good feeling to know I'm on the latter end of the course.

Ive had some improvement in the number and type of spots in this past month, 1 cystic and about 4 which developed into whiteheads but gone in 24 hours, I still have that 1 from month 1 which I chose not to squeeze just about hanging on for 2 months. The overall tone of my skin is much improved and it doesn't feel as bumpy as before. Along my jawline where I would breakout at that time of the month is clear and this month has been the first month that I have not broken out in the hormonal cycle as I would've expected. Weirdly Ive had 2 breakouts on my scalp, fortunately my hair covers them so can't be seen just a tad annoying.

Skin overall is uber sensitive, sun, scratches all have reaction. I've been spending some time in my garden not thinking of getting sunburnt but yep did, so have been putting on factor 50 when I remember - good job my garden doesn't mind my greasy face. Will invest in a hat if I had to be out in it. Too much sun after 10m will result in the obligatory red beetroot face for the next few hours. I got scratched on my face which coincided with the few breakouts I did have and i looked messy. Any slight damage to my skin anywhere, not jsut on my face results in a scab that tends to hang around, both hands are sporting a few scabs from silly injuries which normally would heal pretty quick. Also any embarrassing moments that normally result in a red face is made worse by the beetroot face - which hangs around!!!

The eczema has got worse since last month, the patches have spread up my arm to my shoulders and the area of my forearm tends to react and show a rash if its been annoyed but you can faintly see the rash thing all the time. I just try to moisturise if i remember.

Kept up with ym water intake and I think this has helped. Lips are ok and manageable with the aquaphor ointment which i persevered with but I can't not have it on my lips as the moment they get dry or annoyed you can tell they feel burnt and sore.Therefore lips are always shiny and people at work tend to think I'm weird for constantly putting on shiny lip balm!! Hoping to get some Dr Dan's cortibalm in a few weeks to see if this improves the situation.

Joint pain is as bad as ever, I walk a lot and have 2 young children so stopping isnt really an option until bed time, but boy do I feel it when I get up, sore balls of my feet, back etc. This I remember from the first time and this makes be glad that I am in the latter part of the course.

Hope all going well for you and your courses.
A. x

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(@andrear)

Posted : 05/27/2017 1:05 pm

Month 4

Very pleased to get to this stage, i went for a follow up appointment with my dermatologist this week and he confirmed what we had already discussed that I would be on it for 6 months, so 2 more months to go. he expects me not to get a spot ever again after this...im not convinced that i won't get one but he was pretty adamant it would be unlikely. Naturally I will be watching my skin closely for any changes.

I only had 1 active spot this month but I pierced two I should've just left as the healing of these was worse than had I left it. My actual new spot was what appeared like a whitehead which got bigger, i pierced it with a sterile needle and noticed the root bit which I tried to get out and failed so I attempted to squeeze which revealed it was a deeper one. I knew I got all the stuff but I could see straight away the damage that would show in the next few days. True to form, it was like a scab, it was red and scabby and in reality was gone in 3 days after excess peeling and helped a bit by me. I guess I never learn, but I won't be poking other spots, I will just have to live with it. its a battle as i feel one popped spot looks better than a fat whitehead.

Usual side effects, dry lips, sore muscles, inner nose lining annoyed. I had a rather bad skin reaction last month on my trip to get my next prescription I mentioned it to the nurse who suggested I use Cetraban cream as its good for eczema but more user friendly, she gave me a sample and I love it. Cleared up the rough bits and haven't had a re-occurance and have bought some more, so pleased with that.

Closer to the end now, happy with results so far. Hope your courses are progressing well.

Andrea. x

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(@andrear)

Posted : 06/24/2017 10:44 am

Month 5:
Yessss!! Only 1 month to go i am ready to stop this treatment. Ive not had an active spot for 6 weeks and i noticed in the past month that I couldn't tell from my face when my cycle was which was a big motivation for me going on the treatment and I most definitely had hormonal acne. I still have some bumps under the skin but they have been drying out and Ive resisted the urge to poke/pick.

My worst side effects this month have been lips when i haven't drunk enough water - i noticed in the uk's most recent heatwave if i didn't keep up the fluids my lips would burn and not even slapping on lip balm in layers was helping. Ive also had aggravated nose lining so Ive been treating that area with aquaphor also and its calmed down and my worst side effect has been my eyes. i already suffer from blepharitis which means I already get dandruff on the eyelashes, that dandruff is dry skin on this treatment its worse, it seemed to ram up this month and is uber annoying, to finish the course for this alone would be a huge bonus.

My dry skin on my body has improved a lot from using centraban and i would recommend it to anyone who wanted something for eczema that was a bit more user friendly and hadn't found anything that worked so far.

Hope all your courses are progressing well.

Andrea. x

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Posted : 07/27/2017 3:33 pm

Month 6:
Super pleased to report I only have 1 more dose to take, 184 days done.
Very grateful to get this far and have enjoyed clear skin for 2 whole months.
Not long after my last post i started to have some troubling problems with my eyes, i suffer blepharitis anyway so the roaccutane was making my eyes drier and i ended up with a stye. I dealt with 1 but then it came up on the other side and i tried to sort it but it got infected. Oh wow this was the most painful thing, I ended up at the Drs as my face started to swell, he said i had the perfect storm for stuff like this including the diabetes too. I wondered if he would tell me to stop the treatment but he didn't. I was worried he would tell me to stall but i didn't want to risk a break having already done 5/6 months.
Hot compresses were advised and he gave me some penicillin to be taken only if my face and eye swelled up completely. I managed to get it to drain which relieved it and it began to heal...slowly. I thought great its over but a few days later the other eye got another 1. FFS! My luck was so bad this month, i had a very swollen eye and it was affecting my ability to drive and use computers - I thought thats it! I would take the penicillin. Took 5 days before i saw any improvement and then i have just take extra care of my eyes ensuring they are clean but not annoyed, I used a micellar (blephasol) water to clean along the lash line and do a daily hot compress and eye drops to dry and combat the side effects.

Muscle and joint pain are still a factor any extra working out or gardening make the pain worse for a few days, Im still drinking plenty of water and slapping on the aquaphor - be glad when i can just return to normal lip balm. I ran out of the American aquaphor and opted for the uk one available in boots, despite being the 'same' they are not. The ingredients are different, the US one markets itself as an ointment whereas the Uk one is a balm and IMO its an inferior product to its US cousin. However I haven't got any choice but to use it as no other lip balm elsewhere is good enough on the treatment for me.

Nose lining still annoyed and have been applying aquaphor to that too, bedtime I look hideous all that shiny balm however who is going to see me??? And it does the job over night.

I chose not to drink throughout my course of roaccutance (my choice) I think its advisable to avoid the alcohol because of the extra stress the treatment puts on your body, in prep for me finishing i have some bubbles on ice and I will enjoy drinking those sometime over the weekend.

Hope you are all doing well on your courses, i will report back after my course is finished. And hopefully provide a decent photo. Sadly I don't think i have a 'before' because I was pretty embarrassed about my skin before i took the treatment and avoided such things.
A. x

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