Hi,
I'm 20 years old, dealing with mild to moderate acne for about 7 years now. Tried many topical and antibiotics, birth control pill is the only one to make a difference but it comes with too many side effects for me so finally got put onto Accutane.
Started last week on 20mg a day. I will be on 20mg for 2 weeks after which I will go up to 40mg until my next appointment with the dermatology nurse on the 1st June.
Week one - I've been ill and so I don't know if some of the changes I've been experiencing are due to that or the medication. I've been licking my lips a lot so they're sore and dry. Wake up every morning and my upper lip especially looks swollen. Dry skin around nose but thats probably because I've been wiping it so much due to the flu. Some dryness near chin, no break out, active pimples/white heads dried up. Went to the park to run around/exercise a few days ago and my muscles are still in pain - don't know if that's due to the accutane or just because I pushed myself too hard (worked out after a long time). Really looking forward to taking the higher dose and seeing some real improvements in my skin. I am currently still on the birth control whilst on Accutane just to minimise the initial breakout and will be stopping it after I finish this pack.
Hi,
It's going to be a month tomorrow that I will have been on accutane.. One word - amazing.
I've stopped the birth control and usually, I would have broken out in a few days after stopping it but its been 2 weeks and no break out so I really think the accutane is working great.. no "initial breakout" as of yet! My skin is dry but nothing too crazy and totally controllable with Cetaphil - I wear itday and night and I can wear it under my makeup and it doesn't make me oily which is great! My lips are still dry but I've been using Palmer's Cocoa Butter lip balm and its the best thing ever for chapped/dry lips. Definitely recommend it - it makes your lips so soft, and you can get it in a dark chocolate flavour which is red and tints your lips and I love that one too!
It is so nice to wake up in the morning and my face not be oily. I woke up today and touched my face and it was so nice and felt clean like I'd just washed it! A week or two ago I had loads of little bumps on my nose and T-zone where all the gunk was coming out of my pores - exfoliated and now most of its gone and my skin has never looked so clear!
I will mention that my mood has been crazy insane, I have been so up and down and extra sensitive. This could be sue to the accutane, or my hormones being slightly out of balance after stopping birth control and the crazy exam stress I am under. But hopefully this will improve because my mum has had enough or my moods!
There are so many horror stories about accutane which put me off it to begin with, but honestly, so far so good.. its life changing. I have an appointment on the 1st June so I will ask about upping my dose just because I can tolerate this pretty well.I know things might get harder as I go along but working closely with my dermatologist and adjusting dosage as necessary, I think I will be able to get the most out of this medication without suffering too many side effects.