I am a 23 year old male who has had mild/moderate acne over the last 3 years. Made it all through high school with the occasional stress pimple and such and started off college great. During my sophmore year things changed. I got acne all over my face. I had never had it before like this and it was very sudden as in a few months it all showed up. It got to the point where I would only go to class and track practice and that was it. I was originally put on minocycline, trentinion cream and benzyl topical. I saw results but only by about 70%. I was never able to get fully cleared up for more than a few days at a time. I was on this regimen until a little over a week ago when I switched doctors. He immediately threw me on Accutane at a starting dose of 40mg per day. I am on Day 12 so far. I will be updating this here and there, sometimes a few days a week and other times a few times a month.
I am very open to questions or suggestions. I am very active with a variety of activities throughout the year which will cause some hangups I know.
Thanks for reading.
Week 1: The first few days were a bit of a shock for me. The first 3-4 days I had headaches (severe) very shortly after taking the pill for the day, even when I ate a big meal with it. Around the 4-5th day my lips started to get dry. Not cracking but more irritated. Around this time I got body aches. Even when I went a few days with not doing any physical activity and getting amazing sleep. Toward the end of the week the soreness went away or is minimal and I was back to heavy lifting routine, swimming, golfing, and playing volleyball all without being more sore than I normally would have been. So far this week I have had no new pimples and my skin seemed much less dry and irritated. I was even able to wake up in the morning and go to work and around town without showering which I had not been able to do in a long tie let alone two days in a row. My sister even commented on my face looking nice which boosted my confidence immensely. (She is very supportive when my skin flairs up and helps me go out of my comfort zone when i feel depressed. Best support fan I could have asked for.)
Start of Week 2: On the 8th day I got a bump on my left cheek that was tender and I could feel it when I smiled. There was no head until the next day when I popped it with ease. Healing great and barely can tell it was there on day 12. A few days ago my body was more sore than it had ever been. I lifted the day before but went light. Woke up yesterday on day 11 with a very tiny pimple by my nose, likely caused by going to bed at 5am after a night of drinking. Swimming has been helping keep the soreness down although it is causing my skin and lips to be dryer, pick your poison i guess. So far I have been using Cetaphil face lotion after I shower and a combination of chap stick and Vaseline Lip Therapy, depending on how dry my lips get.
I work at a college normal 8-5 hours but have started life guarding at our outdoor pool more frequently after work for extra cash. This has been nice for the extra money and tan but I have noticed I burn quicker and my lips get dry very quickly even when I am outside for only a few hours wearing a large sun hat. I use Neutrogena Sport Face sunscreen for my face and some basic spray sunscreen for my body.
Will update when something exciting happens or in a week roughly.
*If you can't remember what someone wore exactly 2 weeks ago, then chances are they won't remember you having some zits on your face or body.
I am on Day 20 so far and things overall are amazing! My lips are always dry, just cracked bad enough to bleed right when I woke this morning for the first time. I have noticed a slight increase in sun sensitivity which I was prepared for. Life-guarding routine has gotten a little trickier but I am making it work. The soreness is very hit and miss it seems. Some days I will lift heavy, swim, bike, and play volleyball and be perfectly fine and other days I will not do much and be sore when I walk. I went to a street dance and drank heavily (Not recommended I know) and woke clear with no dry skin or anything which surprised me as I slept in my car even that night. I woke up today with a small under skin bump on my chin under the corner of my mouth but soreness is going away with a little spot cream. On a very positive note my bowel movements that had been occurring within a half hour of taking the medicine have gone away which is nice as well as the headaches, which might be because I have been more liberal on my water intake early in the day.. I go in next week for my 1 month follow up and blood work so I am hoping the doctor doesn't change my dosage that much as my body is reacting very well to this level. I would much rather go longer than have a section of bad breakouts.