Leonidas' Accutane Experience

L

leonidas

New member
3 week mark. Got some in-grown hair type breakouts few days ago. Some kind of cyst-like. Pain in the butt. Don't know if this is unrelated to accutane and is just the result of poor shaving technique or what. But was hoping the accutane would have ended all in-grown hairs by now. Hope the accutane is not CAUSING them.

Had smallish breakouts on forehead around same time, and I NEVER get pimples on my forehead--not since my first accutane course 9 years ago. But these are only at the very top of my forehead, near my hairline.

No headaches lately, thank God. Am to see derm in 5 days, and he should bump me up to 80 mg. Provided all is good with my blood.
 
Now on third day of second Accutane course. The first course was about 9 years ago. And it's not Accutane, but Sotret, which is what my New York CVS gave me. Same stuff, different maker.

I'm 190 lbs., and the derm said the ideal amount is 95 mg. (BTW, 34 year old male.) But they don't make a 95 mg pill. So, he's starting me off at 40 mg for the first month and will then bump it up to 80 if I'm tolerating it well.

Nothing happening yet. Had a bad breakout starting over the weekend, so that doesn't help me monitor things. I'll check in on occasion about how things are going.
 
6 week mark. Got a couple new pimples last week. But, again, they may be due to lack of sleep.

Also got a cold sore in the middle of last week. It was like seeing an old friend. But I hit it with a bunch of Aquaphor whenever I was home, and it went away. None since. Also, I was having some night caps (tequila) to help me sleep. That was probably dehydrating me.

So, overall, still not a great improvement, though there's been some improvement. Have to be patient, I guess. It's pretty hard a lot of the time.
 
3 weeks and 1 day. Just wanted to say I'm about back to the point of a new pimple every day lately. One on end of my nose, like Rudolph, which I never get. One on my temple, which I also never get.

Not happy.
 
1 month. Went to derm on Saturday. Noted "significant improvement", which is unusual. Most people don't improve at all after only 1 month, and the dose for me was less than 1/2 of what I need. (40 mg out of 95) So, I got lucky, but don't get down, anyone, if you don't see any results after a month. It's not to be expected.

My blood work was fine, so he bumped the dosage up to 80mg (can't really do 95). No side effects other than chapped lips and some rash-like patches on arms. Also a faint, weird chemical smell. Have to break out the Axe body spray. Face is pretty dry at this point; lots of flaking, even though wash with Cetaphil several times a day.

Derm said I should continue with Accutane one more month. Then, if I choose, I can do it a third month. I plan on choosing the extra month.

The bad news: told derm I know that a high % of people only need one course and never have acne again. This is now my second course, and things are going well; will this be a permanent fix? He said most people who need a second course will also need a third course, etc. That friggin sucks.
 
So, apparently, my little Accutane journal ain't exactly an original idea. Which is good. People can see the experiences of others. There are quite a few out there, and I was reading some yesterday.

Looks like a lot of people are having the same complaints. Many weeks or several months into the therapy they are still getting breakouts. And some people are taking 120 mg a day! But clear skin is at the end of the journey.

So, don't fret if you guys don't see quick results. One doctor said she doesn't see much improvement in her patients until the third month. And some people need 2 or 3 courses. Some, I'm told, have to keep going back after that. Hey, as far as I'm concerned, whatever it takes.
 
Skin started drying on third night. Became too sensitive to put 2.5% BP on that night. Was having bad breakout that week and most of that stuff is now gone. But having some ingrown hair problems below chin. Annoying.

Now using Cetaphil almost all the time to wash. Before, it was making me too oily because it kept my skin so hydrated. But now it's a good corabination with the accutane. No side effects except slightly dry lips.
 
You have to be joking. I'm out of here. You just made sure others don't get (hopefully) useful information about my accutane experience.
 
5 weeks. Well, with Accutane, as with everything else, I have good days and bad days. Good weeks and bad weeks. At the end of the one month period I got something on my cheek that, 8 days later, is still hanging around. Also appeared to get one or two more pimples on cheeks (near my nose, by biggest problem area) a couple days ago. Hate those friggin things.

So, it's frustrating. And you think, God, is anything ever going to change no matter what I do? What helps is the thought that with each pill I'm getting closer to where I want to be.

What doesn't help is lack of sleep, and I'm beginning to wonder if the hormonal disruption (or whatever) caused by that is trumping the Accutane and will continue to do so after I stop treatment. I'm seeing another doc for that soon.
 
Day 8. Got a couple new pimples this morning, one near my eye, which is unusual. Wonder if this is the initial breakout stuff? I can't believe it is since I had been using tretinoin cream then Retin-A for about 10 weeks prior to Accutane. They are supposed to push up new-forming pimples to the surface, like Accutane. So, what could be left?

Of course, my biggest problem was always lack of sleep, and I had a crap week of sleep last week and on the weekend. So, this breakout could be from that, and the Accutane isn't yet strong enough to prevent the breakout. Either way, P.O.'d.
 
Day 11. Still seem to be getting a new pimple each day, for whatever reason. Got a big, fat ingrown hair yesterday. Been popping erythro since starting to prevent any initial breakout (even though told not to take anything else by derm when starting Accutane--but since the only risk is drier skin, didn't see the harm).

Forgot to mention this. On days 4 and 7 (or so) got headaches in the evening. I got worried I'd have to stop because "severe" headaches are a sign of increased pressure on the brain, and you're supposed to stop immediately. However, the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology said they have to be persistent. Otherwise, they can be controlled with Tylenol or Advil, etc.
 
Hey there....i've done 2 courses of Accutane, they gave me crystal clear PERFECT skin...until about 6 months after I was done, i'd start breaking out a little bit, which was bearable, but eventually would be full force acne again. :( Anyways for the dry nose issue, it helped me to get some Saline nose spray. You just squirt it in your nose and it will help to lubricate it. Helped me alot, my nose was constantly scabby and bleeding on the inside until I discovered Saline. You can find it at any drug store or grocery store.

Also, just to let you know what is finally helping control my acne (I'm 22 and pretty sure it's mostly hormonal and the only thing to EVER help was accutane), is being back on birth control and changed absolutely everything about what I eat and put on my face...I use:
1)Dr Bronner's Organic Castile Liquid Soap-Peppermint. It's made of a bunch of different organic oils. Works amazing on me...disolves your dirt, not try to wash it away, which is what most cleansers do, and i think they don't get you clean enough sometimes.
2)I put NO lotion on my face. Instead I rub in organic jojoba oil in the morning and before bed and this has worked WONDERS and I was so scared to start using oil on my face, but it has been a blessing! Skin is glowing now!
3) For any stubborn zits I just put on some clearasil zit zapper crap...I know, not good for your face, but it gets rid of them fast, and I think i'm too sensitive to tea tree oil to use in anymore. :( Sometimes if it's the weekend and i'm not going anywhere, i'll rub raw garlic on zits which REALLY helps. Minus the smell which apparently is offensive to people...like my boyfriend...
4) After washing my face in the morning, before I put on my jojoba oil, I put lemon juice on a cotton ball and wipe it on my entire face. It helps desolve that dead skin on top and is really getting rid of old marks. I can finally be around my boyfriend with no makeup!!! :D
5) Before putting on my jojoba oil at night I put witch hazel on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face...kind of like a toner.

Sorry this is long, I was just hoping it would help people since people thinking about using accutane, and that DO use accutane will be looking at this board. My skin is the best it's been without the use of accutane and i'm very happy about it. FINALLY!! Good luck everyone!!! Acne is the worst thing by far in my life and has been for so long...I hate that the thing constantly on my mind, is my face. What a curse.
 
2 weeks. Have stopped getting a new pimple every day. Skin mostly clear today. And my sleeping has still been crap. So, the clear skin is good news.

Also, I noticed that, even with the new stuff last week, their lifespan is short, like for a normal person. They come and go within a few days. Before they would come and last for weeks, sometimes, and the red spots (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentations) sometimes for months.

On one hand yesterday got a dry patch with red spots. I remeraber them from my first Accutane course. They appear on different parts of the body here and there. But just hitting them with a lot of moisturizer controls them.
 
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