[Loreal]

Day 81- Wow the days have gone so fast! Only 2 1/2 months left. I can totally handle that! Haha.
Nothing too bad on the side effects. Dry hands and arms are almost gone. No more nose bleeds, my back still aches a little sometimes, not a big deal. My face is a little dry when I wake up, and after i wash it its really tight and dry. My lips are constantly chapped without Aquaphor.

My face looks pretty good today! Yay. makes me sooo happy to wake up and not have to put a bunch of makeup on. There's still a ways to go, but I'm happy so far with the results. If your acne is making you unhappy, and you are thinking about accutane, do it. It is expensive, the side effects are a little bit rough sometimes, but in the end its sooo worth it. I used to not want to stand close to people or have people look at me up close and now i have so much more confidence that my face doesn't look like a freak... =]]

Current Routine:

Morning:
Wash Face with Dove Moisture Bar (Or if my face is really dry, I just rinse it a little bit)
dove deep moisture moisturizer
1 40mg Claravis (accutane) (on weekdays)

Makeup: (on my face)
Max Factor Pan Stick
Mary Kay Powder (or sometimes this random brand from Wal-Mart of loose powder)

Night:
Dove Moisture Bar
Vaseline (as a moisturizer)
Neosporin <3
1 40mg. of Claravis
Sometimes a little vitamin E on my face
1 Vitamin E capsule with a cup of water
Aquaphor on my lips.

All the time: AQUAPHOR... my hero. =]

Song of the Day: Would you go with me by josh turner. (he is sooo cute. hehe)

[Loreal]

DAY 82- YAYYYY~!!! Today was a good face day. Just felt like sharing. =]

[magosienne]

good for you !

[Loreal]

Day 88-
Everythings doing okay.... pretty good today....
everything is the same....

[Loreal]

Day 92- only 72 days left!! Yay!
The skin on my body, especially my shins, is really dry. Something that has worked well for me is as soon as I get out of the shower, before I dry off at all, using baby oil (I use the gel, its way less messy) all over and then gentle pat dry. Then use lotion. It seems to work pretty well.
Not too many side effects... I get sore and tired wayy easily, which is a big deal for me, being an athlete and volleyball season coming up in like a month... chapped lips, dry skin, flakey scalp, and thats about it!
I will have random flare-ups, but nothing like it was before...

[IMG][/IMG]
Creepy eye... haha. but Yay!! =]

[vickih]

oh this is a great thread. I actually went to the dermatologist today and we decided that I should go on Accutane. After reading this blog, I'm excited and scared at the same time. I'm reading all about these side effects and it's kinda scary.

I can't believe at my age (36) I could have all of this acne. They are mean and they don't like to leave my face. ugh. my face is a mess. and it never used too be. never.ever.never.

after all the side effects, do most of you girls still recommend it?

[Loreal]

Day 97- Ughh.... bad face day today... its a struggle. its so on and off...

and Vickih- I was nervous too (my mom was especially), but definitly don't be. Its so so so worth it. The side effects are not bad at all (or they aren't for me, some people its worse for) but the only hugeee thing is, dont get pregnant!! But once you are off the medicine, there are no long term side effects, that I know of. If im wrong, please correect me. But i do know for sure that once it is out of your system, there is no chance of birth defects for future babies.

Hope my log helps you!!
Thanks for reading!!

Song: I would walk 1000 miles my vanessa carlton

[shelley s.]

Congrats on all your progress, your skin is looking great! I too went the accutane route about 8 years ago and Im so glad that I did. I used to have really bad acne and tried EVERYTHING and nothing helped. After I did the accutane though my skin was completely different!

Have you experienced any/much weight gain? I did the treatment for 9 months and I gained 60 lbs :-( Which at the time was very discouraging but after the treatment ended I droped the weight in about 2 months....

I know the whole thing is kinda an uphill battle but your skin is looking great and the payoff in the end will be worth it! Good luck!

[Loreal]

Thanks shelley!! =] Nope i haven't gained much or any weight, but im only 2 3/4 months in... soo... *crosses fingers...* has your skin stayed clear?? what kind of stuff have you used since getting off accutane??

DAY 103- Yesterday was really good, today is pretty good, and tommorow is the last day of school, so hopefully it will be clear for next year! those of you that have taken it, how clear has your skin stayed???
everything is all the same side effects wise and routine wise.
im annoyed though, the dermatologist mis-scheduled our appointment so i have had to only take one pill a day for the last week, and we get more friday... aweeeesome.

Song: will wait for you by elliot yamin. LOVE SUCH MUCH!!!

[Dragonfly]

Loreal - your skin is looking beautiful

Vickih - the first time I went on Accutane, was when I was 34. Almost all the acne went away but I still had oily skin. When I was 36 or 37, I went on Accutane again. I still have oily skin, but not as bad - its tolerable in the summer and hardly noticeable in the winter.
I asked my Dermatologist if I was his oldest patient. He said he has one male patient in his 60s and he has treated many women in their 50s.
I definately recommend trying a round of Accutane - it will do wonders.

[bronze_chiqz]

Im on accutane now for more than a month, and I must say its really doin its job! My skin started imporving when I increased my dosage to 20mg per day, oiliness n breakouts have reduced alot.Of coz my terrible side effects are dry lips and eczema is appearing on a new new spots(Im aczematic patient).No choice ive to apply eczema cream and body lotion religiously but in another way im glad i took accutane finally after all these years
Loreal- yeap im pretty sure ur skin will stay clearrrr forever!

[shelley s.]

Loreal - I would say you're safe on the weight gain front, when I was like 3 months in I was up like 25-30 pounds! So if you're not noticing any extra lbs, Id say you're good :-)
And yea, my skin has stayed clear! I mean of course I get a pimple here and there, but not the all over ACNE I had. I do notice that my skin is pretty dry since I have used it (it used to be SUPER oily), but this could be due to just getting older, and well, I live in Arizona so its basically like the dryest state in the U.S haha

Since using it, I just make sure to keep up on getting all the make up off (I wear a LOT of make up) I was using this cleanser basis for a while, but just recently switched to this dermologica brand (at ulta) and I LOVE it! my skin is pretty dry and it seems to be one of the only things that makes my skin feel really clean and fresh without feeling tight and flakey

But yea, I think after your skin will stay clear. Everyone I know that has done it got rid of the acne!

[Loreal]

thanks so much for the help!!
I got 50 pills today for the start of my 4th month! Only 50 days left!! Big time!!
DAY 105- Its gone fast! My face looks good today! I can really tell a difference now. I'm praying that it will stay clear, at least for a veryyy long time : /
Routine: (sorry i have typed this a million times, but its just for me to be able to see what I have done over the course of the treatment... =]] )
Morning:
Wash with Dove Moisturizing Bar
Dove Deep Moisture Moisturizer with SPF 15
One 40 Mg. Claravis (one in the morning and evening on weekdays, and only one total on the weekends)
Makeup: (on my face... not eyes)
Max Factor Pan Stick
Mary Kay Blush
Loose Power

Evening:
Wash with Dove Moisturizing Soap
Layer of Vaseline
Neosporin on spots
1 40 mg. claravis

All the time: Aquaphor=my life...<3

Shampoo:every now and then i use a medicated shampoo for flakey scalp
normally i use pantene moisturizing shampoo. I opened several Vitamin E tablets and put in my shampoo.

Eye drops are key. My eyes get really really dry and itchy. some of it is allergies, but even before this awful weather, they were dry.

Lotion for my body: suave moisturizer

Sometimes I use neutrogena healthy glow scrub wash on my face. I love it.

[BasementCat]

Hello!
This is an interesting thread.. good that your skin is getting better.

But I have a question, do you get regularly blood check ups?
It's recommended here to get a check every month, because accutane can harm your liver and it should be monitored, if i remember correctly.
The side effects it can have don't sound amusing, I'd be kind of scared to use it..

[bronze_chiqz]

my scalp is flakey and my hair is dryyyy as well! im just using the normal shampoo, do i need to change to other shampoo?

[Loreal]

Basement Cat: I had to get one blood test at the beginning of my third month. The results came back great, so my derm said I wont have to do anymore. All derms are different though, but just make sure and ask if it is absolutely necessary, and then if you dont have insurance that covers they tests, make SURE and ask if all the tests they are making you take are absolutely necessary, because those tests can add up and sometimes the derm doesn't think about that, and some of the tests could be eliminated!

BronzeChiqz- its not important to switch or anything, but I have found that the anti-dandruff shampoo, i just use the off-brand =], using it just once a week or so helps my flakey scalp stay under control. You could break a few vitamin E tablets with a safety pin and squeeze them into your regular shampoo and that has helped alot with the dryness for me. =]

Thanks for reading!! =]

[BasementCat]

Hey Loreal,
thanky you for your answer.
But actually I haven't Acne myself, I'm just an interested cosmetician.
(Just finished school and don't have a lot experience with Acne yet.)
It's interesting to read this thread, i'm always interested in how things are in other countries..

[vickih]

i started taking 10mg of Accutane. Let's hope it works but OMG are my eyes getting quite dry. holy cow. eye drops are my new best friend.

[Loreal]

vickih- haha, yes, they quickly became mine too. 10 mg. isn't very much... are you really tiny??

[vickih]

tiny, you mean in my size and weight?
ooh.. no..

I don't have alot of acne, but I'm at a point that my skin doesn't react to anything else that we have tried that is why she put me on accutane.
I think she wanted to start my off on a lose dose for the 1st month to see if I had any side effects. So far so good.
The best thing though is that I have less of a shine on my face. woohoo!

vickih- haha, yes, they quickly became mine too. 10 mg. isn't very much... are you really tiny??