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*Treatment results may vary
Spironolactone is WORKING!
I’m so happy to say I’ve been acne free since my last pot because of this spironolactone.
I highly recommend it for non-cystic acne paired with a topical treatment such as Retin-A or Ziana mixed in with your lotion for scarring.
Here’s how I’m looking at the moment!
I highly recommend it for non-cystic acne paired with a topical treatment such as Retin-A or Ziana mixed in with your lotion for scarring.
Here’s how I’m looking at the moment!
Week 4 of Spironolactone & Retin-A
Here’s me at week four of using spironolactone orally twice daily (25 mg) and a .08% strength Retin-A mixed with my face lotion every other night.
* READ UNTIL END IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING * Before...
* READ UNTIL END IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING *
Before Accutane, I suffered from horrible cystic acne on my chest, back, and T-zone. I do not have any photos of this but it was around 8th and 9th grade. My parents and sister all went through Accutane successfully, so my dermatologist put me on it.
ROUND 1, 2014: The side effects of this medication are horrible as everyone knows. My lips would crack so deeply I couldn't heal them for weeks on end. I would get such dry eyes that almost every night I would get a new cyst if I didn't wake up and douse my eyes in prescription eye drops. This was before I wore contacts and rarely worse glasses, as I couldn't drive yet. I had very bad depression and suicidal thoughts that put me into therapy and almost took me off the medication. After the six months at about $1k a month (I have a deductible so I didn't pay this in full), I was finally done. I immediately became so much happier, found my friends again, got my license, and was living my best life with no acne at all and only some scars on my face.
BETWEEN: My side effects from the first round started to slow down, but they NEVER STOPPED. I continue to have to apply chapstick and eye drops before bed and if I don't I will 100% have cracked, bloody lips and I will get sensitive eyes and sometimes the start of a cyst. My emotional state does not seem to be effected by the medication and I was very happy for a few years. My acne began to come back a bit, and I had a LOT of little red scars (first photos). This is when I decided with the help of my dermatologist to go on Accutane a second time.
ROUND 2, 2016: This time around I was much more prepared for the side effects and as a senior in high school in a stable relationship I believed I would be able to handle it. There were the normal side effects like my lips feeling like they were going to fall off my face constantly (photo set two), and the dry eyes. But because these side effects never went away, I was fine with them. The new side effect that I hadn't remembered was BLINDING migraines. These would keep me out of school and cause me severe vision lost, keeping me from driving as well. I can confidently say that I had never had a migraine before then and I continue to have them to this day. Another NEW side effect I was getting was different joint pain. Problems in my back that I would try to fix but nobody could come to a conclusion on them using x-rays or MRI's. I also began to get shooting pains in my arms and legs, (all of these I still have to this day) and this was diagnosed to be some sort of problem stemming from the spinal nerves. Spinal damage and dehydration of spinal fluid as well as dehydration of joins which are usually well lubricated is a side effect of Accutane that has unfortunately not stopped since I got off two years ago.
POST-ACCUTANE: My daily routine consists of:
• Easily scratched corneas and possible cysts due to overly-dry eyes. No daily contact lens, prescription eye drops, or wearing glasses for multiple weeks has been able to help my eyes. The dryness causes light sensitivity which has almost gotten me into car accidents and is giving me premature wrinkles around my eyes at age twenty.
• Constantly carrying bottles of water and chapstick everywhere I go, having to run to a gas station at midnight because if I go to sleep without it I wake up with bloody, cracked lips.
• Horribly scaly and dry, flaky skin on my whole body. Mostly legs, but I cannot get through the day without moisturizing my face and body at least twice with non-scented extremely dry skin lotion. I have experimented with coconut oil, body oils, and just about everything you can think of. I have it mostly under control with some exfoliation 1-2x weekly and it has helped.
• Constant shooting pains going down my arms and legs, often into my fingertips. Shooting pains in my back and all kinds of joint problems I have had to see doctors about.
• Migraines, which I never had before and regular headaches.
• Horrible circulation, which my sister also suffered from after accutane, sometimes leaving my feet completely white and numb waiting for blood to come to my feet in order to work out normally.
There's a good chance I missed something. But ANYONE WHO IS GOING ON THIS MEDICATION: BE AWARE THAT YOU MAY LIVE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH THESE SIDE EFFECTS. The second time around really solidified a lot of the weird symptoms I was dealing with every day and helped me get closure on my many health problems.
I've attached some photos from the last month when my skin was mostly clear, and then again from just now sitting here typing. I got on a new birth control (went from being on the pill to NuvaRing) and ended up getting hormonal acne AGAIN, and it's very hard to cover with makeup. I am now taking a male hormone blocker twice a day for the acne I'm suffering from.
I wish the best to those of you who are going on Accutane, currently on it, have been on it and are acne free, have been on it and still suffer from acne, and especially those of you suffering these lifelong horrible symptoms. You are not alone.
I am very grateful to no longer be in the daily emotional and physical pain of being covered in acne.
Before Accutane, I suffered from horrible cystic acne on my chest, back, and T-zone. I do not have any photos of this but it was around 8th and 9th grade. My parents and sister all went through Accutane successfully, so my dermatologist put me on it.
ROUND 1, 2014: The side effects of this medication are horrible as everyone knows. My lips would crack so deeply I couldn't heal them for weeks on end. I would get such dry eyes that almost every night I would get a new cyst if I didn't wake up and douse my eyes in prescription eye drops. This was before I wore contacts and rarely worse glasses, as I couldn't drive yet. I had very bad depression and suicidal thoughts that put me into therapy and almost took me off the medication. After the six months at about $1k a month (I have a deductible so I didn't pay this in full), I was finally done. I immediately became so much happier, found my friends again, got my license, and was living my best life with no acne at all and only some scars on my face.
BETWEEN: My side effects from the first round started to slow down, but they NEVER STOPPED. I continue to have to apply chapstick and eye drops before bed and if I don't I will 100% have cracked, bloody lips and I will get sensitive eyes and sometimes the start of a cyst. My emotional state does not seem to be effected by the medication and I was very happy for a few years. My acne began to come back a bit, and I had a LOT of little red scars (first photos). This is when I decided with the help of my dermatologist to go on Accutane a second time.
ROUND 2, 2016: This time around I was much more prepared for the side effects and as a senior in high school in a stable relationship I believed I would be able to handle it. There were the normal side effects like my lips feeling like they were going to fall off my face constantly (photo set two), and the dry eyes. But because these side effects never went away, I was fine with them. The new side effect that I hadn't remembered was BLINDING migraines. These would keep me out of school and cause me severe vision lost, keeping me from driving as well. I can confidently say that I had never had a migraine before then and I continue to have them to this day. Another NEW side effect I was getting was different joint pain. Problems in my back that I would try to fix but nobody could come to a conclusion on them using x-rays or MRI's. I also began to get shooting pains in my arms and legs, (all of these I still have to this day) and this was diagnosed to be some sort of problem stemming from the spinal nerves. Spinal damage and dehydration of spinal fluid as well as dehydration of joins which are usually well lubricated is a side effect of Accutane that has unfortunately not stopped since I got off two years ago.
POST-ACCUTANE: My daily routine consists of:
• Easily scratched corneas and possible cysts due to overly-dry eyes. No daily contact lens, prescription eye drops, or wearing glasses for multiple weeks has been able to help my eyes. The dryness causes light sensitivity which has almost gotten me into car accidents and is giving me premature wrinkles around my eyes at age twenty.
• Constantly carrying bottles of water and chapstick everywhere I go, having to run to a gas station at midnight because if I go to sleep without it I wake up with bloody, cracked lips.
• Horribly scaly and dry, flaky skin on my whole body. Mostly legs, but I cannot get through the day without moisturizing my face and body at least twice with non-scented extremely dry skin lotion. I have experimented with coconut oil, body oils, and just about everything you can think of. I have it mostly under control with some exfoliation 1-2x weekly and it has helped.
• Constant shooting pains going down my arms and legs, often into my fingertips. Shooting pains in my back and all kinds of joint problems I have had to see doctors about.
• Migraines, which I never had before and regular headaches.
• Horrible circulation, which my sister also suffered from after accutane, sometimes leaving my feet completely white and numb waiting for blood to come to my feet in order to work out normally.
There's a good chance I missed something. But ANYONE WHO IS GOING ON THIS MEDICATION: BE AWARE THAT YOU MAY LIVE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH THESE SIDE EFFECTS. The second time around really solidified a lot of the weird symptoms I was dealing with every day and helped me get closure on my many health problems.
I've attached some photos from the last month when my skin was mostly clear, and then again from just now sitting here typing. I got on a new birth control (went from being on the pill to NuvaRing) and ended up getting hormonal acne AGAIN, and it's very hard to cover with makeup. I am now taking a male hormone blocker twice a day for the acne I'm suffering from.
I wish the best to those of you who are going on Accutane, currently on it, have been on it and are acne free, have been on it and still suffer from acne, and especially those of you suffering these lifelong horrible symptoms. You are not alone.
I am very grateful to no longer be in the daily emotional and physical pain of being covered in acne.
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