I'm a 21 year old transgender male who is finally beginning accutane treatment. I've suffered from acne since I was around 13 years old. It was more severe my first run in with puberty. I've tried many different types of topical treatments and oral antibiotics throughout the years. The type of medication that was most effective for me was spironolactone which is an anti-adrogen. I got off that medication when I decided to proceed with my physical transition and begin HRT on testosterone. One other medication that I was on short term was bactrim. That was a miracle drug but my doctor will not prescribe long term for obvious reasons. I've been on testosterone injections for almost 9 months now. I began with a low dose (half of what most are prescribed), specifically in hopes of minimilizing the issues that I may have with acne. My acne has gotten worse but it is manageable. My current skin regimen is to wash my face twice daily with PanOxyl extra strength 10% benzoyl peroxide and apply lemon juice to blemishes. I also use Cerave lotion if I'm feeling too dry. The main areas I struggle with acne on are my neck, back, and chest. My neck and near my jawline on my cheeks have gotten worse with cystic acne from minor facial hair growth, I presume. I'm excited but very nervous to see how accutane will effect me. I've done my best to do my research on the drug and prepare myself for what's to come. I'm hoping that I won't experience negative side effects relating to depression or suicidal thoughts. That is the main reason I have avoided going on accutane for years. I've finally decided it's worth a shot. My two main methods of birth control (yes, this still applies to me since my gender marker still reads female and I have not had a hysterectomy) is abstinence and male latex condom. I will post pictures and keep everyone up to date on my personal experiences. Wish me luck! I begin treatment tomorrow. Updated on 21 Feb 2015: Obviously, I'm very early on in my accutane treatment. But I have noticed a few slight changes so I figured I would update regardless. The first two days, I had a couple of new cystic pimples in places that I NEVER break out, like my chin. I put some lemon juice on them and that seemed to help. One is completely gone and the other has shrunk a little. The first night I noticed that my skin was a lot dryer than it usually is. Especially on my chin area. I put Cerave lotion on but a few hours later it seemed to be dry again. Then when I got off work, I felt like my face was disgusting and oily. So I washed my face immediately upon getting home. I invested in some antibacterial bar soap instead of the 10% benzoyl peroxide face wash I was using. It was too harsh on my skin. I haven't been washing my face regularly, which is weird because before I would have to CONSTANTLY wash my face. Now, I'm so dry that it irritates my skin more if I were to wash it. My chin is excessively dry. My lips are starting to get a little dry but nothing too terrible yet. I happened to come down with a cold (I think) which is really unfortunate. So I'm blowing blood out of my nose constantly. I've never had that issue or had a nose bleed in my life, so that's kind of weird. That's all the updates for now. I'll be sure to post any other changes I notice. Updated on 26 Feb 2015: I'm currently one week in. I feel like I'm starting to break out more than usual. I'm dealing with quite a few cystic pimples. The lemon juice has helped shrink the size fairly quickly. I have been using Neutrogena ultra sensitive face wash. It seems to do the trick without drying me out too bad. Still using the Cerave lotion when I'm dry. Every so often I will feel really greasy and gross. It's happened 2 or 3 times since I've started Accutane. It's usually at the end of my shift and I go home and immediately wash my face. It's probably the reason for the break out I'm getting now. I'm near the end of my cold, and I haven't been blowing out any blood so that's a relief. Minor things to note is that I just began taking probiotics today. I'm hoping those will help assist with the acne as well. We will see, I suppose. The only significant change I have to document is the ULTRA dry lips I'm experiencing and the insatiable thirst. I feel like Iike I constantly have to drink water. I drank a lot to begin with, but now I feel it's really necessary. I'll keep you guys up to date with any new changes. That's all for now! Updated on 9 Mar 2015: Update- I'm going to keep this pretty short and sweet. I will attach photos with dates on them. Scalp psoriasis/dermatitis has cleared up mostly, thankfully. The weather is getting warmer and I think that has a lot to do with it. My hands have red blotches on them from dry skin and burn quite a bit. I apply lotion to my hands and body ritualistically. I try to avoid applying lotion to my face unless absolutely necessary. Chap stick has become my best friend. I'm still constantly thirsty. My chest/back and shoulders are pretty broken out. I can deal with it because I would prefer that than to break out than my face. My face has broken out off and on but nothing unbearable. Mostly broken out with cystic acne. I have a lot of blackheads that I can't get rid of because I can't use salicylic acid wash on my face. But honestly, it looks like my scars have faded quite a bit. So I can deal with the blemishes on my face for now. The improvement on the scarring has helped keep me hopeful. As far as mood goes, the last couple weeks have been rough. I'm not sure if it's due to the medicine or if it's a combination of things. I've had multiple days where I feel really depressed for no apparent reason and it feels like there's nothing I can do to make myself feel better. I've noticed that I cry more easily now. And I feel slightly more irritable. I'm sticking with it for now, monitoring moods and staying hopeful. Updated on 21 Mar 2015: I went to the derm for my one month appointment on Monday and she decided to double my dose. Instead of taking 40mg once daily, I'm now taking 80mg once daily. Yesterday (03/20) was my first day taking the double dose. I'm really nervous to see how this plays out. I had a headache all day yesterday but that could've been due to something else, no telling.. My skin is still very dry. Most of the dryness I'm seeing is on my chin. My lips are REALLY dry. I'm constantly biting them instead of using chapstick. I really need to get in the habit of using chapstick more often. I've woken up two or three times with my eyes feeling gunked up and groggy. I've used eye drops a couple times. I'll probably have to start using them more often with the higher dosage. My face, chest, and back are still breaking out consistently. Seeing a lot of cystic acne. I also have a LOT of blackheads on my nose and chin which are driving me crazy. I used to use salycylic acid for that and it would take care of it, but I can't wash with it anymore. My face also looks redder than usual. I'm dealing with a lot of highs and lows as far as mood goes (mostly lows). I feel like I don't have as much control over my thoughts, which is weird. I feel depressed more often than not and my self esteem has really taken a hard kick. I've had some weird thoughts and some really dark dreams. I'm really hoping a lot of the mental/emotional things I've been dealing with will subside after my treatment is up. It's making me feel crazy. And I've never dealt with anything like this before. Updated on 26 Mar 2015: Quick update. It's been 6 days since I've been taking 80mg which is double what I started on. So far, my mood has leveled out. I'm really hoping it stays this way. It was almost unmanageable before. I was really starting to scare myself. If I stay steady like I have been, I have no doubt that I can complete this treatment without issue. Lips- still RIDICULOUSLY DRY. Cracked pretty bad on the corner. Blackheads are mostly gone now, thankfully. I used Biore strips and it seemed to help a little. But shortly after using it, they went away on their own. Cystic acne is still fairly bad on my chest, chin/neck, and shoulders. Updated on 5 Apr 2015: Since upping my dose on accutane to 80mg I've been doing mostly better as far as mood and overall mentality. I'm doing alright. My eyes are itchy and dry every so often. My lips CONSTANTLY peel which is irritating. Cystic acne remains mostly the same on my chest, back, chin/neck, and shoulder. I broke out a little on my chin/neck/jawline area with pretty bad cysts, so that was fun. My chin is the dryest area of my face. I've been having headaches more often, which sucks but it's been manageable thus far. Oh and dry blood in my nose has become a thing lately. I'm so ready for this treatment to be over with. Trying to keep a positive attitude. So far, I haven't noticed any real improvement... Updated on 26 Apr 2015: Nothing much has changed. Still struggling with the excessive dryness of the lips. Headaches come much more often. My acne doesn't really seem to have improved much if at all. My IBS has gotten worse lately but that may be due to just general anxiety and not the accutane. The depression and strange thoughts seem to creep in quite a bit again. Updated on 23 May 2015: Here's a little update for everyone. Not much has changed, still. I'm beginning to wonder if this is ever going to kick into full gear and help rid me of the acne for good. The excessive dryness has started to come back. Thankfully, not much on my face. Mostly on my arms and shoulders. My lips are always dry, still. I have a few cycstic pimples on my chest and shoulders. (Probably 4 total) And one on my back. None of them are very big or painful, so that's good. I have 2 cystic pimples on my neck. The rest is scarring. That is my problem area. I've been using clindamycin antibiotic ointment on my neck and chest twice daily. It hasn't really seemed to do much of anything. I went to the derm on the 17th of May and had her inject steriods into my neck area (about 3 times) to try to help treat the cystic acne... Word to the wise, that hurt much worse than expected (coming from a guy who gives himself shots in the ass weekly, that says something lol). Headaches haven't been much of an issue. Mood is okay, I suppose. Joints hurt when I exercise (mostly ankles). IBS is same as usual. I did find out that I have gall stones... Joy. Just another health issue. I think that's all the updates I have, if you have any questions feel free to ask. And oh yeah, sober for over 3 months. Holy hell, that in itself is an accomplishment.
