19 With Cystic Acne out of NOWHERE - Largo, FL

Throughout high school and middle school my skin was absolutely flawless. I would occasionally have one or two pimples on my face but it was nothing I couldn't cover up with a little concealer. All of a sudden during the second semester of my first year of college I began to break out like no other. I have never seen anything like this on my skin in my entire life and it is the absolute worst feeling in the entire world. I used to pray I wouldn't end up like those people who had obnoxious acne in high school and it just so happened that I became a victim of this undeniable disease that eats your face away! I tried oral medication as well as topical creams like Epiduo and Tazorac and they did seem to start to dry out my pimples but never fully healed them. I kid you not, I would get at least 3 more pimples overnight for three months and I never wanted to go out in public... I didn't even want to see my boyfriend unless I had a full face of makeup done and that wasn't even enough to cover the little monsters on my face, neck and back. I'm on my 5th day of Accutane (Zenatane) and I already see a HUGE difference. I haven't experienced much of the red and itchy skin, but I did go out in the sun for an hour the other day and I did get a bit of a sunburn much faster than I would have if I wasn't on the medication. The one thing that I absolutely hate about being on the medication is the iPledge program. I don't know if it was my doctor or the program itself, but it has been the most difficult two months trying to get my hands on this miracle drug! All of the blood tests have to be in sync with the program and the whole seven day window thing is the most inconvenient thing ever, but I've been waiting so long to start my treatment that I would have done ANYTHING to get it... so I did. I'll be updating whenever I can but I can't explain how excited I am to get my clear skin back again. I hope that all of this was worth it

So I started my treatment on the 4th of August and it is now the 15th. I must say my skin has already began to heal tremendously! The only side effects I've had are dry and itchy skin & my lips have been peeling as well as my scalp. It's kind of gross that I have "dandruff" because the medication is drying out everything but I'm gonna try to use Head & Shoulders and see if it makes any difference. I only have a couple little bumps on my skin, the rest is all deep underneath so I'm just hoping it doesn't get worse before it gets better (which is usually the case). I've been drinking on the medication too, which I've been advised not to by my doctor and a couple friends that used to be on the medication. I only have 2-4 drinks on the weekend and that's it. I've read reviews that say even that little of alcohol can cause a terrible hangover but so far so good for me!

So I started Zenatane (Accutane) a little over a month ago and I'm very happy with my results so far. Sometimes I forget to take my pill at night though and the next day I'll have a pimple but it goes away within two days. My only concern is after my six month treatment that my face will just go back to the way it was. I've had three friends (all guys) that said they didn't have this problem so I'm hoping I get as lucky as they are.