24 Year Old Female Struggled With Acne Since Age 15 - Round 2 of Accutane - Medina, OH

Well I'm now in week 9! Things have been going pretty well. My side effects have been diminishing pretty significantly within the past week. My lips are a lot less dry and the psoriasis on my hands has all but disappeared. I think it took my body longer than I thought it would to "get used" to Accutane. My skin is looking great, I'm really happy with how things have progressed.

I visited the dermatologist about a week ago and she gave me interesting news. The "hyper pigmentation" that I thought was on the left side of my face is actually rosacea! My dermatologist said this is a common misconception, and gave me a prescription for a cream called Soolantra. I have been using it on my face for about a week now, and as you can see, the results are pretty dramatic. The "hyper pigmentation" has lightened up A LOT.

I'm still dealing with some more emotional issues than I am physical ones. I am still constantly tired, which is very annoying to me. I go through strange mood swings. My eyes are incredibly dry, but now I'm used to putting drops in my eyes regularly. It's hard to work out, I usually like to do very difficult workouts, but have not been able to do them because I get light headed and come close to passing out. Has anyone else experienced this? I've also noticed that I wake up AT LEAST once a night having to pee. But I think that is from the Spironolactone.

ALSO. I knew before doing this that alcohol was a no-no on Accutane. I thought that I might as well try and drink, as I haven't had an alcoholic beverage in months now. I had a few too many drinks with my friend last Friday, and boy did I pay for it. The hangover that I had was HORRIBLE. The worst hangover I've had in my life, and I have drank far more in the past than I did on Friday. I HIGHLY recommend staying away from alcohol. Accutane and alcohol are both processed through the liver, so overloading the liver the way I did is highly detrimental to your overall wellbeing.

ANYWAY. I hope everyone is doing well!

I am almost done with my first full 30 days of 60 mg of Zenatane! Again, the change is significant. My face is so smooth and matte. I don't ever have to worry about it getting oily or anything like that. I'm still waiting for the hyper pigmentation on the left side of my face to fade - but I know that might take a couple months to be completely gone. I still have about 10 under the skin bumps that haven't come to surface. It seems like as time goes on they will become inflamed and then be ready to be extracted. I am really happy with my progress thus far and am so happy I moved up to a higher dosage. I still have about 4-5 months left on the medication, I'm really excited to see how my skin is looking by then!

The side effects:
- Lips are maybe not as bad? Or I've just stopped noticing how bad they are. They are still cracked at the corners, but I don't think that's going away anytime soon.
- Body is pretty sore depending on how much sleep I get. If I workout and get any less than 9-10 hours of sleep, I am exhausted and very sore. Sleep is incredibly important while on Accutane, especially if you are on a higher dose. Listen to your body and sleep as much as you need to.
- The psoriasis on my hands has gotten better, I apply Aquaphor to them every night before I go to bed.
- Eyes aren't as bad. They are still a bit annoying, so I do constantly have to put eye drops in them.
- Moodiness has become an issue. If I am frustrated or aggravated at work it becomes very difficult for me to remain around people at my company. Last week I had a really big issue, and was so frustrated I needed to work from home the rest of the day which has never happened. Has anyone else experienced the mood swings? I've also been very content with just staying home lately. I haven't wanted to hangout with my friends as much, it makes me much more happy to just sit at home and watch Netflix! This is very unlike me. Maybe its a combination of Accutane and the winter weather.

I go to see my dermatologist tomorrow. I'm sure she will be very pleased with my progress! I hope everyone has a great week! :))

Things are still going really well! I see improvement every day, and my skin looks and feels completely different. It's no longer oily whatsoever, and is incredibly smooth. I get 1-2 small breakouts a week (if that). And the hyper pigmentation I have left on my face left from the Initial Breakout continues to fade. I wanted to post a picture from a few months ago - this is how many little "under the skin" breakouts I had on the left side of my face, vs. how many I have now (which is none!). I would have to attribute this to both Accutane and the Aldactone.

As for the side effects - my poor lips are ruined. The corners of my lips keep peeling off and in the morning it is hard to open my mouth because the sides are a bit crusty. As long as I put Aquaphor or Carmex on them right away I am fine, otherwise it's uncomfortable. My eyes are a bit dry, but again, I don't know if that's because of the Accutane, or another prolonged side effect of having LASIK. The skin on my face isn't really dry at all, I put a normal moisturizer on my face and I don't get any peeling. I'm assuming that it's taking a while to completely dry my face out - my skin must have been more oily than I thought. I wash my hair once a week which has saved me a ton of time. If it needs to be restyled, I just wet it down in the shower and condition it. There is no oil on my scalp whatsoever. I also don't ever need to reapply my makeup during the day, my skin never becomes shiny or oily at all. As I had commented in another post - physical intimacy has become a bit uncomfortable. This may be TMI but if you are female, it would be wise to buy lube just in case. I have never needed it in my life, but it is certainly necessary for me while on Accutane.

I hope everyone is doing well!!