24 Year Old, Starting Claravis, 30mg/day

Hi guys!

So I've loved reading everyones accutane reviews while I prepared to start my treatment, and thought I'd contribute. A little bit about my history with acne: I've had moderate to severe acne since 7th or 8th grade, but I believe it was at its absolute worst in the past few years. I've tried everything under the sun, and have attempted to start accutane multiple times. I split my time between west coast Canada and east cost USA which is what has held me up form starting before. Now I'm so desperate to finally do this that I'll be flying home to NY from Vancouver every month to see my doctor (I go to school in Canada but my insurance won't cover me doing accutane here). Prior to accutane I was on spironolactone. Combining that with a korean skincare routine (game changer!!!) and cutting dairy gave me my best skin, but it's serious effort. I love me some cheese and ice cream, and I was always having to up my dosage on the spiro. It's not a long term solution, as my skin always came back worse when I tried to ween off of it.

Anyways, after many failed attempts with timing, I am finally on accutane! I've just finished my first week, starting at a dosage of 30mg. As for side effects, obviously nothing much yet. At about day 5 I started to notice a little bit of dryness on my chin, and chapped lips. The morning of day 7 my lips were wrecked-big cracks and giant flakes that would easily be noticeable to a person passing by. Not too painful though. I started with vaseline, and just switched to aquaphor today. I doubt it will get any better, but worth it all in the end! Day 7 the dryness on my face has become a bit more noticeable to me, and is all around instead of just on my chin. Nothing too serious or noticeable to anyone but myself. My skincare routine includes:
First Cleanser- Banila Clean It Zero, removes all my makeup
Second Cleanser- Hada Labo Rohto Gokujyn Hyaluronic Acid Cleansing Foam; it's a very gentle cleanser that I swear by. This and the Banila Clean It Zero have been game changers for me. I've had a few months where I've ran out and switched and my face seriously suffered without it.
Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil- I've only been using this since I've started accutane but many people have said it's done wonders for firmness/redness/acne scars.
Moisturizer- Cetaphil or Yes to Carrots Intense Hydration Night Cream; I've just started with the Cetaphil as it's mentioned on most accutane reviews, but I don't love it. Yes to Carrots has always been a great moisturizer, and just makes you feel fresh! Not sure how it will hold up against the potential intense dryness down the line, so we shall see.
*Normally I'd do a lot more, in terms of ampoules and essences and such, but am mainly focused on moisturizing right now. If anyone has any insight on using those kinds of things while on accutane, let me know!

Okay, long winded post done! Will post week two, and if anyone has any questions along the way, just let me know! Xx

Hey guys!

So I haven't updated here consistently but have kept note of my week to week symptoms and such. My first month on accutane was not bad at all! 30 mg a day. The first symptom I noticed was dry eyes, and my lips started to dry out right around day 6. Since the first week, dry eyes aren't really a problem, but dry lips are a constant. I've had no problem keeping that issue at bay with aquaphor-sometimes I need it every couple hours, sometimes only three times a day. Other than that, my first month symptoms included the occasional migraine, dry nose (had two nose bleeds) and mild dryness on my face. Also, night sweats. It's not every night but a few mornings a week I'll wake up quite sweaty. I've heard dreadful stories about your face flaking off, fortunately, that hasn't been an issue for me. My inner cheeks and chin get a bit dry at times, but never to the point of flaky skin. I would say that it has been tricky to manage makeup with this new skin. I've had to revamp my whole makeup routine as it often looks too dry and red after a few hours.

The only other big noteworthy thing was the purging. At week three I noticed my face (nose, inner cheeks, lower forehead, a bit on my chin) were covered in very noticeable blackheads. Blackheads have never been an issue for me, I barely notice them. These were so bad that they were apparent to anyone who looked at my face. I knew this was part of the process-all the gunk getting pushed out. Over time they got more and more noticeable, and looked like they would be simple to push out but never were (I would really recommend just leaving them be! It's obviously tempting to pick at them but will do no good). After about 10 days they started to come out, and I could just wipe them off when I washed my face. It was then about a week of them falling out bit by bit. After this, I have had issues with my pores looking huge. No matter what makeup primer or lotions I use, my pores are very obvious. Hopefully this will change with more time.

All in all, month one was a breeze (knock on wood!).

**It won't allow me to upload any photos! Any one else have this issue?

**i am now starting month three but wrote this review back when I was at the beginning of month two**

Month two
So right now I'm in the midst of month two. My doctor upped me to 40mg twice a day. My bloodwork came back totally fine, and I'm 5'11", 185 lbs. Next month I'll push for a bigger up. I'm moving to Denmark in two months and really want to speed this along so I don't have to fly home from Europe more than once!

I knew month one went too smoothly. Month two, oh month two. It really has begun. To be fair, I don't regret this decision one bit and it really hasn't been that bad!! That being said, symptoms are much more obvious this month. Same old with the uber dry lips, semi dry face, occasional migraine-more frequent this time (no bloody nose this month thus far). Now achy joints have been added to the mix, just my knees, and nothing too bothersome.

The big annoyance is my skin. I know it gets worse before it gets better, and I know it's worth it. But these zits are unlike anything I've experienced in my endless years of acne. First it was one cheek, with about six big angry red ones in a cluster, and three on my jaw line. Even that is fine, it's the healing process that baffles me. They just don't go away. I've had these ones for two weeks at least, and half of them are still there. They aren't growing or anything, they just sit there, red and shiny and round and refusing to leave. The ones that have gone have left behind crazy scars. Even the little zits I get leave behind dark purple scars, the ones you know you'll be dealing with for ages. Now that that cheek has started to calm down (no new zits since the initial outbreak) it has switched to my other cheek. Again, a cluster of six, that are veryyy slow to go away. I'm on my way to Vegas right now with a mountain on my face. I've also gotten a few on my chin, but that's normal for me (my cheeks aren't a usual breakout spot). And I have a constant one on each corner of my mouth but it's usually not so noticeable. Again, I would still do this all even knowing my face would look like this. It's just a bummer knowing that I'll have to battle these scars after it all.