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I did my first round of accutane just this past...
I did my first round of accutane just this past year. I did roughly 10 months and am so so happy. My skin is pimple free! I'll attach some photos because this site helped me so much when I was trying to decide whether or not to go on it. There were so many warnings and bad reviews so I was scared for years. I struggled with acne from 18-29. My boyfriend (who did a round of accutane when he was younger) finally convinced me to stop suffering and just go do it. He was done with seeing me cry over my painful breakouts.
I did a lot of research before going on accutane. I made sure I knew what I was in for. I watched many YouTube video reviews and read a lot on here.
I had let my doctor (Dr. Renee Beach), know that I am very sensitive and so she started me off with 20 mg/day for the first two months, and then put me on 40mg/day for the 2 months after that, and finally 60 mg/day (alternating 40 one day and 80 the next) until I finished my treatment. Based on my body weight (145 pounds) she figured out how many milligrams my body would need in order for the full treatment to work.
The first month was no symptoms other then slightly dry lips (just used aquaphor religiously). The second month was also mild, once I went up to 40mg, the sensitivity I heard about kicked in. I was experiencing some headaches and very sore red dry flaked lips ( no amount of Chapstick worked). I sort of realized I had to let the treatment do its thing. I used Spectro gel to wash my face and switched to skin friendly makeup. I made sure to use lots of spf on face and body ( no matter the weather). If I sat outside without it for 10 minutes I would instantly burn. I started taking fish oil supplements at the beginning to help lubricate my joints so that helped, I also only washed my hair weekly, if that. The oil in every pore of your body is kust GONE. No joke; your face body and everything is the Sahara. BUT you never have to wash your hair. I would play the "how long has it been since I've washed my hair" game with friends and their jaws always dropped. So that's awesome :)
I drank water religiously, and never was without aquaphor basically, and nose spray as well.
Now, when I was researching I didn't see anyone refer to their feminine health during this time, and I would like to tell you that you don't lose "moisture" when it comes to the your downstairs so that's also good!
I also was put on birth control a month before I started the accutane; and went for monthly blood work to make sure everything was good. Because accutane can make your cholesterol rise, I basically ate a healthy and no dairy diet. I made sure I wasn't doing anything to spike my cholesterol and I succeeded! I had a few drinks a week. Some say none, some people party while on this, I would say it's your choice, but the medication mixed with alcohol will cause liver damage, so if you can, just switch to water or sparkling water at parties:)
Initial breakout: I got mine in the fourth month maybe? It was bad, I had cysts on my neck in places I never did. I guess my skin was just pushing it alllllll out. I didn't freak out, I knew it was supposed to happen and was almost happy because I knew it was working:)
I think my skin started to look great month 6? My doctor made sure I didn't have a single spot for a month straight before she pulled me off the medication.
I've been off of it for maybe 6 months now? I've had two tiny tiny pimples happen but other then that I am so happy. It's such an amazing feeling to run my fingers over my skin in the shower and be happy with what I felt, I also let my boyfriend touch my face now which is something I never let anyone do. And I go outside with no makeup some days and I feel good about it!
If you're thinking about accutane, and especially if your insurance covers it (I'm in Toronto and my work benefits do cover most of the generic drug), please do try it if you're miserable and have stubborn acne.
I did a lot of research before going on accutane. I made sure I knew what I was in for. I watched many YouTube video reviews and read a lot on here.
I had let my doctor (Dr. Renee Beach), know that I am very sensitive and so she started me off with 20 mg/day for the first two months, and then put me on 40mg/day for the 2 months after that, and finally 60 mg/day (alternating 40 one day and 80 the next) until I finished my treatment. Based on my body weight (145 pounds) she figured out how many milligrams my body would need in order for the full treatment to work.
The first month was no symptoms other then slightly dry lips (just used aquaphor religiously). The second month was also mild, once I went up to 40mg, the sensitivity I heard about kicked in. I was experiencing some headaches and very sore red dry flaked lips ( no amount of Chapstick worked). I sort of realized I had to let the treatment do its thing. I used Spectro gel to wash my face and switched to skin friendly makeup. I made sure to use lots of spf on face and body ( no matter the weather). If I sat outside without it for 10 minutes I would instantly burn. I started taking fish oil supplements at the beginning to help lubricate my joints so that helped, I also only washed my hair weekly, if that. The oil in every pore of your body is kust GONE. No joke; your face body and everything is the Sahara. BUT you never have to wash your hair. I would play the "how long has it been since I've washed my hair" game with friends and their jaws always dropped. So that's awesome :)
I drank water religiously, and never was without aquaphor basically, and nose spray as well.
Now, when I was researching I didn't see anyone refer to their feminine health during this time, and I would like to tell you that you don't lose "moisture" when it comes to the your downstairs so that's also good!
I also was put on birth control a month before I started the accutane; and went for monthly blood work to make sure everything was good. Because accutane can make your cholesterol rise, I basically ate a healthy and no dairy diet. I made sure I wasn't doing anything to spike my cholesterol and I succeeded! I had a few drinks a week. Some say none, some people party while on this, I would say it's your choice, but the medication mixed with alcohol will cause liver damage, so if you can, just switch to water or sparkling water at parties:)
Initial breakout: I got mine in the fourth month maybe? It was bad, I had cysts on my neck in places I never did. I guess my skin was just pushing it alllllll out. I didn't freak out, I knew it was supposed to happen and was almost happy because I knew it was working:)
I think my skin started to look great month 6? My doctor made sure I didn't have a single spot for a month straight before she pulled me off the medication.
I've been off of it for maybe 6 months now? I've had two tiny tiny pimples happen but other then that I am so happy. It's such an amazing feeling to run my fingers over my skin in the shower and be happy with what I felt, I also let my boyfriend touch my face now which is something I never let anyone do. And I go outside with no makeup some days and I feel good about it!
If you're thinking about accutane, and especially if your insurance covers it (I'm in Toronto and my work benefits do cover most of the generic drug), please do try it if you're miserable and have stubborn acne.
Provider Review
Dr. Renee Beach
Dr Beach is awesome. She was gentle and heard my concerns when it came to my sensitivities etc. I've heard of doctors starting patients off with high doses and she made sure not to do that so my body could adjust and the symptoms weren't as bad this way:)