Week Thirty-Two (8 months)

Well, I have been back to the hospital and told to stop treatment. I just need to finish off my remaining tablets (about a month's worth) and then I'm done! Very pleased with the results, a tiny bit of acne remaining on my left side and scarring on both cheeks. I've been told to be careful with my skin for the next 6 months as it will be delicate and no scarring treatments or chemical peels during this time.

I will add photos again after I come off the treatment.

Comparisons

Click on images to make them larger...

Week Twenty-Four (6 months)

Well I have finally reached 6 months. My dermatologist has always given the impression though, that she will continue treatment as long as she can see improvement - the whole "6 month course" thing is just a guideline really and so they can pretty much prescribe it as long as you need it.

Went back to the derm again this week (it comes around so quickly!). Saw a registrar this time who was actually very good and my proper dermatologist also came in on the session and gave her opinion, looked at my skin etc with 2 student doctors (a roomfull of people all looking at your skin is slightly daunting!).

The good news is that she thinks it is "glowing" and that I have fantastic colour in my skin. The improvement around my lip and chin is dramatic and she agreed that the acne on the sides of my face is definitely becoming less deep and coming to the surface of the skin. She prescribed 20mg dosage again but this time also suggested a lotion called "Dermal 500" - I am to use this instead of my Simple Light Moisturiser everyday and it has a natural antiseptic in it which she thinks will help improve the final problem areas. She thinks I am not far from the end of treatment!!!

The registrar and derm also both agreed not to worry about the scarring as apparently this will disappear over time/stuff can be prescribed etc etc to help it go down.

I have used the Dermal 500 lotion for a few days now and its really really nice - it seemed very thick at first but soon rubs into the skin - it feels very smooth and hydrated without being greasy.

Overall very pleased this week :D

Week Twenty-Three

I moved house this week which put me under a bit of stress and made me feel generally knackered and run-down. The styes have continued to appear regularly and this week I suffered conjunctivitus for the first time (a well known side effect). My eyes were so itchy and sore, I tried Optrex Infected Eyes drops which seemed to make the condition worse. I also had a water infection this week so my immune system must still be incredibly low. On antibiotics.

Skin seems to be continuing good work and improving greatly - its a shame about the big bags under my eyes from being so tired! :)

Week Twenty-One and Twenty-Two

Feeling great on 20mg. My lips have started to become less dry, my nose has completely cleared up and has stopped scabbing inside. The depression and low mood has left me completely so I'm feeling much better and more positive.

Also I feel that my skin is improving more! There seems to have been a shift in the condition of my skin and it has now started to look more healthy, I'm using less makeup and feel the sides becoming less deep acne-wise.

I feel like the break in my dosage (by taking the drug every other day) has helped greatly.

On the negative side I'm still suffering from styes (about one every week) and my eyes feel pretty sore and itchy. I'm trying to bear with it :)

Week Twenty (Five Months)

Went back and saw the dermatologist on Wednesday of this week. Since dropping the dose down to 20mg after last week's awful week, I have felt much better and slowly feel like myself again.

Dermatologist said that dropping the dose was completely the right thing to do. She was very thorough discussing exactly what symptoms I had etc and decided as a precaution to give me a small "break" by taking a 20mg dose every other day for a week. So not completely stopping the drug but simply reducing the dose to allow my body time to recover. After the week I'm to start taking 20mg again daily. She said that this might mean that the treatment goes on longer but not to worry as this is quite common.

Felt much more positive after seeing her and that she agrees, and despite everything that I get to stay on the drug as she believes that the improvement is brilliant from when I started - still some acne on the sides of my cheeks though and scarring.

Week Nineteen

Really bad week :(

My moods have gotten ever incresingly worse this week. So bad in fact, that I kept breaking down in tears for no reason, I was irritable and generally felt completely unlike myself. The crying is the worst part, once it started I couldnt stop. It got so bad towards the end of this week that I ended taking Friday off work - I cried all through the night and again in the morning. I phoned the Dermatologist's secretary and she immediately instructed me that the best thing to do would be to drop the dose from 40mg down to 20mg. I had no problems with this, dropping the dose I didnt mind, but coming off it altogether would not be a good idea. I am due to see the Derm next week anyway so dropping to 20mg for now wont hurt me.

All in all a really bad week on Roaccutane. Not one I want to remember in great detail.

Week Seveteen and Eighteen

Both weeks here passed by like the others, more dry lips and sore nose. Styes have started to appear pretty much every week now - they pop up and down and all I can really do is put a warm tea-bag on them which apparently helps soothe and the tanins help with the infection. They seem to go down on their own eventually!

Other than that not a lot of change in these two weeks. My moods are increasingly getting worse so it seems. I'm not sure if this is connected to my PMS which I already suffer from, so I'm trying to ride it out.

Week Sixteen

Back to the Derm again this week...
Hospital tried to pass me off onto a registrar AGAIN, despite me asking to see my proper Derm. What makes me laugh is that you only wait another 10 mins or so to be seen by the proper one? Told Derm about the 60mg making me fatigued and the muscle problems - she said I did the right thing by lowering it and to stay on 40mg, however she is very pleased with 40mg working, she said it will be a slower process now I cant higher the dose anymore which means I may be on the drug longer than expected. Was quite worried about my eyelid which was still swollen at the start of this week and was quite painful. Derm said its probably a stye (yet another sign of Roaccutane lowering my immune system) and I also told her that I think I have the beginnings of an ulcer under my tongue (which is still there a week later)! She said to try a warm wet teabag (which worked a treat) and it went down after a few days. Back to see the Derm again in 6 weeks as I had an overload of pills from the previous visit.

I have managed to take some photos this week - please try to ignore the state of my lips which are very very sore and dry this week, I am using the Blistex still and am very fast running out so will need to build up another stock from the chemist. I am actually getting them to order it in as I buy so much of it!

Week Fifteen

Not a bad week all in all, I am getting quite bad side effects in my nose now - lots of scabs keep forming and it bleeds a lot - not like proper nose bleeds but its very sore and dry. I find that Vaseline just inside the nostrils really helps so I do that a few times a day and especially before bed. My lips are extra dry this week too and cracks are forming in the corners of my mouth again.

Towards the end of this week I've noticed my left eyelid has swollen - not sure what it is yet.

Week Forteen

This week I went on holiday with my other half - such a lovely break! Skin-wise everything is fine, although I used a face-mask on my skin while on holiday and I found it made it break out a bit more.

Also on one day of my holiday I was out in the sun (without suncream) for quite a long period and went a bit red - nothing bad as it soon calmed down but I dont usually catch the sun like that. I was trying to avoid the sun as much as possible. Obviously will need to be more careful in future and wear suncream etc.

I have realised that I havent posted photos since week eight! I promise I will post some next week :)

Week Thirteen

This week has been the worse week I've had so far :(

I started alternating doses last Monday - 40mg one day, 60mg the next. All of last week and this week I have felt so tired, fatigued almost and have needed to sleep when coming home from work etc, feel physically exhausted. My muscles feel like lead and a few days I actually had trouble getting out of bed, even though I'd slept the normal amount of time, I just wanted to keep sleeping. As someone who has previously suffered with Glandular Fever and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome several years ago, I felt like it was returning and at one point I was really scared that I had a virus or something. However, I suddenly clicked that perhaps the reason was because of the higher dose - I immediately dropped it back down to 40mg. After a few days I felt myself again :)

I'll have to report this back to the derm in a few weeks time...

Week Twelve

Back to the Derm again this week - I am having Monday appointments now which is good. Tried to get passed off onto a registrar again, but I was adament that I was going to see my proper derm! Waited it out and managed to see her in person.

She compared my first photos and was really pleased with the progress - she thinks that the acne on my cheeks/sides of my face is quite deep and therefore will take longer. As I'm on 40mg she didnt know whether to increase the dose as its supposed to be 1mg per 1kg of body weight and I weigh roughly 54kg. However, she decided to alternate doses on different days so I've been intructed to take 40mg one day and 60mg the next. Hopefully I wont break out into a mass of spots because of the higher dose! She has instructed me to drop back down to 40mg if I get any unwanted side effects - this wont affect the course of treatment but it might mean I'll be on it a bit longer.

Weeks Ten and Eleven

Not much to report for these two weeks really, everything staying pretty much the same.

Skin wise its really starting to clear now and people are starting to notice the difference. Considering I'm under 3 months its quite remarkable really how much it is clearing and the spots/scars on my cheeks are definitely getting smaller.

Lips are still being plastered in Blistex so nothing new there! They get very sore/dry/cracked if I dont regularly apply it.

Pictures to follow...

Week Nine

I went back to see the dermatologist this week - her clinic was running 50 minutes behind and I was going scatty while children ran wild around the waiting room and was finally called in to see a registrar. Not happy about this, a) because I've had bad experiences with registrars in the past and b) I get really annoyed being passed off to someone who hasnt been dealing with me and therefore doesnt know my case history, which is exactly what happened here.

The registrar not only couldnt get into the computer to retrieve my notes/past photos, he asked ME what treatment I was currently undergoing and what dose I was on! So I pretty much could've walked in there, grabbed his prescription pad, wrote myself a course of treatment to carry on and walked out again. Grr.

Next time I am going to ASK to see my actual dermatologist herself because really, what is the point? I'm looking for guidance and help with my skin and I'm not going to get that from someone who doesnt know what they are doing.

Anyway... Moan over.

All in all not a bad week for the skin - had a breakout on my right cheek slightly but in a few days it seemed to clear up. Having lots of problems with dry skin though, massive patches on my arms and on my chest a bit - it really makes me want to scratch and I'm having to resist!

On a good note, my lips have been better this week (still applying the Blistex regularly) and my hair is getting drier and drier - I swear it could go more than a week without the slightest bit of grease (which is unusual for my hair, usually wash it every other day) so thats quite good really :)

Week Eight

My skin has really calmed down this week and my lips have finally started to become less cracked and dry - still using Blistex like its going out of fashion (started tube 7 this week) but the massive crack at the corner of my mouth has started to heal now. My forehead is definitely producing less oil - it used to be very shiny and naturally greasy but is pretty average now. The condition has vastly improved! Still using only Simple products on my skin.

The whole lip/chin area is pretty much totally clear now, which if you look at week one is a MAJOR improvement - the sides are a lot clearer too and definitely much flatter, but I feel that hopefully there is much more improvement to come in these areas.

My hair has really started to dry up - thankfully the condition of it hasnt deteriorated and it is still healthy and shiny, but the oil glands have obviously stopped producing oil which means my hair can now go days without needing to be washed - I used to wash it every other day but I've leaving it upto 4 days at the moment before deciding its gross to leave it any longer and washing it! My hair is usually really greasy so this is a fantastic side effect in my opinion!

Week Seven

Well this past week has been a bit of a nightmare. The accutane seems to be compromising my immune system quite a bit and my body never fully recovered from the cold a few weeks back. This week I have had swollen/bleeding gums which resulted in a visit to the dentist and a course of Antibiotics. According to the derm this is normal as you can apparently catch things more on Accutane so I'm told.

As for the treatment, the flare-up from last week has finally calmed down and sides are starting to look even flatter - the chin/lip area is now pretty much clear apart from a spot on my chin which appeared and disappeared within about 2 days. My lips have been really bad this week - a massive crack has been troubling me on the right hand side of my lips, so sore :( my lips have also been so dry this week, its really kicking in!

Havent taken photos this week but will do for week 8.

Week Five & Six

Dermatologist Visit

Not much different in week 4 so thought I would update for week 5 and 6 together. Went back to the dermatologist last week (19/05/10) - had blood tests the week before (got butchered at the local chemist so I will never go there again!) and Derm says Liver Function and Cholesterol are normal - she doesnt want to see anymore blood tests now as apparently this would have affected me already if it was going to. Had to do another pregnancy test at the hospital again too.

Derm said that there was a great improvement for only a month's treatment and she was very pleased with the results. She prescribed me the same dose again (40mg) once a day for another month and I have to go back in 4 weeks to see her again (15/06/10).

Side effects wise things are pretty much the same - my lips are still extremely dry (on about tube number 5 or 6 of Blistex!) and the skin around my lip and chin are still peeling quite a bit. No major breakouts to talk of though, although I did get 2 very small spots on my cheek which cleared up within about 2 days. Skin has slightly flared up on week 6's pics above (mainly due to hormones I think!). But otherwise continuing to clear up nicely :) I have been getting new symptoms of very itchy/dry/red skin on my arms (they also tend to peel) but I find it helps if I apply body lotion daily.

Week Three

first week on 40mg...

Well this week I haven exactly been concentrating on my skin too much, I've had a really bad cold/flu most of this week and have been quite poorly with it :(

I started the 40mg dose last Friday and to be honest, didnt see it start to kick in until about Tuesday this week. Then my lips started to get really bad, they were cracking and even dryer than they have been and they started to peel. I abandoned the Carmex I had bought as it just wasnt doing anything and went back to applying blistex healing cream about every 15 mins. So far this seems to be the only product that actually heals and protects my lips - vaseline and carmex just do nothing!

My skin around my lip and chin area has started to madly peel and flake away the last couple of days - I've been moisturising but the Derm told me not to over moisturise as then its reducing the whole point of what the Accutane is supposed to be doing. So I've resisted!

My nose has been really bad this week - mainly because of my cold and I have not stopped sneezing/blowing my nose all week and its really attacked the skin around it (probably because the accutane is thinning it out). I think it might take a long time to heal as its not only the skin around the nose, its inside too :(

Thats pretty much it for this week reall, my sore eyes have been ok and the scalp hasnt been too bad this week. Got to get blood tests done again in the next coming week in preparation for seeing the Derm a week on Wednesday.

Week Two

Still on 20mg Dose

Well... there have certainly been some signs that this thing is starting to work! This week the acne on the sides of my face have started to flatten down and have almost started to clear slightly. Overall my skin feels less oily and is actually starting to look healthy, smoother and less red. Several people have commented on the improvement, despite me wearing makeup (which I always have anyway in public).

My scalp however has irritated me a lot this week! I nearly went out and bought T-Gel (which I read was recommended for the itching) but I am for now perservering with my usual shampoo and conditioner.

My stomach problems have also been much better this week, although I have slight reservations about doubling my dose to 40mg next week, I'm worried it will kickstart those problems all over again.

My eyes have been getting very sore - I've had 2 days at work this week where I've had trouble looking at the monitor and then my lids have become very red and puffy in the evening and last night my eyes were stinging. Still resorting to using the drops.

Overall though not such a bad week, skin still flaking away, spots are healing faster but still using the Blistex on my lips (like every 15 mins) to keep them soft which seems to be helping. Going to get some Carmex tomorrow as that has been recommended and will hopefully last a lot longer than the Blistex which is expensive for such a small tube and keeps leaking everywhere everytime I use it!

So tonight I start the 40mg dose, lets see how we go from there...

Week One

Photos of my acne before starting treatment


Well I have been on Accutane a week now. The dermatologist has started me off at 20mg a day for the first 2 weeks. After 2 weeks I have to increase the dose to 40mg a day.

The side effects I have suffered so far (in chronological order) are:

Stomach Problems
The first few days of Accutane saw some terrible effects on my stomach take hold. I mean abdominal pains and having to rush to the toilet. The worst of this peaked at day 5 and by day 7 had improved slightly.

Dry/Cracked Lips
This was one of the first signs of my skin drying up. Even before I noticed the skin on my face begin to peel my lips felt sore and dry. I used Vaseline every 30 mins to try and combat this at first but by day 6/7 it was really starting to get me down. The vaseline wasnt sinking into my lips enough and they just peeled and cracked. I invested in some Blistex Cream (about £2.50 for a teeny tiny tube which will probably last me about a week the rate I am getting through it!). But I have seen much improvement in my lips now and they are more moisturised and smoother.

Dry Skin and Spots
This started around day 4/5 for my face and around day 6 for my scalp. Slowly skin is starting to peel around my chin and upper lip - the spots on the sides of my face look slightly less raised which is good. I have had some unusual spots come up around my ear. The itching on my scalp has become a nightmare as of today and is reaaaaaally itchy - I have been told T-Gel is good for this so I might invest in some of that. I have also been using E45 on some dry patches on my hands.

Eyes
From day 4 my eyes started to itch and become very irritated. I went to the pharmacy for some drops to combat this - I really wanted the Optrex spray that you spray on your eyelids and it sinks through, but the pharmacist said I couldnt have this as it has Vitamin A in it and you're not allowed extra Vitamin A!


SUMMARY
Not a massive improvement in my acne (wasnt to be expected after only a week!) and side effects quite annoying. But overall not as bad as expected.

my battle with hormonal acne

Well after 15 years of suffering with hormonal acne and god knows how much time, effort and money spent on treatments (creams, gels, topics, tablets, laser treatments and glycolic peels) I finally made the decision to go onto Roaccutane (UK)/ Accutane (US).

I am so sick of my horrible horrible skin and depite knowing that it is hormone related, at 26 it is really not fun still having teenage-looking spots :(

I went to see the dermatologist at the hospital who advised me that I MUST NOT get pregnant while taking it - I had to sign a consent form. I also had to have a liver function test and cholesterol test to check my levels and these will be checked every 4 weeks alongside a pregnancy test which proves I am definitely not pregnant! Very strict.

Finally I was given the go ahead...