My Accutane Adventure
NOTE: I was calling this my Accu-torture Adventure, but my side effects are not bothering me much at all, so now, I'm changing the name to the more generic "Accutane Adventure" which I think sounds less negative. If the side effects get worse later, I reserve the right to go back to referring to it as torture. But for now, even a whiner and hypocondriac like myself feels bad about calling it "torture".
History | Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | Week Seven | Week Eight | Week Ten | Week Twelve | Week Thirteen | Week Seventeen | Week Twenty | Week Twenty One | Week Twenty Four
Roche Rant | Things Your Doctor Didn't Tell You
I'm a 46 year old woman. My skin has been breaking out since I was in my early teens. About ten years ago I took Accutane for 3 months. It completely cleared my skin and it stayed clear for several years, then gradually started breaking out again. It is currently still not as bad as it was before the Accutane, but I have a constant group of pimples on my chin that are leaving scars. I decided to try a second course of treatment to see if it will clear my skin once and for all.
When I took it previously, I remembered that my face got very red and sunburned looking at the start, then later got waxy looking and very fragile. I did break out a bit more at the beginning, but I don't remember it being horribly worse than normal.The most annoying side effect was very very chapped lips. I also recall having dandruff and some hair loss. And the skin on my ears pealed, so I stopped wearing earrings. My eyes were too dry to wear contacts. I do not recall any other side effects. They all went away at the end of the treatment. I don't recall my skin getting noticibly clearer until I stopped taking it, but it continued to clear for several months after stopping. The side effects were very annoying but the results were amazing. It was the first time I had clear skin in many many years. The red spots and scars continued to improve over the following year. I'm sure people who met me then had no idea I ever suffered from acne.
My doctor has prescribed a 5 month course of Accutane. Three 40mg pills on odd numbered days and two on even days. I started last night, Jan 27, 2003. He claims that even with the higher dose, the side effects won't be much worse. We'll see...
Before starting, I had to go on birth control pills. They actually cleared my skin better than it had been in ages.
Therefore, the "before" photos will show my skin at it's very best. Hopefully in 6 months, it'll be even better.
1/27/03 DAY ONE
Took the first two pills. No side effects.
1/28/03 DAY TWO
I thought the red face was immediate, but so far, I am not seeing for feeling any change. I took some before photos this morning. This is after one month of birth control pills. This is as good as it gets. (for now)
I spent quite a bit of time reading people's accutane journels online. Dry lips seems to be the most common complaint. Also sore joints. I'm hoping a combination of drinking lots of water and yoga will help. Time will tell.
1/29/03 DAY THREE
No changes this morning, other than my eyes feel a little scratchy. (could just be that I'm not awake yet) My skin looks a little shiny, but there are no oil puddles or new pimples. It feels a little "tingly" but it might just be that I'm thinking about it too much. My lips aren't dry, (yet!) but I've been keeping them well coated with Aquaphor and Lip Healer. Today is the day I take THREE pills, so we'll see how I feel tonight...
This afternoon I got a headache and started to get a little worried, because they say if you get a "persistent" headache to stop taking the meds and call your doc immediately. Naturally, I didn't decide I had it until the office closed for the day. It's seemed "persistent" because I thought I took Advil earlier and it didn't go away. After about 4 hours, I decided it would be ok to take more Advil and the headache went away completely. Then I looked on the web and it said "persistant headache that will not go away with Tylonal or Advil, vomiting, blurred vision," and it's a sign of brain swelling. I'm pretty sure I didn't have anything like THAT. It was probably from staring at my computer too much combined with PMS.
I decided to only take one pill instead of two tonight. I was just worried that if I took two and had a stronger reaction, I might be sorry later. Hey, if my brain is swelling they'll probably pump my stomach anyway.
So far, no other side effects other than my face feels a "tingly", but kind of in a good way, like I've been in the sun. No red face (yet) No chapped lips, although I've been doing a thorough job of keeping them well gooped with lip balm and I know they WILL get chapped. I used some eye drops this morning and now my eyes are not itchy at all. I'll buy a few more bottles and stash them around the house, car, purse, pockets, etc in case of emergency. I'm trying to make sure to drink LOTS of water, so as a result will be spending the next 5 months in the bathroom.
1/30/03 DAY FOUR
Surprisingly no news on the Accu-front. I took one pill last night. Nothing interesting happened (ie, no headache, brain swelling, vomiting, convulsions, etc) I took one more this morning. I felt a bit of a headache coming on, but took two Advil and drank a lot of water and feel fine now. My lips aren't even chapped. (yet) My face still feels a little tingly, but even less so than yesterday. It's also feeling a little "waxy" and a few small bumps around my hairline and ears that have been underground for a long time, maybe years, seem to be moving to the surface. Ah, my old friends. Other than that, no major breakout. The skin on my body is getting itchy, so I've been using lotion after showering.
Strange, but good. I expected to be fairly miserable by now.
1/31/03 DAY FIVE
No change other than some pimples starting to show on my neck (never had them there before) and around my hairline. I'm drinking LOTS of water.
02/01/03 DAY SIX
Yesterday was my first day to take three pills. This morning, my face got a little red and is peeling a little. Still no other major changes or side effects. Tomorrow will be the end of the first week. So far so good.
02/02/03 DAY SEVEN
Well, here I am at the end of the first week already. One down, 19 to go. I'm almost a little disappointed that I'm not having any side effects. Is it because I'm drinking so much water? Does this mean the Accutane is not working? I hope I'm not flushing the drug out of my system. Geez, how paranoid.
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