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[ashleyonaccutane]

Day 42

Still doing really horribly at keeping up with this.

About two weeks ago, I had my first follow up with my doctor and we upped my dosage from 30mg to 60mg.

No major side effect changes with the dose increase. Skin is drier and if my lips drive me crazy, but other than that... all is chugging along nicely.

I had this really weird rash-ish thing going on where my watch rests around day 30 (I accidentally deleted those pictures) and it lasted for probably a week. My neck and hand “rash” are on and off.

I’m getting less breakouts than before, but can definitely tell when that time of the month is approaching because of the zits that pop up. I’m still only mostly noticing them on my chin area.

My skin is VERY red. This is nothing new for me really, but maybe it’s just seeming more noticeable now that’s it’s not hidden under all those cystic breakouts.

Overall, progress is good!

[ashleyonaccutane]

Day 29

I haven’t been great at keeping up with this, but my skin is doing pretty good.

One of the pics is from Day 21 (with makeup) and there’s a noticeable difference between then and Day 8 with makeup.

More recent pics show how much smoother my skin is becoming. My breakouts are fewer and not cystic. My chin is still the main area, but not that bad.

Biggest issues are still the redness and dry skin. My makeup has difficulty holding up to my dry flakes on the daily, but I didn’t a moisturizing sheet mask last night and my skin is pretty hydrated today.

I have developed a rash-like thing on my neck, upper chest and upper back. It’s not visibly that noticeable but it’s texturally different. It’s been around for about 3 days and is less severe today.

My labs came back from yesterday and my triglyceride levels have gone up by 100. I read this can be a medication reaction.

I have a follow-up today so we’ll see how it goes!

[ashleyonaccutane]

Day 17 and Day 18

Nothing much to say.

My skin is dry. My lips are dry. My rash on my hands is less noticeable. My back pain is unbearable.

Oh, and I started my period on Day 18 so that increased the number of breakouts that have been popping up. Right now, my chin is once again the hot spot.

Today is actually Day 20 (no pics yet).

[ashleyonaccutane]

Day 15

I passed the two week mark yesterday... yay!!

My most prominent side effect is still the dry lips. The skin on my face is also very dry and my chin just won’t stay moisturized. I apply moisturizer and makeup daily and you can definitely see dry patches constantly coming through, mainly in my chin area.

I’m not noticing huge improvements other than the fact that I have no new breakouts. So I’d definitely start counting that as a win.

I’m also experiencing the sore scalp again. It started yesterday. And man... this back pain I’m having is UNBEARABLE. I normally have some body aches and pains I deal with on the daily, but this has just been excruciating. Getting worse and more sore every day. Med related?

Oh and that rash from Day 12 is still hanging around. Still mainly on my right hand.

These pictures were taken first thing in the morning. My face hasn’t been washed yet so it’s not quite as red.

[ashleyonaccutane]

Day 12

I’m a few days late posting this one, but on day 12 (three days ago), I woke up with this funky little rash in my hands. The right is more prominent than the left. It’s difficult to see in pictures but it’s slightly red and bumpy. Also that whole area is super dry.

[ashleyonaccutane]

Day 10

Had a rough lazy day. Called out of work due to body pains and a headache. Stayed in bed for... like a bajillion hours. Not sure if any of this is medication related, however.

My lips are super dry and I’m thirsty about 900% of the time. The skin of my face seems to be getting drier, but the monstrosity that was on my chin has gone down some. It’s still there just not as red and swollen. On the plus, haven’t washed my hair in days and it still looks fresh and clean. 

No pics today. Just wanted to post since I’m now officially 1/3rd of the way through my first month. 

[ashleyonaccutane]

Day 8

So yesterday was Day 8. I started experiencing my first set of side effects the day before (so day 7).

My lips are starting to dry out and I’m applying Carmex what feels like constantly. I was also experiencing severe scalp tenderness for about 2 days, but unsure if this was a medication related symptom. My skin seems a little more red (in a different way then previously). And my chin... oh boy! I don’t think my chin alone has been this broken out in awhile. Took a close up picture just to show how much is going on there.

Feeling down and self conscious as my skin is popping up with a lot of blemishes. I feel like it’s all super noticeable right now, but in reality, it’s likely not much worse than it was before I started. It’s also just EXTREMELY difficult to share unfiltered and unedited pictures of myself. Anyone with horrible skin (or maybe just anyone in general) can understand this internal struggle.

I’ve also added a picture of my skin with makeup. This is after a full day of wearing it so of course, it never looks as good as when it’s first applied. Can definitely see in my chin area how dried out my skin is (although not sure how evident this is in the picture).

[ashleyonaccutane]

Accutane: The Starter Kit

What you need:

-A really good chapstick. Aquaphor is the only thing I’ve found that works.

-A really good face lotion. Aveno baby is my personal favorite.

-A gentle sunscreen for your face. Wear this daily.

The Do’s:

-Do drink at least 8 glasses of water daily. You’ll need it.

-Do exfoliate your face, but incredibly gently. See my method here

-Do keep your chapstick with you AT ALL TIMES

The Don’t’s:

-Don’t be even the littlest bit rough with your skin!

-Don’t use traditional exfoliators. They will kill your face.

-Don’t ignore your skin. Use moisturizers!!

-Don’t continue to use topical acne medication. It will further dry out your skin and possibly irritate it. 

The Most Common Side Effects:

-Dry lips

-Dry, flaky skin. Especially on your face.

-The inside of your nose drying out

-Increased sensitivity

-Increased sun-sensitivity.

Side Effects That I’ve Experienced:

-Dandruff

-Blurry vision (fluids becoming unbalanced in your eye, it doesn’t last long)

-Increased eye goo in the morning

Good luck on your Accutane journey!

[ashleyonaccutane]

Okay, so this shit smells like BANANA BREAD. Sorry I couldn’t come up with a witty comment but…BANANA BREAD. DELICIOUS BANANA BREAD.

So, Lush’s “Oatifix” Fresh Face Mask is an all natural creation of Lush. It requires refrigeration and has an expiration date of about a month, typically, after purchase. This particular face mask is described as moisturizing for sensitive skin and contains oats, honey, bananas, and all other kinds of goodness.

Now as soon as I rinsed this beauty off my face, I noticed an immediate difference. My skin felt really soft and looked really healthy and glowy. The mask really was incredibly hydrating, and the effects lasted longer than I expected; noticeably increased moisture for two days. The oats in the mask exfoliate slightly as you smear it on, or rinse it off, but I found that it didn’t irritate my skin at all. The only downside that occurs to me about this product is the thickness. It’s very thick indeed and is very hard to spread when cold. Letting it warm up for a couple of minutes before use seems to help.

Kendall’s Rating: 10/10!

[ashleyonaccutane]

Hmm good hack as I’m currently over applying it seems. Just starting to experience some dry lip symptoms.

Accutane Life Hack #7

Restrain yourself from putting chapstick on every five minutes. The more you use it, the less your body thinks it needs to do about keeping your lips hydrated, making the problem worse in the end. The best thing to do is try to avoid using chapstick until the situation is really bad so your lips will work harder to hydrate themselves.

[ashleyonaccutane]

Myorisan... Not Accutane

For starters, I’m not technically on Accutane (no one is because it was discontinued in 2009), but I like alliteration.

Like most people with cystic acne, I’ve tried all the creams, washes, antibiotics etc before resorting to this very powerful drug. It wasn’t an easy decision for me (as I’m sure it isn’t for anyone worried about the never ending list of side effects). It was made even more difficult by the fact that my wife and I had spent months prior trying to get pregnant. Rule #1 of this medication: NO BABIES, NO PREGNANCY. Heck, it’s all over the medication box 18,000 times and that’s all the iPledge is.

After waiting two months to get started because I needed those two negative pregnancy tests and then some insurance hassle, I finally started Myorisan 30mg (for now) on 1/16/19.

The first group of pictures below show my skin freshly showered about 1.5 months before I started. Obviously my skin is much more red because it’s freshly scrubbed.

The second group of pictures is the day I started my medication. My skin has its normal redness and bumps.

Can’t wait until the day I start seeing improvements!