myskinjourney-blog1

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 49

New pimple from a blocked pore on my right cheek. Nothing cystic for awhile now so that’s great. Mostly just old red marks now and the previous scarring. 

Rash still comes and goes on my hand but it’s not bad. My eyes have been drier but I finally got the gel drops so that helps. Hair is great and doesn’t get oily. My lips have been getting worse. I also haven’t been great about chapstick like I used to be though. I am constantly peeling them throughout the day. The insides of my nose also get very very dry. 

Anyways it’s definitely working! I think if they up my dose at my next appointment then hopefully I’ll see stronger results :) 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 35

So my dosage has changed. I’m now taking 80 mg one day and 40 mg the next so that it averages to 60 mg a day. It was quite the process getting to that. Turns out my insurance plan does not cover a bulk of the prescription costs so this was the cheapest option. 

I stopped taking the meds over the weekend until my prescription was filled and i ended up getting three new zits. Two on my right and one my left side. All of them on the cheeks as usual. I’m hoping that with the upped dose I won’t have anymore breakouts. My dermatologist said I was very symptomatic for only being on 40 mg the first month. 

My hands have been getting worse so she prescribed a special ointment for it. My eyes are getting worse. They looked really red at work today so I need to start taking eye drops with me. Hair does not get oily thank goodness. It makes my life a lot easier. 

Nose is getting more dry as well. It’s a bit painful. I can bear it though. The LIPS oh man. All chapped and dry and bleeding. Its bad. I’ve been using aquaphor and lipstick to cover the red marks. 

Anyways. This whole thing is more expensive than I anticipated. It’s annoying but I can do it. Clear skin is worth it. 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 26

I think things are getting better and going to continue to do so. My hair is getting drier. I don’t need to wash it as often, doesn’t get oily! 

The rash on my hand got pretty bad and spread to the other hand as well. However, I’ve been lotioning every time I wash my hands now so it’s mostly gone now. 

No pain of any sort in my joints or body. 

My nose has gotten very very dry. It’s a little uncomfortable. Not bad though no nosebleeds. 

My lips are spongebob level (episode of spongebob when he visits sandys house and he shrivels up) most of the time but the aquaphor helps. They did bleed a couple times. 

My skin is getting better! Last week I had some ugly breakouts. Got me pretty down. I was also on my period so it was probably linked to that. But this week nothing new! It’s been a week of nothing and my old marks are slowly fading. I only had to wear concealer and powder today. The clearer my skin gets though I notice all the bad scarring that’s happened. I’ll just have to address that when I clear up. 

Products: Aquaphor for face, lips, and hands. CeraVe for night face. Trish McEvoy for daytime face. Trish McEvoy for face wash. Neutrogena naturals for face wash. Mario Badescu cucumber aloe face mist. 

I need a more intense face cream for when my dosage goes up next week. Things are about to get a lot drier! 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 14

7 current pimples. Nothing huge. Notable ones are a painful one on the lower left jaw and a white head on the right cheek near my nose. The others are small. 

My skin continues to be dry. Nothing crazy. Lips were chapped but not very peely today. Manageable with chapstick. 

Rash on my right hand is getting worse. Looks red and scaly but I think that’s mostly because I haven’t been moisturizing it. 

Oh this was new, eyes were very dry today. They looked red at some points during the day. Need to use eye drops. But probably won’t. 

I’m just looking forward to upping the dosage to get quicker results. 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 12

Took longer for the dryness to set in this time. My lips are finally chapped. Not peeling off yet but just in desperate need of chapstick at all times. Also, the rash on my right hand occurred again just like last time. It’s a dry spot that just needs some aquaphor. 

My hair is still pretty oily. My skin is drying up now. The areas around my nose and lips and chin are getting more dry. My skin also gets very red when I wash and moisturize. I’ve just been using my neutrogena naturals makeup remover face wash and my trish mcevoy products. I am almost out of the night cream though so I will need to buy a new night time moisturizer. It ran out right on time too because I need something more heavy duty for the dryness. 

I had some gum bleeding when I brushed this morning. Not as crazy as last time. My eyes and nose feel pretty dry but not painfully so yet. 

I can feel the pores closing up on my face - the area around my nose. I don’t have any active cystic pimples currently. I had some breakouts over the past few days but nothing extreme. They were small zits and probably a result of the purge. No new zits today. I have about 3 little ones on my left side. And 3 little ones on the right. I still have a lot of old marks from the bad breakouts I got before starting accutane again. Hopefully as my skin clears, those will subside. 

Bones and joints feel fine. I have been feeling a bit overemotional these days - prone to getting upset easily but I can’t be certain thats the meds. 

I’m seeing improvement so I’m hoping it just gets better from here!

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Round 2 - Day 1

Turns out I am the minority of people who Accutane didn’t cure the first time around. My skin cleared up around month 2 on the drug and then remained clear for at least 6 months after I stopped. Then the pimples came back. Slowly at first. Then hormonal. Then with stress. And now it’s been more than a year since I’ve been off of it and my skin breakouts are really bad again. I saw a dermatologist and she told me I should try again. Chances are that the second time around, it should work. I also wonder if the first round failed because my previous dermatologist told me I didn’t need to take the drug with food. I now know that this decreases the effectiveness of it. I’m starting with 40 mg once a day for this month then bumping it up for month 2. 

I’m hopeful it will work for good this time. My side effects weren’t bad last time and I hope it’s the same this time. Took my first pill with dinner tonight. 

Wish me luck! (again)... 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 73

I got my new prescription. Still on the 40 mg twice a day. After this month, then I only have one month left and I’ll be all done! So far, still good. My skin has zero breakouts. Dark spots/red spots slowly getting lighter. I still get red after washing but it subsides. 

Dryness is the same. My eyes get dry, my nose, my lips (like crazy). My body skin isn’t too bad actually. My face is dry but moisturizer helps. I use shiseido right now. Aquaphor is good too. 

No new side effects. Still just dealing with the dryness for now. I don’t want to jinx it or anything but this whole accutane thing isn’t nearly as bad as everyone has told me. Maybe I just got lucky? Who knows. Either way, it’s totally worth it. My confidence in myself has skyrocketed from what it was before and that is HUGE. Before, I never felt comfortable in my own skin. Now I actually feel like I’m worthy of being called beautiful even without my makeup. It’s been a great experience so far. Hopefully it keeps working. 

Hopeful and happy! 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 68

It’s been some time since my last post. Not too much difference in terms of side effects. My eyes are still super dry but eyedrops help. My vision is fine. Skin on my face is a little drier than before. I’m noticing that less is more now in terms of makeup. My skin is looking so much better! I got one zit the other day but it was so small and it was also because I went to bed with my makeup on. It’s already gone and other than that I haven’t had any breakouts in weeks. I still have my hyper-pigmentation and old scars but they’re slowly fading. I went out to breakfast the other day without makeup and I didn’t feel like the whole world was staring at my skin. 

I do get small dry patches on my face from time to time but they’re easily taken care of with moisturizer. Scalp doesn’t get oily still-- I feel like I never have to wash my hair. My lips are still pretty bad. I peel them off every morning and peel a little throughout the day. Again, it’s not noticeable because I constantly layer on the chapstick and have frequent mirror checks to make sure there’s no peeling. 

All in all, the only symptoms I’m experiencing are dryness of the lips, face, eyes, nose, arms, and legs. None of them are that bad though. It’s a small price to pay for clear skin and so far, so good. I hope it keeps up!

I have my derm appointment tomorrow to get my third month’s worth of pills. So I’ve successfully completed 2 months and now 2 more months to go. 

Wish me luck!

[myskinjourney-blog1]

[myskinjourney-blog1]

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

Paulo Coelho, Alchemist (via naturaekos)

[myskinjourney-blog1]

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 53

Same amount of dryness. Peeled my lips off this morning. Well, after I showered I just rubbed off all the dry skin. I woke up with a slight dry patch near my laugh line. Small dry patch on my chest. Rough dryness on the backs of my hands. Not visible but I can feel it being rough. 

My skin is still pimple free for now. Just a lot of old pink/red marks from old pimples. I do get really red after washing my face or rubbing it at all which is kinda annoying. But once the redness subsides, I don’t feel as monsterish as I usually do without makeup. In fact, today I went out without any makeup on. Granted, I only went to the toy store and a burger place briefly and I had my hair down with a beanie on... but still, big step. For those of you that have had bad acne, you’ll understand how big a deal that is. 

My eyes were burning from dryness yesterday. No aches or pains. My hair never gets oily anymore. I only need to wash it for hygiene purposes. 

Hope it continues going well! I’m very satisfied with the results so far. 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 50

Body is definitely more achy these days. It could be exacerbated by the fact I’ve been working out recently too. I’ve had achy joints for awhile though so I’m used to minor aches and pains. Still not bad enough to have to take any pain killers. 

My skin is getting more dry. My arms and legs get flaky if I don’t lotion them up. Not super obvious or anything but if I were to scratch them without having lotioned them up first, it would flake. My skin seems to be more easily prone to scratches. I think because of the dry skin, slight scratches are more intense and draw blood easier. No big deal. It’s just me being lazy and forgetting to lotion up. I did develop a small rash on my chest but it’s already subsiding after I put some lotion on it. 

My lips are chapped as usual. I’ve been going through chapsticks like no other. I miss being able to wear lipstick or matte lips. Sad days. But it’ll be worth it in the end. Thank god for tinted lip balms. Baby lips cherry flavor is a lifesaver. 

My eyes have been SUPER dry. They get irritated and red by mid day. Sometimes a little blurry too but I think that’s just from the dryness. 

No new zits today or this whole week actually. It’s been pretty tame. I still have all the old acne marks and scars though but with makeup covering it, my skin looks really good. Knock on wood! I’ve been getting compliments on my skin for the first time in my life. It’s nice and smoothish. I can wear less makeup and feel good about how I look instead of constantly worrying that people are staring at my zits. It’s a good feeling and one I hope doesn’t go away. I think it’s safe to say I skipped over the scary purge of zits phase and I’ll just be clearing up from now on since I’m almost at the end of the 2 month mark. Doc says by the third month things will only get better in terms of my acne. Can’t wait for the red marks to go away so I can start leaving the house without makeup. 

Hopeful and happy! 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 41

Two new zits today -___- always on my cheeks. They’re not huge but they’re big enough to be noticeable unfortunately. It’s also that time of month so it might be from that. The rest of my skin is doing well. Dryness is the same, not too bad. Lips still dryish but manageable. 

Body is sore. My ribs are sore. Little bit of back pain. I also worked out today so that might be making it worse. 

Eyes were pretty red and irritated by the end of the day. Eye drops took care of that. 

Other than that, all good. 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 39

Just finished peeling some lip off. So my lips are still chapped. I can manage with chapstick though. My face skin isn’t any drier than it was last update. My body is a lot drier though. My arms and legs are super dry. If I scratch, dry flakes will appear so I need lotion up daily. 

My body has been sore. Ribs are sore. My fingers get kinda achy and so does my right knee. It still isn’t bad enough to make me take any pain relievers though. My eyes are still super dry and my vision may be getting worse. Not sure. Gums are bleeding when I brush... 

No new zits for the past couple days. The ones I got last week are healing now. I still have a bunch of old marks though and my previous acne scarring. However, I’m not complaining because with makeup my skin looks the best it has in such a long time. I’m happy. 

I haven’t noticed a big difference with the 40mg dosage but it’s still early. It’s only my 5th day on the 40mg. So far, so good. 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 34

Joint pain begins. The fingers on my right hand are aching. Not unbearable or enough to make me take tylenol but I definitely feel it. 

Lips are same amount of chapped as usual. Hair and skin the same. Except my arms and legs and chest are a lot drier. Noticing irritation on my chest so I need to moisturize that more. I also developed a dry hand rash last week but it’s gone now. I noticed my arms and legs were really dry today. In need of lotion. Nothing flaking or anything. 

Eyes are super dry. They burn by the end of the day and look really red. I noticed some blurriness the other morning but it went away. I think it was just from the dryness. I’ve started using eye drops and that helps. 

No new breakouts. My skin has been looking pretty good. Hopefully that doesn’t jinx it. My derm told me that it will get worse until it gets better around the 3 month mark but I don’t see it getting worse so hopefully it just continues to improve. 

My dosage is going up from 30mg 2X/day to 40mg 2X/day and that would make my treatment only 4 months long. My derm and I decided to do this because I’ll be out of the country in 3 months so this way I don’t need to deal with the hassle of getting the prescription overseas. Hopefully this doesn’t make the side effects way worse. 

[myskinjourney-blog1]

Day 24

Today my chin got dry enough that it burned when I took my makeup off with a makeup remover. Lips were chapped as usual. Not as peely today though. Still not unsightly. My skin wasn’t too bad in terms of dryness. Just my nose. I’ve been peeling the skin off. 

My hands have gotten really dry. I have a few small dry patches on one of my hands. Gums are still sensitive and bleed slightly when I brush. 

I have a new small zit on my right cheek. Also a big cyst healing from being popped on my left cheek. Still have the jawline cysts. 

Back pains getting worse but not enough to need advil yet.