22/06/2010 by Einstein719.

7:06:2010 - Returned to the hospital to see the dermatologist, who increased my dose from 30mg a day to 60mg, which I still take in one go.

The affect has been very quick all the acne is starting to diminish under this heightened dose. I no longer have any active acne on my arms or chest and my back is clearing up also. Obviously along with this my skin has become very very dry and almost flaky. Im now using two moisturizers on my face along with aloe vera gel, which was a really useful tip from “highonhealth.com”.

I am not getting many adverse side effects from the drug. I certainly dont feel suicidal or even depressed. At some points, whilst I was on the lower dose I had some moments of feeling very down, but these were when I was very tired. I think being on the drug made those moments worse, rather than actually causing them.

Recently I have given up caffeine and am sleeping much better as a result of this and have not had one of these moments for a while. <(-_-)>

Still have not had a single nosebleed since applying vaseline constantly twice a day. Again <(-_-)>

 And my skin is looking is looking the best its looked for a very long time. <(-_-)>

Posted in Ro-accutane for Acne, Ro-accutane, Teenagers, Teenage Acne, Acne treatments, Acne | Print | 1 Comment »

14/05/2010 by Einstein719.

7th May 2010: Roaccutane is working very well. All the huge cysts have gone from my face now and I have only small pimples, which come and go within a few days.

My lips are extremely dry and even excessive use of lipsyls wasn`t working - also I don`t like using vasaline. However I have found that one works very well now - called aloe lips, making the whole experience a lot more comfortable. My skin was becoming very dry as Istopped using the “simple” mositurizer, because it had stearic acid (comedogenic) within it. However one trip to Boots produced a non-comedogenic moisturizer, which has fixed this.

I have only a couple of tiny marks left on my chest now, which I’m pleased about and all the acne on my arms and back is drying! Hah! However it seems to mark the skin on my arms really badly - much worse than it marks my face. However other marks that I have had here have faded over time - so I remain confident.

The nosebleeds have stopped completely - with the use of vaseline on the inside of my nose.

A couple of weeks ago I got a strange rash on my arm- it was a patch of extremely dry skin and it looked very like eczema, which I have never had in my life. Thankfully it has gone , with the use of moisturizer on the spot.

 My GCSEs are approaching and the “stress” doesnt seem to be causing any breakouts. YEY!

 I return to see the dermatoligist, probably to get my dose upped - in exactly one month - 7th June.

Posted in Ro-accutane, Isotretinoin, Ro-accutane for Acne, Teenagers, Acne treatments, Teenage Acne, Acne | Print | 1 Comment »

12/04/2010 by Einstein719.

The Initital breakout sucked…

Between weeks 2-4 I developed many pus filled cysts, especially on  my cheeks. Now at the beginning of week 6 they are all going down: “slowly but surely” is an idyllic, apt thrase for the improvement.

My lips are incredibly dry (no matter how much vaseline I apply) and without the use of an intense moisturizer my skin gets very dry also - but those side effects were not unexpected and are in some ways reassuring as they show it is working.

The acne on my arms, back and chest is all reseading also. I love not having to use the blue light for hours and applying Benzoyl Peroxide (such a fowl chemical) to my skin, but my acne is still improving: at the moment I love this drug.

 Side effects so far; Dry skin and lips, headaches (occasionally), nose bleeds (from time to time - must remember to apply vaseline to the inside of my nose everyday - dont want to have one of these whilst at school), very dry hair, less reistance to disease ( I’ve had a lot of colds, which I usually dont get!).

Posted in Ro-accutane for Acne, Ro-accutane, Teenagers, Teenage Acne, Acne treatments, Acne | Print | 1 Comment »

10/03/2010 by Einstein719.

8 March 2010: Have now taken 240mg of Isotretinoin in total and can definately feel it within me. My lips are now really dry and begin to crack, without the use of vaseline. My skin feels more fragile - when I apply moisturisier it stings a little (the way it used to when I first started using benzoyl peroxide) and I can see now why the dermatoligist wanted me to stop all other treatments.

 Last week I suffered from a few minor headaches. I think this may have been whilst I still had moderately high doses of tetracycline in me, which increases the risk of “idiopathic intracranial hypertension” - basically headaches. These have now ceased, which has pleased me since it suggests that it wasnt accutane alone causing them.

Positive: My acne has not broken out as badly as I expected. I expected that it would return, as it was before christmas - severe nodulocystic. However since starting accutane I haven’t had a single cyst develop (on my face anyway - I don’t look at my back). I have had a lot of new spots come, but they are small, come to a head and heal very quickly. Much quicker than I think they would if I was not taking isotretinoin.

Posted in Ro-accutane for Acne, Ro-accutane, Teenagers, Teenage Acne, Acne treatments, Acne | Print | 1 Comment »

01/03/2010 by Einstein719.

March 1st 2010:

Returned to the dermatoligist today, with healthy blood tests, and was finally put on a generic form of Hoffman Laroche`s (Ro)accutane. I weigh 63kg and was therefore started on 30mg daily ( 0.5mg/kg/day).

Picked up the tablets from hospital pharamacy the same day and then returned to school. I was in an ecstatic state all day. Have disposed (finally) with my tetracycline tablets and benzoyl peroxide creams - it was a very good feeling.

I plan to continue using the blue light therapy (less frequently) throughout the first months of accutane use, to help it along a bit. I am a little nervous about the drying affect of Isotretinoin, but am confident that it cannot be much worse than what benzoyl peroxide did to me when I first used it.

Am about to take the first capsules with dinner now - I am sure that in 4/5 months time I will be extremely glad of my decision to take this drug.

Posted in Ro-accutane, Isotretinoin, Ro-accutane for Acne, Teenagers, Acne treatments, Teenage Acne, Acne | Print | 2 Comments »

01/03/2010 by Einstein719.

This is a matter which has concerned me for a long time - is Ro-accutane safe?

I, as I’m sure have many, have read a huge amount of content both pro and anti Ro-accutane.

There are many accounts of its success, but also its potential side effects. Some websites even seem to imply that there is a liklihood that it will kill you - this worried me hugely. But after speaking to a professional consultant dermatologist I am far less worried. He told me that he has treated thousands of people with isotretinoin and most experience only dry skin and chapped lips, with some occasionally getting joint aches.

Therefore to me it seems that the side effects of this drug are completely over hyped. The worst culprits for this, I feel are companies trying to sell you “acne vitamens”. To me this implies that if they feel the need to discredit Ro-accutane, it is most likely because it achieves better results than their product does. 

Therefore I have personally come to the conclusion that only one who has never suffered from acne would argue that Ro-accutane is definately not worth consideration. However I do acknowledge the very real danger posed to pregnancies, of those on this drug.

Posted in Ro-accutane for Acne, Ro-accutane, Teenagers, Teenage Acne, Acne treatments, Acne | Print | 1 Comment »

26/02/2010 by Einstein719.

Although the skin on my face is 100 times better, my back, chest and now arms also, are terrible. I cannot treat it with BP, for I would use a whole tube each time I applied it and the blue lamp is so time consuming already just using it on my face, so I cant use that either.

Feb 2010: I went to see an NHS dermatoligist (we decided against private as my skin was improving with topical treatments), with the intention of asking to be put on Ro-accutane (isotretinoin) or one of its generics. When I asked, and with only my newly improved face to go on, he looked very sceptical as to whether I needed Ro-accutane. But after I showed him my back and arms (my chest is not really that bad) he agreed instantly.

Now, in the UK, the prescription procedure for R`tane is much quicker (no i-ipledge), all I had to do was have my blood test fine. I had my blood taken, at the GPs a few days after and expect them to be fine. I return to see the dermatoligist on the 1st march 2010 and presuming my blood tests have been fine, i will be prescribed it and begin the course the same day. I dont yet know how long im going to be put on it for and at what dose - that will be determined 1st march. At present I am a little concerned as to what will happen to my face when I drop all other treatments ( as you have to when taking R`tane). Isotretinoin is suppose to cause an initial breakout anyway - so I am certainly not looking forward to the first month on it. My derm did say that if it gets really I can come back and be prescribed “emergency” steroids to prevent the inflamatory response.

Posted in Ro-accutane for Acne, Ro-accutane, Isotretinoin, Blue light treatment Acne, Teenagers, Acne treatments, Teenage Acne, Acne | Print | 1 Comment »