Hey guys! It's been quite a while since I last posted! Last year I was so BUSY with school, work, and internships, but I finally get to share with you all my skin update! My Accutane blog post has been doing really well, and I appreciate every one of you who took the time to read my journey on Accutane!
As I write this, I can happily say my skin is soo different from this time last year. Quite a bit has happened since last year regarding my skin. And I will be sharing some progress pictures I captured as well.
Side effects
I did experience side effects as well as the common ones such as dry skin, lips, eyes, face, and so on. I was supposed to be on Accutane for a total of 6 months, but in the end, I was on it for four months. I was on and off the medication for some months, and then I went back on it, and I'll explain more why it occurred. Today I am still dealing with dry skin and lips, which I heard continues to happen after completing the Accutane course.
Frequent ankle pain
During my second month of taking 80 milligrams a day, my ankles slowly began to hurt. I was in pain for a few weeks; honestly, I was miserable whenever I walked. During that time, I had a productive life and a job as well as working out every day, and having ankle pain was making it physically hard. After letting my dermatologist know, she then asked me to tell my primary doctor, and then she referred me to a foot specialist. After literally 10 minutes of seeing the foot specialist, I was not happy because he said I was having pain due to my flat feet, and that sounded reasonable. But I know my body, and after my dermatologist took me off Accutane, my heel pain slowly stopped, and to this day, I have not felt that similar pain. I believe Accutane gave me those symptoms.
Eye Vision problems
Another symptom I was having was the eye vision problem, and I told my dermatologist. I was having a challenging time seeing the classroom PowerPoints and lecture notes on the board. I have never had any issues seeing from a distance. Not only did I have visual blurriness, but I was having frequent unknown headaches. I would wake up with a headache, go to sleep with a headache, and no medication helped relieve it. At my appointment, my dermatologist took note of these symptoms and called another doctor to double-check. They both made the ultimate decision to stop me "immediately" from taking this medication. After that, I was referred to an eye specialist, and he checked my visions and my eye, and luckily, he said everything is fine, but my eyes are dry because of the medication.
I was off of it for a good few months, and I still had to take my monthly blood tests as well as see my dermatologist each month. I went back on the medication in September, and I was on 40mg once a day. When I went back to see my dermatologist in October, she preferred me to use Trention cream and advised me to discontinue Accutane for now.
My skin now
Ending my course in October, I was sad my skin was not fully clear. I still had some scars on both sides of my cheek, but it wasn't too bad. In my mind, when I first started taking this medicine, I pictured my skin to be super clear by the end of the course, but I was happy that I overcame this medication and its symptoms. I have been on Tretinoin for quite a while now, and my skin today looks great, and I rarely breakout. My skin has very faint scars now, and although my skin is not perfectly clear, I am happy with how my skin is now and how clear it has been in the past months.
Skin routine
Even before and after taking Accutane, I always took really good care of my skin. I still continue using some of the same products as well as some anti-aging skin products. If you guy wants me to show you my current or during my Accutane course skincare products let me know!
Skin update
From having painful cystic scars and acne literally all over my face, I am so grateful that God allowed my skin to heal healthily and be blemish-free. Sometimes I catch myself touching my face because it still amazes me how clear and smooth it feels. Many people told me they thought I was going to have scars, and I wouldn't be surprised if I did, but luckily my skin ended up returning to its normal self.
Why did I suffer from cystic acne?
Genetics. My mom had it, and my brother had it. He was also on Accutane and was on it for about eight months. He was 17 when he started and was on 80mg on most and many months. His skin is much better and has healed from all the painful cystic acne he suffered.
This collage below was several pictures from the Summer of 2018 through 2020 when I was on and off Accutane. I hope you enjoyed this post. It has been a JOURNEY, and I wish the best of luck to those who are on this medication or who are about to start theirs.
Comments