Over the years, I became very good at concealing my acne. I perfected my foundation, my concealer, and knew when to rush to the bathroom to touch it up so no one else would notice the acne I was dealing with every day. I have always dealt with acne, as I mentioned in previous posts, however, I noticed a drastic turn for the worst when I turned 25. I started getting more breakouts, cystic acne, my scars weren’t healing as they used to, and it felt like every morning I woke up, I had a new pimple find a home on my face. It was exhausting, and honestly, it’s still exhausting.
I woke up one morning with terrible pain around my jawline because of the cystic acne. It was sore to the touch, I could barely stand touching my face, and I knew it was time to do something about it once and for all.
I made an appointment with a Dermatologist that morning and met with him that afternoon. Thankfully, I was able to get an appointment so soon. He took one look at my skin and suggested antibiotics which I happily tried for two months, which did absolutely nothing. Finally, he put me on Accutane. After tons of blood tests of course. As per my dermatologist, I only have to be on Accutane for six months, but that’s something that may change if I don’t see any improvements nearing the six-month mark.
So far, all has been well. I am currently in week six, and I still feel like my skin is purging. I seem to get large, cystic pimples that come to head very quickly, are extremely painful to touch, and sometimes feel like they have their own heartbeats. It’s terrible, but I keep reminding myself to be thankful.
I did research when I went on Accutane to prepare myself because whatever Accutane was going to take out of my body, I wanted to make sure I was putting back. Such as Vitamin B. They say that Accutane drains you and makes you feel fatigued, so I have made sure I take a vitamin B supplement every morning to help with the fatigue and believe me it does. I didn’t take my vitamin B supplement for four days because I had run out, and the exhaustion was unreal. Note to self, keep taking your vitamin B supplement.
Finding products that work for my skin during this time has been an absolute nightmare, but I have a few go-to beauty products that help soothe the skin without irritating and aggravating it. Environ A-C and E Oil are one of them. It especially helps with scaring, and it has worked wonders for me.
Here are some of the side effects I have experienced:
- Extremely dry lips
- Extremely dry skin which is making my eczema flare-up
- Extremely dry sculpt
- Slight aches and pains
- Fatigue and exhaustion if I don’t take my vitamin B supplement
I have to say though, the one amazing thing I have loved about being on Accutane, is that I no longer have to wash my hair every day. I used to have extremely oily hair, so oily that I would have no choice but to wash it every day. But now, I can go three to four days without washing my hair, which has been an absolute blessing.
They say, you only really start seeing some positive results in week nine, so I am holding thumbs, giving thanks every morning, and reminding myself that sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better.
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