smart! by K.Rae

Read and comment on this article at my new site, smartbykrae.com!

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been on Accutane in the past. The decision to start the medication was difficult for me, so I thought I’d write something to benefit those currently facing the same decision. See part two here.

I’ve dealt with acne since I was about 12 (that’s 10 very long years for those of you who aren’t so great with subtraction). My dermatologist became someone I saw on a regular (sometimes monthly) basis. Over the years, I would go on and off antibiotics, and switch between Retin-A and Differin. When the Differin wasn’t effective enough, my derm would switch me to Retin-A. When the Retin-A became too drying, he’d switch me back to Differin. All these doctor appointments, all these prescriptions, all this time spent thinking about my skin, yet I still had constant break outs.

When I got to college, it seemed like my acne got worse. Probably because of the stress, lack of sleep, and copious amounts of alcohol I was drinking.

I remember the beginning of my sophomore year, I was back on antibiotics for my skin. One weekend, I went home to visit my family. I knew I had packed the antibiotics, but I couldn’t find them. When I got back to my dorm, I still couldn’t find my pills, but strangely enough, my skin was clearing up. When I found the pills a month later, I was fully convinced that they were making my skin worse, and threw the bottle away. I told my ob/gyn this story last year (I was visiting him to go back on birth control to help my acne), and he told me that it must have just been a coincidence. Coincidence or no, I’ll never take antibiotics for acne again; it seemed that when I was taking them, I was sick more often and more severely. Plus, I’ve read that regularly taking antibiotics can reduce lifespan, and I’d rather live a long, full life, even if I am using zit cream well into my 90’s.

Late sophomore year, I reached my breaking point. Tired of my zitty, gross skin, I went on Accutane.

Accutane is crazy-effective; just hours after my first dose, three white heads popped up around my mouth. And they just kept on coming. But otherwise (at least at first) it wasn’t so bad. I drank lots of water and spent overtime moisturizing my skin.

As months passed, I noticed that my lower back was extremely tight as I lay in bed at night. Even if I stretched out before laying down, it would take several minutes for my muscles to relax so I could get comfortable and fall asleep. Plus, I couldn’t get through the day without a nap, not cool for the hyper-involved college student I was.

The back pain got so bad that I actually dreaded the thought of my doctor prescribing a higher dosage. At the same time, I didn’t want to complain too much about my pain because I didn’t want my dose reduced. If I only had six months to spend on Accutane, then I wanted to make the most them.

I hope they’ve reduced the restrictions that were on Accutane when I took it. The red tape was such a pain in the ass. For my prescription to be valid, I had to take a stupid little online quiz every month. The questions never changed, and if you got one wrong, they just gave you the answer and sent you to the next question. What a waste of time. After your derm appointment, you only had a week to do the quiz and fill the prescription at the pharmacy. I fucked up one month and didn’t get my prescription filled in time. As a result, I had to skip a month of my treatment. I really think this month off had a negative effect on my final outcome. I know my doctor was extremely frustrated with the regulation of Accutane, to the point that he had been spending time lobbying the government to reduce restrictions.

While on Accutane, my skin oil production decreased to zero. The pores on my nose became absolutely invisible; it was incredible! And of course, I was experiencing fewer and fewer breakouts. In my last two months on the drug, I might have had two zits.

I cannot describe the relief I felt the day I took my last dose. Accutane really wears you down; although I was never suicidal, I was depressed during treatment. I also had surgery during the seven months I was on the medication; I was in a cast for three weeks, completely dependent on my mother, and had to learn to walk again. If that’s not a reason to be depressed, then I don’t know what is. But Accutane certainly didn’t help my situation.

After I ended treatment, my pores unfortunately returned to their “before” size. But even to this day, my oil production hasn’t increased to what it once was. Of course, at this time I was also leaving my teen years, when oil production naturally slows. Whatever the case, I enjoy my face not turning into an oil slick by noon everyday.

For six wonderful months, I had beautiful clear skin. But approximately one year after beginning Accutane, I began to break out again. Suck.

So now, once again, I’m facing the Accutane question. I knew going in that it’s not uncommon for people to go through two rounds of treatment. Will I be one of those people? It’s hard to say, but probably not. First off, while my acne is persistent and hard to treat, it’s never been particularly bad. Compared to other people I knew in high school who went on Accutane, my acne was a cakewalk. Second, lately, I’ve been having good results with my Boscia + Birth Control (Yaz) combination. Why fix what’s not broken?

Accutane is really hard on your body, particularly your liver. If you decide to take the plunge, you need to be fully committed to taking excellent care of yourself: absolutely no drugs or alcohol, plenty of sleep, and a healthy diet, particularly if you have high cholesterol. I’m not sure if I want to put my body (and my poor, poor liver. First my alcohol binges of freshman year, then Accutane) through that stress again. But it’s not an option I’m completely leaving out. The positive changes Accutane made in my skin are just too incredible to be forgotten.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! You can contact me either through the link on the sidebar or by leaving a comment.

Part two: Accutane Must-Haves

Image from http://www.drugs.com/pdr/isotretinoin.html

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Boscia Clear Complexion Kit