my first week on accutane

for anyone that knows me, you know i have been battling with acne since after High School. there will be times where it seems to be going away, and times where all it seems to do is get worse. and for the past 5 months now, it has just gotten worse and worse. and its not like i haven't tried to fix it, I've been to the dermatologist multiple times and tried all kind of different products. nothing. 

so a couple months ago i decided that i needed to just suck it up and go on accutane. so after meeting with a dermatologist, and going through the steps for preparing for the medicine, i am now on it. it has almost been a week and i can already feel the effects of the medicine. 

for those of you who don't know what accutane is, it is an oral drug used to treat the highest forms of acne. normally, when people take it, they are on it for about 5-6 months. it is the only drug known to "cure" acne. meaning for most individuals, it will clear it up and keep it that way, although i know some people who have been on multiple times. it works by slowing your bodies production of oils, which in turn will help in stopping the formation of acne.

if any of you are thinking wow, this drug sounds amazing, unfortunately, you are completely wrong. the side effects are actually the worst and require you to change how you go about doing simple everyday tasks.

these side effects include:

-dry skin

-constantly chapped lips

-never ending thirst

-achey body and joints

-more susceptible to sunburns

-can cause severe birth defects, so as a female you are required to be on two forms of birth control. 

there are more, but these are the most common.

as for me, i have been on it for about a week now (I'm starting on 40ml per day) and have already felt all of those symptoms. my nose is peeling pretty bad and it is not only drying out my skin but bringing to surface all of my acne. although the worst has been how achey i have been feeling. i literally laid i bed most of the day yesterday because i was drained and in pain. but i have friends who have taken it and have had totally different experiences, it just hits everyone differently. 

i tried doing as much research as possible before going on it and i found that there aren't that many things on it. there are some vlogs and brief blogs, but nothing substantial. so i thought that by me posting on here every so often about my experience with it, that it might help those considering going on it. or even just give tips for those who need it.

keep checking back for more updates!

ally