Hello to anyone reading this! I'm Joyce, 22 years old and I've had acne for about 12 years (yes, since I was 10 years old). I've tried a variety of products over the years, but nothing ever worked. I'm not really too fond of doctors, which is why I've avoided the dermatologist up until this past December when I finally gave in. Over the last 6 months I've tried the following prescribed treatments:
1. Solodyn (1 tablet daily before bed), along with applying Tazorac and Duac gels on alternating nights before bed. This seemed to work for clearing up small blemishes, but had no effect on major ones.
2. So when the first treatment wasn't working as hoped, she had me finish out the prescription of Solodyn while taking Spironolactone, and using Duac gel during the days and Tazorac cream at night.
The spironolactone made my face extremely dry in the mornings, with my lips being dry all day. Having had excessively oily skin for the last 10 years or so, the dry skin was difficult to learn to deal with. My lips had always peeled every few days or so, that was normal. But once I started on the new medicine the peeling seemed to be every day, and my lips were sore and felt raw even when I tried to leave them alone and just keep them moisturized. I also felt nauseated everyday for the last 2 weeks while taking spironolactone, which went away once I stopped taking it.
So now I'm starting on Accutane. I picked up my first prescription of accutane on Monday, June 16th, and took the first dose that evening with dinner. My doctor has me on 60 mg per day. So far things seem to be going ok...I've already noticed a great reduction in the amount of oil produced on my face. Small pimples seem to be drying up, but there's a new red blemish that has popped up beside my nose, and my jawline is itchy. Also the skin on my nose and lips are dry, but Aquaphor lip balm is working wonders for my lips.
I've included a picture from April, when I was still taking spironolactone. You can see the scarring clearly but it's not so easy to see the pimples....but trust me, they're there.
