The Arbitrary Fox : Skin Care

Showing posts with label Skin Care. Show all posts

Accutane: Month 3 Review

2.23.2015

Ahh I can not tell you how happy I am to have another month under my belt! It is such a good feeling to know I am that much closer to being done with this life altering medication. This month has certainly been much easier than the last two. My headaches have drastically slowed down, making day to day life so much more bearable. I cannot say whether that is because my preventative headache medicine is finally working as it should or I've gotten adjusted to the new lower dose at 20mgs.

So what have I noticed this month?

Pros:
- Fewer to no headaches
- The continuance of lesser and lesser breakouts

Cons:
- Still have extremely dry eyes
- Terribly dry and peeling lips
- Dry Hair
- Dare I say other lady areas are also becoming quite dry! EEK!
- I'm starting to see my acne scars more prominently
- My under eye area is so thin
- Dry nose, constant scabs/ bleeds in nose

Well as you can see the cons seem to out weigh the pros. There are days I question whether this is worth all the cons but I'm trying to stay positive and remind myself this is only temporary. Things will improve and only get better.

I never noticed how terrible my acne scaring was until this month. I knew I had some deep pores that needed some correcting and pigment problems but I never realized the depth of my skin issues, pun intended! I've yet to talk to my dermatologist this month but from what I've learned thus far I can guess the reason I can see my scars so well is because my skin has become quite thin. It's especially bad around my chin. I hope I can fix this in the future. I can't tell you enough how much it bugs me. It's weird seeing your face change so much in such a short amount of time, I haven't had a lot time to adjust.

When I first looked into accutane I didn't find a lot of informative blogs sharing about their experiences. Most of the information I found was in chat forms about experiences that where hard to believe because there was no story to follow. Or if there were their photos were terrible, mostly consisting of web cam picts. I would like these post to help others who might be considering some form of Accutane. If there is any questions I can help answer please don't hesitate to ask.

As I mentioned above, there are several drying cons. Living in Colorado, the weather is already very dry and in the winter it's even dryer. Despite winter being the dryest time of the year, I've actually picked the best time to do accutane. Your skin is more likely to get burned and even get skin cancer while on this medication. Then add the fact that I am 6,035 feet above sea level and that much closer to the sun... well that really raises the odds. I believe my doc said I had a 40% higher chance. No thank you! The reason winter is better is because we cover our skin more. I'm greatly hoping to be finished before summer is in full gear. *fingers crossed*

Last time I mentioned I was going to share a bit about my current skin routine. I'm really limited as to what I can use. Most of it is really heavy and while I'm sure it's great for wrinkles and night use (which I love) day time isn't as great.

All of the following products were recommended by my dermatologist except #6 which was recommended by my optometrist. With the exception of #7 they are all over the counter products that you can find anywhere from Walgreens, Target, to Walmart and everywhere in between.

1. Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser - I've been using this skin cleaner for years. It's wonderfully mild, smooth (Like lotion), and NEVER feels irritating on the skin. It's so mild you can even leave a thin layer on. I don't but it says you can. It's even mild enough for baby. I love how soft my skin feels after using it.

2. Vaniply Ointment: Skin Protectant / Dry Skin - My dermatologist gave me a wonderfully large goody bag full of samples to try. So many that honestly if I wanted, I wouldn't need to purchase a single product through the whole duration of this medication. But eventually you find faves... anyhoo, she suggested I use this under and around my eyes. Unlike some of the other ointments, this one is lighter and even works under makeup as long as you blend well.

3. Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream / Sensitive Skin - I honestly bounce back and fourth with my all over face creams. It depends on how dry it is outside. This one is mild and light, one of my favorites. But as dry as my skin is, I have to sometimes apply it twice. However I prefer this over the heavier creams and ointments that feel very greasy on the skin

4. Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion - As long as my skin isn't miserably dry, this is my general all over moisturizer. It's light, non greasy, and keeps my skin from feeling chapped for a time. I also love that it isn't heavily scented, just a nice faint shea butter and oats smell. When my skin is extremely chapped I use the ointment version of this lotion.

5. Aquaphor Healing Ointment - This is the one and only lip balm I prefer to use. I have a few others that I dabble with but this is the only one that gets the job done right. My lips are so chapped ALL THE TIME. I'm really bad about picking at them too. This ointment is wonderful for helping to keep me from being a shriveled raisin, well mostly. I've tried other lip balms but the waxy content of them builds up on your lips fast! When you're applying your lip balm about every 15 mins or so it gets gross.

6. Blink Gel Tears - These eye drops are like my lip balms, they're EVERYWHERE! Don't get the other kinds, they can irritate your eyes over time. These hydrate your eyes. They do a pretty good job too, sadly my eyes still hold a lot of redness/ irritation and as such I wear my glasses more often than I ever have.

7. EpiCeram - This is a cream my dermatologist prescribed to me for my dry skin. It basically helps create a barrier on your skin and alone it's nice but adding another lotion over it is like power charging your regular lotion. It's extremely good for those who have eczema.

I'm not a doctor so please be sure to ask your own dermatologist if you are unsure about any of these products. I've had people ask why I don't use natural products. I am always open to the idea of natural products, I still use my homemade natural soaps. I probably always will. Unfortunately when it comes to lotions and face creams I have terribly sensitive skin and I get irritates easily.

Sorry for the EXTREMELY long post! Oh but one more thing I forgot to add to the product pic above... I mentioned drying of a certain lady area. Accutane (claravis to be specific) is to blame. My gyno recommended a product called Refresh. Basically a inserted lotion. It works wonderfully and I completely recommend it! I had no irritation what so ever, this coming from a gal who is very sensitive to products. You can find this at Target.

Take Care,
Heather

Accutane: Two Month Review

1.14.2015

Hello friends! I'm starting to pick up some speed and finally get some distance behind me with this awful acne. It's actually been more than 2 month since I started Accutane and while I'll be sharing more photos of my skins progress soon, I wanted to show what it looked like at month 2. So here I am in some of the most unflattering of photos. To be honest I'm a bit embarrassed and have deeply considered re-shooting these, even editing them! I think I said that last month too but it is just as true this month. As my skin is starting to clear up I'm starting to see what my skin actually looks like underneath all these bumps and scabs. I've never seen my skin fully acne free and despite my optimistic nature I still remain skeptical that I will ever be rid of this burden.

Oh look I have freckles! Lots of them, with a bit of skin discoloration mixed in, thanks acne scaring and hormones. I'd love to keep my freckles i think they're cute but I know that I have a lot of scars to remove and I know that my journey to better skin won't be over after Accutane. I've already decided that I will go in after the required 6 month waiting period and get laser work done to remove any dimples and deep scaring.

But anyhoo back to my updates. I really struggled through this month. My headaches were worse than ever and most days I just didn't have the motivation to do a lot of moving. I had held hope that lowering my dose to 30mg once a day would eliminate my problems but it didn't, not completely anyways. Of course I did take double doses when ever I could. What ultimately ended up helping was just not taking my medication on days when I felt lousy and then resuming it again the next day. I did this on and off the whole month long. Doubling up on good days, half doses on so so days, and nothing at all on days I was nearly in tears with terrible migraines. I also discovered that my period does play a part in my migraines even though I don't usually have major menstrual cycles. Since then I've also had my dosage lowered. I take 20mg twice a day. Which is good cause I really need to get caught up. I don't want to be on this medication for a whole year! But when I do have a bad day taking 20mg is better than taking 30mg. I just hope this lower dose doesn't affect the final outcome when I'm off this medication.

Despite the ups and downs I'm still working through, I am learning a pattern and what seems to work for my body. I've been trying to push double doses when ever I can as I'm currently 26 days behind my 6 month mark. As long as I finish before summer I'll be a happy gal!

As for the other Accutane side affects, my eyes are terribly dry and red. I've been using Blink Tears and while gel eye drops are fantastic for severely dry eyes it only mildly helps keep the dryness at bay. Colorado's dry winters probably aren't helping me even though our home does have a built in humidifier. I may need to break down and buy a small one for my room too. There's nothing like waking up in the morning with the feeling like someone replaced your eyes with raisins! My under eye area is paper thin as is the rest of my skin. I can't tell you how much that bothers me. It's like I've aged 15yrs and I can only pray that this is all revived once I'm finished with this. My doctor reassures me that it will but it's still no picnic! Gretta jumped on my the other day, her nail cut my hand pretty bad, since then I've been walking around like I'm glass! LOL!

I still remain positive despite how frustrating this medication can be. It's also been nice cutting down my makeup time! Yea! Less to cover and conceal! If you have any questions about Accutane don't hesitate to ask! I'll share more about my skin care next time.

Take Care & Enjoy,
Heather

P.S. For the record, I just woke up. Haha I probably could look a bit more bright eyed but it was a late starting day and I wanted to make sure photos were taken. Also to view better detail click on each photo. Note: Firefox and blogger seems to be acting rather awful lately and are fuzing photos worse than other browsers. I think Chrome might be my new favorite browser. My hubby keeps swearing they are better and since he's a total computer nerd he's probably right. I just don't like change lol!

Accutane: One Month Review (And 2 days)

12.03.2014

Hello Friends!

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted an Accutane update. Family life has been keeping me busy with the holidays here, birthdays, and doctors visits... sooo many doctors visits. Thank the Lord our deductible is paid for the year! I also lost track of where I was in sharing so I decided to round it up to my one month on Accutane.

Today does officially mark my first full month of being on Accutane. Actually, I should be a bit further along but I'll get into that in a second. I can't believe it's already been a month and at the same time I can't believe it's ONLY been a month!

I can't speak for others but for me it's been a roller coaster. My skin and self have had a few ups and downs and not all of it has been easy. The first few weeks were a breeze but as time went on I started experiencing aches and pains all over. I was warned of this and already knew I would totally get that side affect cause I already have neck pain...yea? It has been more unpleasant than I anticipated. For me I would describe the aches as a soreness you would feel the day after working out when you haven't worked out...ever. Only it never goes away. I also started getting headaches more often. Again, I'm already prone to headaches so this was pretty crippling for me. It affected my vision and there were days I didn't want to move or even speak. I've spent a great deal of time this past month in and out of doctors offices trying to work this out. Being a hypochondriac doesn't help me out either!!! It turns out I have tension migraines, I should have know that and the Accutane only aggravated them further. So after a long discussion with my dermatologist, she decided to give me a break from Accutane for a week to see if my headaches would go away. Which, thankfully they have. For the time being I will be doing only a half dose, instead of taking 30mg twice a day, I will only take it once a day. In the future that may change but for now I'm so relieved this was resolved. Apparently in Europe and everywhere other than the US Accutane is given in smaller amounts for longer time spans vs larger doses for shorter. Both give the exact same result only one is harder on the body.

Left: One week on Accutane. Right: One month - My skin is less swollen, red, tighter, smaller pores. and smoother.

Other negative side affects? Just really dry lips, that need constant moisturizing every 15-20 minutes. Dry eyes, I've woken up a few times feeling like my eyes were replaces with raisins. lol! My moods also seem to be all over the place. I'm pretty good about keeping them in check but it does get the best of me from time to time. I was warned about this side affect too. Thankfully I have an amazing hubby that has been patient the whole way through.

While I am far from the finish line I'm still staying positive about this medication. Despite this difficult set back, I can already see changes and it's been really encouraging. My skin is softer, my pores (which are very large) are greatly shrinking, and my acne breakouts are fewer (and smaller) everyday. When I do get a breakout it comes and goes as quickly as it came.

This one was quite wordy. I do try to keep my posts short. Hope this was helpful to anyone dealing with acne. I still completely recommend giving Accutane a try. Have any questions? Feel free to ask!

Take Care & Enjoy,
♥ Heather

Accutane: Day 10

11.03.2014

It has occurred to me that I am quite possibly mad. Wildly mad! After taking this last set of photos and going over them, I find myself asking why on earth am I doing this!?! I am the person who hides away from unexpected visitors when I'm undressed or more importantly, when I'm not wearing makeup. Only the tiniest circle of people ever see me so... naked.

This latest set of photos is certainly more raw. I chose a better lit place in my home and well it captured me, at my truest self. I'm not a young lass anymore and although my youth isn't completely gone I'm not the beauty that all the other bloggers are. A rough reality I deal with in strides. I am perhaps too hard on myself, as my husband often reminds me but I suppose we all have our vices.

Today officially marks 10 days that I have been taking Accutane. The first few days I did feel off. I'm not sure how else to describe it than perhaps feeling anxious. Then again when it comes to my health and taking pills I can get a bit nervous. After a few days that off feeling has faded some. I was told that my skin would be more sensitive to scratches and that it would be worse before better. That couldn't be more true. The slightest thing does cause my skin to peel. Even washing my face is a cautious task that requires a gentle touch. What's worse is I cant exfoliate at all! It's forbidden as it can damage your epidermis. *sigh* I love exfoliating. But I suppose 6 months isn't that long. As for the worse before better, I had hoped I would be that magical small percentile that doesn't experience worse breakouts...haha I was sorely mistaken! My skin around day 5 started to break out like crazy all over! My breakouts usually were the type that never reached the surface. This medicine is pushing everything forward. The plus side, they are healing much quicker than they ever have before. As for any other side affects, I'm not depressed. I'm too happy a person anyhoo. I am however experiencing mild dry lips and very dry eyes. I may be sticking mostly to glasses for the next few months. Other than that things are going good.

Hope I haven't scared any of my viewers away! LOL!

Take Care,
♥ Heather

My Journey to Clear Skin: Accutane Day 1

10.25.2014

Recently on Instagram, I shared a photo of me with my skin left unedited. It might not seem like a big deal to some but for this was HUGE. I kinda surprised myself when I posted it. I've even debated on deleting the photo but the kind feedback I got encouraged me to keep it up. Truthfully though, that particular photo still hid the worst of my acne. Thank the Lord for makeup right?! Those who know me know that I don't like to leave the house without makeup on. Even camping I make sure to have some sort of coverage. This post is very personable to me. I have NEVER shared photos of myself without makeup.

After the interest I received from mentioning my starting journey with Accutane I've decided to start a series; sharing a bit about Accutane, my progress, and any noted side affects.

To begin, I'll start with a bit of background info about my skin. I've had acne from the time I started my period at 14 years old and I've never had a break from it since. I'm certainly not the worst case of acne. It is mild compared to some. What I do have are deep and extremely painful nodules and cyst. They stay for weeks sometime months at a time and rarely break the surface. It has caused scaring and uneven skin. The photos shown of my skin are surprisingly clear for me, only slightly swollen and broken out.

If you know anything about Accutane it's like the last stop on the acne treatment train. If this doesn't work well crap, that really sucks! This medication is like bringing out the big guns and it doesn't come without risks. First of all let me clarify that the actual brand Accutane can no longer be prescribed in the US. Due to too many negative cases it was pulled. HOWEVER generic versions like what I just started today, Claravis are still available to use. But since most people know this medication by its brand name Accutane, I will continue to call it such.

After spending what has seemed like a lifetime of experimenting with several cocktails of acne treatments, both oral and typical, I've finally broken down and accepted that Accutane was my only option. You name it I've tried it, natural remedies, Proactive, birth control, and every prescription out there. Regrettably, nothing worked successfully for very long.

If you are thinking about taking some version of Accutane, know that it takes a GREAT deal of commitment. You have to be consistent and stay on top of appointments. My journey with Accutane actually started in September. For ladies, this medication requires you to take a pregnancy test every single month, then follow up with your doc, fill out a monthly ipledge questionnaire, and take medication daily. In my case twice daily. For you guys, it's a lot simpler. Missing one step could set you back a whole month! You are only allowed one package of medication a month. You cannot get your refill till you have been tested negative for pregnancy, a healthy liver, and a few other things. It might not sound like that huge a commitment but trying to fit everything in their required 7 day window before you can get your next refill is quite nerve racking! What's worse, this medication is by NO means cheap! Most insurances don't give a large discount. With United Health Care it's $723 per month till my 3k delectable is paid! WTF?! Thankfully, at least 3 months of my medication will only cost $150 cause I've met my yearly deductible. Sadly that still leaves me with 3 months that I have to pay it in full cause my insurance deems this as a "not requires" medication. So as you can see this is a serious contentment!

I will be on this medication for the next 6 months. I will continue to post weekly updates and photos to show my progress. I hope you will join along with what I hope will be a successful journey to clear skin. I'd love to hear from you. Have you gone through Accutane? What did you experience? If you have any questions I'd love to hear them.

Take Care & Enjoy,
♥ Heather