Tag Archives: isotretinoin

Au revoir, Isotretinoin

Posted on by
1

Isotretinoin, how you’ve changed me these last seven months. You’ve vastly improved my acne while drying me out to where if I don’t clean my face every few hours and re-moisturize I start to look like the desert floor.

This morning was my last Isotretinoin pill. While I can’t wait for my natural oils to start to come back to tame the massive dryness, I’m happy with the results that have occurred during my treatment. I now await my follow-up appointment at the end of September to start to get on a long-term regiment.

Running Is Hard

Posted on by
Reply

After a runAs I continue on my medication for my acne treatment, I am finding running to be harder for various reasons but I’m still going strong. Today was Spring Fling at Purdue which is an afternoon of activities in appreciation of staff and faculty.

After lunch with some coworkers I had a French tutoring session with my tutor, Julie. I then went home, took Sparky out and got ready to go running. I ran a few times with Justin last week which were quite nice. I haven’t really ran with him much so it was nice for us to do something together outside that’s good for our health. This was the first run where I’ve really pushed myself in several weeks and it showed. While I had a decent overall pace of 8:19/mile, I only ran 4.5 miles and that was with two breaks.

This ran was flawed for several reasons. Primarily, I shouldn’t be running during the day at all anymore for a few reasons. Although I did have lots of sunscreen on, it’s just too hot to be running during the day. Either nighttime running or early morning runs will have to be required. Second, my longer hair is making it a lot to run just because heat gets trapped more when trying to escape from the body.

Although I did run 4.5 miles today, I actually had to stop twice to rest which was pretty disappointing psychologically. Still, it was a good run overall that was also o a more hilly route than normal and went a direction I normally do not go which provided a nice change of scenery.

After I complete my Isotretinoin, I’ll need to start training for a half-marathon as I am running one in Chicago on September 11th of this year. Yes, it’s also the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Until next time, au revoir!

Sophisticated Surfer

Posted on by
Reply
Sophisticated Surfer

Just a friendly sophisticated surfer

In January of this year I started taking Isotretinoin (commonly known as Accutane).  I knew from the start that I would have dry skin and that has certainly been the case.  Since my dosage was recently increased from 40mg per day to 60mg dryness has increased again with some side effects that I wasn’t expecting.

One side-effect that I’m enjoying is that because of my dry skin I also have dry hair.  Normally my hair gets oily and needs to be kept fairly short or else it make my face more oily than it normally already is.  However, with a very sharp decrease in oil production thanks to this medication, that’s no longer a problem – at least not for almost three more months or so.

Sophisticated Surfer

Hair blowing in the wind

Because of this, I have been experimenting with longer hair.  I last had it cut at the end of December 2010 and haven’t had it cut, styled, anything since then.  Now that it’s grown to be pretty long, for me, I’ve been starting to get compliments that it looks good on me.  It’s weird feeling hair covering my ears but I’ve started to get used to it and do like it as well.  The title for this post is inspired by Jaime who noted that it was a “sophisticated surfer” look with the long hair and the shirt pictured.

Another side effect that I’m on the fence about whether I like it or not is that I have to shave much more often now.  Previously I would shave once every 4 days or so.  It would get kinda scruffy, but wasn’t really a problem.  Now, if I go two days my skin gets very bad around the hair follicles.  Within the past few weeks I’ve noticed that even every two days may not be enough as I think I’ll need to start shaving every day.  While that’s very annoying, it does make my hair look better!

Isotretinoin – Week 4

Posted on by
Reply

This post is a bit late and I see that I skipped last week’s post as well.  However, better late than never.

My treatment with Isotretinoin is progressing.  In the last few weeks I’ve gotten old-people hands as I’ve affectionately referred to them.  Effectively this means that my hands are quite dry and get cut pretty easily.  In the last few days the easy-cutting has lessened somewhat, but the dryness is just as bad.  Tonight when I applied hand cream my hands actually burned for about 10-20 minutes until that feeling finally diminished some.

My face was very  flakey but thankfully that isn’t as bad in the past week.  I do apply moisturizer though when needed.  I can tell that my back is getting better but that it will definitely be the last thing to truly have real results shown.

I feel that I’m more tired than I used to so in my last round of blood work I had a few more tests ran and I’ll be finding out the results tomorrow when I go back to see my dermatologist.

I am taking the opportunity though to try something that I’d normally not be able to try.  Typically my oily skin makes me want to have my hair cut short (a number 3 trimmer guard if that means anything to you).  However, since I really am not producing oil anymore, I’m taking the opportunity to try to grow my hair out longer.  I most likely won’t like it and will want to get rid of it ASAP, but I’d like to see what’s possible.  Now, how do I manage my hair while it’s on that journey?  I have no clue whatsoever!  :-)

Running is now work

Posted on by
Reply

Today was the first time in two weeks that I have actually ran at all.  I ran one mile tonight on the treadmill that my parents brought down last weekend (thanks Mom & Dad!)

While I only ran one mile and (including a slow one minute warmup) it took about nine minutes to run, I couldn’t really go any further afterwards.  The main cause to this is just that my knee was acting up and I could actually feel my pulse from my right knee down through my lower leg.  Hopefully that’s just temporary and it should be due to combined with not having ran for two weeks due to the bitter cold temperatures along with the fact that this isotretinoin does wear me out quicker than if I weren’t on it.

Winter Running

Posted on by
Reply

Today was the second five-mile run of the week.  It was also the second day in a row of running around the campus instead of on a county road.  My runs normally focus on those roads as I typically would just come home from work, take Sparky out, then get dressed and go for a 4-6 mile run – depending on how far I felt like going.

These past two runs however, I decided to simply take my gear with me and change directly into it right after work.  This allowed me to run around the campus – after which I would then go home.  While this means that Sparky would have to stay in his cage longer, it was actually pretty minimal and I think that it’s better as I can then devote time to him when I got home instead of having to leave him alone for almost an hour just after he’d seen me.

Regardless of that, I’ve noticed something these last few runs.  While my time has gotten better lately (I’m not around an 8:08 avg pace), I am much more tired after the fact.  While this could just be because it’s so cold outside, I wasn’t this tired a month ago.  Well what’s changed in the last month?  I’ve started isotretinoin.  My doctor has warned me that he doesn’t prescribe this to Purdue sports people during their season as it can make you feel like you just can’t go as far.  I’m finding that while I’m able to push myself during the run itself, afterwards I am completely drained and pretty much worthless until the next day or even further.

I had hoped to run 5-6 miles tomorrow as the weather was going to be near 40, but given how tired I already am, it doesn’t seem like a good idea. Needless to say, I’m already counting the days until I am done with this medication.  Unfortunately, it’s still just over four more months away.  Yippee!  :-)

Skin Changes

Posted on by
Reply

Today was my sixteenth dosage of isotretinoin. I can clearly see the changes that are already happening. As I am sure others can as well.

For one, my face is considerably drier. It no longer is oily as the sebaceous glands are starting to shutdown. I need to apply moisturizer several times a day to counteract the heavy flaking that I am having.

Also, my lips are much drier. As I previously posted, I normally never need chapstick but am applying it more and more now.

I have not noticed much difference on my back which is the worst part and what is really bring targeted. I have however begun to notice my arms becoming quite thin where the worst acne is. This is causing the areas to release quite easily and also stand out heavily.

Hopefully the effects hit my back soon as much as they’ve hit everywhere else…

Isotretinoin – Week 2

Posted on by
Reply

Today starts week two of my treatment with Isotretinoin.  So, what’s changed so far?

Well, I’ve only gone through one week of treatment but some changes are starting to take place.  While I’ve not noticed any difference in the acne distribution and strength on my back, I have started to notice one of the most common side-effects – dry lips.  I haven’t really used Chapstick in a long time but have in the last few days applied it several times as my lips are tending to get dry at times.  I know that this will increase massively over the entire course of my treatment.

Although the strength of the acne on my back has not changed, I think that my back is starting to get a bit dryer although it very well could have just been from the relatively low humidity lately with the winter weather.

We’ll see what the next week brings and if the effects become more noticeable.

Isotretinoin – Week 1

Posted on by
Reply

I have dealt with acne for a long time now.  I know that my acne isn’t as severe as my brother’s, but it’s still been with me for a time and hasn’t gotten any better.  It’s finally to the point however where something different has to happen to try to get rid of it as everything that I’ve before tried has yielded no real results.

After carefully discussing it with my doctor and Justin, we all decided that Isotretinoin (previously marketed under the brand-name Accutane) was something that would help.  As such, today during dinner I’ll be having my first dosage of Isotretinoin.  I should be on it for about five months, which is the standard treatment time.  After which, I should have a considerably different skin condition – one which is much clearer.  I am not expecting it to completely clear up the acne, but instead to make a considerable improvement of it.

Throughout the treatment course, I’ll be taking pictures of the progress for documentation and tracking and posting updates on any changes that I see.