documenting the transformation
It’s been 12 weeks, and I think there’s some improvement showing. My skin, although a bit redder than it was in the week 10.5, has shown significant improvement. My face is smooth, and all one texture, not bumpy and rough. I’m really happy that it’s starting to flatten out in a sense, because it shows me that my breakouts are less and less severe. Here are the pictures for week 12, click any to get a larger view:
Well, it’s been awhile. I’ve been crazy crazy busy with school, cross country, and everything else, so I decided that after about 5 weeks off I should at least take a set of pictures and give an updated status. Okay, so my joints hurt; a lot. But, I’m running a lot too, so we’ll see how much my joints hurt once cross country ends at the end of October. Next, my dosage is still at 60mg, and my bilirubin levels are still elevated, but at the same elevated level, so it’s fine. Carmex is the best lip balm, it’s worked very very well so far, I can’t get enough of it (literally). Also, I think my face has cleared up a fair amount. Given, this is the first set of pictures since week 5/6, so there should be some major clearing, but for comparison, I put week 1’s picture at the top and week 10,5’s picture on the bottom (week 10.5 is the blue shirt). Also, the full week 10.5 gallery is at the bottom per usual.
This week has been varied, to say the least. My dosage was increased to 60 milligrams, 20 more than I had been on the previous month. So far, I’ve noticed that my face is drier, my nose is drier, and my lips are drier. I haven’t experienced any headaches, however, or anything like that (knock on wood 
). I think the increased dosage has helped the quality of my skin already, because I’ve noticed a change. Take a look at the pictures below and tell me what you think!
Today was my first day of school, which for me, means school ID pictures. Luckily for me, my skin was looking pretty good, so it should come out nice on my ID. I know people have good or bad hair days, but do people have good skin days? Who knows, but that’s what I’m going to call it. After my increased dosage, I’m not noticing anything different as far as side effects go, although I know that my skin, nose, and lips will become dryer and will require more moisturizing. It’s kind of annoying, but it’s worth it I think. Stay tuned, tomorrow I’ll post progress pictures (for real this time ).
Hey everyone, sorry for dropping off the face of the earth. I’ve been crazy busy preparing for school to start and for all my extracurriculars to start. I’m going to take a set of pictures on Friday, and I’ll skip last week’s (there wasn’t that much of a change anyways).
So, today was my dermatologist appointment. They said the blood tests were good, but my bilirubin levels were elevated. That means that I could have Gilbert’s Syndrome, which, if you’ve been following my blog, my dad has. It’s completely benign, and it can be hereditary. So, the doctor thinks it’s probably just that, but she wants me to call my primary care physician to make sure. She said that I’m responding very well to the medication, and she wants to increase my dosage. I guess that the higher the dosage taken, the more lasting the clear skin will be. So, since I’ve only been having minor dryness and pain and all that stuff, I said sure, why not. I’m on 60 mg now, taken in 3 20mg capsules. I went to CVS to fill the prescription, and somehow it’s going to take an hour to collect three boxes, go on iPledge, and put the three boxes in a bag. I’m going to go back later on tonight as I’ll be in the area anyway. But, I’m happy that the dermatologist thinks my skin is doing well, and I’m glad I’m reacting well to Accutane! (By the way, they scheduled the appointment correctly this time, so I have the next appointment 30 days after this one!)
Well, it’s been almost a full month on Accutane. This week really showed some improvement, I think. My face seems to feel nicer, it’s not as rough and it’s not as inflamed. I have a few new breakouts, but it’s lessening, I think. I’ve noticed that I can see my freckles now, I don’t know if that’s because of my increased sensitivity to light, or because they were hidden (can they be hidden?). Who knows. If this is month 1 with the initial breakout, I can’t wait for the following months where I’ll only see improvement.
So, as the first month winds down, I’m realizing an issue: I don’t have enough Accutane to last me until my next dermatologist appointment. I will be off of the medication for two days before the appointment. I don’t think it’s a big deal, but it’s kind of annoying to have to stop in the middle of my journey (okay, the first 1/5, but who’s counting) and wait to start up again. I’ll make sure they schedule me in for exactly a month away this time, I don’t want to be without my medication, I want to get this done as quickly as possible . Blood test tomorrow morning, then dermatologist appointment Tuesday. Fun stuff.
I knew I would get my first nosebleed eventually. I was sitting at my computer, and I went to sneeze. Then I looked at my hand and saw blood. Fantastic. It wasn’t a terrible nosebleed, just a little annoying. I don’t get nosebleeds normally, so I’m guessing it’s due to the dryness caused by Accutane. But, it’s okay, dryness, nosebleeds, back pain, and chapped lips are to be expected. I’m just nervous for the winter, that’s going to be a hassle because it’s so dry in New England in the winter. We’ll see, though. I’ll just take it one day at a time.
Well, it’s the beginning of week 4 today. I think there is some improvement in the quality of my skin based on the pictures. As for side effects, I have lots of back pain and shoulder pain and that stuff (probably from cross country) and my lips are chapped beyond belief (probably also because of cross country, and the fact that I can’t find Carmex lip balm anywhere, so I’m using this Blistex complete moisture stuff). But overall, it’s doable, although I think I must have an abnormally high tolerance for pain. So without further ado, here are the pictures from the end of week 3/beginning of week 4: (As always, click any of the small pictures for a larger version)
This has been an interesting couple of days. Yesterday, I went to Water Country, a waterpark in Portsmouth, NH. It was really fun, and I used lots of sunblock and didn’t really get burned. Except for my neck. Oh. My. God. My neck hurts SO MUCH. I did apply lots of sunblock there, but evidently not enough.
Today (Day 21) was the first day of Cross Country practice. My joints feel fine, for now. We’ll see how tomorrow goes. The only thing that hurt more than usual was my back. I’m finding lately that I have worse back pain, not from running necessarily, but from work and from walking and all that other stuff.
We’ll see tomorrow how my back and my knees and my ankles and all that fun stuff feels. Stay tuned! (Oh and tomorrow’s picture day so watch out for that!)
