Hello, all! 🙂
Hello to anyone who is watching this video my name is danielle and today i am going to be talking about my accutane journey i have been on accutane for almost exactly two and a half months as of today i started back in october i was actually first recommended to start accutane at a very young age probably around 12 or 13 years old i was 10 years old when i got my
First pimple and my acne progressively got worse as the years went on and i went through puberty hormone changes you know all that fun stuff first of all for disclaimers i will say i am not a medical professional this is just my experience so far with this drug of course if you are considering taking accutane you should absolutely talk to a medical professional
Dermatologist whatever provider you see for your skin and weigh the pros and cons of getting on the medication for your specific situation okay so when i was a young teen or a preteen i was on an antibiotic for my skin i just know it was a antibiotic i think i only took it for about six months or so eventually as i got older i started developing cystic acne
And if you don’t know what cystic acne is it’s these really large painful nodules for most people they typically linger for quite some time i think the longest i ever had a cystic pimple linger was a month and a half maybe two months so i started developing those and that was really when my oil production started to ramp up so i remember having a cystic pimple
In the same spot three times in a row which is actually where this ice pick scar right here came from they were horrible they were so embarrassing to have someone look at you and know that they’re probably thinking what the heck is on her face it just was a really really hard thing to go through especially um at a time in your life where you’re insecure about
So many other things you’re trying to figure your life out who you are all the difficulties that come with being a teenager aside from that it just was a really hard thing to go through so as i got older i eventually got a job at a medical spa where i had access to chemical peels i started doing a round of chemical peels they did help but they were kind of more
Like a band-aid for the problem they certainly weren’t getting to the root of the issue so i enjoyed doing those because i did definitely see um pretty significant results as far as active breakouts go but i knew that they weren’t really fixing anything long term because i still had the issues of what was happening underneath the skin and the production of
Oil that was causing all of the acne in the first place so in the beginning of 2018 i got on birth control for the first time to try to regulate my skin birth control made a huge difference i will try to insert a photo um to show you what i looked like before getting on birth control and then six months into the birth control pill that i was on made a huge
Difference in my skin i almost completely stopped dealing with the cystic acne mind you by then i had already had a ton of scarring develop from all of the breakouts over the years looking back on it now i wish i would have gotten on accutane sooner i’m still very fortunate that i can even take it now at the age i am there were a couple factors that played into
Why i finally decided to take the plunge first of all i was mostly exhausted dealing with the massive overproduction of oil it was all over my body my whole entire body felt oily at all times my pores were enlarged of course the breakouts on my face had kind of subsided because of the birth control but the oil production was still so so bad a lot of the really
Good products that you can find to combat those issues are really expensive i also had a very good friend take the drug herself and she had an extremely good experience with it so that certainly helped me to consider it seriously and look into it further for myself knowing someone personally who went through it and had such a good experience who wishes that they
Would have done it much sooner so that was a big push as well the last reason is that i started to worry that since i had pretty significant results from getting on birth control if i eventually decide that i no longer want to be on a contraceptive pill and i want to look into other options or possibly not be on birth control at all i don’t know how my skin will
React so the idea of feeling like i am kind of stuck in a corner taking this pill for the rest of my who knows how many years just to hope that i can continue to regulate my acne was really unsettling for me there are some negative side effects that can come from long-term contraceptive pill use so that was again something that made me consider trying to accutane
And seeing if it would be something that was right for me so i’ll kind of give you a breakdown of the process basically i went to the dermatologist i’m actually seeing a pa who works under a dermatologist she actually has me on 80 milligrams of isotretinoin it’s not really called accutane anymore from what i understand the specific prescription that i am on is
Called amnesty and i am taking two 40 milligram pills per day so after the first month she went ahead and had me do a blood panel to check my liver enzymes and my cholesterol and fortunately everything came back completely normal the medication has not affected those levels at all for me after the first month i felt like i could finally take a sigh of relief
Once i found out that all of my levels were totally normal and my body was responding to it fine i really got excited about continuing the medication and seeing how much more progress would be made as far as side effects go i don’t have severely dry skin and i think this is going to be so different for everyone for example for me my provider’s approach is after
The one month blood test if everything looks normal there’s no need to continue testing the blood i do have to continue doing a monthly pregnancy test because you absolutely cannot get pregnant while on this drug and in the u.s you have to sign up through a government regulated program to ensure that you are using proper forms of birth control and things of that
Nature so as far as side effects go my skin is not that dry my lips have been probably the worst but really again not that bad um as long as you continuously use moisturizing and hydrating lip products you’ll be good i also have had a side effect of my nose being really really dry i don’t get bloody noses but i get bloody nostrils if that makes sense which i
Know is kind of tmi but just being honest here um my eyes have been pretty dry and sometimes at night i do feel like my night vision is a little bit affected almost like when i’m driving the street lights have a bit of a starburst effect i can certainly still see it just feels like my eyes are a little bit wonky when i drive at night so my nose and my lips are
Probably the worst side effect i have had a little bit of dandruff and i’ve seriously like my hair is completely changed i used to have to wash my hair every i’d say every three to four days and that was with using a ton of dry shampoo to get by otherwise it got crazy like i don’t want to be seen out in public looking like this now my hair barely gets oily at
All it’s actually crazy how long i can go in between washing so really other than that i feel great i’ve maybe had a slight bit of lower back pain but i’m on my feet all day at work so it’s hard to tell where that could be coming from i have had a little bit of rashing on my hands but i did want to go ahead and share a couple of my favorite products um just some
Recommendations if you’re looking for things to try while you’re on the medication so for cleanser i’m keeping it pretty simple for the most part this has been absolutely my favorite thing ever i have used higher end cleansers before that cost so much more than cerave and after trying cerave i don’t know that i will ever go back to a higher end cleanser you
Can get it at the drugstore target walmart really anywhere that sells typical drugstore brands so this is the cerave hydrating cleanser for normal to dry skin and it has a very creamy consistency but it does not suds up and i used to think that for a cleanser to work you had to have sensing because some of the creamy cleansers i’ve tried in the past just don’t
Feel like they get your face clean at all this is not the case with this one it feels awesome you do not have any type of film left over on your skin after you’re done cleansing and it just makes you feel clean refreshed but not dried out it doesn’t leave you feeling tight as far as removing makeup i really don’t wear much makeup these days i don’t wear really
Any face makeup at all on the daily but for eye makeup removal i use the same thing i’ve always used and it it’s just the garnier micellar cleansing water and i just use this with reusable cotton pads on my eyes and this is the one with the pink lid which is for all skin types including sensitive skin types but it does not burn your eyes and it does not irritate
My skin which is awesome i do exfoliate and i do use a vitamin c i don’t currently have the vitamin c with me but the one that i’m using right now is by zyna bhaji or zo skin health it is their 10 vitamin c it is a suspended vitamin c it comes with a little pump and it almost has like a silicone texture to it it’s very smooth the way that it goes on and i find
That it layers well with my other products and sunscreens and things like that absolutely talk to your provider if you’re considering getting on a vitamin c for people who are having more severe dryness on their skin it might not be recommended just because it can further irritate the skin so far mine has been fine and my skin handles it fairly well so i’ve been
Using it probably a couple times a week just to kind of help work on that pigmentation while in the meantime the isotretinoin is doing its thing i do exfoliate with this little easy basics exfoliator that i got from amazon there’s another one that’s like way more expensive than this that’s out right now i can’t remember what it’s called but it looks almost identical
And it vibrates and so it really helps to stimulate blood flow in your skin and these little beads just get your skin really really clean so i know that a lot of dermatologists recommend using like a washcloth to exfoliate but i find that that’s a little bit more irritating to me than something like this so i really enjoyed using this i don’t use it every day but
I use it a couple times a week and it doesn’t give me any issues as far as moisturizing products go i’m trying out multiple brands right now i basically got my hands on some trial sizes from different brands that i had heard were really good for sensitive skin first aid beauty is a really good brand that a lot of people rave about currently i’m using their ultra
Repair oat and hemp seed dry oil and this one’s really good for night time i don’t necessarily like using it during the day just because it can leave a little bit of a greasy feeling but your skin will absorb it overnight and it does leave it feeling really soft and supple so i like this one a lot and then i also really really love their ultra repair cream this
One has colloidal oatmeal in it i don’t know if i’m saying that right but it feels so luxurious on your skin it won’t feel so moisturizing it absorbs in right away and this is something that i would feel comfortable putting on during the day just because it does feel fairly lightweight once it’s absorbed into your skin so this would be a really great one to try
Underneath your sunscreen or under your makeup if you’re planning on wearing makeup throughout the day this is another one that i really enjoyed it’s by derma e which is known for being kind of a more holistic skincare line i guess you could say and this is their ultra hydrating serum with hyaluronic acid and green tea and this is one that’s more of a lightweight
Serum consistency that would also be really really good for layering in the daytime two of my go-to sunscreens lately are this is clinical eclipse spf 50 plus this one is slightly water resistant and i just find that even though it has a bit of a white cast it does absorb into the skin really well and it layers well with my other products so this has been the
One that i’ve been testing out lately and i’ve really enjoyed it i’m probably gonna buy the full size and then if i do wear makeup i mainly just wear this setting powder by super goop and it is their spf 45 invincible setting powder it’s 100 mineral it’s really cool and easy because it just has this little brush and you tap it and the powder comes out and then
You just apply it like that so really quick and easy good for every day for body wash i keep it simple too just because i do notice a difference in texture on my skin on my whole body i wouldn’t say that it’s dry but it’s definitely not nearly as oily as it used to be so i just want to avoid using anything super harsh to cause any type of irritation or things of
That nature so i am a total dr bronner’s fan this stuff is amazing it is actually the baby unscented castile soap highly recommend it it does not have a scent it will not leave you smelling like bath body works which i know a lot of us love but it does the job it makes you feel super clean but it does not dry you out so this one has been a favorite honestly long
Before i got on accutane just because my skin has always been so sensitive to fragrances so i’ve been using this one for years at this point and i love it last but not least lip products i have probably ordered at least 15 different types of lip products since starting accutane like i said the lips have been my worst side effect of all um i did have a point
Where both of my corners were fully cracked and would bleed when i would wake up in the morning after they had been dried out throughout the night even if i put product on them so it’s actually getting progressively a little bit better but my go-to’s right now some of my favorites out of all the ones that i’ve tried are the dr bronner’s unscented organic magic
Balm this one is awesome you can actually use this on your face and your body too um i think it works really well for the hands i haven’t tried it for really anywhere else other than my lips but it’s awesome and you get a lot in this tin so really good bang for your buck my next favorite is the eos extra dry lip treatment the thing i like about this one is that
It has a really good smell it smells like strawberries because it has strawberry extract and this is a really good one for daytime i typically keep this one in my pocket at work and i’ll just reapply it throughout the day as my lips start to feel dry my two holy grails throughout this whole process have been the cerave healing ointment this is way better than
Aquaphor in my opinion everyone says that aquaphor is the way to go but i just find that this one melts into your lips and your skin a little bit better and doesn’t leave such a thick heavy feeling so i really love that and my unconventional one is actually the land snow lanolin cream and this is designed for chafed nipples when a woman is breastfeeding but
Believe it or not it actually works really really well for your lips it’s super hydrating it doesn’t have a taste or a scent and this is another one that i have really really enjoyed throughout this whole process so i plan to continue updating with my progress and my experience throughout this journey overall even though i’m only two and a half months in i highly
Recommend looking into this medication i personally wish i would have taken it years ago and had not listened to all the horror stories that you hear because really it’s not as scary of a drug as a lot of people make it out to be so i look forward to talking to you in my next video thanks so much
Transcribed from video
My Accutane (Isotretinoin) experience ♡ 75 days in By Danielle Strawbridge