WEEK 17
Hey guys! I'm at Cornell and have really busy so I did not write last week.
Skin Condition: On week 15, right b4 my period, i got two pimples that went away within 2 days. My skin is clear now. I went to the doc yesterday cuz I have cold (not used to the weather here) and she looking at my health form which says I'm taking accutane, and she was amazed. She was like, "whoa YOU had pimples! Ur skin looks perfect, it must have really worked!" Ooh at my last derm appointment back home, she prescribed me retin-a for after the accutane. She said it will get rid of the scars. The scars of very light, so I have switched from using cover-up to a thin foundation. =)
Side effects: dry lips but thats all this week. I lost my voice and my nose is super stuffy so I dont feel good, but my skin sure does feel good =)

WEEK 15
Skin condition: same as last week. No pimples on my face, back. Pores on my nose are minimal. Scars fading, but yes, still need makeup. But I much rather have scars than pimples, sooo much easier to cover!
Side effects: very dry lips. I also burned a bit (my fault-no suncreen) a couple days ago and now my legs are slightly peeling. Dry nose came back, so I'm using the neosporin!
I leave for Cornell next Thursday! I'm excited, nervous, and sad. I hope I don't get any pre-menstrual pimples this week. Good luck!

WEEK 14
Sorry I completely lost track of time!! That's because I've had no pimples these two weeks!
Skin Condition: great! No pimples. And finally the scars are fading!! Not to the point that I wear no foundation, but they are light brown/pink now. Very exciting. This treatmnt is so totally worth it.
Side effects: nothing out of the ordinary, just dry lips.
I hope all of you are doing well, and good luck this week!

WEEK 12
Skin condition: I picked the pimple from last week the day I posted the entry. First, nothing came out, and second, I tore the skin in that area. So I was left with a pimple even more inflated, and a bright red spot too. But somehow, when I woke up the next day the pimple had gone flat, and all I was left with was the bright red spot. It took about two days for the redness to turn hard, and then peel. So right now I have a scar that is pretty dark. Lol so overall, I should have not picked the pimple at all and waited for it to go away by itself, and I would not have a scar. But not new pimples this week. I had my derm appointment this Thursday. The nurse that takes my blood said I should be off accutane, lol! The derm said I look very good, and shes keeping me at 40. I have my last appointment right b4 I head off to college, and she will give me my final prescription then. Wow, two more months, and this third month went by so quickly! I still have blackheads and scars, which I hope will become minimal soon.
Side effects: Nothing new. I was just thinking about how glad I am about the timing for my accutane. I recommend to anyone who is thinking of starting to do it in the summer. My lips are usually dry in the winter, so I can't imagine how they would be with accutane on top of it. Also, for those still in school, its great to do it over the summer, so that you don't have to worry about the side effects during school, especially when there are more important things to worry about (grades!).
60 more pills till I'm done!

WEEK 11
Skin Condition: So the week was pimple-less until last night. This pore that had been on my chin for a bit grew, and right now its turning into a medium-sized whitehead. Hehe I want to pop it now and make it go away! But I'm not too mad, its one pimple and I have gone a while w/out any. And my period should come soon... haha. The pores on my nose are less and less, I'd say I have 1/4 of what I had before. Scars still visible w/ makeup. They are light pink/brownish. At least i dont have any dents or craters on my skin. It feels smooth if I run my fingers across it (CLEAN fingers!!).
Side effects: Thank you so much for the neosporin/vaseline idea! I used neosporin and that got rid of the nasty dry boogers... haha gross. Lips were not bad this week, just keep putting on aquaphor. Body skin is fine. I had one pimple on my back but that's it. My sister is amazed at how clear my back is! And earlier this week I was sitting out w/ lunch w/ a friend and this other girl, and the girl was complaining about getting a pimple on her cheek. I told her she's lucky it's only one and that her skin was perfect. Then my friend and her told me MY skin was perfect (haha I was wearing makeup of course). And my friend goes, "Ooh Madison, I remember you had a few pimples during school, but now ur skin is great! What did you do?". Haha I told her it must have been the stress at school. LOL. So on a positive my skin is much better, but on a negative people did notice my skin was bad. But I dont care, as long as its fine now!!
I thought I should share with you my routine and products I use, since everything seems to be working well:
I wash my face with a cleanser for dry skin from l'oreal. Then if it's morning, I'll use the Cetaphil Cream and then apply makeup. At night, I'll spread a thin layer of 5% benzoyl peroxide all over my face. I let that dry and apply the Cetaphil cream. My skin doesn't feel dry at all or irritated. Actually, it feels a LITTLE greasy since the cream is very strong. I try to use the St. Ives Apricrot scrub twice a week at night, or sometimes I'll use it w/ my cleanser to make sure all the makeup comes off. For makeup, I use a sheer foundation all over my face and then apply concealer w/ a makeup sponge to my scars and any pimples-- I dont apply any concealer to my cheeks or forehead cuz those are fine. Then I finish off w/ powder and my skin looks pretty good. The two other products I use are aquaphor for my lips, and now neosporin for my nose, but only when needed.
This was a long entry, sorry if I bored anyone. I wish all of you on the 'tane a good pimple free week!

WEEK 10
Okay, so no new pimples this week. Im very excited about this, but right at this moment I cant feel excited because I just broke up w/ my bf. I hope accutane doesnt deepen the depressive feelings.
So yeah, no new pimples. I still have one cyst, and the other two that are somewhat there, I cant tell too much. Scars are the same as last week. Im kinda scared for the week b4 my period, because thats when I brekout lol. Pores still there, in less quantity, basically same as last week.
Side effects: This has been a bad nose week. It's that that (lol sorry gross) dry boogers that hurt. They arent blocking the airway but they are very uncomfortable, and it feels like the whole lining of my nose is cracked. If I pick it starts bleeding, so I refrain myself from doing so. I figured out that for my lips not ti get dry, I have to use aquaphor constantly. This way they never get dry. Cuz b4 I used to use it when my lips already felt and were dry, and it didnt work. So as long as I keep putting it on my lips wont crack or peel or bleed.
Ah sorry Im in such a bad mood. Im trying to distract myself right now. Think about other things. I should stay positive that my acne and scars will be gone and I will be free to meet better guys in college, which is only a little over a month away.

WEEK 9
Skin Condition: Okay good week. The scary pimples I got last week were not part of a major breakout, but popped up because it was the week before my period. Thank goodness. I didn't get any new pimples this week. The two cysts on my chin have gone down a lot, I think they're almost gone. I still have one cyst on my chin, but its not visible. And the pimple that I got under it last week is kinda still there: its alot smaller but there is still a little bit of stuff there. My pores are still not exactly clear. I can say that I have half as many blackheads on my nose as before treatment. I have these pores that line my lips, and they're pretty big yet never come out. So 2night I put warm water on them for a few minutes, they I tried to sequeeze them out. This is gross, but a lot of stuff came out of them, really easily too. You know how blackheads come out, looking like a thin but long snake-like white thing? lol. I put benzoyl peroxide on them, so Im gonna see how they look like tomorrow morning. As far as other things go, the pinkish brownish marks from old pimples seem to be fading a little, but are still there. I look great w/ makeup and right now Im very happy. I have a month and a half til college starts, and I cant wait to see how much I will improve during this time.
Side effects: Very dry lips this week, also coming out in sheets. I cant go anywhere w/out my aquaphor! My body skin is fine as long as I put lotion on it. Otherwise it gets this whitish stuff over it, I'm not sure exactly how to explain it. Also, I worked a lot this week standing up, and my back has started to hurt. I dont think its from the Accutane because I've had this pain b4 during volleyball season. When I lay down it feels really stiff, and it goes away after a bit- I read some other journals where people had this stiff thing too.
Anyway, I would like to thank all of you for ur supporting comments! I really like having this journal, so I can talk to people who know exactly what I'm going through. I am happy to say that right now, as long as I have makeup on, I am very confident around people and Im not scared of looking them right in the eye. Its gonna be great when I can do that wearing no makeup at all. And for all of those that are going through Accutane and the embarassing breakouts, just look at the future, and think about how good ur going to look in a few months. Think about waking up in the morning and worrying about something other than ur acne. Take some pics of ur acne now, while you have it, because its going to be gone very soon!! =)

WEEK 8
Skin Condition: I can't say this was a good week. On Saturday, I got a medium yet gross pimple on the right side of my chin. This side had been clear for 3 weeks, so I was pretty upset. The pimple grew into a white head in one day and I popped it at night, so that it was gone by Monday night, yet left a mark (as always). Bad thing is that if I run my fingers across that area now, I can feel some small bumps, which means that there is more stuff under my skin =(. I still have the three cysts stuck there. And today a new pimple grew under the cyst on the left side of my chin. Argh. I am praying this pimple wont grow too humongous and that I will be able to pop it 2morrow. I still have so many scars too. But they are OK, cuz I can cover them w/ makeup and have my skin look fine. But these pimples... they look bumpy even w/ makeup, I hate it. As for the rest of my face, everything is the same as last week.
Side effects: Same as always. My lips were horribly dry this morning, it was really cracked and I started peeling chunks of skin out, and after peeling some parts were bleeding a little.
I went to the derm on Tuesday. She said I looked better. She also asked me if I was breaking out, and I said only 1-2 pimples a week. She said its good if Im breaking out, because she wants "everything to come out now". Lol I dont wanna breakout!! I guess I dont mind 1 pimple a week, I just dont want to have everything come out at the same time and not be able to leave the house. She also did not raise my dosage, Im still at 40 mg. So right now Im kinda sad because of this new pimple. Whenever I get a new pimple I get depressed, or maybe just scared of what it will look like. I am hoping this new one is not too bad!! Ah. Two months already. Huge improvement but Im only halfway to where I want to be. Slow progress.... noticeable... but not enough... will I ever get there?

WEEK 7
Hey guys thank you for all the advice and feedback! After kissing my boy, I told him jokingly that he "gave me a hickey on my mouth". Haha, I've had no problems since then. And as for questions about college, I'm attending Cornell University in the fall, so I can't wait to be clear for that!
Skin Condition: This week one of tiny pimples from last week got a tiny bit bigger and came out. I can count my pimples to 3 cysts (which are getting smaller) and one SMALL pimple. I am so happy about the way this treatment is going. With makeup on, I feel extremely confident and I am able to really face the world without being embarrassed. The next step is to be able to have this confidence while wearing no makeup. This goal will take a while, since I still need to completely clear up and the scars need to go away. I haven't gotten any new pimples this week, so I'm on my way. On a more negative note, my pores are still not completely clear. I have a lot less on my nose and chin, but there are some that line my mouth that have been there since the beginning of treatment. I have my derm appointment this Tuesday, so we'll see if she raises my dosage or what. I really think my dosage is low! I'm surprised by how much 40mg has done for me though. O yeah; my sister was helping me put lotion on my back, and she was amazed that now I have no more acne on my back. I used to have quite a lot, and now its gone. Now she even wants to take Accutane! My mom is interested too, because even though she is 45, I still see her with occasional small breakouts.
Side effects: I started to peel a bit bcuz of the sun. This always happens, with or without Accutane, but I started putting lotion on my body this week. Face is the same, it's fine as long as I use my Cetaphil cream. As for my lips, some day they are super dry and other days they are okay. Last night I put neosporin ointmet on them, and that made them pretty soft. I am still loving not having oily hair, because now I can go two days w/out washing my hair and have it look good. This treatment is going by so fast, the first week seems like it happened only yesterday. I'll update next week!

WEEK 6
I just came back from the beach today, so I am a little sad. The beach was amazing, I could not ask for a better way to end high school.
Skin Condition: The only new pimples I have gotten this past week are some TINY little ones that look almost like pores on my chin area, around that pimple that I picked last week. That pimple is still there, as another cyst, but its also small and does not hurt. I've been noticing that I get one new pimple a week (though this week I just got like 4 of those tiny pimples). So yes I am happy. I still use makeup though, to cover existing pimples and scars. The scars are lighter but still visible without makeup; they are less red and more brownish too. I wore makeup to the beach everyday. I only got into the ocean once (it was too cold anyway), and I did wet my face slightly but fortunately my makeup didnt come off.
Side effects: I used SPF 30 my first day and then 15 the other days. I didn't burn at all at first, but yesterday I was stupid because it was mostly cloudy and went on the beach w/ no sunscreen, so now I am slightly burned, but nothing that hurts too much. I have quite a nice tan now, considering how light my natural color is. Okay now I have a gross/funny side effect. I met this guy at the beach, and as I kissed him, some stuble around his lips would rub agaist the skin above my lips. After our first night, the skin above my mouth was red and painful, like a hicky (I'm not sure how to spell this). Then the second night we kiseed, it just irritated it more and my skin started peeling there. How embarassing! I don't know what to say, but this cant go on... I like him but I dont want to get burned everytime I kiss him! Anyone have any suggestions? Should I tell him what happened and ask him to shave? Lol. As far as other side effects go, I am really fine. I use cetaphil cream on my face and that keeps my face very moisturized. I use no lotion on my body, and it also isnt dry.
So yes I am happy. All of my cysts are still present but they are smaller (and remember, not very visible). If these cysts are not gone by my next derm appointment, my derm will probably have to raise my dosage, because apparently 40 mg is not enough to let those cysts out. Hehe. I have very positive feelings about Accutane so far, and I want it to keep working like the way it is now. Bye!