Offering some answers

I thought it would be nice to answer to some questions people typed in Google before getting to my isotretinoin blog.

How to reduce lip drying due to sotret - it is perfectly normal for lips to dry when on isotretinoin treatment. This is the most disturbing side effect: skin drying; the lips feel the most uncomfortable. The best thing you can do to reduce the lip drying is to drink a lot of water and keep yourself hydrated. I also had a post about the products I use while on treatment. Nivea lip care is my choice for moisturizing the lips. It works fine and it doesn't cost much

Do you always breakout on accutane - no, not necessarily always. You might expect some breakouts during the treatment, but not always. The IB (initial breakout) is the worst and occurs during the beginning of the treatment. For instance, I have been experiencing breakouts (some of them were mild, others were aggresive) until my 5th month of treatment. It took 5 months for me to see improvements. So if you are experiencing any breakouts, just stay calm, your skin will also improve.

5th Sotret (accutane) month

So on June 20th I started my 5th month on the isotretinoin treatment. I have talked to my dermatologist and she said to keep taking Sotret 30mg per day until July 1st. Then I will lower the dosage to 20mg. And after finishing my Sotret medication, I will start taking Accutane (as you may already know, sotret is not made anymore).

The best part: my skin has improved! Still have the scars, but just a pimple per week (and getting away after a couple of days) is excellent at the moment! I hope I won't have any new breakouts. So the results worth waiting for 5 months (at least in my case).

I haven't noticed any new side effects, except that my fingers started peeling because of the dehydratation. Not a big deal, though.

Sotret (accutane) nose bleeding

The previous week I noticed another Sotret side effect. For 3 days, I've been having daily nose bleedings. The first two days it happened in the morning, while for the 3rd time, it happened in the afternoon. My nose has never bled before on isotretinoin and I got pretty scared after it happened because I thought it's not normal for me to bleed that often.

The reason why your nose bleeds while on sotret treatment is because it gets very dry (as the pills dry all your skin). If you want to avoid this side effect, make sure you drink a lot of water so that you'll be hydrated. Another way of dealing with it is to have a bowl filled with water in your room. This way the humidity will rise.

However, what I don't suggest you to do is to use vaseline. As long as it's not made for oiling the human nose, why use it?

So if you get this side effect while on treatment, don't panic! It's normal.

Why you should give Sotret (accutane) a try

note: sotret is the same thing with accutane. The only thing that differs is the brand name. But both of them contain the same substance: isotretinoin, which helps control the acne. So whether I'm using "sotret" or "accutane", I am talking about the same thing.

I am sure everyone thinks deeply before starting a Sotret (or accutane) treatment. And I'm saying that because I did that too. I knew that this new dermatologist was going to prescribe Sotret (as I have a colleague that was on this treatment and visited the same doctor) so I had thought before if I should go for this treatment or not. And I did it.

Well, let me say my opinion about this. First of all, you should think whether you need the sotret/accutane treatment or not. If you have mild acne and you haven't tried anything before, I would suggest you not to jump right into it. Just try to see the reason why you suffer from acne. It may be the hormones, the dirty skin etc. And of course, visit a doctor. If everything seems to be fine but you can't get rid of that acne, then ask your dermatologist if he is ok with you following sotret treatment. 

But to stick to the treatment you have to be motivated. Of course, while some people are motivated by their extremely bad acne, others still try to inform as much as possible about the treatment. Before starting out, read the sotret side effects (see my 2nd months side effects here). The first side effect you will notice is the dry skin and lips (I wrote about it here). Keep in mind that your skin will peel and it will not look that good in the first months. I accepted this challenge because my acne looks damn crappy anyway. So why would that side effect bother me, while the pills may cure my acne? The other side effects you may notice are: back aches/joint pain, lack of concentration (I notice both of them), bleeding nose etc. Not to forget the fact that you may experience breakouts (during the entire course, periodically, rarely or never, depending on your luck). Also, you should take regular blood tests (1 test per month/a month and a half would do), to make sure the liver is not affected by the sotret treatment. And if you notice some weird or bad side effects, let your doctor know. 

Now that you are aware of all the sotret side effects and you know for how much time you will take the pills (some people do it for 5 months, others for 8 etc), maybe you should start the treatment. By the way, don't even think about following the sotret treatment without seeing a doctor. 

And to mention what motivated me: there are lots of chances to get rid of the acne. I know I'll have cracked lips and skin for months, I know I can breakout so I may look worse than ever. But who wouldn't prefer this for a couple of months than having acne for a long period of time?

Skin dryness

Once you start taking isotretinoin (sotret, roaccutane or any other brand), you'll notice that your skin will dry. That's because one of this medicine's effects are on the sebaceous glands. In my case, as I used to have an extremely oily face (3 hours after washing, my face was already shining, haha), it took 3 or 4 days after starting the treatment to notice the sebum reduction. 4 weeks after, my skin started exfoliating and my lips cracking. It's normal to happen like this and I knew about it before deciding to go for these pills.

Anyway, I will post what my dermatologist recommended for dryness:

• first of all, a baby soap. At the moment I use Nivea Baby, it works fine.
• when washing your face, use lukewarm water (not cold, not warm).
• your lips may get on your nerves, so always have a lip balm in your pocket. I use Nivea Lip Care. Oh, and if you are a male too, get the blue one. Or if you want some colour on your lips, get something else.
• in case you feel your eyes dry: Visine - I don't feel the need, so I don't use it.
• if you want to apply a moisturizer, my dermatologist told me to use something light. For instance: Hydrance Lejere or Hydracristal fluid termal (from Uriage). - I also don't want to apply anything on my face (I've been using Brevoxyl for more than 2 years, enough with cremes), although my skin is peeling. It's not that bad, though.

As you may see, I don't use the last 2.

So, if any of you uses or recommends anything else, please post a comment.

The first 2 months on Sotret (accutane)

In 3 days I will have completed my 2nd month of treatment. However, the results are missing. Anyway, as many of you may know, this medication reacts differently from person to person. For some people 1 or 2 months are necessary, while for others it may even take 4 months. Moreover, I have recently had an outbreak but now it's gone. But taking into account the fact that I've been having bad acne for 3 years, why panic? I'm sure the medication will have good results.

Oh, not to forget. At the beginning I started with 30mg of Sotret daily. For 1 month, I've been taking 2 x Sotret 20mg. The next week I will see the doctor.

Regarding the Sotret side effects, I must say that it's not that bad in my case. It's true, my skin and lips are very dry and from time to time, I feel some slightly back aches (lasting a couple of seconds). But these are regular effects which you are aware of before starting taking the pills. Oh, and I haven't noticed any kind of depression.

If necessary, I will come back with more details after I will visit the doctor. Nevertheless, keep visiting this blog to find out how the treatment is going and to see my complete sotret review.