Isotretinoin

[SweetPeaPods]

After seeing dermatology at the local hospital he recommended isotretinoin after trying various antibiotics. I have my meeting with the hospital tomorrow to start on isotretinoin. I am really scared. The side effects sounds horrendous. I’m really worried about my skin getting worse before it gets better. I already suffer from dry skin in winter so worried I’m not going to be able to cover up with make up for work. I have a works do in a few weeks so lack of alcohol will be interesting! Would welcome any advice or suggestions.

Vaseline, lansiloh, blisteeze. Your lips will be so dry it's insane. I've been on it 3 times. Honestly it's amazing, it does get a bit worse but that's only for a week or so.

But the dryness.. ugh! You need to keep on top of it. Find a combination that works for your lips and skin and it'll be fine. My skin went from cysts under the skin the size of 50p pieces to completely clear in 2 months.

Oats in the bath helped with dryness, Vaseline in my nose helped with nosebleeds, washing with emollient wash and putting it in the bath is really nice, nothing too smelly. Lips- I found a combination of blistex intense lip therapy then coated with Vaseline really really helped, eye drops helped the feeling of gritty eyes which is worse when you get tired. The best thing though was that I could have an extra hour in bed because I didn't have to wash my hair apart from once a week. It just doesn't get greasy.

PM if you want to know more. I was the youngest person in the uk to have it when I was 10 I had to see a professor and have all these mental blood tests, and have lots of appointments with all these medical people who wrote papers on me 🤦‍♀️Then again when I was 15 and then again at 18 but my skin is 1000% better now im 27.

Really helpful thank you. Really pleased to hear it can work, gives me confidence. Better stock up on moisturiser and lip cream. Is it worth getting eye drops/spray too?

Honestly it's worth using it. As said above lips can be a nightmare, my dorm nurse said to buy carmex for the lips, I used naseptin up my nose because that was so dry and it used to bleed. Get a really good moisturiser for your skin, mine was paper thin and ripped quite easily.

You can drink on it a little if your liver remains ok. But you'll have bloods done regularly anyway.

Would I take it again despite a deranged liver and cholesterol? Yes, yes and yes again. My skin is lovely now.

I would get some in case you might not have that issue but it's horrible having to find somewhere that does the most basic eye drops ever, so you don't want bright eyes or anything like that, it's because your tears can dry up. So my eyes felt really gritty and horrible. But it was during work it happened so I had to drive so that wasn't fun! But you might not have any of those symptoms. I didn't during the first 2 treatments.

One thing I will say though- suncream, suncream suncream!!! I burned so badly on a cloudy day I was shocked! If it looks remotely sunny or bright out there you need to put suncream on. Because sunburn when you already have sore dry skin from
This is hell on Earth.

It is so worth it though. I remember having my uni friends comment on how amazing my skin looked about 2 months into my treatment and how that made it all okay. :)

I've had it, DD2 has had it and DD1 is on it now! With a gradual build-up the flare is usually not as bad. Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour cream is fantastic, also cortibalm (Ebay) for cracked corners of lips. It was magic for me and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Good luck.

I've worked in dermatology clinics and seen some great results

Important to remember birth control though as it can be very dangerous for the foetus.

I’ve been put on the pill feather.
Kind of annoyed now that I didn’t take advantage of the 8 hour cream in duty free last week!
I’ll be daft not to try it but it’s so scary!

So treatment started. Cracking headache and flaky red skin to go with. Really worried about work this week as tried putting on some concealer yesterday and it looked awful, really flaky. Any recommendations for makeup? I have a really important presentation to do Friday and crying thinking about it.
Going to pop to boots today to see if I can get a different shampoo as my scalp is flaky too. I wasn’t expecting to see any drying effects so soon!

I put tons of moisturiser and a layer of 8 hour cream on in the morning, leave it to sink in while I'm getting dressed and having breakfast, then I use a bb cream over the top. Then cover any spots with many, many layers of concealer and pressed powder. Carry a mirror with you and keep checking your face isn't peeling throughout the day - the number of times I've come out of a meeting, happily chatting away to everyone only to then catch sight if my reflection and realise my face has been shedding like a snake the whole time . I top up with 8 hr cream or a thick moisturiser during the day, leave it to soak in a bit, then powder over the top. Trying to put any liquid make-up (foundation, concealer) on later on in the day just highlights the flakiness and makes my face look like a Halloween mask!

Also be prepared for your skin to get better, then worse, before it gets better again. Mine was almost clear by month 3 then it all went downhill. Currently on month 6 and I do feel like it's starting to clear again.

Sweet the only foundation I could use was Estée Lauder double wear, I had to have it properly matched because my skin was so red and flaky. I mixed some foundation with moisturiser, still looked a bit mask like but better than uncovered skin that looked like I had the plague.

What 8 hour cream do you recommend? I ordered a travel set to try that contains hand cream, lip balm and skin protectant but the skin protectant isn’t what I was expecting. It feels like covering my face in vasoline and can’t imagine trying to put make up over it?

Trinby thanks for the heads up!

The skin protectant is the one I use. You only need a tiny amount and leave it for as long as you can to soak in before you put make up on. I've never had any issues putting make up on over the top of it.

Lansinoh nipple balm is the very best thing for dry cracked lips. It's 100% lanolin (which is one of the main ingredients in EA 8hr cream.) and I promise it's a miracle worker.

Good luck with your treatment. Focus on your end goal.

Honestly I'd weight up the benefits of doing it very very closely. It really affected my mental health. Also my acne came back, twice. I'm on evening primrose oils capsules now and they've had the biggest impact on my skin.

My DS recommends CeraVe face wash and moisturiser while on this. Paw paw balm was helpful for dry lips/nostrils. Aveeno, Klorane (peony for irritated scalp) and T/gel shampoos all eased scalp issues. Wishing you the best with it, op and hope the presentation goes well.

Maybe talk to your derm about going on a low dose for a longer period of time. This is what mine recommended, and I had no nasty side effects. Skin dried up, but wasn't flaky - just wasn't oily!
Eyes, joints, skin - no probs. Dry inside of my nose at first, but that really wasn't an issue!

I've been on this coming up a year and my skin is great. It did get worse before it got better though. But - it's worth it. I haven't had a spot in months.

One thing I would say though is that spots you do get are more likely to scar so it's soooo important not to pop them if you don't absolutely have to. My skin is clear now but I do have some small scars from that, although they are fading.

Has anyone else had an increase in depression? I've been feeling low since taking it but not sure if it's correlation or causation. And having acne made me feel pretty low too!

@AtlasQueen you really need to call your derm nurse, you should have a number. I was questioned at each appointment about how my mental health was doing. P,ease don't leave it because they take it very seriously.

@AtlasQueen yes it can affect mood. I felt like everything was dulled on it, so I felt like I was in a fog, every negative thing was 10000% worse and happy things didn't feel quite as good as they should. You need to talk to them ASAP.

Thanks- I will. My skin is clear now anyway so I’m probably ready to come off

@AtlasQueen I'd recommend speaking with your doctor ASAP if your feeling low. Glad your skin has cleared up. Acne can be such a Debbie downer

What do they do if you are feeling low? Reduce your dose or stop it?

atlasqueen how did you get on?
My scalp is driving me mad, feels like it’s burning. Had a big flare up on face this weekend, very red and sore. Can’t believe how much moisturiser I’m going through!!