In detail,

My first month on Accutane/Isotretinoin

Lets just say it was something I did not expect whatsoever. So after my first appointment with my dermatologist I was told I will have to take a PREGNANCY test every month. Oh and not forgetting the blood tests because they are a bunch of blood sucking monsters lol.

So my first month went a little bit like this. After my first appointment, I was told I am going to be on 30mg a day for 28 days. I was told I cannot WAX for the next six months of the treatment. My first thoughts were damn I’m going to be a hairy bear.

I had an initial breakout which was around my cheeks and forehead, my skin became extremely dry. I wasn’t used to this as I always had an oily T-zone but I had no choice but to get used to it.

So it was 28 days of one 20mg capsule and one tiny 10mg capsule with plenty of water. I felt my skin drying up within the first week/two weeks. My face felt tight like someone had just clipped my skin back. It was quite a weird feeling but after the first month I was well aware of the side effects.

My mental health on the other hand seemed fine. I heard a lot of horror stories about how it can affect your mood and make you feel really low, so I made sure I kept myself on top of things and made an effort to go out and dress up and do things as normal. As I had already given up wearing makeup, it wasn’t that big of an issue for me to not wear makeup. My skin was very flakey, I stopped wearing foundation. I had an initial breakout which was just awful, I started getting spots around my chin and upper lip. A few on my forehead, it was literally everything pushing itself out. That’s the best way I can describe it. Although it wasn’t as horrendous as I expected it to be, it wasn’t just as bad as I thought it would actually be either.

As I was on 30mg to begin with, I was told the dose will get higher as long as I’m responding well to the treatment and I’m feeling okay. I got a check up every month and I had a blood test to check how my liver and kidneys are coping with the medicine (as it’s such a strong medication to be taking). I gave a urine sample in every month, after the first two months of my treatment, it became apparent that it was working well for me but as the dose got higher, the side effects were more apparent to me.

Love, Mona xo

I’m a woman who LOVES her skin care routines, trying new products. I’m a lover of face masks, home remedies and trying the new new thangs.

It’s safe to say I would be missing it more than anything. Starting Accutane, I was told I’m not allowed to use face masks of any kind. You read it right.. for the next six months. Torture or what?!…

I was advised to stop waxing and I was also told to stop using certain creams which could potentially aggravate my acne.

I love using my Pixi toner (which I have like x4 brand new bottles of) I love my lush natural face masks (I know you’re probably thinking it’s all natural so how can it affect you). It can, because the dermatologists/my consultant wanted to see my progress with the Accutane medicine alone. So I bravely got rid of all my face masks and toners.. by getting rid I mean I gave my sisters everything I had bought lol.

My first month on Accutane was probably one of the worst, six months of the treatment. My skin felt a lot tighter in the first two weeks, I started getting flakey skin and horrible horrible chapped dry crusty lips. That’s when my Carmex lipbalm became my knight in shining armour and saved my crusty lips.

My first month consisted of really extremely dry skin, so I was told to ditch my beloved Kiehls ultra facial cream and use Aveeno instead. So I stopped using Kiehls as it broke me out in more spots. I started using Aveeno and Cetaphil which is GREAT by the way for extremely dry skin. It’s like the BAE OF BAE!.

My lips would occasionally bleed in the morning, i stopped using matte liquid lipsticks or any matte lipsticks for that matter. My lips were really dry and sore but I didn’t mind it as much. By the end of the month I got used to dry skin and dry lips. I’ve always had combination skin so I’ve never had a problem with having super dry skin until I started the Accutane acne skin treatment.

I asked the dermatologist what would be good for me to use whilst on the treatment, I was told that I should use products which are approved by dermatologists, so I bought a big bottle of Cetaphil which is specifically created for those who are going through dermatology treatments. I stocked up on my Carmex lipbalm – I bought six and I’m now on number eight. In my first month I used the lipbalm over 15x a day.

My skin care routine vanished from using the Pixi Toner, Lush Fresh Farmacy Soap

to using the Cetaphil skin cleanser, moisturiser and Aveeno

It was as simple as that, no fuss and no more experimenting.

The second month was just…

Until the next post

Withlovemona xo

I’m joking, no I’m actually serious.

I have suffered from acne since the age of 13. It’s probably been one of them the hardest things I have had to battle and overcome. Acne is something that’s always frowned upon, people start to question you and what you are doing ‘wrong’ it’s so hard to deal with something you have NO control over.

I tried everything and when I mean everything, I mean absolutely EVERY DAMN THING. I started to eat clean, drink water constantly, cut out rubbish and bad foods and fizzy pop. The water helped but my acne was always hormonal and still is. I was offered the drug Accutane (Roaccutane) as some may know it as. I was aged 17 and offered that drug to help with my acne. At that time I refused as I was genuinely too scared to take something that has a lot of side effects and if I could go back and change my decision I wouldn’t. At the age of 16+ your hormones are all over the place, you are at school and you just want to be accepted, which is something that can cause you to feel alone and isolated. That’s why a drug at that age is definitely a no no and I wouldn’t recommend anyone to take it until you are at a suitable age to deal with your emotions to a certain extent and to differentiate between the drug changing your emotions and hormonal balance and you, yourself.

My acne was pretty bad, it started all over my forehead and starting to spread down to my cheeks and chin. It was pretty painful, I tried a lot of home remedies and creams/masks but nothing helped me. At the age of 23 I decided to finally give Accutane a go. I was so scared but I knew I had to do it. It was taking over my life, I wouldn’t open the door without a full face of makeup. I wouldn’t go out without makeup on. Before I decided to go for the treatment I promised myself I would at least stop wearing makeup for a period of time to see how I cope. So I did it, for a year I stopped wearing makeup outside and inside the house. I only wore makeup on special occasions and it genuinely boosted my confidence a lot. For someone who loves makeup and wore it whenever she possibly could, I couldn’t have felt happier. I was makeup free and I felt much better within myself and my confidence was at an all time high. I thought people would treat me differently without makeup and I assumed people would think I’m ugly. But at first I did get a few people look at me weirdly, but after a while I got used to it and so did everyone else. I became less reliant on makeup and more reliant on myself and my healthy state of mind.

Being 23, armed with a lot of wisdom and maturity (I hope lol). I decided to go ahead and get a GP referral for Accutane. I went in without makeup and was seen by a consultant and a student nurse. I was sceptical about trying the treatment and asked questions about how it can affect your mental health and how you should be careful and always be monitored on the drug.

I was told I will need to have a six month course of the drug for it to work on me. This is when my whole skin care changed completely.

Until the next post,

Withlovemona xo