6 week post Roaccutane

So it has now been 6 weeks since my last dose of Roaccutane. I knew it would take a few weeks for it to be out my system and for my skin to get back to normal. Well new normal as i won't have spots and i hope my skin won't be as oily. It took a couple of weeks for my lips to stop peeling and being sore. One day i just relised i was not having to put lip balm on every couple of hours. 

My eczema took a while to clear up. It stopped being itchy but stayed dry for a few weeks. There are still a couple of red patches on my legs. My skin is still very fragile and and wee cut takes a long time to heal. 

As for my face i have had no breakouts since i think month 2 or 3. When i take my make up off or even put moisturiser on it causes my face to go red. But it soon fades. I have found i am not putting very much make up on. More because i am lazy! I put powder and blush on everday and sometimes eye make up. 

I am so pleased with my skin. It has really boosted my confidence all round really. Although i had some side effects and i was getting so frustrated with it in the end. They really were not as bad as they could be. I was so worried about my mental health as i have suffered from clinical depression on and off since i was on my early teens. But i didn't feel down at all. Infact i was feeling really good even though i had left my job in the nursery. It was something i needed to do. 

I am going to write another blog about my Roaccutane survival kit! 

End of month 4 on Roaccutane

Well i have finally finished my course of Roaccutane. Thank god i was only on it for 4 months as my skin was so dry for the final month. My face wasn't too bad it was more my body. I could feel the tightness on my back from the skin being really dry and my legs where in a horrible state. I ended up getting lots of small patches of eczema on my legs that where so itchy and sore. 

So this was the morning i took my last dose. No spots at all just the scars on my chin. 

My left eye lid has been getting really dry and flakey the last week or so. 

Every few days in the last month of the course i kept getting a really red and hot face. 

The last few photos are what my lega have been like the last month. They have been so itchy! I have been making sure i put plenty of diprobase on them to try and get rid of the eczema. 

I go to see Dr Holmes on the 8th of August for the final time. Which is 5 weeks after i have finished the tablets. I won't be up dating as much on my skin now that i have finished but every few months i will do a post on how my skin is doing post Roaccutane. 

Week 14

So i have 2 more weeks left of my treatment. I am so looking forward to finishing it now. My face got really red and blotchy again on wednesday. This is me will full make up on! When i left the house in the morning my face was fine but at lunch time i noticed my face felt really hot and when i went to the loo i saw my face was really red.

My make up must of worn off because it looks like i dont have any on!

My skin has been so dry the past couple of weeks. Not so much on my face but my legs and arms. I have wee patches of ezema all over my legs and a few on my arms. The patches are not very big maybe 1cm but there are quite a lot of them. These are yhe biggest patches. I have been putting diprobase on regulary in hope they clear up! 

I was a little careless and managed to get sun burnt! When i am out in the garden at nursery i usually make sure the kids and i have cream on. I forgot to put some on in the morning as it was such a busy day! I will try and stay inside as much as posible for the next few days so my skin can heel. And make sure i put plenty of cream on. 

End of Month 3 of Roaccutane

So I have reached the end of month number 3 of my Roaccutane treatment. I am feeling pretty good about it and looking forward to finishing my final month. I have been extremely lucky when it comes to side effects all I have had is dry skin and tiredness. My lips are still really dry and are peeling. I got told to try Fleitol  lip balm and wow it is so good. I really wish I had discovered it at the beginning of my treatment. I will be using it in the winter when my lips can get really dry.

In the middle of month 3 both sides of my face became really red and small red spots appeared, it was really painful even putting moisturiser on. I am really not sure what caused it. I had been out in the sun a couple of days before and I had just started wearing Simple-Kind to skin + protecting moisturiser SPF 30. I stopped using the cream which is a pity as it's twice the SPF of my normal moisturiser and since its now coming into summer I need that extra protection. Once the spots had cleared up my skin was really dry, so I put my No.7 hydrating mask on 3 or 4 nights in a row.

Rash on left cheek.

Right cheek

This was my face a few days after the spots appeared.

My lips have been peeling quite a bit and are quite red at the side.

The middle of month 3

End of month 3

End of month 2.

Slightly late are writing this as it is now the end of week 9. My second month on Roaccutane really hasn't been very eventful. I have had to really make sure I al keeping up on moisturising or my skin feels really tight. I have got a wee dry patch on my left cheek  that just doesn't want to go away! No matter how much I moisturise it.

My lips are still the hardest thing to keep from drying out and cracking. When I wake up in the morning they are really painful. 

I have a small patch of eczema on my arm and my tummy. I have always had dry hands and have had to put hand cream on a lot, but since i started my treatment they have got worse. The skin around my finger joints get really hard, lumpy and sore. Then they will turn white and there will be a layer of really dry skin that will peel off. It looks like i have left PVA glue on my hands and its peeking off! Then my hands won't look so bad, then it starts all over again. Think i have gone through 2 tubes of hand cream since i started my treatment! 

I forgot to mention in month 1 my scalp got really dry and flaky  so I had to go out and get head and shoulders. It was really itchy at first but after a few days the shampoo was working and I now don't see any flakes and it's not itchy. I have found it makes my hair really heavy and my curls are not as bouncy. I am looking forward to being able to change my shampoo again. I am going to try shampoo and conditioner for curly hair and see how that goes.

I have found when I am really tired at night my eye sight is slightly blurry. I find watching TV a challenge.

I went to see Doctor Holmes yesterday Friday the 2nd of May. He was pleased that I was reacting well to the treatment and I was not getting to many side effects. I got a blood test to see how my body was reacting to the treatment. He said that a 4 month treatment should suit me well. So I got months 3's supply and I was to go back on the 2nd of June for my last months treatment. Then I was to see him on 8th of August which is 5 weeks after I finish treatment for my last pregnancy test. 

I asked him about the scaring and he said it could take up to a year to fade. He said that the Vit A helps get rid of the spots and it also helps with the scaring. He said if after a year I wasn't happy with the scaring he would refer me onto a plastic surgeon to see what they can do for me.

I also asked him how long I should wait before getting waxed and tattooed, and he said a month, but I looked it up online and people said to wait at least 6 months to reduce the risk of scaring.

End of week 5-Don't think I had any spots in the picture. My eye brows look good.

End of week 6- Just the 1 spot here under my lip.

End of week 7- Just up got some great morning in this picture. I must say not as bad as some mornings!

End of week 8- Looking slightly grumpy! I am not long up and my eyes were sore.

Wee close up up the scaring on my chin. They are really red right now but I guess once I have finished my treatment the redness will fade a little.

Month 1 complete on Roaccutane.

Month No.1

So my first month on Roaccutane has not been too eventful which is really good since I have heard a few horror stories.

End of week 1

Week 1- For the first two days I had a constant headache. My face became really hot and tight and round my nose and mouth was really red. I went out and bought good foundation because the redness was making me self  conscious. I got a few new spots and they were very painful!

End of week 2

Week 2- My face stopped feeling really hot all the time in my 2nd week. It started to peel really bad round my nose and mouth. No matter how much moisturiser I put on my skin still got really dry mid way through the day. So I went back to the No.7 counter and got a rescue balm and a moisture mask, which has improved the peeling. I have added pictures down below. My lips are really dry and I have to make sure I am putting plenty of lip balm on. I have found Blistex MEDPLUS  works best on my lips and I have one in my bag and one at work. The spots that appeared last week settled down mid week which was really quick for me.

End of week 3

Week 3- My skin has been looking really good this week and I have had a few complements from people with my make up and the spots I have had cleared up pretty quickly. What I have noticed is I am exhausted all the time! I had a look online and apparently it can make you really tired for the whole treatment. 

End of week 4

Week 4- My skin got a little dry again so I used my hydration mask 2 nights in a row and made sure I was putting plenty of moisturiser on. I got a few more spots this week below my nose and right on my lower lip. They were not very big and came up and went down pretty quickly. as long as I keep up with my moisturiser my skin has not been too bad. The thing that has irritated me the most is my dry lips. I have noticed when I take my make up off and use cleanser on cotton wool my face goes very red for a good 20-30 mins after.

I went to the hospital on the 28th for my pregnancy test and to get my prescription. I noticed when I got home that I won't have enough tablets to get me through to the 2nd on May when I see Dr Holmes again. I will run out on the 29th of April! I will have to phone the hospital on Monday on my day off to see what to do about it.

I have made this picture really big just so you can see the dryness and peeling round my nose and chin. I didn't manage to get a photo of it at its worst. I had a big dry bit right on the tip of my nose.

So this is what my skin looks like when I have been using the really good moisturiser.

Tried and Tested No.7 Beautiful Skin

So I thought I would do a couple of product reviews on 2 products that are really helping me get through my Roaccutane treatment. Even 3 weeks in.

My first week I was using Nivea Daily Essential for dry skin, but it just wasn't working for me at all. I had really dry skin around my nose and mouth. So on day 13 I went back to boots and picked up a couple of No.7 moisturisers. 

The first one being the Beautiful Skin- Dry Skin Rescue. £12 for 50ml

The moisturiser is a very thick consistency and a little goes a long way, it gets absorbed pretty quickly and I am able to put my make-up on pretty much straight away. It is hypo-allergenic so no chance of having an allergic reaction. I started using it 14 days into my treatment, as my skin was so dry and peeling around my nose, mouth, chin and between my eyebrows. I put it on in the morning and before I went to my bed. Within 3-4 days of using it daily I really noticed a difference. Apart from a small bit of peeling round my nose my skin looked visibly healthier. It also felt better as when my skin is dry and peeling it feels really tight and halfway through the day it would get painful when I was using my regular moisturiser.  I read a few reviews on the boots website and all of them were positive. Someone did mention that it was very difficult to get the last wee bit out of the tube and it dries out after a few days if you cut the top off the tube. I think what I would do is get one of the wee tub that you get for putting your cosmetics in and cut off the top the tube and scrape the last bit out and put it in the wee tubs so it doesn't dry out. 

Overall I am very pleased with this moisturiser and will continue to use it throughout my treatment. Added 10/4/14 I have just put my moisturiser on and i noticed that at the top of the tube on both sides there is cracks i guess from having to squeeze the tube so hard to get any out. So i have just cut the top off and used a knife to scrape it all out and put it into a small cosmetics bottle so it doesn't dry out. You would think they would put it in an air lock tube like the hydrating mask so you could use all the product with out wasting any. It still does wonders for my skin just in an anoying container!

Along with the Dry Skin Rescue I have been using 

Beautiful Skin Hydrating Mask for dry/very dry skin £12.50 for 100ml

The first thing I noticed about this product is the layers of colour, it looks so cool! It said to massage it onto your face and leave it on for 3 mins or 10 mins if your skin is really dry. Then just wipe it off with cotton wool. 1 pump is enough to cover my whole face and it feels like an oily moisturiser, but it doesn't feel horrible at all. The 1st time I put it on I was reading my book and really got into it. I forgot I had the face mask on if I am totally honest and did go to sleep with it on as it did just feel like I had a really thick moisturiser on. I am using it 2-3 times a week and along with the Beautiful Skin Rescue my dry skin is really under control.

These two products are really helping me through my treatment I will definitely continue to use them throughout my treatment. I don't know what my skin will be like after my treatment but I may also use them after too.