Monday, August 04, 2003
Time change!
So, today I realized that I've hit 79th day on accutane. And 24 days of that is on 60mg (both 20mg and 40mg pill taken at night) and before that, I was on 40mg.
So, according to the number of pills I've taken, I'm really 2 days into my 11th week. And here I am, thinking this Wed would be 11th week, when I'm really only 5 days away from my 12th week. So, I'm like 5 days off.
So, I guess I'll be updating this Saturday for 12th week, instead of updating this Wed for 11th week. (So, I'm farther into accutane than I thought. Damnit! and I'm still breaking out! Damnit!!)
I stayed home all day today (Sunday). Didn't even pick up phone calls from friends and didn't even call them back. Didn't wanna go out. But I did want to do my laundry, cuz I wanna wash my pillowcases.
I decided to start doing a few things in order to help clear the acne:
1. Abstain from dairy products, coffee, soda, juices, fried food, and seafood.
2. Drink lots of water and eats lots of fruits and vegetable.
3. Under NO circumstances should I let my hair down. I think letting my hair down for like an hour yesterday probably made my right cheek worse. (I planned to go to this party, but decided not to go at the last minute. I think I made the right decision since the people, heat, and sweat would have definitely made my skin worse. So, I'm glad I stayed home.)
4. Only go out for work, appointments, interviews, emergencies, etc. Stay home at all times. I think staying home all day today made me feel better, because I don't have to deal with the emotional and mental pain of facing the world. Plus, it's the summer now and the heat and sun can worsen the acne, right?
5. Change pillowcases every night or every other night at the most.
Ok, I can only think of these 5 things now. I'm tempted to add: Sleep earlier. But I think this is farfetch.
Here is an update of what my beauty regimen is so far:
1. Every morning and night, wash with Cetaphil Cleanser for normal to oily skin.
2. Every morning and night, pat face with a cottonball of Hydrogen Peroxide (on infected areas and open wounds only).
3. Every night, 60mg of Accutane.
Saturday, August 09, 2003
Week 12:
Was supposed to see the derm yesterday, but he wasn't there, so will see him next Tuesday. But I'm not happy since I'm running out of 20mg pills, but still have enough 40mg pills.
I stopped using the Hydrogen Peroxide about 2 or 3 days ago and for the past 2 days, I have only been washing my face with water in the morning and Cetaphil at night.
Read that HP might not be such a great idea afterall on this acne healthboards:
It's a pretty helpful and supportive healthboard, so check it out!
I took pics about 2 nights ago and my skin looks about the same as the last time I took pics (1 week and a half ago). But with some improvements. =) but I don't wanna be too happy since Accutane is an up and down process.
Last time, I wrote about doing a few things to help clear my acne such as changing pillowcases and drinking lots of water. Well, I'm glad to say that I've been keeping up with it.
I changed my pillowcase every nite, drank lots and lots of water everyday, ate at least one fruit (mostly apples) a day and some veggies, kept my hair tied up almost all the time, and have been staying home A LOT. I even took a leave from work so I can stay home. I kept my phone turned off most of the time, so I don't have to bother to make excuses with my friends when I don't wanna go out. I am thankful for them, though, because I feel loved...they are looking for me, even though, I never seem to want to do anything anymore and don't even call them back. Acne has made me anti-social and I don't like it one bit! I wanna go out!! and have fun!! =(
Let me talk about the condition of my skin now:
So far, like a said: a slight bit of improvement.
My neck has gotten a lot better since the first time I wrote. The blisteringly red, huge zits are becoming smaller. Although, today I just got another huge one on my left neck, a little under my jawline. The right side of the neck has 2 huge ones with smaller, subsiding zits.
Remember the HUGE zit I wrote about back at week 10? Well, it's still here, but has gotten smaller. These couple of days, it bled some and scabbed. Speaking of scabs, I got a lot of scabs all over my face, some tiny, some a little more noticeable. (1 on my forehead, 4 on my left cheek, 7 on my right cheek, 2 on my neck, 3 on my chin). Damn! That's a LOT!!
Let me talk about my cheeks:
Left cheek has 3 new large eruptions a couple of days ago. They seemed to have evolved from smaller ones. Well, one seems to be subsiding slowly. The other 2 hasn't really budged. Then, of course, there's the HUGE one from week 10, still hanging around. And 3 others right on the apple of my cheek. I have many smaller ones all along my cheek up to my temple.
Right cheek was horrible just a couple of days ago. Since it was worse than the left to start with, it looked horrible after an eruption of at least 2 painful zits. Now, that area has subsided a bit and there's a cluster of scabs there. A bumpy one right on the apple of my right cheek. Many smaller ones.
By the way, scabs are the reason I stopped washing with soap 2x a day. I find that I wash my face harsher when there's soap on my face in order to get the soap off, which causes already-there scabs to break and pimples to break open, and thus, creating more scabs. So, I just rinse with water now (sometimes a few times a day when I think it's dirty.)
My left jawline is also better than the right side with a couple of pimples. The right jawline has pimples all along it up to the ears. However, I think the jawline has improved like the neck.
Now onto 2 pimples in places that I really hate. One is right between my eyes. I think that's the first one there since I've been on Accutane. Let's hope it's the first and last. Also, I can feel and see a slight hint of one on my nose!! It's on the right side of my bridge. I don't usually break out on my nose, so this is really making me unhappy, but I'm trying to NOT freak out since it just might go away before it even come out. Let's hope so.
My forehead is getting clearer except for like a cluster of 3 pimples together looking like one gigantic one. But it's slowly subsiding.
It's so hard to keep track of every pimple since I got so many.
Side effects:
Recently, my contacts seems to be drying out more, but I don't know whether that's just because I need to put in a new pair or a side effect of accutane.
My hair seems drier and my lips are still dry. However, I find myself applying Chapstick less often.
Still scratching my arms and legs some, but seems less these past few days. Maybe it's because I have been using the Cetaphil moisturizer.
Today, I bought something called Aloe Care by Roberts Research Laboratories. I read that Aloe Vera is great for the skin on the healthboard above and so decided to buy it. I don't wanna put any on my face yet, but I apply some on my body when it's itchy, since it's actually supposed to be a moisturizer, but it's non-greasy and not oily at all!. Well, the bottle of aloe vera that I bought does not say how many % of aloe it is; it just says "pure aloe vera gel." So, I don't wanna put any on my face yet. Instead, I'm using my brother's back as my guinea pig. He has some pimples and acne scars there. Let's see if it helps.
I hope next week will bring more improvements and positive results!
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