I’m guessing you’re expecting a wonderful post about some miracle, natural home remedy acne solution that I’ve found and has cleared up my acne in no time flat. But that’s not the case. Well, I guess that depends how you see it. About 6 months ago, I made the decision to go on Accutane. I actually talked about it in a post once to get second opinions from people. Most of the opinions were negative but I also saw many positive ones. So once I started taking accutane, I decided to keep that info out of my blog so I wouldn’t have other people’s opinions changing my own.
So let’s go back to the beginning. I’ve always had a little bit of acne. Nothing to get super upset about, but enough that I saw a dermatologist when I was in high school, when I was in college, and after college. But it wasn’t until I started CrossFit and was competing, that my acne got out of control. And when I say out of control, I mean it was incredibly painful to the touch. I had bad cystic acne that hurt when I was just putting on make up. But since the acne was so bad, putting on make up was my only choice. I’m not sure if it was CrossFit that changed my complexion, but I’m almost certain it had to do with it because of the changes in estrogen and other hormones.
Anyways, after trying many different home remedies such as oil pulling and oil cleansing, changes to my eating habits, removing fish oil from my diet, consuming cod liver oil, and different essential oils, I decided to try some prescription strength drugs. After trying spironolactone and other prescription drugs as well as topical medication, I was finally at a loss. It had been almost 3 years of fighting this cystic acne that was going to lead to much worse scarring if I didn’t do something about it. So I decided to try Accutane out and my dermatologist immediately agreed.
Accutane is a high dose of vitamin A, that you take on a daily basis. Most treatments, like mine, are around 6 months. Some people have to do multiple sessions, but not everyone. Accutane is taken very seriously by not only the doctor, but also the state. It is a state regulation that you must be on birth control while taking Accutane because the birth defects are so awful. There are also other side effects such as depression, muscle and joint pain, extremely dry skin and eyes, and a whole hell of a lot of other things, but those are the things I experienced. The process is quite tedious. Here’s the process you go through every month: get your birth control (remember, no babies), get your blood drawn so they can check that your liver is just fine, then go to the doctor a couple days later where you have to do a urine test to make sure you’re not pregnant, then you get your prescription, then you have to take a test online all about practicing safe sex, once you pass that test, you can then drop off your prescription to finally get your month supply. Then do this many more times until you are off the medication. Annoying, but so worth it in my opinion.
You may be asking why the hell I’m even writing about this on a paleo recipe blog. Which is understandable. But I want to share my experience with people who are trying so hard to change their diet to fix their body issues, and those things are just not working. The more I’ve eaten paleo, the more I’ve found out how many things can be cured through diet alone. I rarely get sick, I sleep better, I have more energy, my depression went away. So many things can change through diet, but my acne did not seem to be one of them. And if it was, it would have taken me YEARS and many scars to find out those reasons. I’m sharing all this information with you in hopes that if you are ever thinking about taking this prescription drug, you have another opinion. A positive one.
I had a truly positive experience with the drug. Not to say that I didn’t have some ups and downs, but most of my 6 month experience was a good one. Here were some of my symptoms:
- The worst symptom by far has been dry lips. You know when you get a sunburn and it peels? Well imagine that happening every single hour, of every single day, for 6 months. It was miserable. By far the worst thing. Not having chapstick on hand truly felt like a meth addict not having his drug. Terrible description, but that’s seriously how it felt. I rarely stop biting or picking at my lips. I have a new habit I need to break.
- Dry skin and red skin. Mostly my face was the only thing that got dry, but it was also my ears, my nose and my hair. So I exfoliated my face daily with one of those soft bristle face rotating brushes. A cheap one. And moisturized a lot. I didn’t stop wearing make up until my skin settled down after the second month, I was too embarrassed.
- Dry, breaking hair. My hair thinned out and my hair stylist said it seemed to be breaking easily. After 4 months, that passed and my hair got a lot better. Wish it would have affected my leg hair, that would have been cool.
- My joints and muscles hurt A LOT about 3-5 months in. Workouts were much more uncomfortable to the point that it hurt to walk. That passed after 5 months.
- Moody and depressed. I got REALLY depressed about 4 months or so into the accutane. I mean, depressed to the point that I couldn’t get off the couch. I couldn’t figure out why I was sad or what was wrong, but I was so unhappy. I fought some depression when I was growing up, so I was more likely to have some while on the drug. It went away with time.
- Super red face. I’m pale when I stay away from the sun, so my neck and my face were completely opposite colors. Weird looking.
So I’m going to share some pictures with you. Disclaimer: these pictures may be frightening. And I’m sure some mean people out there will leave mean comments that will bum me out, but I want to share with you what a huge difference the medication made. I no longer have any acne, only red scars remain, which should go away over time. If they don’t all go away, I plan on doing some chemical peels and/or laser treatment to get rid of the scars.
In the end, I am incredibly happy with the results of accutane and extremely happy that I went on the prescription. I’m not sure what will happen in the future and if I will have to get back on it, but I know that my acne will never be as bad or as painful as it was in the past. This prescription has done wonders for me and if anyone ever asked me, I would recommend it to them. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! But remember, this prescription affects everyone differently. Just because I had a good experience doesn’t mean someone else will. Thanks for listening. You’re my favorite. Please feel free to share your experiences, but do not hate on me for sharing my own experience with it. Kthanksbye.
I never leave comments, but this post just made me want to say “YOU’RE AMAZING”!!! I had a baby 7 months ago, and while I’ve been battling acne since I was 12, my skin went bonkers with all the crazy pregnancy hormones. Since I’m in my baby making years, I can’t do Accutane again, but I remember when I was 21 how wonderful my skin looked after a 6 month course of it. The worst side effect for me, was terrible bloody noses!! Like you know how you felt without your chapstick…that’s how I felt if I didn’t have a stash of Kleenex in my pocket to absorb a bloody nose at any moment of the day!! YIKES 🙂
I’ve been doing the #30daysofthanks this year, and today I am very thankful for you! I am so appreciative of your witty posts, your amazing recipes helping me get back into my pre-preggo clothes and your honesty about your battle with acne. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who needs to put makeup to go to the gym 🙁 I’m hoping that with the Paleo diet (especially the no dairy) my skin clears up a bit more, but if not, I’m sure I’ll be back on Accutane once I’m done manufacturing tiny humans.
I wish you all the best!
Your fan,
Lisa
Hi Julie! I went through 2 cycles of accutane in high school (that was 15 years ago) and I havent had more than 1-2 pimples since (and thats usually around your period). While the dry lips and redness suck at the times, its SO worth it.
I usually never post, but wanted to thank you, as many have. I have a friend that had severe scarring after many bouts with medications and acne. She’s done 2 things to get rid of acne and scarring – gluten free diet (not paleo… yet!) and Nerium creme, it was truly miraculous. By the way, I don’t sell the stuff, but use it, and it does help my skin alot. Just thought I’d mention.
I have never had issues with acne, but this reminds me of my own personal struggles with my weight. I have been Paleo for the past 5 months and I have completely cut out the carbs for the past 2 months. I have lost a little bit of weight, but not much weight. It’s really frustrating because I know how hard I’ve been working to eat right and to work out. I keep getting the “you just need to do this” from people who work less hard and have much better genes than me. Eating Paleo has helped me have more energy and has decreased the joint pain I used to have. However, the Paleo diet isn’t the magic cure for everything and I think it’s brave to put out that out there on your site. I think it’s more than appropriate to put this on your Paleo blog. Thank you for reminding us that it’s okay to be a human being, but not to give up doing your best.
Hello y’all. I’ve been following your recipes for the last few months and really enjoy your attitude, personality, and all your posts. Thanks for helping me stay healthy. I must agree with the other posts, that you my friend are gorgeous! I never would have known you had acne had you not posted about it. A previous post-er Barb F mentioned that her friend used Nerium AD. I was going to mention it to you myself. It has changed so many of my friends lives (I’m not being dramatic). It works on all skin types and problems. Please please please try it out if your skin doesn’t lose the redness. I’ve used it for over a year and won’t travel without it.
Thanks again for all you do. You are gorgeous all around 🙂
Hi Juli,
Thanks so much for posting this. This actually brought tears to my eyes because I know how emotionally draining having this type of acne can be. I’m currently in the same place you were when you were just starting accutane. I have literally tried everything and I’ve been leaning towards trying this medication. I really appreciate this post for the positive opinion. Thank you.
P.S. I’m SO happy for you
I was on three rounds of Accutane in my mid-twenties. It was a miracle! But the real reason I am posting is because I had a slightly delayed side effect I didn’t see anyone else comment on: TONS OF CAVITIES!! Surely I can’t be the only one??!!I literally drank gallons of water a day, living in Phoenix and being on Accutane. And, of course, brushing & flossing. It just wasn’t enough to keep the bad bacteria at bay with such a dry mouth. It didn’t click until the 2nd dentist’s visit with another 4 new cavities. They asked if I was on any meds that cause a dry mouth, since my diet was low in sugar and I had good oral hygiene. AH-HA!!!! I guess there are some special mouthwashes that help to combat this, for anyone considering use of Accutane. 🙂
I have a friend who took accutane when she was young and I remember her warning big time about this drug’s side effects. please do some research and try to do more natural things.
For example (Stinging) Nettle Tea really helps to clear up acne.
there are a lot of natural remedies out there and i hope that you’ll give those a chance.
Good luck, Monika
Its nice you shared your story, now I’m sharing mine. After going on a round of accutaine similar to yours when I was 15 or 16, today, at 31, I no longer have my large intestine due to accutaine use. Accutaine led to the development of crohns/colitis, which is a nasty, horrible disease. While the doctors can’t directly link this disease to its use (there is no family history of it), it is a side effect of the drug, and it is not worth it at all!!!!! While not everyone who takes the drug has this issue, I can assure you that I would rather have an acme scarred face than have had to face a cancer scare and an ileostomy at age 31. Please consider this before you take another round. There are plenty of cases out there similar to mine.
There’s a bajillion comments so I don’t know if this has been mentioned, but . . .
The workouts are 1000000% causing it. Let me clarify, any workout consisting of heavy lifting often will do it. This is because lifting raises testosterone and androgen (male hormones). Acne is caused by elevated levels of androgen, and/or lack of estrogen. Estrogen also produces collagen.
Also, age is a factor. I’m almost 30 and JUST NOW my acne is mellowing. I still gotta be on my game but, I don’t need to act like a meth addict because it has been 16 hours since I washed my face and GAWD KNOWS what happens after that 12th hour.
Anywho, don’t worry overmuch. Accutane, especially in older (not teen) people tends to have longer results. Also, just going on simple birth control may help, as it will balance out the male/female hormone ratio.
Oh and why you should listen to me? I am a Medical Aesthetician with over 6 years experience and thousands of hours of schooling. Not to mention a SEVERE cystic acne sufferer since I was 8, (I did mention I’m almost 30, right?)