Hello lovely people!
It’s been a while, so I thought it was time for an update. I am currently on week 7 at 40mg, having upped my dose from 30mg at the beginning of week 5. I am starting to notice improvements in my skin now which is great – and the other day my friend asked me what I had done to my skin as it had a lovely ‘glow’ to it! I was rather pleased 
I still have a few spots but they are mainly the big ones that I got at the beginning of the treatment and they seem to be taking a long time to fade (they are still big lumps under the skin) and I have the residual red marks lefts over from old spots but these are slowly fading.
I noticed an increase in dryness after upping my dose. Drier skin, dry lips, very dry eyes, dry throat and a few headaches but after a week these had settled down again. I’m really not bothered by the side effects as much as I thought I would be. It makes me feel bad that so many people are affected badly and I realise I am lucky. However the worry about side effects very nearly put me off taking Roaccutane and certainly delayed my treatment as I was so scared to take it. But if anyone is reading this and thinking about taking it then just go for it because it really might not be as bad as you think!
I have been religiously using a few products – perhaps that is why the dryness hasn’t been bothering me. I use Blistex A LOT for my lips but I find it so much more soothing and powerful than Vaseline. For my hair I use T-gel shampoo for sesitive/ dry scalp and it stopped dandruff instantly. It is expensive but I only wash my hair twice a week now so its actually lasting quite a long time. I use deep conditioners and Argan Oil which really help with dry ends and make my hair feel a lot softer. For my skin I’ve been using Jojoba oil before applying Simple moisturiser to my face and Neutrogena body cream everywhere else.
So I have been quite good with alcohol since I’ve started Roaccutane and only had 2 drinks on my Christmas night out and only one drink on Christmas day. It was fine, and given that I’m normally a bit of a light weight anyway, I was quite tipsy after 2 drinks! I felt a bit sick the next day, I’m not sure if it was just a coincidence or what but it was enough to put me off so I’m pretty much not going to drink anything more until the treatment ends. It isn’t really bothering me though and I actually feel a lot healthier because of it
Recently I’ve started going to the gym again. I know its not reccommended but I really do feel so much better about myself when I exercise and I’m not planning to run a marathon I just want to keep fit. So the first time I went I did massively over do it and was in incredible pain afterwards for days! But it has got easier as I’ve gone along. I can’t see any harm in going to the gym 3-4 times a week as long as I don’t go crazy. What are other people doing?
Anyway this has turned into a bit of a long post, so I’ll leave it there for now. Hope everyone is doing well xx
Tags: dose increase, exercise, Week 7
Hi Cookie,
Hope you are well and had a good Xmas. I am currently on 35mgs and I have been on roac 8 weeks today – I am due to see the derm on Fri so hoping for another increase then
Like you I am just getting the usual side effects and the spots I have left over are ones I’ve had for weeks
my face is completely clear & has been since before Xmas – the only place I am still getting spots is my jawline and I have had some pretty bad ones on my neck (the ones that feel like you have a pea under your skin 
With regards to exercise I haven’t done any since being on the tablets but I have just ordered myself 2 DVD’s – 1 Pilates and 1 yoga. I thought they will be quite low intensity so I’ll c how I get on with them
Do you know how long you are due to be on your tablets? I think they are only allowing me to be on 4 months so I am hoping to get a decent dose increase on Friday so I can get as high cumulative dose as poss
Keep in touch! X
- Bettyeva on January 7, 2013 at 12:53 pm
Hi Cookie,
A quick reply re the exercise thing. I asked my derm at the beginning of the treatment and she said just to carry on as normal and back off if you find your muscles are aching more than normal. I’m just sticking to cardio, x-trainer, treadmill, walking but staying away from weights. I was a lazy so and so over Christmas but really got stuck in this week doing lots of walking and hitting the gym and feeling great. Put on some weight that needs to be shifted rapido!
Have a good weekend, keep in touch x
- Vanessa on January 11, 2013 at 11:36 am
Thanks for the comments girls! I feel OK so far with the exercise. I did do a bodycombat class which made my arms hurt a lot so may have to cut the weights down a little bit. But overall as long as it doesn’t hurt I think exercise is a good thing. I’m going for a run/ jog today so we’ll see how that goes! xx
- cookie9 on January 13, 2013 at 9:22 am