Week 11 Derm Appointment

Niamh
 

Niamh

Friday 30 May, 2008

Posted in Roaccutane Diaries

Hi all!!
hope everyone is doing good!bit late on this wk but anyway..
skin stil hasnt improved altough this wk iv had less new spots than last wk but last wks ones are stil happily hanging around!!my face so red and the scars/marks are really red!!
went to the derm yest and she was bit concerned and thinks im just reactin slowly to it! anyone else find this??
iv basically locked myself in my room after work these days i HATE lookin in the mirror.. 2of my best friedns im ok with but everyone else i cant seem to face and im really mad with mam cause she keeps tellin people all about it and i wish she’d stop.i feel so embaressed&everyone starts to feel sorry for me then!!!
going to Thailand for 5wks in 2wks time and i really cant wait! next appt is 8wks when i come back and if my skin aint good then i possibly will consider comin off it!The last 7weeks have been far worse than before roacc.
IT HAS to get clear soon,right???
im tryin to stay positive and every day i wake up i convience myself that tomorrow my skin will be perfect!(If only!!)
side effects= skin/lips/eyes dry. knees kinda sore and small rash on my elbow.. nothin major il survive! mentally possibly not the best!!!
really hope everyone doing good!!!
xx

7 Responses to “Week 11 Derm Appointment”

#1 adele says...

Hi Niamh, Thanks for your comment on my diary. I’m still getting loads of spots aswell and my derm did suggest I stay on the tablets longer because I was reacting to them slowly too. It’s hard because we get our hopes up that we’l be spot free and when it doesn’t work out like that its disappointing. I always have it in my head something my first derm said to me 6 years ago, ‘You’ll never have perfect skin’ I didn’t believe her at the time but she was right. As long as roaccutane improves my skin I’m ok with that. Maybe we’ll just take a little longer than others! anyway chin up. Adele

June 1st, 2008 at 7:43 am

#2 Rosie says...

im still getting spots on week 9 ….. and i just look really badly burnt….. and im now on max dose 50mg….. great

i feel your pain….. *sigh* ….. we are cursed hahaha :)

June 1st, 2008 at 11:48 am

#3 Mark says...

hey. before you came on roac would your acne of been severe or moderate. i have quite moderate acne and from reading many blogs it seems roac kinda makes your acne worse for a while etc. kinda seems whether its touch and go if your acne will clear even tho its supposed to be the ‘miricle drug’. so am not sure whether it would be right for me.

hope all goes well :)
mark

June 1st, 2008 at 2:03 pm

#4 Laura_ says...

Hi Niamh,
Are you on your maximum dose already?

Have you spoken to your Mum about it and explained that you really don’t want her telling everyone? Does she just not listen? I would go mad if my Mum started telling people!

From reading people’s diaries on this site, it really seems that people react so differently - with the type and severity of the side effects, and the speed at which they respond and then of course with whether Roaccutane was a permanent solution for them or if they required further courses etc.

I know it’s disheartening, well more than that, really soul destroying but I think you should stick out the course. Imagine if the turning point was just around the corner… Has your skin been in the same state for the past 7 weeks or up and down?

And I hope you have a fab time in Thailand. I went for 2 weeks last year and it was great (apart from the end when I ended up in hospital from some kind of food poisoning!! Thankfully I had my health insurance which paid for the really nice hospital! I was quite careful but on the second to last day relaxed a bit and had a crushed ice drink on the beach - this was where I went wrong I think - don’t make the same mistake!)

Hope things pick up for you soon on the skin front.
Laura x x x

June 2nd, 2008 at 7:06 pm

#5 Niamh R says...

hi everyone! thanks for the comments..
on wk 12 now and have to say skin lookin much better!!( though id NEVER EVER say that) spots dryin up and havent had new spots in the last 2days!!! skins til dry.. been really sick last few days started off with really bad hayfever and just got really really bad so missed a day on roacc cause took painkillers etc…
over all things seem to be lookin up!fingers crossed it will stay like it and continue..
How are you all doing??
Mark.. i didnt think my acne was too bad at all i prob would have said moderate..when i first went to see my derm it was at its best and she put me on minox tablets i think
and retin-a! it got way way worse then and i went back to her she put me on roacc.. the last 7wks have DEF been way worse then before i started it insaying that my over all skin has improved its just the dryness.redness&more spots(oh lord that sound terrible) lastnite and today iv seen a big improvement so im hopin that im going to continue!if you dont think you need it then maybe just leave it for a while see will it improve itself!?how long have you had it?risk of scarring?? or maybe you should just bite the bullet and try it and come out the end with clear skin?,
Hi Laura, how are you??
Not sure what my max dose is to be honest.. first month i was on 40mg and since then she’s been given me 45mg so i dunno really!i aint back to her for another 8wks and il be on 45mg till then! yeh i got on to her the other day but i dont think she realises how much i hate people konwin!!ya konw when people have perfect skin the dont see the big deal with it!!! you couldnt have put it better, its completly soul destroyin,i kinda laugh at my innocence sometimes as i look in the mirror i convince myself that tomorrow il have clear skin…everyday i do it!! yeh the last 7wks have been completly crap…it seemed to get worse and worse i basically didnt go anywhere!my gran came to visit for the wkend and i had ne seen her since startin roacc and she was like your skin is very bad,acne gettin worse i basically didnt know weither to cry or scream at her goin yeh im well aware its bad i dont half look in the mirror everyday in the hope il have slightly better skin so i wont feel like shit and have to avoid people every day!!! ugh…sometimes old people can be so blunt!!!where did you go in thailand?? what was in the crushed ice drink>>fingers crossed il avoid that!!
Thanks everyone!!!xx

June 3rd, 2008 at 1:53 pm

#6 Laura_ says...

Hi Niamh,
Glad to hear you have some improvement on the skin front!

I’m OK thanks. Skin wise have some spots but nothing too terrible so don’t have to be a hermit! Forgot to mention it in my last update but have been having some weird mood swings lately. Was getting really annoyed at little things - people walking slowly in front of me for example. Now, this annoys me at the best of times but normally I manage to keep my anger contained! Recently I was tutting and sighing really loudly. Also been really clumsy and dropping and breaking things all over the shop! And ended up in floods of tears on a couple of occasions - not for no reason, but don’t think I would normally have been so affected. Guess these mood changes may be Roaccutane related. I never really thought about the emotional side effects before: for me, it was “If my skin is bad, I will feel crap, but if my skin is good(for an acne sufferer ;)), I will feel good”. Maybe I underestimated the possible effect of Roaccutane on emotions. Anyway, feeling bit better this week so maybe that has passed for the moment!

I know what you mean about clear-skinned people not thinking it’s a big deal. Sometimes, I wish I could give them my skin for a few months and then see how they feel! If someone says “oh, your skin’s not that bad”, you feel like screaming “oh really, that’s because I have just spent an hour applying make up, have positioned myself in a dimly lit corner, and oh yes, have just emerged from 3 weeks of isolation because it was so bad! The very fact that you are seeing me, means it is in a state where attempting to cover with makeup is possible!”

It must be even worse for someone to point out how bad your skin has got. Somone did that to me years ago when my skin was at its worst, think I was 18. I remember just wanting to burst into tears and smack them in the face at the same time but obviously didn’t do either. Was in a group of people so tried to brush over it and draw as little attention to it as possible. But it really hurt me.

Anyway, on a lighter note - Thailand! I went to Pattaya (only cos the person I was visiting lived there - I wouldn’t recommend it!), Chiang Mai, Bangkok and an island called Koh Yao Noi. It was a lime flavoured crushed ice drink. I suggest you avoid ice, especially if it’s coming from a beach stall! I was visiting someone who lived there who said it was fine to have ice in your drink. I did for the whole holiday but I would definitely avoid slush puppy style drinks, and to be safe, maybe ice in general. And make sure you have travel insurance, just in case! I’m so glad I had mine (otherwise I would have had to pay for another flight and the hospital stay! Can’t remember how much it cost but definitely over £1500)

Anyway, keep me updated on your progress
Take care,
Laura x

June 3rd, 2008 at 7:08 pm

#7 Niamh R says...

3rd time writing this as i keep pressing the back space button…HURTS!!
anyways, hope your doin good!!
Hows the skin and moods today??
totally understand you on the whole emotional side..it kinda scars you!sometimes i feel like theres a cloud over me just weighin me down! i was really bad(emotional) for about 3wks around wk8-11. for example i work with young children and in college i do paediatrics and if i have anything its patience of a saint when it comes to children they never ever annoy me.. but the other day i was painting a little boys face and he kept movin and instead of laughing it off like i always do i start gettin really aggitated and cross and was like serioulsy now pet you have to stay really still!! hello whats in this drug??
so glad to hear how you feel about everything cause its totally how i feel and i v never met someone before who understands or even anyone who can say somethin that cheers me up. when im down about my skin my friends would be like oh your skin is fine its not bad!i wanna scream and be like SHUT UP LYING tryin to make me feel better when i know well enough its crap i wouldnt be down about it if it wasnt!!
the children in work often are like why do you have spots on your face and i compltly egnore them in the shame that someone else will hear it!
what week are you on??
Did you go on that date after??
oh.. il be stayin away from the ice in thailand so..THANKS!
good job you had insurance..
im headin to bangkok,koh phangan,phi phi,krabi and chang mai!!so excited!
hope all goin ok..
xx

June 4th, 2008 at 5:31 pm

Your Say

Share this post

What's this?

« 2 Week Gap
Roaccutane – Week 1 »

Login

Popular