MY NOSE HAS NOT STOPPED BLEEDING THESE PAST 3 DAYS.

I'm going to go back down to 40 mg, I don't think my body is handling 60 very well at all. :(

Since my dose was upped to 60 mg/day (previously 40 mg/day), I've definitely noticed the side effects getting worse. First off, my skin almost immediately got WAY drier and flakier. Luckily, I've found my savior in Aveeno lotion. I tried a few other brands and Aveeno works the best by far. My skin still gets dry, but it's not as flaky as before.

Yesterday, I woke up and got a bloody nose while I was washing my face in the morning. It stopped fairly quickly. THEN, that same day at around 4, the nosebleed came back--full force this time. It didn't stop for maybe 15-20 minutes. Grosss. I keep feeling like it's going to come back at any time. Last night I went to the Cheesecake Factory for my friend's birthday, but I couldn't find any small Kleenex packets so I brought a whole box with me into the restaurant. Hahaha. Luckily my purse was big enough to accommodate it. :)

My eyes are really itchy and dry at the moment. It's to the point where they actually hurt. AGGH. And I am really hesitant to go to the gym because I don't want the muscle soreness. My arms already kinda hurting from moving a small refrigerator into my apartment yesterday. I can't tell if it's because I'm just out of shape or if it's because of the Accutane. I like to think it's the latter.. hahaaha

I keep saying I'm going to post photos! And I actually have some on my computer, I just need to put them on Photobucket and then I can put then on here.

I'm complaining about all the side effects, but Accutane has really done wonders for my skin already. I'm really clearing up and I've been waiting for the "initial breakout" everyone talks about but haven't experienced one yet. Just the side effects and lots of redness.

Two and a half more months (I think) and I'll be done!!

http://tinyurl.com/nnsvht


HAHAHAHAHA why don't those last two pictures surprise me.



September 23 <3

Oh my god, my skin was soo dry tonight. The areas around and above my mouth were flaking like CRAZY! If that sounds gross-- it was. I washed my face with Cetaphil in the shower and applied like a pound of moisturizer after I got out. I'm seriously wondering if I should just stop wearing makeup during the day so I can just constantly moisturize. Otherwise I end up looking like I have a beard by the end of the night. Nastyyy.

Howeverrr, on a happy note I've noticed that a lot of the blackheads on my nose are gone!! I noticed they looked like they had been surfacing, and I guess they finally fell out! So excited! There are a few more left.. maybe they will be gone by tomorrow. Crossing my fingers :)

So I'm nearing the end of Month 1! It's actually gone surprisingly quickly. I had my first follow-up appointment with my doctor since starting Accutane, and my bloodwork was good and pregnancy test negative (duh). For the second month, my doctor put me on 60 mg per day instead of 40 and said at this rate I could be done in 4 months! So excited! I absolutely love my doctor, she's so nice and the Accutane nurse is super sweet as well. I thought I was going to have to wait till tomorrow to pick up my prescription, since I had to fill out my questionnaire and had to wait for my doctor to confirm me on the iPledge website. Instead, my doctor confirmed me right after she saw me AND was able to find me a computer at the health center I could use to complete my questionnaire so I could pick up my prescription right after. Isn't that awesome?! She's so cool.

In the past few days, my skin has gotten SO dry. I seriously wake up in the mornings and apply lotion like 4 times before putting my makeup on over it. I moved into a new apartment last Saturday, and since then I've noticed my face is much more chapped--maybe that has something to do with it. My lips are better than before, and I'm getting used to making sure I always have chapstick on me. I also have a weird rash on my chest, but I think it's because I wore a shirt with sequins on it one day and it was itchy on the inside and irritated my chest. But that was like 2 weeks ago, and it is still red and itches a bit. I think it's just because it's dry. I'm dry everywhere, and itchy pretty much everywhere too. I have a bunch of scratches on my arms from itching too much :(

I absolutely LOVE how my face is not oily though :))

So it's been about a week and a half now! Not much to report, except my lips got REALLY chapped last week because I've been kind of bad about keeping them moisturized. I went home and somehow forgot to bring my Aquaphor or chapstick of any kind with me. So I used Vaseline while at home, which helped. They have still been very dry and have been peeling a lot -- the skin around my mouth, too. It looks kind of gross. My scalp has also been really itchy and has been peeling a bit as well.

other than that, my skin is already looking better, just a little red. I know it will probably break out more over the course of Accutane, but for now I'm happy to say my skin looks moderately decent.

I took some "Before" photos which I will post soon.

It's Monday, which means I've been on Accutane for four days now. I take my medicine every day after eating lunch. So far, so good! I started noticing the effects almost immediately.. my skin feels drier, and my lips have become a little chapped but nothing I can't handle yet. I wonder if the side effects will get worse as time goes on. But seriously, just having less oily skin has been wonderful. My face feels less dirty at the end of the day, and it itches less. I've gotten one new pimple-- it's kind of a big one next to my left eyebrow. It doesn't hurt too much though, hopefully it stays that way!

I'm OFFICIALLY on Accutane starting today!! I just took my first 40mg dosage. Three hours from now, I'll be on a plane to Sacramento. YAY this weekend is off to a good start :)).

I plan on writing about my experience with Accutane as much as possible in the next six months or so.. so hopefully that actually happens. haha

I am so excited to be on this medication and I really really hope it works for me. Well, I'll update a little later when I find out!

I should take 'before' pictures too before i forget.

2 more days of school, 3 more finals, 4 more days til Italy!!!!!!!!

It couldn't come fast enough!

And now off to cram for Anthro......

SPOILERS if you haven't seen "Zebras" yet:

( me rambling about svu for a good while )