Month three of Accutane

You know what’s a fantastic snack? Greek yogurt mixed with granola. It satisfies not only the protein requirement that I need (I am a do-you-even-lift bro), but the sweet taste that I want. It’s like eating ice cream without all the negative consequences. These days I eat Greek yogurt with granola first thing in the morning before I have coffee. It helps take the acidic sting of drinking coffee straight black, too.

I am nearing the end of month three (of a calculated five) of Accutane treatment for my chronic acne. Just as I have read on the r/accutane subreddit, new acne has finally stopped forming by the third month. It is indeed a weird feeling to not have a single new pimple for an entire week. Much like wearing contact lenses for the first time, it’s a whole new world that I’ve not experienced in decades. It’s like I didn’t even know this was possible!

The pandemic era of mask wearing definitely did my supremely oily skin no favors when it comes to causing breakouts. However, the amount of acne did not abate even after the pandemic was over - and constant mask wearing ceased. I think I know why: it’s milk.

As a consistent lifter of weights, I supplement with whey protein daily in order to provide the necessary fuel for muscle protein synthesis. (For those who are not familiar, whey is a strained extract from whole milk.) From what I’ve gathered, it’s not uncommon for milk to exacerbate breakouts for those who are already prone to acne. I can definitely remember (and have pictures to prove it) times when my breakouts weren’t nearly as severe. And during those times I was not supplementing with whey (or drinking milk at all).

The fear is that when this Accutane regiment stops, and I keep drinking these protein shakes, the milk is a strong enough factor to cause acne again. I guess I shall find out. Having purchased a nearly two year supply of whey because Costco had it on sale, I’m not giving up the habit anytime soon. There are non-diary protein powders out there, but those are significantly more expensive per pound compared to whey. (Whey is actually the cheapest per gram of protein of anything, meat or otherwise, you can buy.) Not in this economy!

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Conspiracy theory.

Week four

A quick update on week four of going on isotretinoin, colloquially known as Accutane. Good news is, of the somewhat notorious list of symptoms, mine remains only the constant dryness, and a mild blanket tiredness. No suicidal thoughts; the only muscle pain stems from me actually lifting weights, rather than caused by the medication.

The dryness is unavoidable: that’s how you know the medicine is working. As someone who is not fond of the feeling of chapstick on the lips, having to apply every two hours has been rather bothersome. Bad news is I have at least four more months of this before I can go back to having lips au naturel.

It’s not all bad though, the dryness. My oily face and scalp has decreased in sheen dramatically. It’s kind of emotional to now be able touch my face without needing to immediately wash my hands of the grease. My hair is no longer matted down with oil after only a few hours into the day. In fact, the follicles are so dry that I can wash my hair twice a week, instead of every other day.

The constant application of lip balm is so worth it for that.

As far as acne goes - the whole reason for going on Accutane, it hasn’t really subsided just yet. I think my face is still doing its purging of the bad stuff before the new healthy stuff can replace it. The pores on my nose still resembles a strawberry (they are suppose to shrink). At least my original acne isn’t so severe that I can afford to be patient with this.

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Flower power.

Getting my ass kicked

What really counts is when you do the thing, even when you absolutely do not feel like it. It’s the first week of school at university, so on the support side it is the usual extreme busyness. The last thing I want to do after work is to then lift some weights. It would be all too easy to skip this one, because the excuses practically write themselves. But no: I got the workout in after I got off work yesterday. Felt like shit during, felt great afterwards.

The times when you feel no motivation, but you do it anyways? That’s where the gold is. Motivation is fickle, you cannot count on it for consistency. And it is consistency that will get you where you want to be.

Speaking of which, I am going to be in a consistent state of crazy dryness for the next five months. After antibiotics failed to resolve my persistent acne issues last year, I finally decided to go for the sledgehammer: isotretinoin, better known to the public as Accutane. It will solve any and all acne issues once and for all, but the reason it is to be avoided if possible is because of the arduous process. The side-effects of isotretinoin are not trivial.

All users will experience dryness to varying severity. That’s how you know the drug is working. I am actually looking forward to it drying out my oily face. You ever wash your face and then it becomes oily enough to fry an egg in about an hour? That’s me. The equation is simple: oily face plus bacteria equals chronic acne.

My degree of dryness is this: chapstick and eyedrops application every two hours. Full body lotion every evening. I am chugging water constantly like I am on a mountainous hike. Anything less and I would feel super dehydrated (and probably am). From what I can gather, these symptoms are comparatively not so bad. That said, I definitely do not feel normal. It’s as if a very thin layer of sickness has been draped over me. And it’s going to be like this for five months?

Worst: I think they up the dosage after the first month. One week in and I’m already getting my ass kicked!

Say no more, fam.

Acne finally

During my annual checkup last week, I finally asked my doctor to prescribe a remedy for my acne. I am right smack in the middle of my 30s, and I am still breaking out like a pubescent teenager. It’s been this way since I actually was a pubescent teenager. It’s never been serious enough (no pepperoni pizza here, though still quite oily) for me to consider asking for the big guns. It’s just been a steady regiment of salicylic acid-infused face wash and benzoyl peroxide cream, hoping it will all go away as I age.

Obviously that has not happened. Constant mask use during the pandemic exacerbated the problem. The mask material interacted horribly with my oily face. Changing one out every few hours did not do much to stem the tide (my apologies, landfills). Even with the pandemic over, and far less frequent mask use, the acne did not recede at all. Which is why I finally talked with my doctor about an oral medication. Decades of topical remedy has accomplished very little.

I think most people are familiar with Accutane: the hammer against acne. It’s the final boss, for when everything else has failed. My doctor did not think Accutane is necessary. Apparently there’s a similar drug to take before exercising the Accutane trump card. It makes sense, because the side effects of Accutane is kind of notorious: constantly dry skin, and potential depression.

The doctor and I are hoping to avoid that by having me take doxycycline, a twice daily oral tablet for three months. It’ll be some time before I can say for sure whether this medicine is effective or not. What I can say is that it’s certainly working on something. One of the warnings on the bottle is users may become hugely sensitive to sunlight. I can directly confirm that is correct. Good thing I am starting this regiment during the autumn/winter months!

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Football is life!

Still getting acne

Is it normal for a 33 year old to still be getting fresh pimples on the regular? Asking for a friend. Is Proactiv still a thing? I subscribed to that acne fighting program back in my college days, and it did nothing for me (obviously) other than wrecking my skin further. The chemicals it uses is far too harsh. My advice to teens looking to get rid of their acne problem: head straight for accutane. Benzoyl peroxide is but a bandaid.

Perhaps I shouldn’t complain about having acne well into the 30s. It’s a sign of youth, is it not? It sure beats the other signs that I’ve been seeing amongst cohorts my age: hair loss. Indeed, some of our hair lines are starting their recession, and bald-spots are showing up at the rear of the head. I can honestly say, hair loss is scary as heck to me. I’m not big on vanity, but not having a full head of hair just looks odd, even though all I do for a haircut is an army-style buzz with the 6mm profile on a hair clipper.

Thankfully, I’m not yet afflicted with a loss of hair. When it does happen, I reckon I’ll be one of those people trying all the over-the-counter and clinical remedies to stem the falling tide. There’s a lesson to take from my acne saga: head straight for the only proven solution, which is hair transplantation. I better start saving up for that, because health insurance doesn’t pay for cosmetic procedures.

Of course, I try not to stress about it, because that would only lead to quicker loss of hair. There’s already enough stress in my life, as evident in the fact I’m still getting acne! Face masks hasn’t helped in that regard. Oils and micro dirt get trapped underneath it for the entire work day. I really need unvaccinated people who are other eligible to go get vaccinated.

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It’s right here.