Acne + Accutane

Acne + Accutane, Beauty, Lifestyle, Skincare

my accutane journey: months 8 + 9

November 6, 2018January 10, 2019by Samantha Milburn3 Comments

it is so surreal that I am OFFICIALLY DONE WITH ACCUTANE!!!! overall, my journey has lasted about 12 months. I had my initial consult last november and started my preliminary lab tests. as far as the medication part, I ended up being on it a little longer than normal, just because we weren’t seeing the progress we were hoping to by month 6, but if it’s what kept me from having to go through the process all over again, then I’m not complaining. truthfully, I would have been done a lot sooner but I was so bad about missing a random day here or there that it delayed my end date. oops, but oh well.

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Acne + Accutane, Beauty, Lifestyle, Skincare

my accutane journey: months 6 + 7

August 25, 2018January 12, 2019by Samantha Milburn2 Comments

I decided to do this update a little differently by combining the last couple of months into one post. month 6 was actually a very bad month in terms of progress, so it was frustrating (and little embarrassing) and I felt like it didn’t warrant an “update” post since it regressed rather than progressed. I’m not sure whether it was my diet or stress or both, but at one point I had about 3 pimples on my forehead, 2 on my cheek, and 1 on my chin at a time – I’m talking like, the worst breakout I’ve had since first starting the medication. but oddly enough, month 7 was the complete opposite and I have had zero breakouts. keep reading to see the before + afters and to see some exciting news!

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Acne + Accutane, Beauty, Lifestyle, Skincare

my accutane journey: month 5

June 16, 2018January 12, 2019by Samantha Milburn2 Comments

this update is a couple weeks behind, but for half of this month I was on half of my regular dosage to help cut down on the weird side effects I started seeing in month 4. buuuut lucky y’all – it’s looking like these accutane journey posts may extend past 6 months! this process has been all over the place between me forgetting to take it some days, having to travel nearly 200 miles for refills, my followup appointments being inconsistently spaced lol so it’s looking like I might end up on an extra month of Accutane, which I personally don’t think will hurt. Hopefully I’m not someone who will end up having to do a second round of it all (if anything because I’m tired of being pricked by needles every month). but let’s go ahead and get started with this month’s update!

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Acne + Accutane, Beauty, Lifestyle, Skincare

my accutane journey: month 4

May 7, 2018January 12, 2019by Samantha Milburn3 Comments

month 4 is done! my dermatologist mentioned that this is where I would start to see a lot of breakthrough with my acne and dude he was right. I went a whole week without seeing a pimple! I have gotten a few this month, but they were fairly spaced out, and likely related to my diet (which has not been the best lately – oops). I have started to see some of the more undesirable side effects start to kick in, which is a bummer because it is starting affect what I can do throughout the day, but they’re not so severe that it’s completely inhibiting me. so if you’re curious to see how month 4 went, just keep reading!

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Acne + Accutane, Beauty, Lifestyle, Skincare

my accutane journey: month 3

April 3, 2018January 12, 2019by Samantha Milburn9 Comments

it’s official – I’ve hit the halfway point of this Accutane journey! It’s crazy to realize it’s the downhill stretch from here. My dermatologist said that this 3/4 month point is where I should start to see a lot of real breakthrough with my skin.

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Acne + Accutane, Skincare

my accutane journey: month 2

February 26, 2018January 12, 2019by Samantha Milburn7 Comments

Month 2 – CHECK! This month was easier in some ways, but harder in others. For starters, I worked on building up to 30mg two times a day, so doubling my dosage has made some side effects more prominent, but now that my body has had time to become acclimated to the medication, some side effects have faded. So, without further ado, here’s the update on my Accutane journey.

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Acne + Accutane, Beauty, Lifestyle, Skincare

my accutane journey: month 1

January 29, 2018January 9, 2019by Samantha Milburn10 Comments

It’s already been one month since I started my Accutane journey. CRAZY! One down… 5 to go. It’s been an adjustment – both in good and bad ways. Although there’s still a long way to go, I’ve made enough progress in just one month that even others are starting to notice. But it does come at a bit of a price – I have a list of side effects I’ve started experiencing, some of them within a week of starting the medication. So for those of you who have been interested to keep up with me during my Accutane journey, here’s month one! Read my initial post about My Decision to Start Accutane to get an idea of my skin/acne treatment history.

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