Danielle. Accutane has given me my life.

Okay! So my Accutane story. All my friends and fam say i should make some money off this story for the company lol... be there spokes person because of my personal testimonial. Just an FYI.. Accutane is a BIG decision. It is not all fabulous and has some HORRIBLE side effects. You have to be committed to not waste your time or your doctors time and know from the beginning that you will not give up on ACCUTANE because of the temporary side effects. At least in my case, no side effects have been noticed since less than a month off of the medication. I want everyone to know that I'm not going to sugar coat this story at all. Know what you're getting into and then make an educated decision.
So I had acne since I was 11. It was mostly secluded to my T section and were tiny red bumps. As the years passed, and derm appt after derm appt, no medication helped, the acne became more severe, and more severe yet, and spread pretty much everywhere. I was always active and loved meeting new people and stopped because of my acne. I wish I wouldve done this during highschool then i wouldnt regret never playing sports or skipping out on the swimming part of gym class. Acne doesnt just look bad, it ruins your confidence and stops your life. Anyway, so at the age of 22 I talked with my derm about Accutane after hearing about it from an acquaintance. We had to try antibiotics first, which of course didnt help, begin to take 2 forms of Birth control a month before starting the medication, and do some blood tests. Its a chore to get into the program. Due to the side effects the government requires that the doctor who prescribes the medication needs to see you once a month, females need to take a monthly pregnancy test due to horrible side effects it has on fetus', and you need to answer a questioniarre each month before picking up your prescription that proves you know the dangers and proper ways of taking this medicine.
So I started taking this medication mid-Aug 09. Immediately my face and lips became chapped. Mostly my lips severely. The doctor gave me little samples of this lip "healer" that you cannot buy in stores called "Dr. Dan's" It works amazing and when I ran out I was miserable. So dont run out! So beside the regular side effects that everyone gets, I also had some more severe side effects that only some get. Sorry I dont remember the statistics on that though. I'm sure that can be googled though. For all of 2009 I didnt see a huge change and was starting to think this wasnt going to work for me. Most of the difference that was seen probably didnt start coming until december but even more drastically during my last month in March. But in October I had blinding headaches that were so painful and would wake me up in the middle of the night. Some nights I didnt know if I should go to the ER and be seen, they were so bad. But I didnt. I noticed I was shedding a lot of hair and my already thin hair seemed to be getting thinner, not noticibly to other people though. In December I realized I had gained 10 lbs, started calling into work, not wanting to get out of bed or be seen by people, and having crying spells even at work for no reason at all. I had no energy was very angry or sad constantly. I had to go on antidepressants and see a psychologist by doctors orders, in order to remain on the medication. That did seem to help alot but still wasnt my usual self. I did have to cut the dose down for that month until the new medication started working. Then in Feb I wanted to start losing weight and training to run a 5k marathon. I paid for a physical trainer and started working out. The day after my first training session I woke up and my ass was a huge black and blue purplish bruise. I went to the doctor that day and did some blood tests and found out with the medication and intense physical activity, my PCK levels (I believe thats right) were 12X the usual number. So instead of building muscle it was more like my body was eating away at my muscles and causing them to bleed. But because I only had a month left of the treatment, I promise to limit all physical activity to remain on the medication. It took a lot of persuasion to have my doctor allow me to continue to take it. But like i said. You need to be determined before taking this medication. The last month my skin cleared completely with no new breakouts.. FINALLY! My lips were horrible up until I stopped taking it. About a month after stopping the medication, I stopped my second form of Birth control and the anti depressants. The side effects stopped, the reddness in my skin went away and I havent had a regular pimple since. I have had a few tiny little bumps about the size of a skinny needle point that i can only feel with my fingers and that are not visible to the human eye. My blemishes and scarring is fading tremendously. I have been getting compliments on my skin all the time which i have NEVER had. I went swimming this summer for the first summer in a long time without fears of how horrible my skin will look. I dont have to worry about not having concealer on, or meeting new people. My confidence at work has gotten me a promotion, which consists of meeting new clients and promoted my facility. I play sports without fears of my makeup melting off. I got my life back and if I had to relive all this all over again I would do it in a heart beat. Now, I just got married and my skin looks flawless in my wedding photos. My older daughter (4) says to me all the time, Mommy you dont have any more pimples. Whered they go? lol.. Accutane has given me my life. I love meeting new people, taking pictures, I get to really be the outspoken me. It's amazing! I would tell anyone just live through it and you'll never regret it after. My way of simply describing it to people is that it is the chemotherapy for acne, yes its not the greatest thing to put up with but it really does save your life. It def. did mine!