Hi my angels! This video is all about my isotretinoin (also known as accutane) journey. I talk about why I decided to pursue this acne treatment option, the side effects I experienced, what the process is like, and my results. If you are currently struggling with acne, I totally feel your pain and hope this video is helpful as you decide on a treatment. Please let me know if you have any questions about my experience in the comments below 🤍
Hi everyone and welcome to the rich life my name is tristy if you’re new to my channel and i make videos on business fullness and lifestyle and today’s video is going to be all about my isotretinoin journey i know on my channel i have a few videos on my co2 laser experience and since my second laser actually got a third done and i’ll film a video on that shortly
Because the co2 lasers honestly helped my skin tremendously and if you go to a good doctor and feel like you’re comfortable with that procedure because it is quite invasive for a skin procedure i would recommend it but since then i noticed that my acne started flaring up and i’m going to insert a few pictures this was around new year’s during the pandemic i was
Honestly frustrated because i have been battling acne for so many years since i was around 13 and i felt like i tried everything i tried skincare products i tried to see dermatologists and they gave me several different ointments like tretinoin with clindamycin um they also gave me oral tablets that was supposed to help with the inflammation and bacteria and
Unfortunately even with all that i wasn’t seeing any results so i ended up going back to my dermatologist and asking to be put on accutane reason why i asked for it is because my acne wasn’t so severe to the point where that would be you know like the go-to response it was persistent it was cystic but on the large scale of things it was mild to moderate acne and
Not severe acne so i requested it i did my research i was aware of the side effects so i started my isotretinoin journey in february of 2020 i wanted to give you guys a an overview of how the process went and my final thoughts on it i started on a much lower dose i think it was 30 milligrams based on my height and weight so during the first month of me being on
Isotretinoin i didn’t really notice any severe side effects i did notice that my skin was a little bit drier than normal but i was honestly really excited to be on it because in my mind this was going to be the one treatment that would hopefully end my acne forever at least minimize it forever i didn’t really notice any major side effects i didn’t feel depressed
Or tired i didn’t feel any of those pretty common side effects so i was really happy about that but that also might have been because i was on a much lower dose what i did notice which was really surprising to me is that my acne pretty much started disappearing within the first month itself so i know for most people it takes about like five to six months to see
Results but i think because my acne was pretty mild to moderate um i started noticing results very quickly like by the time i hit my second month honestly i don’t think i got a breakout since maybe like a minor one on my cheek here there are like my forehead but i really didn’t notice any acne after the first month and a half or two months by the time i hit my
Third month that’s when my dermatologist decided to increase my dosage and i think the minimum course for ice treatment shut on for most people is five months and sometimes it’s six months if you still are not seeing your acne disappear by the time i hit my third month my dosage doubled and i was on 60 milligrams instead of 30. and i think that’s when i really
Started to started noticing on some of the more serious side effects so initially i first noticed dry skin which is pretty normal especially around the mouth area the lips overall my skin was very dry i also noticed that my hair was dry which was something i didn’t expect but it makes sense my hair dried out especially because i was also styling my hair and dyeing
It so it became very like brittle looking which is something i have to work to get a little bit more moisturized i think by now it’s a little bit healthier but um while i was on isotretinoin it was it looked very dry another thing i noticed is that um i started noticing some joint ache and it so most days it really wasn’t severe it was an occasional like ache for
A while but then some days i noticed like i felt like i could barely move but it usually didn’t last for too long i’d say a few minutes of like more intense joint pain and then it would get better after that i think the most concerning side effect i experienced was related to like inflammation especially within my like digestive tract so i know rectal bleeding is
Pretty common and it’s not a widely talked about side effect but um like for the sake of this video i wanted to be transparent and let you know that i did experience that and that was really alarming at first and i wasn’t really sure what was causing that because i i knew it would it’s probably because of the dryness in that area because my whole body was being
Dried out basically it was a little alarming to see at first and i also ended up seeing a gi specialist just in case to see what was going on and i felt like it was inflaming my digestive tract because i started experiencing stomach pains or like stuff i would normally experience before i was on isotretinoin so that is something i would keep in mind i know it’s
Not talked about frequently or listed as one of the most common side effects everyone’s body is different and i wanted to share my experience and i did experience that also briefly when i was on the higher dosage i did notice some depressive symptoms because i was aware that i was on isotretinoin i was able to manage it more but it would be a lot easier for me
To cry i felt like i was constantly on the brink of tears and it’s something my family and some of my close friends noticed too that is one thing i think you need to be aware of going in that that is a possible side effect i think is something you should communicate to your dermatologist close family friends um so they are aware that you are feeling that way but
Just so you’re aware um know that it’s not something that’s within your control it’s the isotretinoin and it can be managed and try to keep it in perspective that it is the medicine that is making you feel that way so all in all those were a few of the major side effects i experienced and i know that was a lot i think the dryness is pretty manageable but everything
Else i think is pretty severe for a side effect that is just for aesthetic purposes for me acne was something that was really damaging to my self-esteem and i felt like i just wanted it to be gone once and for all and it didn’t matter like what the price was and for me it was the numerous side effects i experienced i hope it doesn’t have any long-term side
Effects beyond that um but we’ll see i’ll keep you updated but i feel fine right now which is good i stopped uh isotretinoin in september and the reason why it was prolonged is because i moved during that time which is why my background is a little bit different but i ended up going on going back to a 30 milligram dose for a couple months because i was moving and i
Couldn’t really go back and forth and get the prescription refilled to give you a brief overview of what it takes to be on isotretinoin like what the process looks like the first initial visit consisted of me going to a dermatologist and basically requesting it and them agreeing that that was the right solution for me or the right treatment for me and then after
That during my second visit i ended up taking a pregnancy test and women are required to take pregnancy tests every month and that’s just a requirement to make sure that we are being safe and we are also required to be on two contraceptive methods and that’s because isotretinoin can cause serious damage to fetuses so that’s something i have to do every month it’s
A little inconvenient if you’re working full-time or you’re in school and you can’t really take a lot of time off but if you book appointments really early on in the day it should be pretty manageable i would also get blood tests periodically just to make sure everything is going well so i got one done during my first visit halfway throughout the course and then at
The end so that’s what a lot of the clinical visits consisted of and i aside from that the dermatologist would look at my skin check my progress and also evaluate if they think you should stay on accutane for a month longer or stop at the four month mark overall i am pretty happy with my decision to go on isotretinoin i stopped treatment in september of 2021 so
I started in january started the process in january of 2021 i started the actual dosage in february of 2021 and ended in september of 2021 and it was delayed because of my move and not being able to go see my dermatologist for a bit but i i i feel that it was the right decision for me just because acne was something that was really damaging to my self-esteem and
I was really frustrated i was trying everything possible from skin care routines nutrition making sure my cortisol levels were down but still i noticed that i was i was still had persistent cystic acne that was leaving scarring and i also was paying a lot of money to get like micro needling lasers done so i felt like i think i should go back to the root cause of
It and deal with the acne first before proceeding with any more acne scar treatments i hope this video was helpful for you i hope the pictures were helpful so you could see my progress as well and at the end of the day i do think this is a very personal decision it is a serious drug it’s not something to take lightly but i feel like if you are at a point where
You feel like having minimized acne would be really helpful to your self-esteem or to your overall quality of life i do think it is worth it as long as you constantly communicate to your germs what side effects you’re experiencing and yeah i hope this video was helpful for you and please let me know in the comments if you have any questions i’ll try to answer
The best that i can based on my experience and i hope to see you in my next video
Transcribed from video
My Isotretinoin (Accutane) Journey | how I cleared my hormonal acne By Srishti Jha
