Roaccutane and Dry Dry Skin

Has my skin become incredibly since my last update! About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that the edges of my upper and lower lips were incredibly swollen and rough feeling as though I had cold sores all over those areas. When I'd arrived home from work that day, I'd noticed that the immediate area around my mouth was also so parched dry that the skin was white and could almost be flaked off.

That night I set off applying layers of moisturisers, painted on the Sorbolene Cream and lip balm, much more than I had the past weeks. Even before heading to work, I'd apply three layers of moisturiser to my face and lip balm to my lips, once immediately after cleansing my face, then the other two times just before I stepped out the door to make sure that my skin is protected against the winter elements and office air-conditioning.

Even with all this intense moisturising, it took around a week to stabilise the dryness. I am still applying this same amount of moisturisers and lip balm but still have some small patches of flaking dry skin on different areas of my face, but for the most part, the dryness is under control.

That being said, another bout of dermatitis has reappeared on the back of my hands. After I stop applying the cortisol cream, the skin where the dermatitis is becomes incredibly dry. Again like before, I tried applying Sorbolene to the affected areas, but find that it stings and only becomes more red and angry-feeling. I changed to applying my facial moisturiser to the affected areas and it seems to be helping, slowly.

Tomorrow I have a checkup with my Dermatologist and am interested in seeing what he has to say about the dermatitis on the back of my hands. Are they anything to do with taking Roaccutane? I wonder.

Roaccutane Doing its Job on my Scalp Acne and Folliculitis

It's been a while since I last called in, but thought worthwhile to provide an update on how my second course of the acne drug Roaccutane is going in treating my scalp acne / folliculitis.

The condition of my scalp has been stable since my last post. I haven't had any flare-ups of acne or folliculitis and the oiliness of my scalp seems to be even less now. My hair seems rather dry which is particularly evident when it's long as it can get rather frizzy in places.

I'm finding also the dryness of the skin around my lips is now spreading to my cheeks. I am even being conscious not to wipe my mouth or blow my nose with facial tissues too often during the day as it has a drying effect on those areas giving my skin the flaking parched look. I even find myself having to reapply lip balm after I finish my lunch to prevent my lips cracking through the afternoon in the drying effect of the office air-conditioning and regular sipping of water. Also when I comb my hair in the mornings, I continue getting dandruff-like white flakes of skin on my comb.

So it seems the Roaccutane is definitely doing its job in reducing the sebum production of my scalp and facial skin so there's certainly much to be glad about! Until next time.

Dermatitis, Acne and Folliculitis

In my last post, what I'd previously self-diagnosed to be a fungal infection on the back of my hands turned out to my Dermatitis. I'd seen the local GP about the condition and asked whether it was in any way related to the Roaccutane I am taking. She was quite sure it wasn't related at all and that a topical steroid cream will heal the problem. So I was prescribed Advantan cream, to be applied twice daily for the first week with the nightly application accompanied by a cool wet press or towelette covering the affected areas on my hands to aid absorption of the Advantan cream.

After the third day of following the directions, the Dermatitis had cleared up so significantly, even almost being fully cleared. This must have been one of the fastest healing conditions I have ever had. Or so I thought.

It wasn't soon after I reduced the Advantan application to once daily as directed by my GP that the condition returned though not as angry-looking at it was originally. My GP had said that the Dermatitis could be caused by any number of reasons that were individual to the patient. I found that the Dermatitis returned after I had used hot water to wash my hands through the day. Perhaps it inflames the fact that I am taking Roaccutane for my folliculitis - dry skin dried further by use of hot water hence triggering Dermatitis? Possible theory.

But I digress. As the cooler weather is setting upon us, I'm using warmer water to wash my face and bathe. I'm noticing that my scalp, face, lips and neck are feeling a lot drier these days, probably caused in combination with the Roaccutane now that I've been taking the twice daily dose for several weeks now. I feel like I don't even need to wash my hair daily anymore whereas before starting Roaccutane, I felt like I needed to wash it once in the morning and once at night.

I'm glad that the folliculitis hasn't flared-up since starting the twice daily dose, and I have a feeling that I'm over that initial phase where flare-ups can occur. Though I do have a spot or two just at the base of back of my scalp that I've noticed in the past few days. I'm not too concerned about these as they don't feel angry.

All in all, the past 3 weeks have been pretty good on Roaccutane, though would like the Dermatitis to clear up.

It's been a couple of weeks since my last update on my treatment of acne and folliculitis on my scalp. I'd realised that as my treatment on Roaccutane progressed on, the drastic changes in my skin condition slowed, and so it made more sense to see how things have progressed over a couple of weeks rather than every few days or weekly.

So that being said, here's a recap of my current treatment: Roaccutane twice daily, once at breakfast and the other at dinner. I have taken each dose immediately after the meal, mostly either with a glass of milk or water. Sometimes I have it with fruit juice, iced tea or softdrink, whatever beverage I'm drinking with my meal.

The facial greasiness is currently sustained at a level where at the end of the day, the skin is not dry, nor is it overtly greasy with an evident film of oil as it was prior to beginning Roaccutane. I would describe my facial skin moreso having the feeling of being nicely moisturised and soft. I don't feel like I have to wash my hands with soap after touching my face. There has been only a very few minor spots of acne appearing around or just under my jawline/chin area, but those have healed. I am still applying face and lip moisturisers twice daily as my facial skin does become dry after washing particularly around the mouth and cheeks.

My scalp still has some patches of itchiness as though folliculitis or acne is about to appear in that area. In fact as with the face, a few minor spots have reappeared on the scalp, primarily on the top and right side of the scalp. These spots are very much smaller than the ones I got during the initial flare-up when I first started the second course of Roaccutane and importantly to my relief, they seem to heal quickly without fuss. I am now finding that everytime I comb my hair, I get dandruff-like flakes of skin appearing on my comb. It might be that my scalp has become dry and therefore skin is flaking off. It's not really a concern to me.

Perhaps an unrelated skin condition has since appeared on the back of my hands over the last week and a half. It seems like some sort of fungal infection has developed, but seemed to be under control with an anti-fungal cream applied 2-3 times daily. It would be interesting to hear from my skin specialist if this is related to the Roaccutane treatment.

All in all, I'm very pleased with how things are progressing on the treatment of my scalp acne and folliculitis. Until next time!