THE NIGHT BEFORE DAY ONE

As a quick backgrounder... I started getting breakouts about a year ago out of no where. At 42 years old I was getting zits! I didn't have bad acne at all as a kid - just plain old adolescent acne. No scars, no cysts, just pimples. Then flawless skin until last year.

It started with itchy bumps in my scalp and a few red zit like bumps on my forehead or temples. Bumps on my scalp, red bumps on my face, chest and little red bumps on my neck. However, I never had more than 5-6 at any given time, but just as they would go away more come back. Facial bumps are kinda of cyst-like, but never come to a head. But they get about eraser size in dimension and are raised. Never crutsy, never oozing, go away without leaving a mark but LOOKS LIKE ACNE CRAP! :) My dermatologist says it's an acne/folliculitis diagnosis.

Meds I've tried (pardon the spellings):
Minocillin (Rx)
Minocycline (Rx)
Clenia Wash (Rx)
Finacea (Rx)
Differin (Rx)
Proactiv Kits
Benzacline (Rx)
Bacterial washes (Rx)
Many over the counter Benzawashapotions....

About a month ago I just got fed up with it all. My current regimen (stops tomorrow!) is Clenia wash in the morning followed by Finacea. Then Clenia wash at night again then followed by Differin cut with a little oil free moisturizer. I've been religiously on this routine for about 6 months+. It keeps my breakouts shortlived, but they keep coming and coming.....

So, we decided to try Accutane. I came home with a stuck arm, a couple thick booklets of iPledge stuff and heavy curiosity. I went right to Google....and...whoa. Accutane is the worst reviewed medicine ever. Article and post and post were all abotu the side effects. Rarely did anyone say it's great. So I really re-considered.

I spoke to my doctor again and we discussed the side effects and his personal experience - with prescribing it to over 1000+ patients in their offices and his personal experience with it as a teenager. I also asked the nurses since they seem to be more reliable sometimes. :) Anyway, I decided to give it a shot.

And tomorrow it begins. July 1 is Accutane Day One.

I'm going ot be really honest here - if it sucks, makes me depressed, makes me achy, dries out my eyeballs..whatever....I'm blogging it. If it's good and people like me were scared away from it because of all the bad reviews, then maybe this will help someone. If it's terrible like everyone says, then I'm going to add my voice to the army against it.

Of course, this assumes anyone at all will even find this blog, let alone read it.....