Time for an Accutane update, I know you’re all wondering how that’s going.

It has been about five and a half weeks since I began my course of treatment, so, just under three months left. For some reason it feels like longer, maybe because I feel so much different now.

Before I started taking the drug, my face was very oily every day. Around lunchtime, my face was shiny and I sometimes used blotting papers here at my desk to soak it up. Awesome. Now? My face is never oily anymore.

This oilyness led to the rough skin, bacteria, and zits that were once all over my face all the time. My skin is now mostly clear, though I think I am due for a second-breakout phase that some Accutane users experience, where my skin will molt one last time. Bring it on. Get all that crap out of my pores, I don’t mind. I have a couple zits on my cheek and jaw, and some steadfast blackheads, but this is really the nicest my skin has been in forever, and I’m not even halfway done.

As for side effects, my skin has stabilized. I still use lip balm several times a day, and use hand cream and body lotion, but I experienced no peeling or redness. I drink a LOT of water so I think this mitigates the dryness. I’ve started taking Vitamin E capsules to help heal faster.

Dosage: I am taking 60mg per day. The recommended dosage works out to pretty much divide your body weight (in pounds) in half and take whatever that is in mg/day. For me, that is sixty. My dermatologist explained to me that when patients come back a few years later to take Accutane again, it’s usually because they took a lower dosage for a shorter period. For example, a 130-pound person taking 20mg/day or 40mg/day for four months is not going to see lasting results. The dosage is based on BODY WEIGHT. I guess you could take 20mg a day for a year, but what a total drag.

(I heard that Madonna is perpetually on a low dose of Accutane and that explains her flawless skin. Huh.)

I read a couple Accutane online journals and the comments that went with them. I do not have as severe a case of acne as many others who take this drug. I don’t have huge cysts or pockmarks or red patches or bacne. I just have consistent, moderate, oily acne that doesn’t clear up. Until now.

The comments reveal that some people are very freaked out about this drug and are not listening to their doctors. Many girls say they “can’t” go without tanning in the summer. I guess they are already okay with serious skin damage, so advice like “stay out of the sun!” isn’t likely to faze them. People talk about taking 40mg/day, and I doubt they weigh eighty pounds, and not getting lasting results later on. People post about the many generics on the market, one of which I am taking.

The majority of people are extremely happy about their results, and I am too. I look forward to the end of my treatment, since I won’t have to take pills anymore or do all the extra moisturization. I look forward to six months from now, when worrying about my zitty, oily skin is just a memory.