A Male's Perspective of Acctuane

Sierra Pizza Face is a blog dedicated to acne sufferers and experiences with the intense drug Accutane. While I’ve decided monthly to document my process with the drug, I’ve also created additional articles each month to help readers better understand all the aspects of Accutane, with everything from side effects and pregnancy risk, to increased risk of depression with acne sufferers and satisfying results after the completion of Accutane.

What I’ve really been lacking in my blog is a male perspective, so this month I decided to interview a close friend of mine, Chase Studinski, who has completed two Accutane treatments.

My acne really started to break out of control in my junior year of college, and Chase was there for me every step of the way. He suggested different face washes and lotions for me, and told me what prescriptions and dosages I should suggest to my dermatologist. Having been a veteran of Accutane, Chase knew my complexion needed that prescription in order to live a life with clear skin. He pushed me to try Accutane for years, and the only regret I have is that I didn’t listen to him sooner.

Thank you, Chase, for your never-ending support for my clear face. You’ve stood behind me with each dosage increase—and even before that, too.

Readers, I trust that Chase’s experience with Accutane will bring insight to the experience that I personally am not able to share. While Accutane journeys are similar (yes, we all have those dry, cracking lips), we each have different experiences overall. Here’s another example of one you may be interested to hear about.

Sierra: Tell me about your experience with Accutane. How many times were you on it, and how long was it for?

Chase: Ultra dry skin. Bleeding lips. Monthly dermatologist appointments and blood tests. No alcohol (that didn't really happen). And perfect, acne-free skin.

I was on Accutane two different times for either five or six months each. The first round, my dermatologist kept me at a low dosage of 30mg for all six months which I later learned was incorrect and caused me to need a second treatment; however, my skin looked great after the first four weeks – your acne actually gets worse during the first four weeks – and there wasn’t a pimple in sight.

About three months after I finished my first round of Accutane, I started getting occasional blemishes again, which was expected, but my skin was back to its old ways about two years later, and I went in for another dermatologist appointment.

The second time, I saw a new dermatologist in my new state of New Jersey, and he meant business. He quickly told me that the correct dosage of Accutane was to start low and work up to 1-2mg per kg of body weight and that my former dermatologist did not prescribe Accutane to me correctly.

After explaining my skin and prescription history, he determined that a second round of Accutane with the correct dosage was the best option, and before I could even say yes, he performed acne surgery on the pimples that were on my face at the time.

This time, I received a higher dosage every month. Because of this (or so I think), my face never got to that perfect acne-free state during my treatment. It wasn’t until the fifth or sixth month that my face was completely acne-free. That being said, I’m now almost four years out, and I don’t have a single pimple on my face. I still get them sometimes, but now I freak out about the occasional pimple instead of a pizza face.

S: Did you experience any side effects while on Accutane?

C: The usual: dry skin and extremely dry lips. I think I also had the occasional lower back pain as a result of Accutane, but I didn’t tell my dermatologist about that one (oops).

S: What is your family history with acne?

C: Both my mom and dad had bad acne growing up. I believe my mom and her sisters were all on Accutane at some point; my mom was on Accutane twice and so was my sister.

S: What is your skin like now? Are you happy with your complexion?

C: My skin is great now. Currently, I have zero pimples on my face (although I had one last week). I have slightly oily skin – maybe you could call it combination skin? – but it’s so much better than it was before.

S: If you remember, what were your feelings while living with acne? As a male who wouldn’t wear makeup regularly, what was it like living with a subpar complexion?

C: I remember starting to get acne around 7th or 8th grade, and I knew it was bad. I also knew that there were people who had much worse acne than I did, so I didn’t think my acne was THAT bad.

I had pimples on my face, back, and chest with only occasional cystic acne, so I started cycling through benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid treatments from the drugstores, but nothing really worked. I remember my mom telling me that I was probably going to need Accutane like she did, but I was a smartass and quickly shot that idea down after researching the side effects.

It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school that I was tagged in a picture on Facebook and saw just how bad my skin looked, and it was then that I decided to begin seeing a dermatologist and that my mom may have been right all along. Don’t tell her I said that :)

I only remember being self-conscious about my body acne and the occasional cystic zit that was too difficult to pop. I was definitely self-conscious when I saw that picture on Facebook, but I just didn’t know how bad my acne was until I saw that.

I guess that was both fortunate and unfortunate. If I would have known what my face actually looked like a few years earlier, I could have begun seeing dermatologist so much sooner; conversely, ignorance was bliss and saved me some self-consciousness.

S: Do you recommend Accutane for those with acne?

C: Absolutely. It’s a miracle drug. I do recommend it as a last resort, however, since the side effects are pretty severe. I tried every acne regimen in the book and was on two different antibiotic acne prescription drugs and a topical prescription gel before I signed up for Accutane.

S: Final thoughts?

C: Accutane is a serious drug and should be sought as a last resort. In the meantime, take care of your skin! Wash your face, moisturize, drink lots of water, see estheticians, and use acne treatments. If they don’t work, talk to your doctor about seeing a dermatologist if you need to be referred or just go straight to the top if you don’t.

I swear by dermatologists after having such positive experiences, and I am so glad I was prescribed Accutane. Now, I’m a skin freak and love sharing all of my research with Sierra, Miss (former) Pizza Face herself, which I’d like to think helped plant the Accutane seed in her mind. (Editor note: It definitely did)

#AccutaneProcess #Accutane #ChaseStudinski #Breakouts #SOS #Isotretinoin #SierraPizzaFace #Dermatology #Acne