Face medicine...

In December 2016, I went to the doctor and told him I was tired of breakouts at 36 years of age.  Mean, cyst-like pimples that took a week to heal and hurt.  He recommended Accutane, which would be expensive and has horrible side effects if I were to get pregnant.  We also had to check my liver function because Accutane can hurt your liver.  I took blood tests and said I'd be careful and we started Accutane.  The pills are expensive, $6 a piece and I took 1-2 a day.  I also took vitamin E to help my skin.  These are my before pictures...yikes.

I was on pills for 5 1/2 months.  My lips were so dry!  I applied chapstick every 10 minutes, I'm not even joking.  The skin on my arms hurt all the time, like I'd sunburned the day before.  Except I wore long sleeves and stayed in the shade a lot.  The first month was crazy breakouts, and then it slowly started to get better.  The skin on my face became soooooo smooth!  Like crazy smooth!  I finished my regimen and my skin stayed smooth and has for months. Wow!  After pic:

I'm not going to lie, it was hard, and Merril was going through his whole cancer at the same time.  I'd been on it a month when we found out about Merril and said I'll quit to save money and he said no way.  Finish it strong.  After stopping the pills, my arm skin returned to normal thankfully!  Clear skin was NOT going to be worth it if my arms hurt forever.  Accutane permanently shrinks oil glands so I use an oil treatment on my hair once a week now.  I have some scarring, which will improve over time.  It's so nice to wash my face and feel smooth skin instead of lumpy bumps.  Glad it's over too!