- Hey, my name is Brian.
I took Accutane every single day for over 70 weeks,
and this is exactly what I thought about it.
So the average Accutane treatment is usually
somewhere around 30 to 50 weeks at the longest.
This was definitely longer
than the usual treatment would go.
Also, I had extremely severe acne, just for reference.
I had very large nodular cysts that was my biggest problem,
but I would also have tons of blackheads covering
my entire face and then tons of whiteheads as well.
But the cysts and the blackheads
were the very, very biggest problem.
So they started me pretty low actually,
they started me at 40 milligrams a day
and we worked up as we went.
But by about week six was when my initial breakout started
and if you've never heard of an initial breakout before,
it's basically whatever acne you have
before you start Accutane,
it's going to get twice or three times worse
because basically as the drug kicks in,
it sort of ignites your acne
and so it got way, way, way, way worse.
And by about week 30 to 40 was when
that initial breakout was gone
and then my face was finally starting to actually clear up.
- [Announcer] And now a public service announcement
from the not giving a (beep) about acne association.
Don't you dare let others push you down.
- What's on your face dude?
What is that? It's the biggest zit I've ever seen.
How do you even go in public, dude?
What are you taking steroids? Taking fucking protein stuff?
Oh, you going to put your headphones on?
You gonna put your headphones on? That's cool. Really cool.
You're ugly though. I don't like your zits, bro.
- Now around the same time, week 30 through 40,
was when I took dairy and whey out of my diet
because doing my own research online
in between my doctor sessions,
I was trying to figure out what was going on.
Why my face wasn't clearing up quite yet
when other people had already seen success by week 30.
And I found that my whey intake, my protein intake
which is made of whey and whey is made up of dairy or milk,
all of that is known to trigger acne.
So when I took that out, I started seeing
my acne clear very quickly
and then it worked in conjunction with Accutane
and actually cleared up fully.
Now the way that it worked
was that it took care of my whiteheads first,
and then it went to the cysts and the cysts again
were the very biggest problem.
And it took care of the cysts
and it would make them go away,
but I would still get one every about a week or two
and they would stick around for about a month.
So instead of having four, five or six cysts on my face
at all time, I would have one at a time,
but it would last for about a month.
Then the blackheads went, then colors and then finally,
after 70 weeks of Accutane,
finally everything had fully cleared up
including the cysts that were coming up kinda randomly.
Everything was cleared.
So by this point, I had ramped up from like I said
40 milligrams all the way up 200 milligrams a day
for a certain amount of time,
I think it was about 15 weeks at the highest
and then we started coming down
towards the end of my treatment,
and I ended somewhere around 60 milligrams a day.
So my cumulative dose, I have no idea what it was,
but it was massive especially compared
to the regular person's treatment.
I was basically taking two treatments all at once.
So, there's my story with Accutane.
Now, the thing that I want to talk about
are small details, pros and cons, things like that.
Things that I can give real insight
from actually going through Accutane,
that I think is very important
that a lot of people don't really touch up on,
a lot of people talk about the same thing over and over,
but when it comes to what you've actually been through
I think that's very important and for me there was
quite a few cons so these are the things that
you should really weigh and make sure that you're aware
of before you even consider going on Accutane
because it really should be thought of as a last resort.
So first off, you're gonna run into this
in the first couple of weeks.
Dry as hell skin, so I would have dry, dry, dry skin
around my cheeks and my mouth,
all around this area was my biggest dry spot
and then I also have extremely dry lips.
Now what would happen is whenever I would yawn,
like yawn open my mouth or if I would smile big
all the sudden, something would tear or crack
because this skin was so dry.
Even when I would use moisturizer,
20 minutes later, the moisturizer would have been used up
and it was dry again and I would have these lines right here
would crack and they would be,
you know when you can feel that there's a rash on your face
and you can feel that it's exposed
but you can't quite see it?
They would get red over time,
and then my lips would bleed, they would literally bleed,
so I would have to have chap stick on me at all times
because if I would go, for example, to college
and I forgot my chap stick in the car,
by the end of one class, my lips would
literally be bleeding down my face.
So obviously dryness is a huge, huge factor
so make sure you have moisturizer and your chap stick
and be aware of this, if you're already a dry person
or if you live in dry climate,
it's gonna be a lot tougher for you.
I experienced quite a bit of sensitibility
to the sun when it came to my skin,
I'd go out into the sun and I'd feel like
I was burning within 10 seconds,
also my eyes were very, very sensitive to light
so I would have to either wear glasses
or stay inside for most of the time
because it would feel like
they were being blinded, literally.
As far as working out goes, I was starting to get back pain
especially with my scoliosis,
it was actually starting to hurt
for the first time in my life.
A lot of my joints were getting a lot more painful
so my elbows would be creaky,
my knees would be creaky,
my shoulders started to actually get really painful
which they had never done before.
I was experiencing a bit of strength loss in the gym
and I wasn't cutting, I wasn't dieting or anything.
I was actually eating more calories than usual
and I was still experiencing quite a bit
of strength loss at the gym. So that's another con.
And then beyond all the physical side effects,
I had to go to the hospital
every single month to do a blood test
and then also the cost was quite expensive.
Except for the fact that I had insurance during this
so it helped a lot but I was hearing people
saying that would pay three four hundred dollars
each month for their treatment.
And remember I did this for so many more months
than the regular person would do this.
So there's my list of cons, now keep in mind
that the cons that are actually out there,
there are so many of them.
These are just the ones that I experienced,
there's quite a few that you could run into.
In terms of long lasting cons,
the ones that actually stuck with me
is I still have back pain,
I still have quite a bit of joint pain.
I am way more dry than I ever have been in my whole life.
My hands get much more dry, my face actually dries out
which I never had an issue with before
because my face was so oily.
And finally, the other con that came with this
is that my acne started to come back after my treatment.
This is something you can actually expect with Accutane.
Almost half of the people who take Accutane,
actually experience a relapse of their acne coming back
after they finished their treatment.
And a lot of people think that
it's a hundred percent success rate
and that you're cleared forever, it's not the case at all.
So a little bit more insight into the journey
while I was on Accutane.
When I was around that week 30 to 40 area
when my face first started to clear up.
I was noticing that the things that would usually
make me break out pretty definitely,
like artificial sweeteners or chocolate or creatine,
things there were kinda on the lighter end
but they would make me break out every single time
when my acne was at it's most severe,
they weren't making me break out as easily, right?
My face had started to get clear
so I feel like my skin was ready
to break out at any moment
before Accutane and if I did even the slightest violation,
boom, I would see the affects of it and I would break out.
But I feel like at this point, at this 30 to 40 week moment,
my Accutane had kinda taken my acne and make it
not extremely severe and made it just heavy,
you know what I mean?
It took me down a couple of notches,
so that when I was doing things,
like the same things that would make me break out before,
artificial sweeteners or creatine or
coffee or whatever it was, I wasn't breaking out.
Now the big triggers were still making me break out.
So, for example, any time that I would try whey or dairy
of any type, even one small serving, I would see a breakout.
And I tested this so many times,
because I thought this was interesting to kinda test around
and see what was breaking me out or what wasn't,
and every single time I would try out one serving of dairy,
whether it was frozen yogurt or protein bar
or anything like that, the next day,
I would have a cyst develop
and that cyst would stay around
for at least two weeks but up to two months.
A lot of people take three four months
before they start seeing results
and why not keep showing my imperfections.
Remember, I said this before,
but now it's even more effective,
if you feel bad about that little zit
right here on your chin, oh my gosh it's so big.
Think about me. Think about my face.
Think about this, that, these, those,
and then you'll feel better,
you'll go out and you'll kill it.
So all these different things
and all these different experiments that I was testing out
on myself ultimately led me to the decision
to go plant based, or vegan,
because I just noticed that the things I was eating,
the meat and things like that
I felt like were making me break out.
When I took those things out, when I took all the dairy out,
I started to see my skin actually clear up again
to what it looked like when I first came off of Accutane.
So I was excited that I was able to kinda curb my relapse.
Now it's been a pretty long time since Accutane.
I actually can't really recall exactly how long.
I think it's been about a year and a half,
but it could be up to two and a half year later,
after Accutane and my face is pretty damn clear.
You could look at it on screen right now,
but you can also go in any of the videos
in the last couple of weeks
and my skin has been more clear than it has ever been, ever.
People always compliment me on how clear my skin is,
they ask me what I'm doing, they ask me what's changed,
they say, "I remember how you looked before
and it's just nuts".
And I always give them the same answer, it's nuts to me too.
I'm still not there where I'm just expecting to be clear.
I wake up and I still go to the mirror,
just because I remember,
I remember doing it every single day.
I go and I look in the mirror and I check for the new cysts
or the new zit and now's the first time in my life
that I've ever been able to do that,
and there's not a new cyst.
And it's nuts, I still don't process it.
And I think it's heavily to do with the Accutane, for sure.
I absolutely believe that I would still have
much worse acne than ever.
But I think it also, for me, it's a very synergistic thing
with going plant based because obviously dairy
was one of the biggest triggers,
and one of the biggest reasons
that I got the acne that I did have.
So, combining them both really worked out for me,
but that is a personal choice.
So my final thoughts on Accutane is that
you should use it as an absolute last resort.
And I think that I did use it as a last resort
because I feel like if you've just jumped right into it,
everybody wants to a clear face, right?
So, Accutane will make you clear, right?
Accutane has so many side effects
that people don't usually harp on,
they don't talk about a lot,
but there's things from depression,
to suicide, to erectile dysfuntion.
I've heard stories where people 10 years after,
so this could be me,
people 10 years later will have the end of their intestine
get cancer, they'll get colon cancer, and they'll have to
actually remove that portion of their colon,
they'll have a shorter colon than they used to have.
Just because they took Accutane.
So, it's not that there's not a lot of side effects,
it's that people sometimes don't emphasize them
and I think that you should really, really read into it
and try every single thing else.
In fact, every single option
before you even think about Accutane.
Do the antibiotics, do the topical creams,
do anything your dermatologist wants you to do.
Play with your diet, test out all sorts of different stuff.
Try all sorts of remedies,
and then if everything doesn't work out,
and you feel that the pros outweigh the cons for you,
getting a clear face outweighs these potential side effects,
then at that point, I think you should go
and you should talk to your dermatologist about Accutane.
But please, keep it as a last resort.
If you do decide to do Accutane,
make sure you buy a 20 pack at least of chap stick
and have it in every sector of your life,
because you're going to forget it one time
and you're gonna hate your life.
Make sure you drink tons and tons of water
because if you don't, you're gonna be dehydrated
more than you ever could imagined.
And just keep in mind that your whole entire life
is completely different when you're on Accutane.
From the moment you wake up, to the moment you sleep,
you're going to be aware of the fact that you have acne
and the fact that you're on Accutane
because you're gonna wake up with extremely dry face
and immediately gonna have to moisturize,
gonna have to put chap stick on.
You're gonna have to think about
the foods that you're eating
'cause you don't wanna continue breaking out
and causing you to take more of this treatment.
You're gonna have to worry about where you are
and when you are because if you don't get home
at a certain amount time after you've put moisturizer on,
then you're gonna start bleeding.
If you're out somewhere, where it's really dry and cold
and you're gonna be out at a concert for a really long time,
you're gonna have to bring sunblock and stuff like that.
You're gonna have to bring a hat that you don't get sunburn
'cause you're very, very, very apt to sunburn
or whatever it is.
And so, keep in mind that Accutane
is not a nonsensical choice
where you just do it and don't really think about it.
You take some pills in the morning.
It is something that you're gonna have to dedicated to
and disciplined with.
You're not gonna be able to drink.
You're not gonna be able to take Ibuprofen,
all sorts of stuff.
So be very, very, very, very well researched
and well thought out, and really make sure that
this is the decision that you ultimately
really, really want to because once you start,
you have to complete it or it won't work.
For me, the pros of Accutane outweigh the cons of Accutane
because I wanted to do this, what you're watching right now.
I wanted to be a YouTuber
and I wanted to do all sorts of things
that come from YouTube.
But people were not able to watch my channel,
and get the actual content of the channel.
Instead, they were being distracted by my acne
so for me to advanced my career,
I had to clear it up in any way possible.
So I took Accutane, but if there was any way that I could go
and not take Accutane and still have advanced my career,
I would have done that.
So keep this warning at your head.
I personally would not have done Accutane
if there was any way around it. And I would have tried.
And I just want you personally
to really put your time into it
about thinking about whether or not you wanna do it.
But, that is it guys.
This video is already getting way too long,
I just wanted to give you guys my thoughts,
post Accutane, especially such a long treatment.
Give you guys insight on to what I think about Accutane.
And hopefully this kinda helps you decide
some things about Accutane,
whether you're gonna take it or not,
or if you just wanna be informed,
if somebody you know is taking it,
so you kinda understand it a little bit more.
If you enjoyed this video,
I would really appreciate you guys giving it a thumbs up.
It helps to get out to other people.
Leave a comment, let me know what you guys thought,
or if you have questions about Accutane,
I'm the guy to answer those,
but also they're tons of people who have taken it before.
And they will answer you as well.
So make sure you leave a comment
in the comments below and subscribe.
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C.T.
- Lift heavy or die mirin mother fucker.
(growling)
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