3 May 1998
I have now been on Accutane for almost 16 weeks and I have been spot free for some time. Unfortunately I have been having some more side effects kicking in. I've been suffering with joint and muscle aches a lot. I've been finding it very easy to get stiff aches from being in the same position for a long time. Also I've been losing my appetite quite a bit. This isn't too disastrous as I've been losing about 1or2 pounds every week but I've got some extra weight to what I should be so I'm not that bothered. I accidentally caught some sun yesterday and my face was sore today. I was only walking without my cap for half an hour but that was enough. Otherwise things are progressing nicely.

10 May 1998
There has been recent publicity about an 18 yr old living in Newport, South Wales, who committed suicide while taking Roaccutane. David Tebby had been prescribed the medication for acne a few months earlier and had developed suicidal tendencies, which the coroner reported led to him committing suicide while his mind was unbalanced. As this is a possible side effect of the drug then the family are considering legal action against Roche who are the makers of the medicine. Roche have issued guidance to prescribers to watch patients for depression and mental imbalance.

17 May 1998
I went to see my dermatologist on Thursday and we agreed to stop the accutane. I am no longer taking the tablets and I'm free of spots. Lets keep our fingers crossed that the spots stay that way, unfortunately 20 to 25 % of cases have a recurrence. we decided to stop now as I have lost over 20 pounds and the weight to dosage hadn't been revised. This means that I had taken the 100mg/1kg almost exactly by the time I went for the appointment. I feel like a great weight has been taken off my shoulders.

24 May 1998
I have now started to relax a bit. I've had no spots to date. My lips have almost returned to normal...hurrah. I've also found that my eyes have been watering a lot. I haven't had many joint aches of late either. I went for my 6-month check up at the dentist on Thursday. He happened to mention that isotretinoin can affect your gums and you should be careful when flossing and also that if you have any crowns (capped teeth) then these can become loose.

31 May 1998
I have had a spot free week again. I've really begun to feel like a lot of energy is returning to me. Its strange that this should happen but I was thinking that this is probably the first time that my body's not been ingesting some medicine or another for close on seven years. Wow! I've never thought of myself as being an energetic type of person but I've actually felt the need to work out a few times this week. I'm continuing to lose weight, another 3lb this week I can't believe it. I wonder if it’s a psychological thing or really is to do with the drugs. Who cares, if it works. I had noticed a run of dry skin patches continuing for a while but that’s stopped and best of all I have normal lips. I'm going to see about a new fitting for contact lenses this week, that'll be a relief.

7 June 1998
This is an earlier update than normal, but its still pretty good news at the moment. I have had a few scares as I've thought I had a spot coming on the side of my nose. I had that pressure feeling but luckily nothing has come of this . I've lost another two pounds this week. I've had some itchy patches of skin recently. I don't know if this is normal as things return or just me. I had one patch on the side of my face that was really irritating me. Good news as I'm wearing my contact lenses again. Now that my glasses are out of the way its the first time I've really noticed hoe good my skin is now, it also means I can see it comfortably.

14 June 1998
Things are going marvellous. I went back to work on Monday and after the few weeks off work a lot of people have commented on how good my skin looks....better than theirs even. I'm wearing my contact lenses easier than I have done for a number of years. I wonder how much other medications I've been on have affected this. I forgot to mention last week that I've found out that people who wear soft lenses are less likely to have problems than those who wear hard. Its something to do with water held inside the lenses. I happen to wear gas permeable hard lenses though... they are a lot easier and cheaper to maintain, but not everyone gets on with them. I'm feeling tonnes more confident than I have done for years. If you have a look at my geocities pages you will realise just how confident. I've been having some good mails and messages lately. Keep them coming as I enjoy helping others.

21 June 1998
All's ok at the moment. I did have a minor panic when I felt a lump on the back of my head that was a spot of some kind under the hair. I don't think it was an acne spot though. I actually got a little sun yesterday, which was rather nice. My hair hasn't changed I think its still getting lighter! Do you think I should see anyone about it?

28 June 1998
Minor panic this week. I felt a pressure on the side of my nose as if there was a spot under the surface, but nothing came of it and there's no pressure today. I then had a spot in the crease between my lip and chin yesterday. I almost yelled out. Mind you it was only the tiniest if white heads but it was there. I caught it with the back of my thumb and it went. I'm praying that this is a minor aftershock and more to do with the fact I hadn't bothered shaving for a couple of days and my skin was feeling a bit irritated as well. I must say that my skin is generally very good though and no blackheads and only a couple of residual patches of dry skin. My back and chest are the best they've been for... well ever. I'm hoping to get a bit of tan this summer if it ever arrives!!

5 July 1998
I'm getting more concerned now as I've had one spot on my chin and a couple at the back of my neck. Not all at the same time mind you as one goes another has come and so on. I've also noticed some irritation at the edge of my shaving line. I hope that this is a momentary thing because I can't face going down the deterioration route again. But I must say my back and chest are completely clear. So I'll keep you posted on it. I think that if these spots continue then I'm back to the doctor.

13 July 1998
OK folks panic over on the spot front. I haven't had any on my face this last week. I had one sort of spot on my chest but I don't think that was an acne spot more just a blemish from something. So it is now 8 weeks. I'm so happy. I think that there comes a point when you need to stop something so this will be my final diary entry here. I can see no real need to go on each week about this now that I am happy that I've struck lucky. I think it would become a bit boring. I shall be inserting a summary of what happened on the accutane up to the date this diary started and I will incorporate that into the new pages layout.