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Acne Vulgaris
That dreaded disease that strikes fear in the hearts of teenagers and adults worldwide. The name even sounds disgusting. Well, as you probably already know, if you are visiting this site, I am keeping this journal to track my progress on the Accutane treatment. Accutane is used to treat severe acne when there seems to be no hope with other topical/antibiotic treatment. As for me, I never really had the cystic acne that you hear horror stories about. Actually, my case of acne is pretty mild/moderate compared to some unlucky souls who have to undergo this treatment. (My well-wishes and prayers go with you brave folk) The reason that my dermatologist recommended that I start accutane was simply because I had already tried (pardon my heinous spelling) Retin-A Micro, Differin, Eurythromycin, Dynacin, Cleocin T, Tazorac, you name it. I had given up and just assumed I was destined to become a slave to over the counter Neutrogena "On the Spot" acne treatment, et all. I never thought that Accutane would be for me. Hopefully in 4-5 months, I can prove myself wrong. (please! please! please!)

My mom (who is a doctor as well) was concerned, however, as we all are, about the side-effects and downsides to Accutane. There have been some horror stories circulating around about hair loss, nose bleeds, brain swelling, and other horrible occurrances. But, as someone has previously stated, if the effects (which are said to occur only during the treatment time) are bearable in comparison to a lifetime of acne, you have nothing to lose. I recently started my treatment and was curious (being the sick person that I am) about the "worst" that could happen to me. In the process of looking this up on the internet I came across some journals which follow the treatments of other people on Accutane. And thus, the OPERATION: ACCUTANE was born.

Below you will find weekly updates about my condition on Accutane, addressing each of the concerns
which plague the worried in regards to harmful side effects. Here goes nothin'.
days to freedom!

Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10
Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Week 19 | Week 20
ACCUTANE Info
FYI:
I am taking one, 40mg Roche ACCUTANE (isotrentinoin) daily
Treatment began Saturday, 4/19/03

A BIT ABOUT MYSELF:
I am a high-school senior (17) in Orlando, FL. I will be attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the fall (4.5 months! Get the timing?) and will be majoring in Acting with hopes of a film acting career, thus, clear skin is a MUST. I work over my summer and winter vacations as a character at Walt Disney World here in Orlando, so hopefully the joint/muscle aches which some people complain about while on Accutane won't affect me too much. (Plus I don't have to see anyone important in a costume so hooray for no makeup!) I have a moderate break out cycle that usually worsens around my period, normal/oily skin, and I wear Acuvue contact lenses. I have a somewhat stressful lifestyle, what with high-school + all of the extra stuff that I do (science fair [going back to international for the 2nd year in a row!], debate [going back to CFL Nats for the 2nd year in a row!], drama [where to begin?]... sorry, I'll stop bragging), but thanks to my mom's PNI (psychoneuroimmunology if you must know) program, I have learned to deal with it so that it barely affects me, if at all.

I, like most who begin Accutane, have also created a preliminary survival kit for the experience after much research.
  • ALMAY milk plus Rinse-Off Facial Cream 2-in-1 Cleanser and Toner
    (it leaves your skin clean, refreshed, and baby's butt soft!)
  • Clean & Clear Continuous Control ACNE CLEANSER
    (still hafta manage that surface crap somehow!)
  • Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer (SPF 15)
    (always use sunscreen while on Accutane... and cetaphil rox)
  • nasabb's Unrefined Shea Butter
    (the most incredible moisturizer ever. go to www.nasabb.com and buy some.)
  • Neutrogena LIP NUTRITION mango moisture balm
    (smells really good. if lip condition goes downhill, i've heard Aquaphor is the best)
  • pHisoderm Clear Confidence Acne Skin Care Body Wash
    (great for body zit problems)

WEEK 1:
OIL SLICK! Well I know it's only week one, but at least for now, forget the "dry" stuff. I've been reading other journals and it seems somewhat consistent that in the first week or so your skin actually gets even more oily, not dry! There are a FEW flaky spots tho.. just basically a bit on my nose and around my mouth. Very minor though. It's really nice though: my makeup goes on REALLY well right now and the resulting tone of my skin is PERFECT! (which is awesome because my senior prom was Friday!)
Day 1 and 2 seemed to be absolutely normal. Then, as early as the morning of day 3, I go to wash my face and it stung like a mother (shut yo mouth!). WOW. So I think from now on I will be using the Clean & Clear Acne Cleanser SPARINGLY, as well as the ALMAY Milk Facial Cream (those 2 were the culprits, everything else was fine). I took a peek at the ingredients... note to self: lots of alcohol in a product=BAD. Realizing that my two main facewashing products were now probably not a great idea for everyday use, I bought Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser: it's mild and moisturizing. It only really stung on that day tho, afterwards it didn't hurt as bad. I have also noticed my lips becoming a TEENY bit dry and have been applying my mango lip balm around 3-4 times a day (although the frequency may just be because I am in love with the smell). My lips got a little drier later in the week. Overall, however, my skin seems to be clearing up a bit (yes! even now!) and the healing rate seems to have increased. One noticable (well to me anyway) zit addition (its a small but deep one... poopy!) on the top left corner of my chin. My disposition has seemed to go against the worries, though. Depression seems miles away: if anything I feel more energetic and happy-go-lucky! But hey, I'm weird anyway.

WEEK 2:
Well this week wasn't as fabulous as last week, skin wise. My lips are SOOOOOOOOO dry right now. I attempted to find Aquaphor (my last resort) but couldn't so I bought Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment instead. It works "OK" I guess, but I need to reapply like every 5 minutes. grrr. This week was also the feared initial breakout for me, too. I started erupting with pimples on my cheeks, jawline, forehead, temples, nose, chin, you name it. But honestly, they were never really too much worse that what I had been getting before, and my makeup could still cover them up so that they were almost perfectly unnoticeable, but they were kinda weird in the same sense. I, like many others, can never restrain myself from popping and these all seemed pretty stubborn to do so. This resulted in dark spots where my attempts had been futile: it seems like my skin has become a lot more sensitive to that sort of stuff. The spots go away (relatively quickly actually, as I had stated before that the healing rate has increased), but where they ARE there when they happen, the skin gets really dry and flaky over and around it. I have been double moisturizing all the time now, I'm still using all of the above mentioned stuff plus Bare & Grin It Skin Quenching Body Lotion from Bath & Body Works on my face (it smells soo good and comes in a big tube). I have been feeling some aches in my lower back/thigh area, but i dunno, maybe that's just sleeping wrong (i am prone to doing that). Now mood wise, I have realized that I've become a little peevish lately. I've been snappy and bitchy at times and sometimes will be slightly depressed. But bitchy more over depressed. Like while driving or talking to people, I lost my temper much easier (sorry to anyone I've been snappy to!). True, I was under some stress this week tho, what with my 18th birthday (im getting old) and the last play that I will ever do in high school (i DID want it to be as perfect as possible, duh) so yeah, I can see how I may have been kinda... over the top. Let's wait and see if I get better.

WEEK 3:
First off--my mood problems from last week turned out to be PMS. No more, no less. Now that that's out of the way, lemmie tell ya: MY LIPS HURT SO BADLY! It's gross--they are really really really dry and when they are dry they tend to squeeze together in the front, making my lips look really big and pouty. "That's awesome" you're thinking. That is, after all, what the point of lipstick is.... NOO!!!!! The fullness of my lips are actually SWELLING! They burn like nothing else and are so dry that I can barely even move them to talk (let alone smile, geez.) If I move them too dramatically they crack and start to bleed and I become a vampire sucking blood all day. This is not cool. So I decided that I desperately needed to find Aquaphor if I was to survive. Eckerd? no. Walgreens? no. Publix? no. Winn-Dixie? no. WAL-MART!!! YES wal-mart. awesome place. So yea, my newest product addition is now Aquaphor Healing Ointment, (it's not specifically for lips) and what a product it is. It's not really a lotion, it's like a thick gel and it doesn't absorb away when you put it on. This stuff is serious. Anyway, my face is still breaking out a bit, I have noticed A LOT of blackheads too (just in the sense of dark spots in pores, not really pimples). Now THAT my friend is annoying. My skin is getting drier too, by the end of the day it's slightly stiff and little flakies show up from the corners of my nose, down to my chin. So i tried using the Aquaphor and my skin got really moisturized. GO BUY AQUAPHOR NOW AND SAVE YOURSELF THE HASSLE FROM THE START! Oh bad news: I am having really bad back pains too. when I bend over and stand up again, I have to do so slowly so as not to hurt myself. I can't support things with my back much. It's really straining. I thought for a while (or HOPED that is) that it wasnt related to the Accutane, but it may very well be. I guess I'll start taking Advil too. Gotta be ready for next week: International Science Fair! Other than that, I'm fine, a little sleepy, but fine.

WEEK 4:
Well it was the big week: INTEL International Science & Engineering Fair 2003 in Cleveland, Ohio! Yup, my second time going to International, and this year I actually won something: FIRST PLACE!!!!! It was amazing... but anyway, I'll get to the point. My back aches were quite painful. My board was big and heavy and so it hurt every time I had to put it up or carry a heavy box, etc. Skin wise, the weather (while rainy, yes) was quite dry and cold, which I think may have helped to clear me up a bit. My skin was practically perfect. Towards the end of the week I got a few pimples but overall it's been great. Downside: nosebleed. Yea, the night before judging (tuesday night) I felt like I had a booger in my nose so I go in there with a tissue and, whoops, there's a bit of blood. But hear me out: when I say "nosebleed," by no means do I mean like it's flowing out of my nose like the nile. nono, it's like imagine you have a teeny scab in your nose, and it bleeds a bit. Nothing much really. Actually, the scab idea is probably exactly what happened: my nose probably got really dry and some dead skin got ripped off. Also, I had quite a bit of trouble putting my contacts in that day too. They stung REALLY REALLY badly. My eyes were red and sore, and it was crappy. So I tried a new pair of contacts and it was fine. I guess the old ones were just nasty. We went to Cedar Point in the beginning of the week, which was soo much fun, but with all of those rollercoasters and the high winds whipping through, I got a little bit wind-burnt, so my skin was a bit dry but I used lots of moisturizer and it was all fine, and my lips were REALLY REALLY dry in the beginning of the week, but I just kept applying Aquaphor everytime they felt tight and eventually they got better. There are these little bits of dead skin on my lips now though that I have this horrible habit of picking at (esp. the edges of my lips) and sometimes they bleed... yuck. lots of moisturizer and lip balm is key! I've been running non-stop all week. ugh.

WEEK 5:
As is typical with my life: I never stop moving. The end of this week brought on the last debate tournament of my high-school career: The National Catholic Forensics League Grand Nationals Tournament in Washington, D.C. (yes, I know I am ALWAYS going to these random trips). Well, like ISEF, I had been here once before last year too, and my Duo partner and I ended up breaking to Octofinals (top 48) which really isnt that bad considering it's out of the whole NATION. Well this year I wanted to at least break to Quarterfinals (top 24) just so I could beat that personal record. We ended up breaking all the way to FINALS and getting 5th in the nation in Duo Interpretation!!! We also spent most of Friday walking all around D.C. in the freezing cold and rainy weather in flip-flops... grr...God, what an amazing two weeks this has been. Anyway, this whole week my skin has been clear up to Friday night, when I noticed a medium deep pimple a little above between my eyebrows, as well as a similar one on the top left corner of my forehead and left jawline. NOO!!!! I still had all of the break rounds to compete in! I popped it somewhat tactfully since it hurt, and yes, it left some gross dead skin and discoloration, but nothing makeup couldn't fix. I would think that with all of these stress events going on lately that I would have broken out a bit more, but then again I was never really one to let all that affect me too much. Anyway, eyes are fine, lips are not nearly as bad as they were before (probably due to so much aquaphor), however I freaked out when I was practicing in someone elses room and I had brought my tube in with me and then I lost it in there. I couldn't find my Aquaphor and was certain that if I didnt have it my lips would start to crack again. Luckily the lobby store had Carmex, which is also amazing, so I used that, only to have my partner find the tube in his suitcase (???) on the last day at our hotel. OK! Good, no GREAT news is that the muscle aches in my back are not nearly as bad as they were before! I don't really know why this is, but boy do I appreciate it. Especially since I start work again in two weeks and need to be flexible again. Mood wise, i'm chillin, still a bit tired, but ok. Next week=GRADUATION!


WEEK 6:
So this week was graduation, what a week. Between last minute dress shopping and rehearsals rehearsals rehearsals, yea... fun. My Dad and his now fiance came down from Pittsburgh for it so I saw them and my sister came down from the great north as well. Right so anyway, my skin was pretty clear and all good till of course the ceremony. Well Baccalaureate the night before was fine, but graduation day I had a couple pimples on my cheeks. But I was able to cover them for the most part. Whatever. I hated high school, sooooooo happy to be leaving. NYU, here I come! My eyesight is still fine, my lips are slightly flaky, but managable, my muscle pains are tolerable in my back (yea still there). Graduation means summer has come and I'm off to work. YEE HAW!






WEEK 7:
My first week back at Disney, what fun. Good to be back, although my skin doesn't like it. I was hoping that with the accutane my breakouts would be less significant due to the enormous amount of sweat which accumulates and no doubt clogs pores while I'm roasting in one of those costumes (wow, I'm feeling verbose), but no, of course not. The second I get in one, I hafta start up with the acne again. It's mostly occurring on my nose and cheeks, and they start kinda small though. Although, yes, my period was around this time, so I'll blame it on that instead. There is still hope! So since I don't wear makeup at all during the summer, I'm hoping that the air and lack of makeup will do something wondrous for me, although prolly not. To make a long story short, I had a big breakout. My eyes are fine, my lips are f-ed up since I have been neglecting to nourish them. My back is suprisingly ok tho, no problems... yet. (Notice the short posts recently? I've been slacking due to the fact that am working on my main website. Finally got a domain name! Whee!)




WEEK 8:
Gawd my shifts have been sucking. I've only been getting scheduled 5 days and there are like no OT shifts to pick up. AND they changed all the shifts from 8 hrs to 6 hrs. Dammit. Anyway, this week was just like last week. Breakout, recovery is discoloration and flakes. You know the drill by know. My lips are HORRIBLY DRY again. God, need to start using all the moisturization again. There is an Actor's Equity Audition coming up on the 20th that I really wanna go to in order to be considered for "Streetmosphere" talent roles like the people on Hollywood Blvd. in MGM that act like 40s movie stars and make fun of people. REALLY wanna go, please, Lord, clear up my face! It's time to overdose on moisturization again. (usually it heals really fast when I do that). Back pain is getting a little worse, but still managable.





WEEK 9:
Well this week was better. I got some moisturizer that has been working fabulously. ALMAY milk plus Skin Renewing Night Cream. It doesn't smell too great, but it definitely works. I have been using it every night, and the cetaphil moisturizer every morning. The equity audition was great (my first REAL open-call audition!) I ended up waiting for like 3 hours before I could even go in. They seemed very responsive, too. I got great comments on my performance, but "they didn't have any spots available." Oh well. I tried. There's always next month! Anyway, My face was BEAUTIFUL for the audition. It was practically pimple free, even though my lips were a bit dry. But I had been moisturizing, so they've really been good. I've noticed that I just GLOW when I have makeup on, it lays so evenly and pretty now. I was so excited after the audition I called my friends and wanted to go out and party. haha. Oh and my back is like soo clear too. Just some discolorations, but no breakouts! My back still hurts a little but nothing I can't handle. I just suck it up and try to ignore it... probably not the BEST idea but it works.


WEEK 10:
Wow, this has been the longest week. I have been picking up shifts everywhere and hopefully will be recieving a massive paycheck next week for all of my efforts. The 23rd was my 2 year anniversary mark with Disney, so that was exciting, oh and I was a spare in SpectroMagic that night, and they pulled me to do sidelogo spectroman! (the dude that waves his hands around to make words appear on the first float) I know you really don't care. ok. Well lemmie just tell you that my lips got really crappy this week in the beginning. Yes, I had been moisturizing and everything, but they got all peely and stuff anyway. Also, the inside of my nose was REEEEEAAALLLY dry towards the end of the week. Like you know how when you get a cold and the snot runs into your nose and dries, you know how it's all flaky and peely? well that's what the inside of my nose feels like. To the point that it's hard to breathe sometimes. I constantly am trying to pick it out so I can breathe ok and then it'll start bleeding a little. gawd it sucks. and it really hurts too. OH! exciting event: I got called on the 26th to be an extra in a taping for the Travel Channel the next day at the Tower of Terror at the Disney/MGM Studios! I had to be there at 4:30 in the morning (!) and it went till about 10. They taped us getting on the ride and in the queue lines and actually riding it too. We did a lot of waiting around (in the little library area) but I got to look close up at some of the props and stuff in the lobby. Wow. So much detail. Everything was BEAUTIFUL!!!! My skin was still nice too. I'm very happy about that. It may get crappy soon, tho, as my period is just around the corner. poopoo. FYI: I am now officially obsessed with the Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream at the Mouseketeeria (disney cast cafeteria).




WEEK 11:
Well my period still hasnt started yet so my skin is still behaving. I had like two very minor tiny pimples pop up but they went away very quickly. In terms of stress events, I had the Disney Color Coding Audition on the 30th and I thought I did pretty well. It's stressful tho because you have to do a dance combo + animation excersize and depending on how you do it determines what you can audition for to learn in terms of parades and shows. OH and I picked up a special on July 4th being "spirit of '76 dale" at EPCOT. Very fun. My mom came to the park and watched every one of my sets! Other than that the week has been pretty typical, my nose seems to be getting worse, however, it really hurts and is dry. It's like peeling from the inside and bleeding when you blow it. And to make matters worse, BECAUSE it is so dry, it will naturally try to moisturize itself with liquid snot, so you feel that you HAFTA blow it. It's a vicious cycle. I rubbed the inside of it with Aquaphor and that seemed to help for a few days. Oh and I've finally discovered something novel: if you don't pick at your lips, they heal themselves! Really! after 11 weeks ive finally come to this conclusion. (doh!) Other than that, my back pain was virtually nonexistant towards the end of the week. WHOO HOO




WEEK 12:
The strangest thing has happened. While my back pain is virtually nonexistant (as stated last week), i now have some slight pains in my upper thighs! ugh! will it never end!?! Well I certainly had a full plate this week. I worked my butt off with double shifts practically every day. kinda tired. Anyway, my lips started to get a little dry (But really not that bad at all), so I tried something new. BURT'S BEESWAX LIP BALM from the Burt's Bees product line. It's really nice! It's got a pepperminty tingle and has shea butter in it and has really made my lips feel nice. I also got softlips: french vanilla which tastes really good and glides on silky smooth with lots of moisturization. But the Burt's Bees has Shea Butter, so I'll try that first. On Thursday night after my Grand Fla Perla 1 Dinner shift I also noticed a mega deep pimple on my upper right cheek. It wasnt so much BIG as DEEP. So that was a bummer. 2 days later another smaller one showed up near it. sad. But I'm really excited because I have definitely been seeing an improvment since I started. I can't wait to be off this stuff and not hafta worry about acne anymore!




WEEK 13:
The Burt's Bees seems to be working fairly well (and it has a cool tingle to it). I'm still recovering from the outbreak last week, but realized now that it was due to, what else, my period! Gotta love that. Meanwhile my nose is still having a cow and emitting hard peely boogers that bleed (isn't that a lovely image). The left corner of my mouth is also doing this weird peely sore thing, which hurts and sucks at the same time. On a more positive note, I picked up another special today. I was Western Chip at the Boggy Creek Gang camp. We got to country line dance with epileptic children. Isn't that lovely? I had fun. They were all really cute. But again, it was a long week, so I'm pretty tired.








WEEK 14:
Feeling better this week. I'm getting to the point where I want the summer to end because I can't stand working anymore... maybe I'll reach that next week. Anyway, my nose is no longer gushing blood, thank God. I just get an abundance of hard boogers, but they just come out nicely. My skin otherwise is clear and my lips are almost normal.I had to get a meningitis shot for school this week, but I was fine with that. I also had my FIRST dermatologist appt since going on Accutane this week also. Yes, I know that I should have been having them monthly, but supposedly because my Mom is able to get the labwork for me, it's ok... anyway, she said that my progress was wonderful and I should be off soon. YAY! She also gave me some Tazorac to use in case I start to breakout again after I am off of Accutane. In other news, I had an official date with my b/f of 3 years (haha) yea... we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean... Good movie I must say. And I looked hot. ;)






WEEK 15:
The hard boogers are still there. Very annoying. My skin is also kinda blotchy, not really even toned. but whatever. No aches or pains really anymore, which is a good thing, and my lips are doing ok. This was a very laid back week for me, I was scheduled short Suzy/Perla shifts all week. So much for breaking a sweat! Geez... But hey! I talked to my NYU roommate for the first time this week too! She seems really cool. I can't wait.








WEEK 16:
Yuck! A little pimple popped up again. Guess why? Yup, period again. I should've guessed. The hard boogers are still present, however much less so. Just occasionally. I have come to realize that if I just leave stuff alone, they'll go away. So if I stop picking my nose, it'll heal. If I stop picking at my lips, they'll heal.... it's just so hard tho, I hate the peely feeling... anyway, they ARE starting to get a little dry. I think it may be the Burt's Bees... my sister was in town this week and she told me that the mint in it might dry out or irritate my lips... hmm. My left big toe started hurting this week too, right in the joint. I think I have arthritis or something. Seriously, it HURTS. Meanwhile, I've been majorly shopping for college, which is always fun. Funny story: on the 8th I get a call from Peter. He wants to go to lunch with me before he leaves for Duke, so we decide to go between my shifts. I run home and change, and put on a cute halter top, which, of course, you don't wear a bra with. So we go to lunch, it was nice to see him again. Then I go straight back to work and realize, OOPS!, I don't have a bra, much less a sports bra! I'm like fuck... but at least I'm scheduled Suzy/Perla. So I check in and they tell me I'm pulled to Yellow Rabbit--which I had never even done before but knew that it was a guy enough that I needed to do SOMETHING. In searching for the costume among the racks I spotted a roll of masking tape, however, and the rest is history. Let me tell you, taping your boobs down hurts. I speak from experience.




WEEK 17:
Well my skin is all clear again. It's absolutely wonderful and soft. I am still getting the occasional hard booger, however, and it's weird because they come out in like strips of dead skin. Really nasty. And my LIPS! Oh my god. I dunno what happened. They got really peely so I peeled them and I guess I did it too much because they were bleeding like mad. I think I need to lay off the Burt's Bees a bit and switch over to the SoftLips only. My left big toe is STILL hurting too. My mom says I'm too young to get arthritis (and she should know) but then I wonder what exactly is wrong. Maybe I broke it? Hmm. Anyway, still packing away, my boxes were shipped on Wed and Thurs. NYU is so close but so far. I was supposed to go to the Keys this week, but Jon was outta town at his cousin's funeral. ::sigh:: what to do for 2 whole weeks without work... SLEEP, SURF THE NET, DESIGN WEB PAGES, UPDATE ACCUTANE JOURNAL, PACK CLOTHES, SHOP FOR MORE CLOTHES... nah, there's not much to do.

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ONSET

CLARITY: a few cheek, jawline, nose, forehead, mouth area, and chest zits. discolorations on back where prior zits had been
SKIN: normal moisture
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: soft/smooth
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: none
STRESS EVENTS: none
MOOD: happy

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WEEK 1

CLARITY: very few and tiny jawline, forehead, chin area, and back zits.
SKIN: oily! (2 itty bitty flaky spots)
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: tiny bit dry but still smooth
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: none
STRESS EVENTS: Senior Prom!
MOOD: happy-go-lucky!

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WEEK 2

CLARITY: initial breakout--cheek, forehead, chin, nose, jawline...
SKIN: drier, a little tight but still decent
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: really really dry/cracky
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: back/thighs
STRESS EVENTS: My 18th Birthday & Mystery Dinner Theatre v5.0 (last drama show of H.S. for me)
MOOD: peevish

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WEEK 3

CLARITY: some breakout--cheek, forehead, jawline...
SKIN: drier, slightly flaky by end of day
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: OWEE! VERY DRY AND THROBBING!
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: pinching all-over back pain
STRESS EVENTS: AP English Lit. Exam (5/5), AP Statistics Exam (5/7) Last day of High School FOREVER! :)
MOOD: mellow (kinda sleepy actually)

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WEEK 4

CLARITY: almost perfect, some minor jawline later in week
SKIN: tight but OK w/ moisturizer
VISION/EYES: stingy at first (prob the dry air) fine later on
LIPS: VERY dry and flaky
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: LOTS of lower back pain
STRESS EVENTS: INTEL International Science & Engineering Fair (5/10-17)
MOOD: tired

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WEEK 5

CLARITY: great except a few medium ones later in week
SKIN: a bit tight but much softer
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: flaky but not unbearably dry
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: teeny bit of lower back pain
STRESS EVENTS: NCFL Grand Nationals Speech & Debate Tournament (5/23-25)
MOOD: chillin'

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WEEK 6

CLARITY: a couple bad on cheek
SKIN: ok soft
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: kinda flaky but managable
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: tiny lower back pain
STRESS EVENTS: Graduation (5/30-31)
MOOD: sad/excited

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WEEK 7

CLARITY: eruption!
SKIN: soft but dry
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: dry dry dry
JOINT/HEAD ACHES:still bit of lower back pain
STRESS EVENTS: Nothin'
MOOD: happy

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WEEK 8

CLARITY: breakout on nose/cheeks
SKIN: soft, dry in spots
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: dry dry dry
JOINT/HEAD ACHES:still bit of lower back pain
STRESS EVENTS: Nothin'
MOOD: chillin'

WEEK 9

CLARITY: Clear! whee!
SKIN: soft
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: a bit dry
JOINT/HEAD ACHES:tiny bit of lower back pain
STRESS EVENTS: Disney Equity Audition (6/20)
MOOD: nervous but excited


WEEK 10

CLARITY: Still clear!
SKIN: soft, tiny bit flaky on nose, inside of nose parched and bleeding sometimes
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: dry dry dry
JOINT/HEAD ACHES:still bit of lower back pain
STRESS EVENTS: Travel Channel ToT Taping
MOOD: happy (but nose in pain)

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WEEK 11

CLARITY: very few and very minor
SKIN: tiny bit flaky on nose, inside of nose parched and bleeding sometimes
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: better
JOINT/HEAD ACHES:very minor lower back pain
STRESS EVENTS: Disney Color Coding
MOOD: happy/nervous (but nose still in pain)

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WEEK 12

CLARITY: deep one on upper right cheek
SKIN: nose is nasty/flaky/bloody
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: almost normal
JOINT/HEAD ACHES:upper thigh pains(?)
STRESS EVENTS: none
MOOD: tired of working so hard!

.


WEEK 13

CLARITY: recovering from last week, some small pimples.
SKIN: nose is still gross
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: left corner has a sore
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: none
STRESS EVENTS: Boggy Creek special
MOOD: tired

.


WEEK 14

CLARITY: clear
SKIN: hard boogers
VISION/EYES: fine (I got new glasses!)
LIPS: almost normal
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: none
STRESS EVENTS: Meningitis shot, date w/ bf, Derm. appt...
MOOD: chilllin'


WEEK 15

CLARITY: clear
SKIN: a little blotchy, hard boogers
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: almost normal
JOINT/HEAD ACHES:none
STRESS EVENTS: none
MOOD: chillin'

.


WEEK 16

CLARITY: just one small one right cheek
SKIN: occasional hard booger...
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: a little dry
JOINT/HEAD ACHES:left big toe (?)
STRESS EVENTS: shopping for college.. bra dilemma ;)
MOOD: i hate morning shifts.

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WEEK 17

CLARITY: clear!
SKIN: occasional hard booger...
VISION/EYES: fine
LIPS: horribly peely (blood!!!)
JOINT/HEAD ACHES: left big toe (?)
STRESS EVENTS: packing for college
MOOD: relaxed yet excited and nervous

.

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