Day 08

08: Today stunk. I got 5 hours of sleep, woke up dehydrated, and went straight to work at 7am. On my Saturday. While I was working, I realized that I had forgotten my Carmex and that my nose felt really dry and sore inside. I purchased some Burt's Bees Lip Balm (normally a product I would condemn because of the company's piece of crap owner, but it was the best the store had to offer - sorry, fellow outdoorsfolk!), and a Vick's VapoInhaler. I love Vick's. I've got the eternally waxy lip thing going on, despite aggressive lip balm application. My nose doesn't feel dry anymore; it shouldn't, since I'm completely abusing the dosage on this VapoInhaler. What bothered me the most today was how uncharacteristically irritable I was toward my coworkers and customers. I was not in the mood for anyone or anything and made it very clear that I did not want to be screwed around with. I came home feeling like a jackass, I hope this doesn't last. Lastly, after showering this evening, my face immediately felt like a dried up sponge until I got some moisturizer on it. My hands still feel abnormally dry, despite liberal amounts of hand lotion. Cheers.

Day 06

06: Nothing new as of yesterday, my face looks really nice today. I still have kind of bumpy textured skin, but with minimal redness and no active blemishes. I'm trying not to get too excited; I feel like it's just the calm before the storm, the storm being my initial breakout, of course. Claravis makes me feel kind of tired, so I drank a RedBull before my workout yesterday. I started having really bad chest tightness and had to slow my workout drastically. I did some online research and it looks like I probably just have asthma. The chest tightness started BEFORE taking Claravis, so I'm not going to associate it with the drug at all. I thought it might have been the combination of so much caffeine with the Claravis, but after researching that as well, it looks like the worst that will do is dehydrate me. I also have not been back to the tanning booth. I think my membership expires tomorrow anyways.

Day 05

05: My skin is looking much better today. I am still dreading the inevitable initial breakout, but I'm happy with even just one day being as clear as this. I've been feeling tired, a little pessimistic, etc. I have a sore back, particularly around and in between my shoulder blades. I've been thirsty, of course, though I haven't started peeling or getting chapped lips yet. I've had a bit of a loss of appetite, which I suppose is a good thing. Ehh. I still hate that I can't go tanning.

Day 04

It's just making me really tired and nauseated. I have to keep telling myself: it's only 4-6 months. Ugh.

Me at work

:P

Day 03

03: Today I woke up with a dry throat, runny nose, and gross waxy lips. I suppose waxy lips are better than dry and peeling lips, but they're still pretty gross feeling. I imagine my lips like the waxy skim that forms on old pudding. Yuck. Anyways, I got up, rinsed my face with water, and slapped on some more Cetaphil moisturizer. I've been putting off tanning for about a week, but I'm starting to get pasty again... I know you're not supposed to tan while on isotetrinoen, but come on. I'm just going to try it for a shorter amount of time in a bed with lower UV output. I'll let you know how it goes.

 Update: Don't go tanning on Claravis. Oopsie. I've only been on the drug for 3 days, and I had to cut my tanning time in half. Nine minutes into my session, my eyes started bugging out, I felt really hot, my heart racing, and I had to get out. When I looked in the mirror, my chest, neck, and face were completely pink. On the drive home, I felt really dehydrated and a bit dizzy. I was kicking myself in the butt, trying to pinpoint where I should have realized that it wasn't a good idea. Then I realized that somewhere between the 90s music and my eyes spazzing, I either fell asleep, or had a memory lapse. I don't remember those few minutes. That scared me a bit, but there's no way that's related to the Claravis... seriously, I've only had 5 pills. I think that because I was nervous just about going, I fell asleep for a minute, and then had a mini panic attack when I woke up. Now I'm terrified to go back, but hey, it's almost summertime and the sun doesn't come naturally in Maine.

Update: It's almost midnight, I'm getting ready for bed, and my back was feeling kind of sore so I checked it out. I have a bunch of mild sun blisters all over me, but no sunburn. Huh? I also have 3 tiny sun blisters on the corner of my right eye, but I remember tanning when I started birth control pills, and having those same bumps on my hands. I don't know what they mean or if they're harmful, but they seem to stop appearing after a while.

Day 02

02: I had a little trouble sleeping last night, I was itchy, thirsty, and kept awake by the severe thunder shower we got. I see no change in my skin whatsoever. I have a lovely pimple the size of Texas, directly where Marilyn Monroe's beauty mark was. I have a second pimple budding directly in the center of my eyebrows. Of all the places... so today, I have to choose: am I going to channel an old, globally recognized Hollywood movie icon, or am I going to channel the women from Slumdog Millionaire? I'm going to decide over a gallon of water and some homemade chocolate chunk pancakes. With Maine-made syrup. Mmm...

Update: I'm very thirsty, my eyes are dry, and I have a sneeze that will not come. I'm associating the sneezeless sneeze with nasal dryness; luckily I had some Vick's Vapo-Rub lying around to take care of that, and some Visine lying around to take care of my tired eyes. I'm not experiencing the severely chapped lips yet, but I'm keeping them Carmex'd in preparation. I've been feeling a little tired, but I always did before Claravis anyways.

Update: After my evening pill, I had very dry eyes. Again. And that unquenchable thirst that seems like it might last the entire 6 months I'm on this stuff. I found another bottle of re-wetting drops for my eyes, since the Visine stung more than soothed. Blech.

Day 01

01: This morning, at 11am, I took my first 20mg Claravis pill. I am on 40mg a day, for an unestimated amount of time (hopefully not long!). I am blogging this at 12:30 in the afternoon, and have noticed no immediate changes in my body or mind. Hooray! Having read a few other blogs, I went on a little shopping spree at Rite Aid last night and dropped $40 on my Isotetrinoen survival kit: the biggest bottle of Cetaphil Facial Moisturizer available, a Polar insulated fancy-schmancy water bottle seeing as how I'm going to be living on water for a while, and a truckload of Carmex super-intensive lip balm. I didn't find the recommended Aquaphor lip balm, but I will be checking back for it soon. :) I can't wait to witness and track my own progress on Claravis!



Update: A few hours after posting, while I was at work, I felt a bit itchy. I think I may have been mentally inducing it, however, because I was thinking about it. Just typing it has given me itchy legs and eyes. I took my second 20mg pill at 7pm; it is now 9pm and I feel no side effects. I've been applying lip balm liberally in hopes of preparing for the chapped lips I'm bound to get... Ugh! No thank you.

Update: No really, I'm itchier than usual. I think. :(

Update: And thirsty.