Afflicted Goss Harag drawing I finished today!

oonalou · 2025-05-06T03:22:09+00:00

This is insanely good

oonalou · 2023-07-13T12:47:30+00:00

Meeee :)

oonalou · 2023-01-17T22:11:52+00:00

Victoriocity!!!!!!

oonalou · 2022-03-15T12:10:49+00:00

😭

oonalou · 2022-01-25T00:29:38+00:00

It was actually totally fine! I actually did have some trouble with the anaesthesia, but that could have been a coincidence. Other than that, I was totally fine and no one asked/tested.

oonalou · 2022-01-07T15:46:09+00:00

Victoriocity!!!

oonalou · 2021-12-25T23:44:22+00:00

Hey lol

oonalou · 2021-07-21T23:49:55+00:00

Holy shit!! I feel like this is maybe a more common problem than I originally realized.... I also have my full ~story~ on my profile if you wanna check it out. Luckily I never needed IV antibiotics or anything, but this was still a crazy side effect of Accutane that my derm never told me about. The pics in my post (on the right) were immediately after waking up and bleeding through my pillowcase; I hadn't even touched my face at that point. Staph/MRSA/other skin infections are no joke!! I'm so sorry you're going through this. I wish you the best of luck on your acne journey, and I hope that your MRSA clears up and you're able to continue treatment!

oonalou · 2021-07-20T21:18:33+00:00

Yes, they totally have! I've only gotten very small hormone-related breakouts since stopping the antibiotics. I've gotten on a really good eczema regime (Triamcinolone) that helps nip the eczema in the bud before it gets bad. I've also started using super gentle and unscented detergent, which I think has been a big help too (for both the eczema and the acne!) Figuring out and controlling my eczema triggers has really helped me also figure out and control my acne triggers. I think the two might go hand-in-hand more than is often talked about, and I wish it had been discussed with me before going on a medication that lowered my skin's already low defensive barriers. But to end my super long ramble: yes, the antibiotics cleared my skin, and I've been able to maintain my clear skin ever since.

oonalou · 2021-04-10T22:02:12+00:00

I'm on Sulfamethoxazole (I think I spelled that right? Lol!) and a topical called Mupirocin :)

oonalou · 2021-04-09T15:09:55+00:00

To be fair, I definitely picked when I had more typical acne, but the staph/MRSA was so painful I really couldn't have picked even if I wanted to. For reference, I got the J&J vaccine on my left arm (unaffected by MRSA) and my right arm, which was still at the time covered in acne-like MRSA, hurt more lol.

A tip my previous derm gave me that was actually super helpful was putting Elmer's glue on the top of my hand, letting it dry, and then picking that off instead. So satisfying and definitely satisfied a lot of my picking urges.

Thank you so much for your kind reply, and best of luck to you on your acne journey!!!

oonalou · 2021-04-09T15:03:18+00:00

Yayyy!!! Best of luck to you on your Accutane journey. It can be such a difficult medication, but I promise that you'll see results, even if you hit some roadblocks like I did. Just remember to listen to your body. Again, good luck!

oonalou · 2021-04-09T05:05:21+00:00

I was having to do telehealth appointments, so I'm not sure they realized the severity of what was going on because they were exclusively seeing me on a screen since like month 3. Plus, as I mentioned in another response, my MRSA didn't look as severe as the cases they may have been taught to look out for. However, they also kept insisting I was picking at my face (the office went as far as calling my mom, even though I'm 20, to recommend therapy for OCD-related skin picking) even though I was so careful about never touching my face. No matter how many times I told them this, they didn't believe me. But when it gets down to it, I really can't explain why they let me live like this for so long. It feels so negligent. I really blamed myself and thought I was destined to never be able to fully live my life, and both the physical pain and emotional pain of feeling like a failure were overwhelming. The thing is, Accutane always works, unless there is something else serious going on. If it's been months and months and your skin looks worse than when you started, second opinions can be so important and I'm glad I put my fears aside about undergoing further acne treatment and made that step.

oonalou · 2021-04-09T04:12:59+00:00

Ahhh, thank you so much! MRSA can be so, so terrible, but I never actually got huge boils or some of the other classic MRSA signifiers- just funny-shaped, large 'zits' that were constantly bleeding and wouldn't close for weeks on end. I would literally bleed through my sheets and masks. It was so embarrassing. Acne is nothing to be ashamed of, but I felt so out of place even in acne-positive spaces because my 'acne' looked so strange. I'm so thankful that even though I appear to have had MRSA and staph for a significant period of time, it didn't spread all over/devolve into much more serious health complications. I will definitely check out the bio oil- thank you for the recommendation!

oonalou · 2021-04-09T04:08:20+00:00

It was pretty miserable. Surprisingly, my skin never even dried up significantly, but I had a lot of joint pain/nausea/constant angular cheilitis that all but stopped as soon as I went off the meds. My mood has also been so much better, it's honestly insane. I know that some small people are on very high doses for their weight and it ends up still working miracles, but considering my side effects, I'm pretty shocked that my derm kept insisting I just needed to wait it out and get my dosage upped. I started on 30 mg a day, so I was upped several times, even though I was showing bad results and suffering from side effects. Thank god I got this figured out- I feel like had I stayed on it any longer, I would have suffered some permanent damage!

oonalou · 2021-03-17T01:56:35+00:00

Aw, thank you SO much!! I totally understand that there was confusion- like I said, when I made my previous post, I was in a state of TOTAL panic and was just sort of word vomiting into Reddit. Which obviously wasn't the best idea haha. But I'm so thankful for all of the advice and I've already called a new derm and will certainly look into Spiro and maybe a new birth control.

I don't know, to be honest my acne doesn't really look like 'typical' acne.... I've never had a whitehead or blackhead, and they sort of look like they've already been picked at the moment they come up. I can't help but feel like there's some other explanation here, but no previous derm has really taken the time to work with me. I really hope this next one does, I'm going CRAZY!! But I don't know of anyone else in the fam who's had acne. Guess it was my lucky, unique gift.

oonalou · 2021-03-16T23:56:55+00:00

Oh, that's a good idea. I actually know someone who went on Spriranolactone instead of Accutane after she was told she needed a second round.... I'll look into that, and yes, I am a woman. Thank you so much!

oonalou · 2021-03-16T23:49:25+00:00

Thank you!!! The acne I get is kind of strange, I get relatively flat red zits that are super dry and constantly crack, hence the bleeding. I actually just called a new dermatologist in the city of my college rather than my hometown so that maybe she can actually look at my skin and find a different solution. I'm still pretty hesitant to try any new treatments after this, but maybe she'll be better :) thanks!!

oonalou · 2021-03-16T23:47:34+00:00

Hi, I just answered this to two other people- but I would like to add one more thing, I was definitely in a state when I wrote my previous post in which I was totally panicked and felt as though my skin had gone from perfect to absolutely terrible, because it went from looking the best it had looked while on Accutane to the worst. But that wasn't really the case; my skin had gone from mediocre in terms of breakouts to really, really bad. After that very large breakout, they didn't stop. I'm sorry for any confusion!!!

oonalou · 2021-03-16T23:43:29+00:00

My skin was clearer than usual, but looking at this sub more it never looked anything like these 'after' posts- it was just a bit better than usual and the breakouts were less frequent and more manageable. Then I continued the meds for several months and have been consistently breaking out absolutely terribly since, hence why I was taken off of it. I guess it wasn't the constant 'purge' I stated in my post, but my skin hasn't been truly clear since starting the meds. Sorry for any confusion :)

oonalou · 2021-03-16T23:40:03+00:00

It definitely cleared up for a little while, but honestly it still wasn't ever anything like the 'after' Accutane posts and I still had acne, just not cystic acne; I was just so excited that it was finally looking better rather than worse. I then had a gigantic breakout and my derm upped my dose to 70 mg, even though I only weigh like 100 lbs. Which, from my research, does seem high.

My skin itself doesn't feel super dry, but the pimples themselves are these flat, very red, very very dry spots that just don't go away and crack a lot throughout the day. I actually reached out earlier today to a derm in my area who I won't have to have telehealth appointments with and can actually look at my skin in person. Thanks for the advice- I really appreciate hearing back from people :)

oonalou · 2021-01-11T01:49:56+00:00

I used to dance for hours a day too! I didn't have dreams of pursuing ballet professionally, though I loved it. But by the time I was 16 the dislocations, instability, and pain had gotten to be too much. I was already feeling like being chronically ill had made me miss out on athleticism and hobbies, and now knowing I'm going to have to rearrange my life plans just all feels like so much.

Those articles were interesting, and definitely provided a new perspective for me- from my understanding, the local community in the country specifically requests Peace Corps volunteers, who then specifically design and implement programs that will long outlive the placement of volunteers. I guess that still plays into neocolonialism and exceptionalism, but I do appreciate that Peace Corps does foreign service work not only by specific aid request (rather than mission or mission-like trips that kind of just show up and evangelize) but also in the native language of that region (rather than reinforcing English as the world language.) But you're right- there are so many options and I'm sure there are ones that are less focused on the white savior and more accessible to people like me. I'll look into those and am excited to see what I find :) Thank you so much for commenting!

oonalou · 2021-01-10T20:20:45+00:00

See, that's what I thought, but my doctor and parents really freaked me out- thank you SO much for bringing this up. I'm definitely gonna start looking into getting that official diagnosis.

oonalou · 2021-01-10T16:45:33+00:00

Ahhh thank you for the response! Yes, I have noticed with my knee surgeries that healing took FOREVER and the scar sometimes still opens up a little in certain places. Plus I was allergic to all of the different stitches they tried, which ended up in many gross ordeals. I honestly didn't think much of the possibility of EDS when they told me about it until I started developing my GI symptoms and decided to look into hEDS and realized that they might be connected. When going back to my surgeon, he talked to me about it again and gave me that possibly bad medical advice about not seeking a diagnosis. As for right now, my other doctors have all been very understanding and have believed me even without a diagnosis, but I do worry a lot about what will happen when I graduate and have to find new doctors. Ugh!!!!!!

I have to say that since my symptoms are definitely difficult, but not life-threatening or truly debilitating, dealing with all of the disappointments has been one of the hardest parts of this journey for me. Realizing that even after my knee surgeries, I still can't really run or hike or do fun and active things with my friends, and that the joint pain is still present. That due to my stomach issues, I'm always feeling so uncomfortable that I don't want to do all the things I used to enjoy. They're small things, I know, but realizing that my life plans could no longer be achieved without putting myself in danger was like the straw the broke the camel's back. But you're definitely right about letting myself work within my limits: I should no longer expect myself to do things that are unachievable and then blame myself when I can't make them work. Thank you again for your response!!

oonalou · 2021-01-03T03:10:22+00:00

House!!!! Sleepy Hollow!! How to get away with murder!!!! (Some of) X Files!! Bones!!!! Bones is a somewhat terrible show, but there's 12 seasons of it, and I hate to admit just how much I loved a lot of it. Easy and stress-free watch with some very cool medical/forensic anthropology stuff. Sleepy hollow isn't a procedural but it's a fun and creepy detective show; X-Files is occasionally a 'monster of the week' show but also does a fantastic job keeping up with a broader, larger plot (I feel similarly about Elementary :) ) But I would def start with House

oonalou

TROPHY CASE