4th Month

I've gone through a lot since the last post. My sister had emergency surgery on October 2 and the entire family went to Austin to be with her and her family. All is great, but it put everything on hold for a few weeks after.
For the first few days I was with my sis I drank nothing but diet coke to keep the caffeine flowing. The dryness hit me hard and after about 5 days, I a really weird bumpy rash on my hands and forearms. I finally had to make myself start drinking Gatorade and water. It took a while to get back to normal.
Mid October I came home for a week and had a derm appointment. My triglycerides were still high, but hadn't gotten any worse. She increased my dosage to 40mg 2xs a day M-F and once a day for Sat & Sun.
I went back to TX and while I was there was looking at pictures. I was trying to figure out how old my mother was in one picture. It was a simple subtraction (74-47=??) that should have been a no brainer for me. I couldn't figure it out!! Now, I deal with numbers all day long, this was a HUGE red flag!! I started really paying attention to my memory and concentration and realized that I had not read a book since I got to TX...I love to read, but it seemed like too much of a hassle. This had snuck up on me very quickly.
I did some research online and read that memory and concentration issues are both possible side effects of the Accutane.
I called my derm and she agreed that it was most likely a side effect - we decided that I would reduce my dosage to one a day until I see her next week. If things haven't returned to normal, we will reduce it again or take me off completely.
I promise to post again in a week or so to update everyone on my progress. Please make sure that you pay attention to what's going on with your own progress - I'd thought I was tired and stressed from everything going on with my sister - until I looked at that picture.
**Pay attention to your body and LISTEN to what it tells you!!