Due to the isotretinoin medication I have finally completed last Saturday (after 2 months of taking it), two of the side effects I have experienced were extreme thirst, and dry lips. I decided not to continue the medication any further since I noticed the problems appear to have subsided.

However, as a result, during the period when I had taken the medicine, I have drank up to at least eight glasses of water, going up to may be about 12 glasses a day, had my luscious lips torn and suffered lip bleedings whenever I smiled, laughed, yawned or ate my meals.

The counter-tactics or tricks I had to employ then were to go to the toilet often, not laugh or smile, apply lip balms and eat in smaller portions. It would suffice to say that these were all first time experiences so now I know what it felt like.

Another issue I had is the neck and shoulder pain so after I used tiger balm, I was reading up on the active chemical, methyl salicylate and discovered to my surprise that it can kill, even at a low dosage of 101mg/kg, which meant that for a person with 40kg weight, 4g (a normal tube is 30g) can kill and 50kg weight, 5g can kill, and 8g can kill 80kg.

I stopped using tiger balm after I found that out.