Isotretinoin (Accutane) Reviews

been battling acne straight out for 5 years, year by year it got worse. Tried over counter..bloody waste of money. Doctor then prescribed me on minomycin. Fantastic for about a year but after that my body got used to it and my acne got worse. Differen made absoultly no difference. Went on the pill, that sucked and then went on retin a cream which was mildly effective. I have now been prescribed on roaccutane and wouldnt go back. already my skin is clear and the pimples are almost nothing. side effects you are bound to get but id prefer not to have permanent scars and "pits" in my face.

i was on accutane 2 years ago for a 4 month treatment. My skin was completely clear for about 6-7 months and then acne came back full scale. not as bad as before but still very bad. i have been on minocin and vitamin a acid since then with no progress.
accutane is NOT a miracle; it is temporary. it stays in your system for 6 months (which is why women shouldnt get pregnant 6 months after treatment is over)..after this time period it is out of your body which means your body is free to make pimples all over again.
good luck to those trying it, it works but like all good things in the world; it does not last 4ever.

Accutane is a miracle pill. I used to have a face like a pepperoni pizza, now my face is clear. CLEAR!!!!! If you have acne this is the pill for you. I love it. It changed my life forever, and it's worth every penny:)

OKay so I started accutane when I was in my junior year of high school. I don't have the worst kind of ance but if anyone suffers with ance knows that any kind of ance SUCKS. I was put on accutane 40mg twice a day everyday on a 5 month treatment. Yes, dry skin and lips do occure.. but after the 5 months I was so happy clear skin.. NOw it stayed clear for about 1 year and came back again went back on accutane for another 4 months... clear for about a year and then it came back again went back on cleared up for a year and now I am breaking out again.. No its not as bad as the first time when i went on accutane but I am going back on accutane no matter what.. I will never get results like accutane from over the counter products or the antibacterial medicines such as monocycline, tetracycline, or the all the other cyclines... they don't work... Only this time when i take accutane will be on it for a while taking 20 mgs for whenever the doctors recommend for me to stop for about a year i am guessing when testing of liver any liver damage... but i have no other side effects except for dry lips and skin... well worth it... and the money...

I had severe acne as a teen. I had tons of white heads on my face, back, neck, chest, shoulders, and the occasional ones on my butt, legs, arms, hips, and even genitals. I popped them as often as I found them, and I do have lots of scarring on my back and shoulders from it.

By the time I was 19, I still had severe acne and antibiotics and Retin-A did not help. My Doctor put me on 120mg/day (maximum does for my size) for a total of 9 months. They monitored my cholesterol to make sure it wasn't causing liver problems. Side effects were dry skin, dry eyes, dry mouth, chapped lips...and red skin. The red skin was from constant sun exposure, which you aren't supposed to be in the sun when on it, but my job required it. It didn't hurt, it was just always red wherever it was exposed. My acne went from a 10 out of 10 for severity to a 1/10.
Cost was an issue, my copy for it was $50/month. The actual price for the pills without insurance was $6/20mg, and at 120mg/day, thats about $1000 a month w/o insurance.

I am now 54 years young! I contracted cystic acne when I was 13 years old. It was a nightmare to say the least. I spent 15 horrible years trying everything on the market at the time. Even Tetracycline for years. It worked about 30 percent of the time. But my teeth brgan to turn brown. After I came back from VietNam and out of the service I started to play music professionally, so the acne was really up front in your face. I finally visited a Dermatologist here in Napa Ca. in 1978 and he prescribed Acutane for my problem. 90 days of chaped lips and no other side effects and I have been clear for 27 years. So if your heart is breaking give acutane a try.

Best Wishes: Michael

i just started taking accutane 2 days ago, and reading these comments i feel scared about the medication. But then again I tihnk any review on this site is skewed, becuase its mainly people who had bad effects and still go to acne.org. I mean after I'm done with my acne, i doubt i'll be frequenting acne.org much. I tihnk a lot of people take Accutane without all this trouble. anyway im not sure how accutane is gonna treat me but so far its all good and well.

i took 2 month cycles. one in 1997 and 1 1998. It got rid of my acne alright. It also permanently altered my brain chemistery so now i have to take zoloft everyday. It also damaged my kidneys. at this point in time (2005) i have to take a three month cycle of prednisone (steroid) every 2 years or so to reduce the inflammation in my kidneys that builds up as a result of the kidney damage. I would, needless to say, not recommend accutane to anyone.

if you dont have medical insurance it sucks, $800 per month

I was on accutane for about 5 months and i've got to say it actually cleared up my skin. Of course those five months consisted of chapped lips and dry skin but overall, i think it was well worth it. The only problem is, i'm worried that it might come back. That would be a huge blow to my self esteem. As of now, my skin is clear and am glad that i went on accutane.