I just started sotret/accutane 2 weeks ago i used to have severe cystic acne and ive tryed retin a minocycline and all basically alot of creams and antibiotic they helped but definitley didnt clear me up so im on accutane and so far it seems to be ok but ive read and heard that you wont see full results until the treatment is at least 3 months over not evem full results just alot better then before im really looking forward to clear skin it worked great for my mom and she hasnt had to deal with really any more acne in 20 years so im just gettin through a breakout now but it wasnt all that bad the dryness of the lips sucks but VASELINE is great for that ive noticed some mscle cramping and alot of dryness on the face so far those are the symptoms. Any encoragement would help tons.thanks

I'm in my early 50's now. I've taken Accutane years ago and it DID NOTHING FOR ME. My severe cystic acne remains persistent and I saw no improvement whatsoever. Not everyone experiences skin clearing and some people have relapsed. Accutane is not a wonder treatment as many suppose. It has side effects that are sometimes undetected until later. It's better to eat healthy and try the regimen with benzoyl peroxide because there's a 90% chance that you'll be coming back to it after Accutane.

ALright guys, take accutane. I cant even describe what it did to my skin and every other one of my friends who took it. Truth of it, the side effects are not that bad at all, and nothing beats the price to clear skin. If i had an initial breakout i didnt even notice it. I wish I could show you a before and after picture. All you guys who are nervous about it, trust me, dont be scared. If you are seriously thinking about taking accutane anyways, you have to be pretty depressed about your acne. Get on it, and clear skin will be the result 100%. For me it worked gradually, and i wasnt clear until halfway through month 4. Good luck guys, i hope you take my advice :).

If you have bad acne and your doctor keeps putting u on the creams, ask for this medicine. I was on it 5 months and it cleared everything up. I've been off of it about 3 months and I still get occasional zits but i'm a teen. The acne will probably come back but it is so much less than before. Don't worry about the side effects because they hardly even bothered me.

This worked so good. It got rid of most my acne. The only side effects were dry skin and lips, sore knees, and little blood when I blew my nose. Still had minor breakouts after treatment. My derm said it could be food allergies (runs in my fam). It's true that some food can trigger outbreaks and cause acne. Stay away from dairy, wheat, soy, eggs, just about all food. All I eat is fruit, veggies, chicken, and turkey. And only water and homemade fruit juice. It is one of the best thing that I did for my skin.

We are very lucky in the UK as I get this free on our National Health Service. I am 35 years old and have suffered large, deep, painful spots since my periods started. I have felt I looked like a teenager all the time and felt dreadful whenever I got a really huge spot on the end of my nose or somewhere obvious. I'm in my 4th month of roaccutane and it has made a huge difference to my life. It has increased my confidence and I don't have to check in the mirror for new spots every morning. I am disappointed that it seems to return for everyone though. I hope I get at least a few years spot free out of it.

Side effects I have suffered are all pretty minor. Listed in order of severity:
1. Dry lips - I use vaseline which works very well if I put it on ALL THE TIME, especially at night. Others have recommended blistex and Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream. I tried them and there was no difference and they are expensive and taste horrible
2. Dry eyes - sorted by using artificial tears
3. Permanent mild sunburn / red glow if I am out in the sun without sunblock.
4. General skin dryness but I get away without using moisturiser. It's nice not to have to wash my previously greasy hair every day.
5. 2 weeks into it I got a few HORRENDOUS huge spots, which was terrible, but I just visualised my pores shrinking and squeezing out the infection.

I drink 2 or 3 glasses of wine about 4 times a week, with no problem on my bloods so far.

I agree with others, don't believe the hype - if you genuinely have bad acne this will be the best thing you have ever done.

re: Jason from Australia,
hi i am currently in my second month of accutane and have found that my skin is becoming increasingly dry. I found my skin drying right out after a week and after only 2-3 weeks my whole body was so dry that i had what looked like ecsma. The initial breakouts are annoying but cease to fantastic results. Keep at it and you'll find that it will start to really work after a month!

I'm almost 16 and have suffered from mild to severe acne since I was 12. Although I havn't had acne as long as other people it really takes a toll on my self esteem and I'm not as confident to do many things that I once enjoyed because of it. When I say mild to severe, I mean that I'll have a couple of months with ok skin, just about 3 or 4 pimples at a time, however other months I break out in the worst cystic acne imaginable, on my forhead, chin, jawline, cheeks, neck. Its terrible because it got to the stage where I couldn't even look my best friend in the eye anymore. I've had a few weeks off of school due to the embarrisment of being seen after I had a massive flare up. Medications such as Differin only made my acne red, raw and inflamed. I finally went to see a dermotologist who thankfully put me on Roaccutane. I was so excited about being put on it after hearing so many success stories of people who said that "it changed my life". I wanted to be one of those people! My dermotologist also put me on Erythromycin at the same time, to tone down the severity of the initial flare up at the beginning of treatment. With all that said, I can see a significant improvement in my skin, as the Roaccutane took only a couple of days to start drying out and killing my existing whiteheads. I've only been on both medications for over a week now, yet I was actually quite excited about the "drying-out of the entire face and lips" side effect, seeing as that I am so sick and tired of always being so oily and yuck! But I am having no side effects reagarding dryness whatsoever, yet its only drying out my indiviual pimples though. But I'm still really oily and shiny. Is this normal? How long does it usually take after starting your first course of treatment for you to start getting really dry? I am, however suffering from aching bones and muscle pains but I don't think that they as bad as what they're suppose to be, because they just go away in a mtter of minutes. If someone could post another review and answer these questions for me that would be fantastic. Thanks.

i ended my 6 month session of accutane 6 months ago and at first it was doing great, but now its back, and even tho its not as bad as before, its still pretty bad, and i wanna take it a second time, but wat if that doesnt work? wat if i have to keep feeling this way?

i was on roaccutane when i was 13 and it cleared my skin up so well!! i was so happy with the results other than chapped lips and dry skin and hair there was no real side effects. but now it is near to my 15th birthday and i am considering going back on it becuase my skin is bad again... hopefully it will clear it up for good this time :) tell you how it goes....:D cya!