cleared my skin. Expensive if you don't have insurance.

Well this is my 2nd time on Accutane (Claravis). It works so well with my acne and follicitis. I am in my 3rd month at 80 mg. I have chapped lips, but Chapstick works well. Nose is dry, and feels like it is burning. One thing I discovered that the Doctor did not know, nor did I hear from the Pharmacy is that to be effective you should take it with some fat. I was avoiding all fat to keep my Colestrol down, but Accutane works better if you take it with a little fat. Thats why it says take with food, or Milk. I was using Non-Fat milk, now I have a little snack at night.

The IPledge program I would agree is no good. I can not seem to get the right dose, as I am a pretty big guy, and My Doc and I wanted to go up to 100 mg. But there was some problem with having 2 RX, One Rx for 2 x 40 mg, and one Rx for 1 20 mg a day. So this month we went to 5 x 20 mg, and while I-Pledge will accept this, My Insurance would not with out a prior auth. (Yep, a new Prio Auth is needed for a dose change) Be sure you get your Doc to call in the dose change to the Insurance as well as logging that with I-Pledge.

I am off Accutane while I get this cleared up. If I were to start out, I might have waited 2 or 3 days to take the accutane, so as my current case, I will be off for 3 days (Still with in the 6 Day limits) as I get all the updates processed.

I also have some aches and pains. I hope that 3 days off might help out a bit.

I am in my late 30's and still suffering from acne. In terms of the actual pimples, my acne is considered mild. But my derm says it's moderate because I get cysts. I get the corticosteroid injections to help shrink the cysts and that does seem to help.
I am considering going on accutane,but I am really concerned about the side effects. What is the lowest possibe dose (USA)? Would someone share with me their experience on low dose accutane?

While this may be a last resort or ultimate solution for many people, this is NOT a pill that is for everyone. I am glad that i tried it so now i don't have to always wonder "what life could have been like with permanently clear skin", but accutane did not give me permanently clear skin for life. By month four of this medicine i was completely clear. After six months i was told to stop, and within three months of stopping it all came back. The side effects i experienced were not worth going back on accutane.

Side effects:
severe mood swings (screaming fits)
muscle cramps
migranes
Dry cracked lips (to the point of bleeding, even the most expensive chapstick could not help this)
much much more

six months of my life i'd rather not remember, and i sit here still with acne. I think the percentages are off for people who clear up permanently, everyone selling you the drug makes it sound like it's only 10% of people who get acne back, but i'm sure it's much more than that.

on the plus side my derm made me sign papers saying if i were to get prenant on it i'd abort the baby, finally, a responsible doctor!

I took Clarivis about two years ago and it worked great. It does get worse before it gets better but my face was completely clear after 4 months and I did not have a single break out for over a year. I have recently started to break out again so I have been back on it for 2 months. This time I am on Amnesteem. The side effects seem to be worse than I remember my first time. I have incredibly chapped lips and my face and skin is so dry. My face is constantly peeling because it is so dry. I also seem to get headaches a lot but it is not too bad. This time I was completely clear after a month. Unfortunately, I am unable to get my 3rd months treatment because of the %$#@^ IPledge program. I went in exactly 7 days after my doctor visit and it turns out you only have 6 days to fill your prescription. I am so %$#@^ off I wrote a nasty letter to the FDA and I would suggest others do the same. It is absolutely absurd that I have to stop my treatment for a whole month because of pointless government rules and regulations. I am freaking out that my face is going to start breaking out now because I am unable to get my medication. But yea, Accutane def works but the side effects and IPledge suck

When I used this 5 years ago it was brilliant, Cleared my acne completely-I had extreme severe. The only side effect i experienced was dryness and confidence. Unfortunately My acne is creeping back, but it is only light. I only had facial acne, but now i'm beginning to get chest acne-I'm not sure if this is a side effect. I do not regret taking accutane one bit. The side effects were worth it for me!

Great Product. Very strong, a bit of a beating for the body, but clears up acne after the 3 month mark, worsens it temporarily before then (only slightly).

Would reccomend it, as long as physicians advice is followed.

heyy....ok well i was put on accutane in january. I was on it till late febuary. My acne was clearing up but i have severe chapped lips, dry eyes, and i got a huge red rash on my arm from severe dry skin, but i didn't care as long as my acne cleared up. But then i missed my cut off with the dumb ipledge and counldn't get my prescription until 30 days. So my acne got worse than it has ever been before. i just started taking accutane again and i am hoping for good results!

Ok so I have been on Accutane since January, I have seen a few improvements to my face, but kow I have run into the "Red Tape".

I happen to be out of the country when the iPledge program kicked in and now I can't get my prescription for 30 days since I missed the cut off. (my doc didn't receive her binders till the 15th of March). I was out of the country till this past weekend. Now I am screwed!

I have been dealing with to much Red Tape to be on this medication that I have decided to Stop taking it. Even though I have sever cystic acne, I would rather live with that then the idea of being poked, proded & descriminted at by the feds every month!-Just my opinion of course!

Accutane is related to ulcerative collitis and has many other serious side effects that doctors do not always discuss with their patients. I, myself, have acne, but I know that I would rather live with acne than to be hospitalized for a serious condition such as ulcerative collitis. The seemingly positive effects of accutane are far outweighed by the negative internal effects that it is likely to cause and I would strongly advise anyone considering accutane to definitely not give it a try. I know others who are now living with the horrible after effects of accutane and I hope that anyone looking to take accutane will thoroughly research it and realize that it is an extremely harmful drug.