18 year old son was hoping to start college with skin that looked better than it did when he first started tane on 7/16/08. Anyway from the top

month 1 ..40 mg daily
month 2 ..40 mg daily and xtra pills of 40 mg on Mon. Wed. Fri.
The derm in our home town had him on multi vitamin everyday...she also said his course would be 4 months.
Started college 4 hours away and switched derms...new doc has him on 80 mg a day ..NO Vitamin and said this course will take as long as it takes to work…. up to 6 months.

The new doc is close to Va. Tech our son is in Radford their office was so busy with college students on tane it took 5 full time docs and nurses to keep up with it.

When we picked our son up for his first new doc visit (he doesn't have wheels at college) I was expecting to see improvement. His face was so inflammed. He was so hurt and couldn't hardly talk to us...after about 20 minutes he was letting lots of anger out...I was so relieved to see him angry cuz at least he was getting it out. He wanted to go off the tane and said he didn't want to see the new doc. I told him I understood and supported what ever he wanted to do. He was going to ask the new doc for something else however in the middle of the visit he said screw it I will try to finish the course. The doc said he had a few scars on his temples but none on his cheeks.

His face is so inflamed from tane, he has a few actives however the ones he has are red as hell. My family and friends know me as an encourager and supporter but I want to tell you I was so hurt and mad yesterday I could have murdered THAT STUIPED ACNE DEAMON.

This is my prayer for all of you precious people with acne. And if you don't believe in prayer just skip this part.

Dear father above please heal my son and all on this site with acne. I am asking father for a miracle like the ones from long long ago. Thank you amen.

Hugs all
Heart broken meme

Oh meme. *big hug* Hopefully his skin will calm down as his body gets accustomed to the higher dose. I'm so sorry he's having a hard time.

During my first course of accutane, every time I moved up to a higher dosage I broke out and became more inflamed. Eventually by around the 5th month I was clear. I know its tough for you as a mom and for him as an acne sufferer, but please stay the course with accutane. If you can ride out these tough times theres a great chance he will experience close to 100% clarity towards the end of the treatment, I know because it was my experience. Good luck!

Thanks for your support I think for now he is going for one more month which will get him through 3 months. I sure hope he can last however long it takes to clear him up.

Best of luck to your son!


I was on Accutane 40mg for 6 1/2 months almost 2 years ago. It's been almost 2 years since I completed my course, and my skin just continues to improve.

If you have any questions, feel free to view my log and PM me.

Walk the wire
My son looked at your post today and started laughing....hmmmm I wonder what he was laughing at. ha

Thanks All who posted you are a good group of fine people on this site.

Update....son started tane 7/16/08

Unbelievable from 9/5/08 when I went to my Sons College and felt so sorry for him because of the tane side effects see 1st post above........HOWEVER he came home this past week end and he looks fantastic I couldn't believe it, really it's unbelievable. I asked him if he is still experiencing side effects and he said O YEA but I am going to finish this course. Wow what a difference 15 days can make.

Hello there!

I'm so glad he's experiencing improvement! I'm glad he knows about this board (and you, too) so that you two can see other people's experiences with acne, and with accutane and know you're not alone.

Hey congratulation!! And ur first derm didnt no shit lol to give him multivitamins -.- thats a big NO WAY when u take accutane.

It really breaks my heart when I hear stories like this and makes me realize how much of a little ***** I am at times when I freak out about 3-4 new pimples when there are people who have it way worse than I do. I think we all share your pain, TC, acne is the devil!

I had to post this update...my son came home for the week end wow what a difference 2 weeks can make the tane is working miracles on his face. NO actives at all only red marks left....he went to the derm for his 4th month treatment. They will keep him on 80 mg for 2 more months to hopefully cure his acne. Anybody ever heard of staying on tane 2 months longer when no actives are on the face?

He looks fantastic by the way and it shows in his mood and outlook. He hates the medicine yet he is afraid to come off of it.

Blessings to all