ACCUTANE GALLERY

The main objective of this pinned thread is so that all of the Accutane users have an opportunity to post their Accutane before and after pictures in order to enable easier viewing by other members. We are hoping that this thread will facilitate locating the before and after photos, as well as alleviate some of the difficulties associated with the screening process in the original gallery.

Guidelines:

Well... I decided to create a log for african americans out there... we seem to be under represented on the board.

I'm currently on my third month of treatment... my skin is still purging and that sucks!!!!!!! My skin looks way worse than when I started. I'm just praying things get better! I'm currently taking 40mgs of Sotret once a day. I thought about switching to Claravis, but I'm not sure how it will affect my body.
The side effects of Sotret have been pretty cool... joint pain on the left side of my jaw that I got rid of by taking Osteo Bi-Flex (Walmart)... eyelashes were falling out, took care of that with Kerastase tablets. I'm happy to report I haven't experienced vaginal dryness or depression. Kind of scared Claravis may cause these things...so I'm gonna stick it out with Sotret....

Alright, I am a 22 year old guy and started Accutane for a third time on August 21, 2008. With that I believe that I am on day 17.

I took accutane at age 17, 19, and now that I am 22 I am hoping that this is the last time that I will have to do this. The first time I took it I had bad acne and it took all 5 months to finally clear. The second time I took it I was a sophomore in college with mild acne that hadn't responded to anti biotics, topicals, and various washes so I tried the Tane again. It surprisingly worked in about 2 months and I was clear for about 2 and half years. This time it has come back again and really fast for some reason too. My derm put me on accutane again hoping that it would knock it out since I am in my twenties and also remembering how fast I cleared last time I took it with minimal side effects.

So I started with 40 mgs a day for two weeks to get reacquainted with my old friend and now I am up to 60 mgs per day.

So this is where I stand:

Day 17

Right side is almost completely clear with the exception of one ingrown hair but that was from shaving
Left side is a much different story, I have 5 BIG pimples on that side and they look awful but I think it might just be from the IB
Forehead, chin and upper lip area are all clear
My chest and back have a few but nothing that ever really bothers me too much


So this is where I stand a little after two weeks. My side effects are chapped lips and tight skin so I moisturize a little but not too much. I can't remember from last time, is this about the right time to be feeling these side effects? Any comments much appreciated, Thanks Everyone!

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

Well since I was pretty much using my other post

Here!

As a log of sorts, I decided to take the leap and post a fully-fledged log!
All the history of my Acne can be read in my post over in the Accutane forums if anyone is interested.
One thing I did notice about here is there does seem to be a lot of people in the 20-30 bracket suffering from Acne, they certainly get all of my sympathies, In a way, I suppose acne is expected in the teen years, and a lot of what I have read discourages people my age from taking Accutane however, after seeing my derm it was confirmed that what I did not have was "Standard teen acne" it's something that's been incredibly persistent, and after researching the drug for the past 3 months or so, I think taking it was the best thing to do

Enough digressing I think. I started my course of Isotretinoin today (28th July) and as the title mentions, I got started on 70mg/day which for me seemed slightly strange, not only because of the high beginning dose (I am 70kg, so that's meant to be the most my body can take) but also the odd number, I hear of people starting on 40/60 even 80mg, depending on weight, but never 70. This makes actually taking the drug more difficult considering I need to take 3 20mg capsules and 2 5mg capsules at once time. But whatever, i'm not complaining!

As it stands now, I took the first dose about 8 hours ago, and I haven't felt any different, not that I expect too in the first day but i've braced myself for it all, so it's just the waiting game now ^^

Pictures!:
Right Side
Left Side

These were taken post-shower since it's way more apparent then
(Sorry for crazy hair!)

If you've managed to make it this far, thank you for bearing with the wall of text :]
Until Tomorrow!

Welcome welcome to the beginning of my log. I've never kept a log, blog or whatever before so it should be interesting to the both of us. The plan is update with a little bit about my week and lovely pictures of my acne (yes pixel upon pixel of crusty goodness) every week unless circumstance deem it necessary to change it up a little. I'll be checking in on it at least every day so if you have any comments, or suggestions feel free to leave them. Thanks for reading and see you next week.

EDIT: Mrs. "Politely Staring At My Acne" Pharmacist says that my insurance hasn't gotten doctor approval yet, so it isn't covered. EVEN THOUGH my doc told me i could come pick it up today. Bloody Insurance.

Pics - Day 0 - Week 1
Headshot of me fluttering my eyelashes to seduce you (this the mug that got me the tane)

Left side (strong side! jk but this side actually pains me the least)

Right Side (I have a deep super cyst that prevents me from opening my mouth fully aka yawning sucks)

Close up of the war zone (The whole wispy whiskers thing is because i cant shave without traumatic blood loss)

Nose and Forehead (I proudly present to you the clearest part of my face :clap: its a beautiful thing is it not?)

Me leaving to go pick up my accutane (The thumbs up means that im super duper excited)

Here's the obligatory statistics section

Sex: Male
Age: 18
Height: 6'0" (My 5 ft grams nicknamed me "Gigantor" ..... you gotta love your grandma)
Weight: 160

Hi everyone,

Well, after a long journey of trial and error, my derm was just like "I'm putting you accutane." A few months ago I was like "oh heck no it's so bad and scary" but since then I've changed my mind and have reached my wit's end here. I eat healthy, tried several holistic remedies, prescriptions, blah blah blah. My acne is moderate. My skin isn't particularly oily either. Problem area is cheeks, which is not oily at all. Forehead is kind sort of oily sometimes but I don't really have acne there.I'm a 22 female. My wedding is in December.

Right now I'm taking fish oil (following NdnRomeo's regimen) which has kind of helped me that past couple of months but I'm going to stick with it until I start the Tane. That way, I gave it a good three months.

Anyways, I'm not starting until mid-August (ugh, so far away!) but any advice from accutane users would be greatly appreciated. Is there anything I can do from now to help with side effects? During the treatment? Thanks!

Howzit
Okay so I started my course of Roaccutane (actually generic called Oratane) a month ago, on Women's Day (haha). I live in Durban, South Africa. Thought I'd start this log for fun! I have moderate acne and want to obliterate it once and for all. I'm on 60mg a day for 5 months.

Side affects so far...
* Dry skin - using Galderma Nutraderm/plus
* Really dry cracked lips - using Bepanthen at the moment.
* Redness - SPF 40!
* Eczema or something, my doc calls it "rac rash" - moisturise it
* Dry eyes - moisturising eye drops
* Raw skin on toes on and thumbs esp. (too much MXit haha)
* Dry nose
* Dry scalp and dandruff - anti-dandruff shampoo
* Sore joints ( in the first two weeks )

No mood swings yet hey. I'm actually enjoying it. Summer starts soon though = swimming and waterpolo. Hopefully my eczema will have died down , don't know how this will affect my bones and skin though (esp. sunburn here in Durban)

I take 400IU of Vit E everyday with my roaccutane, seems to be working. Can anyone in SA please suggest a good lip balm or something?! that would be awesome

Feel free to comment! I'ts good to know I'm not alone in this
Jon08

Well, i'm going to begin my course of Accutane next Tuesday. My acne could be categorized as moderate, but persistent. I normally do not get "normal" pimples; rather, I have one or two cysts at a time that seem to stay inflamed and linger for months. Lately, they have begun to scar so my derm and I decided that accutane is a good option. I'm already very self-concious about my face and am nervous about the IB. Any advice?

Also, will the scars/indentations that I currently have "fill-in" during my course of accutane? My derm seems to think so, but I wanted to hear others' experience.

Well I was about to make a log when I started my course on the first of June 2008, but I never did. However I'll make a small recap of whats happened and how things have gone and are still going.

So I'm a 16 year old guy from Finland (177 cm, 63kg), I play football (soccer to the yanks ) and go to the gym every other day. I've been dealing with acne since I was 12 I think. It was bearable until the past year when my acne got moderately severe, I never had cysts but lots and lots of very inflamed big pimples that mainly covered both my cheeks. I took a total of 9 months (3x 3 months) of tetracyclines, that worked for a while but my acne always got bad again a few months after the course. I pretty much tried every product out there, they just dried my skin and didn't do anything to solve the problem.
The few months before I took accutane must have been the worst months of my life, I was getting depressed and I felt that I really couldn't deal with it anymore so I finally went to my derm and asked for isotretinoin.

I took my first pill on the first day of my summer holiday (my holiday lasts 10 weeks), and my goal was to be clear by the time school starts again. I'll give you a very brief idea of whats happened during the last 10 weeks.

Week 1:
Nothing really, at the end of the week acne starts getting a bit worse. Doseage of 20mg per day.

Week 2-3:
Acne gets a bit worse but it's been worse, I don't really feel like seeing anyone at the moment and I feel pretty down. Dry eyes. Doseage 40mg per day.

Week 4:
The initial breakout starts to end, skin condition is bearable. Lips and skin are getting a bit dry. Blackheads fall off my nose and forehead. Some lower back pain. Doseage 40mg per day. Blood tests come back good.

Week 5-7:
Nothing big happens here, at around week 7 my skin seems to clear up a bit however. Lips are getting dryer, skin isn't dry but my eyes are dry even if I use eyedrops. My lower back is kinda hurting but it isn't that bad. Doseage 50mg per day, wont get any higher than this.

Week 8:
Everythings drying up more, my skin is getting fragile. Acne is getting better however.

Week 9:
My skin hasn't looked this good for ages, lips are very dry if I dont moisturize for a moment, eyes are dry if I dont use eydrops for a while, getting big rashes on my arms but they fade once I moisturize well. Lower back still kinda hurts.

Week 10: (NOW)
Got a few pimples and I was stupid and irritated them, theyre very obvious now and I feel so stupid for touching them... Big party tomorrow and my skin isn't exactly looking good in my opinion. The overall texture is very good but the two big marks are very obvious. School starts in 2 days so I hope that they'll fade away by then (very unlikely).

Overall I'm very happy that I took the accutane course, I don't think that I could've dealt with acne for one more month, I really regret for not taking it earlier... I don't think that my skin will be too good once school starts but it surely will be after a few weeks.

I'll list all my side effects too, from worse to mildest:

DRY EYES
DRY LIPS
DRY SKIN/RASHES
LOWER BACK PAIN

I've had no signs of depression or other severe side effects so I'm pretty happy about that.
Even if I feel that acne has taken a lot of my life away from me (there were times when I didn't feel like going out and all, my friends never probably even understood my problem as I never talked about it) I believe that it has made me a better person overall. It has made me a lot more humble actually.

I'll update in a few days!

sup.

Thought it would be a good idea to keep track of my (eh, hopefully) progression on accutane, ate my first pill a couple of minutes ago. I'll make everything short and sweet. I'm 20, Norwegian and have had acne for about 4-5 years. It was about a year ago it really exploded, and ever since it has been really bad. As most of you, I've tried "everything". BP only, BP+differin+tetracyclin, tetracyclin only, diet change, god knows. Of the mentioned, only diet change has ever given me results (blabla, diet doesn't cause acne, blabla fuck you).

My acne is kinda weird. Few whiteheads, never anything cystic. Only thousands of millions of billions of red marks in my face and at my back/chest. Anyways, after years of this shit I visited my doctor when my second attempt on tetracyclin failed. This was in october, mind you. Half a year later I finally got my appointment. And here we are.

Almost forgot. I'm 69kg (150ish lbs), and have been told to eat three pills a day, which equals 60mg.

It was such a hassle to get a referral to the NHS, because my doctor claimed he was an dermatology expert, but i felt he was just trying to flog me off with excuses. So i went to another one to get the referral and he gave it straight away.

As with everyone else , ive pretty much tried everything else. but they were only temporary solutions.

I particularly enjoy going to the gym and taking weight gainers, and preworkout supplements , but unfortunately I have to stop the weight gainers because they have vitamin A. Also unfortunately no drinking which means freshers week will be no fun

My acne is fairly mild. mainly whiteheads and normal red spots , and them ones which are under your skin ready to come out but REALLY hurt!!

WEEK 1 (August 28th)

• Not much has changed
• Whiteheads are drying out much quicker
• But they are eventually turning black!

WEEK 2 (September 4th)

DAY 1

Hail and well met!

I'm Iliad Keys, a male of 19 years and long time acne sufferer. Hopefully that will change soon, as today marks the first of my six month accutane course. As is the case with many of us, I went through six painful years of moderate to severe acne before finally deciding to go on 'tane. It's a decision I should have made long ago. During those years I bounced around most every medication on the market. You name it and I've tried it, or a close variation. I even spent a whole year trying a holistic approach, using herbal remedies, colon cleansings and restrictive diets. Needless to say, nothing has helped. Well, no. Plenty of things have helped my skin condition, but nothing has actually cured it.

So here I am. Beginning the long process of an accutane course.
And here you are. Won't you join me on this oddyssey?
All I can say is I am thrilled and pleased to finally be making a step I should have made years ago. I know I won't regret it. I understand the risks of course, and I know that these next six months won't be easy, but it's clear skin and clear skies beyond...

So hi my name is Steve and Im from canada. I have an apointment with my derm september 11th and I sure hope hes gonna give me accutane this time because he told me 4 times he would but never did. So I had acne for over 7 years and im really tired and now its worst then before and because of it, I dun wanna go out anymore so I dun go to school anymore dun work etc ...

Im not saying that i dun enjoy life, i just cant face ppl with my face.... sad i know. So i just hope the derm will help me cuz i would like to go out again and live like i used to im dreaming about it!

so ima give you guys some pictures so you can see for yourself it looks worst ifl imo.

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/1350/1002478cn0.jpg

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/6161/1002481og0.jpg What was i thinking? lol..

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2217/1002475kt7.jpg eww

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1720/1002473bq6.jpg not bad without the acne


so that's it folks if i get accutane someday this will be my log also oh and im 5'11 182 pounds if u were wondering and i would like to know also what dosage should i take so if some ppl here are about my size it would be very kind to tell me THX!

(sry for my english im a frencg canadian )

My name is Raina, and I am 17 years old. I have been struggling with acne since I was 9 years old, and after 8 years, its getting really old really quick. I have done it all. Proactive (twice), doxycycline 30mg, 40mg and 150mg, birth control, and just praying to God that He would take it away. As of right now, I am always worrying about my skin. How good my day will be is determined by how many pimples I have on my face. First impressions are everything, and I hate that my first impression on people is that I am the girl with the acne. I should be having fun in these years, and I am, but not as much as I could be having if I didnt have to worry about how my skin looks so much. I have acne on my face, my arms, my shoulders, my back, and my chest. Covering it up is nearly impossible. I didn't realize just how bad it was until I visited a family friend that happened to be a dermatologist, and she told me that my acne was out of control, and that the only thing that was going to work for me would be Accutane. I made an appointment with a new dermatologist, and I will hopefully be put on Accutane by this Wednesday. I have done my homework on the drug, and am fully educated on the symptoms. I have never been more ready to look like crap . I think I am just ready to live my life without holding back. I don't want to be the friend with the acne anymore, I want to be the girl who radiates confidence the second she walks into the room. I know I am a pretty girl underneath this cursed skin, but i just want everyone else to see that.

Here are some pictures of me on January 6th 2008:


My full face
Left side of face
Right side of face

(This is posted somewhere else by accident...)

After struggling on and off with acne for about 6 years, trying EVERYTHING (Retin-A, Tazorac, BCP, Avita, 5 different antibiotics), my dermatologist finally suggested accutane. I have mild acne; my doctor's major concern was that my scarring was getting worse. I'm south Asian, and have darker skin, so I almost always scar. I used to just a few scars, and they would fade eventually. Now my cheeks are covered in them, and just never seem to go away. Also, because I'm breaking out almost constantly, although, max, I'll have 5-6 pimples on my face.

Anyways. I'm nervous. 1. Because I'm applying to med school, and should start interviews in about a month... Really... who wants a doctor with acne?
2. It's my senior year of college... I'd like to enjoy it, and not spend all my time miserable from this medication.
3. It just seems like a really big plunge that may turn my life (and grades) upside down.... I'm scared that I'm going to have concentration problems. And, I like to work out, and I don't want to mess my muscles/joints up.

My doctor started me on 40mg/day... which seems like a high dose to me, especially because my acne IS so mild.... but I'm not the one with the M.D. (yet).

I took my first pill this morning... and everything seems to be okay... I think? I was a little anxious in class, but that’s probably because we have an exam next week... and I tend to stress a lot anyways.

I would appreciate any type of advice/support/encouragement that I could get. Reading the message boards has been helpful in my decision to start, and I'm hoping that it'll also help me get through this.

Thanks!!

Hey guys, finally got round to starting accutane, I'll be doing 6 months of 40mg/day. Can't wait to see the results! I'm taking a generic form because it's more affordable, called Iso-Aret. Wish me luck!

Day 1

Just taken my first 2 pills (they are 20mg/each) with a full glass of milk. Obviously no side effects yet. Stopping using BP, gonna continue to use Hibiscrub and salicylic acid until my skin becomes too sensitive for it.

Hmmm... where to start?

I am 26 years old, been battling acne for 15 years... finally had it more under control (never been completely clear) but suddenly broke out after having the dreaded influenza. Every single zit was scarring and it was just getting worse and worse even with laser treatments and heavy duty topicals.

I know my acne isn't as bad as what a lot of people on here have, but 15 years is a long time. I have been on everything from antibiotics to some blood pressure med that is supposed to clear up your skin... Topicals, steroids, BP etc etc. I was going and getting acne facials, probably the MOST painful thing you can do to your face... and yet, the acne wasn't going anywhere. I've probably spent thousands of dollars!

I have been on Sotret now for 11 days. I am a really small woman, only 5 feet tall and 80 pounds on a good day, so I am on a very low dose. I am only taking 10 mg a day. I am already SUPER-DRY! Yikes. I stop using the topicals and started using moisturizer... anyone have a good moisturizer suggestion? I just got cheap old-lady cold cream stuff (moisturizer is expensive!), but I can already tell I need something better. Chap stick (Carmex is even better than my old stand by Burt's Bees) has become my best friend. I already have the gross sores on the corner of my mouth, and I already need eye drops. My skin is itchy, especially where my jeans are... think I will be sporting the yoga-look for the next 6 months!

Pics in the gallery and attached below

So I'm 16 years old and have had acne since 6th grade (11ish years old). I've tried Proactiv (three times), Retin A, which made my skin extremely red while I was using it and I've gotten all these small bumps on my entire face due to it, though I've stopped using it and my skin has improved. And I used these Asian creams that my dad got from Vietnam.. which didn't work.

So back in January I went up to visit my aunt and uncle and their new house, and my aunt, who's a dermatologist, recommended I go on Accutane. She told my mom and everything, but my mom didn't do anything about it But I guess I'm glad I didn't start it then since I had school and my exams and finals, but now that I'm on summer break the side effects won't affect me as much (hopefully!)

I reallyy hope my skin will completely clear up by the time school starts I'm currently on 40mg, one pill a day. I just took mine about an hour ago and yeah I bought the Aveeno Ultra-Calming Foaming Cleanser earlier, as I figured my St. Ives Scrubs would be too harsh on my skin once Accutane kicks in. I've got my Burts Bees lip balm (my favorite must-have thing ) andNeutrogena sunblock and Clean & Clear Moisturizer The pharmacist told me about Cerave, which I read about on this site and might consider buying if my current moisturizer doesn't work

Soo as I'm typing this up I'm eating an avocado smoothie (avocados, condensed milk, sugar, ice all mixed up) since avocados are high in fat (yeah?) and Accutane absorbs well with fat

I wonder if anyone is going to read this haha I'll try and update every week or if I get some side effects, but I have lots of summer assignemnts (all these AP classes ) so I might not be able to. But I'll try!

Here are some pictures of my skin right now:

[attachment=12513:CIMG4356.JPG] [attachment=12514:CIMG4357.JPG]


Really hoping Accutane works for me! The pharmacist told me it's "a miracle" and wished me luck

Good luck to everyone else too!!

Oh wonder of wonders! In five days I get my final tests, and then, with any luck, I'll start Accutane around that time.

A little background:
I'm Lauren, 18, f. Around February of this year, I got hit with moderate inflamed acne and clogged pores, moderate Rosacea, and mild dermatitis. I went through all the usual topicals and oral product, even blue- and red-light therapy, but nothing was doing the trick.

I was forced to quit all exercise, exclude sugar from my diet, and keep my body cool and away from any source of heat to avoid severe and painful flushing. Avoiding these things helps keep my Rosacea redness to an occasional pinkish tint, and my flushing to mild everyday occurrences, usually unnoticeable.

Right now, my Rosacea is pretty mild, and my acne - at the moment - is mild, as well. I have a lot of red marks, mostly on my forehead, but mine usually fade in four months, so I'll give those time. My skin is verrry oily, so that'll be good eats for Accutane. My dermatits (basically a mild build up of skin) is restricted to my forehead only and is very mild.

Accutane info:
I want to make sure that I don't worsen my Rosacea while on Accutane, so I'm staying on a low dose. I'll probably start with 30mg every other day and work up from there.

My primary concerns are clearing my acne and oil long enough for my red marks to finally fade. My Rosacea and dermatitis are both mild and manageable. Certainly not something that would keep me from leaving the house in the morning. I've also heard that oil may worsen my type of dermatitis, so Accutane's drying effects may help it clear. Who knows?

Products:
- Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser
- Cerave Moisturizer
- Aquaphor (for lips)

!! I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for eye drops (preservative-free) and hair conditioner in case those areas get dry?

Congratulations for reading all this. :3

So I've had acne for 7 years and finally decided to go with accutane because I got tired of the emotional and physical pain, misery and suffering!

I was prescribed accutane 3-4 years ago but at the time I was too scared and didn't want to risk it, but now I think it's worth a little bit of risk... and you always gotta take risk in life or else you will never get anywhere.

My derm started me on 40mg day for the first month...

I started on July 28th, 08, so its been about 3 days for me.

So far I've had 0 side affects, other than actually getting really good sleep at night for some reason.

I might be breaking out from it, but I was already breaking out pretty bad right before I started it so it might not be because of accutane.

I should take some pics but I dont like looking at my own face... and especially during accutane I wanna avoid as much as possible to not get depressed about it! If I can't see it, than it won't hurt me so much inside... it was enough of the derm to tell me it is severe and scarring... and i can feel it while washing my face.

Edit: pictures added below...

Hello everyone!
I am a 37 year old longterm acne sufferer who recently decided (after years of taking antibiotics, spending $1000's on special soap and prescription acne creams) to try the Accutane solution. When I was a teenager, my acne was pretty bad-- cysts on my face, back, upper arms and chest. I think I tried tetracycline for a brief time as a teenager, but it wasn't until I was around 25 that I decided to really try to tackle my acne problem. Luckily, my skin does not scar terribly easy-- when it does I get fibroid scars-- which consist of raised scars (rather than the pock marks one often sees with acne sufferers), so I have quite a few small "bumps" that are actually little scars on my back and chest. These have gone down over time, thank god! It used to be that I would never wear any shirt that remotely showed any skin below the neckline. This became quite depressing, as I really like fashion and felt so limited in what I could buy. I am sure many of you know how embarassing and humiliating it is to break out on the back and chest. Since I have taken antiobiotics (minacyn has been the most successful for me), my skin looks mostly clear. Still, I can't remember a day since I was about 12-13 that I have been pimple free. I always have some sort of issue with my skin. I have become a master at disguising my slightly uneven skin tone (from years of having acne) with the use of make-up. Most people are surprised when I tell them I am an acne sufferer.

So... how did I arrive at taking accutane? To be honest, I am just plain SICK of dealing with my skin. Even on antiobiotics, around my period my skin would get a few cysts, and I would also be back to not showing any skin below the neck. I spend a lot of time caring for my skin an am tired of it. Here is the list of products I used to use:

Minocyn oral antibiotic (once daily)
Neutrogena acne wash bar soap (for some reason the liquid soap made my skin break out worse). Unfortunately, they stopped carrying the bar soap in Canada a few months ago. :/
I now use Panoxyl gel soap for acne (it is unscented and non-comodegenic and available over the counter).
Neutrogena oil free moisturizer with spf15.
Dalacin T ointment (attacks zits before they form). This is prescription-based.
Panoxyl benzoyl peroxide 10%. For some reason only the 10% works on me-- 5% doesn't help. This too is prescription.
Through the day, I was always blotting the oil from my face.
I rarely go out without foundation on my face. When I do, my face needs to be pretty clear for me to feel comfortable.

As you can see from the above list of products, it is quite an effort to keep my skin clear. Maybe I am just being vain, but I really hate to have acne. It sometimes feels like a disfigurement.

I decided to take Accutane after talking to a friend who took it and said it worked miracles for her. She didn't have super bad acne when she took it, but she said it was bad enough to make her be willing to try it. I always assumed you had to have severe acne to take Accutane, and the brochures you get on it always talk about the millions of side effects one can have. It scared me, and my acne-- while being somewhat severe, was more of a persistent kind-- it just never went away. I read quite a bit about Accutane and decided to go for it.

My next post will be my experience with Accutane from the last 2 weeks, when I started my treatment. I really hope this clears my acne forever!

Day 1

I started Sotret today, 40 mg once a day.

I am turning 30 in a month and I decided it was about time to stop living with acne.
My doctor is pessimistic about its outcome due to my age but hopefully it will help.


*crosses fingers*

I just started my generic accutane today at 40 mg. I guess I posted my log in the wrong section so I will try it again..lol

I have tried what feel like evey antibiotic and cream availiable to cure my acne. I have had it since I was about 12 and I am now 24. I don't have awful terrible acne but I do get some cystic acne that stays for months and they are so large they need their own zip code. I have many blackheads and little annoying zits.

My Dr. finally suggested Accutane after I was left balling in his office tired of having acne and not being able to just get up in the morning and go. It has lowered my self esteem and makes me not want to look in the mirror. My bf is blessed with perfect flawless skin and teases me about being a pizza face, I know he's not trying to be mean but it hurts inside.

I am hoping that this works. I was told that when your acne is mild the chancess of breaking out are less. Like I said my acne is not severe, more annoying and stays for months. So wish me luck!

When deciding whether or not to go on Accutane, I found it very helpful to read others' Accutane logs. I will be recording my experience here in hopes someone else will find it useful down the road.

I'm a 24 year female with somewhat fair skin on the oily side. I had great skin until age 19, when the acne first appeared. Since then I've had persistent acne - though there have been periods where it’s been better or worse. I've been on antibiotics and topicals off and on for the past 6 years. After seeing a new dermatologist this spring, she suggested a five month course of Accutane and here I am

This is day two, and I'm currently on 20 mg/day. So far I haven't noticed any side effects, though I was exhausted this morning. I'm attributing this to the fact that I was out of the town this weekend and didn't get home until after midnight - but it could be the Accutane. I've been applying chap stick like crazy in hopes of preventing (or at least lessening) the dry lips everyone has mentioned. I'm also a tad sunburned at the moment, so I hope that won't speed-up any possible drying of the lips/skin. I'm crossing my fingers!

Okay so here it goes guys I finally decided to take the plunge. My derm told me about accutane maybe 2 months ago and at first I wanted to get on it then I read all kinds of horror stories and scared the crap out of myself and decided I would stick to the 100mg. of Doxy and the 8% benzoyl topical cream for my face that I had been doing for a little over 2 months. I went to the derm again last Tuesday and was very upset I actually started crying in front of the derm (I hate people seeing me cry!) she told me straight up, "get on this medicine I really think it would help you". Here is the rundown on Moi I have had acne since I was about 14 years old but it did not start to get out of control till about November of last year. That is when I started to get cystic acne. I would get one or two huge zits that never developed a head just got huge and red. I started to see the derm in Jan and she put me on the 100mg. of Doxy and had me apply 8% BP. After two months of this treatment the cysts did slow down but I still had to visit the derm and recieve those stupid shots in my face (not so pleasant let me tell you). Now I have a few nasty scars that drive me bonkers with no make-up on them. I also have extremely oily skin on my face and oily hair so I am looking forward to being dry in those areas. So here I am 4/22/08 and I just took my first pill with a peanut butter granola bar and a large glass of water. I thought I would start a log since so many of you have and they have helped me feel better about taking this medication. So here is to clear skin people