Hi all,

I took Accutane for 6 months in 2007. When I finished the treatment, I could notice how easily my eyes used to get irritated by wind, air conditioning...etc.
It was not until the end of 2008 that I started to feel some dryness and it got even worse last year.

I was diagnosed with posterior blepharitis (MGD), doc said my glands were obstructed by wax. I have tried all standard treatments (warm compresses, massages, lid hygiene, doxycicline, flax seed oil, fish oil) with no success.

I didn't even think about Accutane as a possible cause since my MGD developed so slow in time that I completely forgot about having taken Accutane.

But now that I think, it must be Accutane! I'm a healthy 22 y/o male and the only think that I have taken that could possible alter my body is Accutane.

I'm so scared that Accutane could have atrophied my meibomian glands. I did not respond to any treatments, and I'm getting progressively worse in time. I don't know how to stop it. My eyes feel bone dry. I can feel the air touching my eyes surface. It's so debilitating!

I have never heard of anyone having atrophied MG due to an Accutane curse. Is that actually possible ? There are reports of morphology changes in MG after Accutane treatment, if that has happened to me, how can I recover my glands back?

Please help me.

Im on accutane week 4 and when i wake up nearly every pore on my nose is a whitehead sticking out. Should i scrape off all these whiteheads while on accutane? Will accutane make these things disappear or do i have to get rid of these suckers? I dont see my derm till the end of my course.

By the way these things die down by afternoon which i find weird because before accutane they just showed up after I had a shower for a few minutes then subsided.

So for spring break I'm going to palm springs. It's super sunny there and about 100 degrees. Anyways, I know I can't lay out obviously, but if I layer on the sunscreen hardcore (which I will do) will I get tan at all ? I'm hoping to get a little color, due to the fact that I'm ghostly white, and not just burn, or stay the same color. I'll probably spend all day in the pool vs laying out. Any personal experience, or friends experience ? Any information/advice would be greatly appreciated !

I have been taking accutane for 6 months at 20 mgs per day (i weigh around 125 lbs). During the course it definently cleared up my acne, even though I never got a initial breakout. However, I'm now worried if the effects will be permanent? Meaning will my acne come back in a few weeks, even months from now?

I am a bit concerned with what my dermatologist wants to do. She put me on Accutane but she wants me to keep coming for acne extractions (where she pops my blackheads and whiteheads) 2x a month. In the accutane booklet it clearly says pimples should not be popped while on accutane because it can result in scaring. Does this only apply to popping them yourself or should they not be popped at all? Did anyone here have to continue acne extractions while on accutane?

Thanks a lot

I suffered from acne for 20 years.

I just realized that it has been three years since I finished my course. It was the best choice I ever made about my skin. A better choice would have been taking accutane a lot sooner than I did, but I was too afraid after hearing all of the horror stories.

It was my miracle cure!

Hello! I am just starting my 3rd month of accutane (only 3 to go) On about a .. 60 MG dose. I have extreme hair dryness, And I was wondering how everyone else deals with accutane hair dryness?What products do you use? Will a dandruff shampoo dry out my hair?
Thank you!

On my 3rd week of accutane the head of my penis (circumcised), I think to be specific the urethra (penis hole), is beginning to stick to my briefs. It is becoming very uncomfortable when I have to pull my penis head away from my underwear.

I think it might be accutane causing my penis to become dry as it is in contact with my briefs causing it to stick.

The last time I had sex was 3 weeks ago i did wear protection like I always do. I dont masturbate all that often so I'm not sure what the problem is with my soldier.

Been on Roaccutane 20mg per day for 9 days now and nothing appears to be happening at all. No side effects what so ever.....

i am in the middle of my cycle and will be gone for two months overseas to travel during the summer.
I am currently taking 20mg a day and was concerned if I will not have a means to obtain pills for the second month of my travel.
so i was wondering if i should refill with 40mg before i leave and take this every other day for those two months which would be the same as 20mg a day for two months??

thanks

Basically ive been suffering from acne for as long as I can remember.

It makes me extremely depressed, keeps me indoors and has kept me very secluded from my friends.

My acne isn't terrible... I rarely get major breakouts, but when I do get them they are often cystic... hang around forever and worst of all... I am fair skinned, so the red marks they leave last forever.

So even tho I get "occasional" pimples, it always looks like I've just had a breakout. I never really have a day where I look totally clear... not in years anyway.

It seems to be that if I put nothing on my face... my acne goes away. The problem is... that isn't practical.

1. I refuse to go out in public with red marks... so I use a bit of cover up now and then.

2. I am an actor and occasionally HAVE to wear makeup

3. Skin gets dry... need moisturizer now and again... that breaks me out.

3. Life... I mean every once and a while things come up and some sort of product has to go on your face... food falls on it while eating... etc etc... all of which equals a breakout for me. Doesn't matter if something is non-pore clogging... doesn't matter if it's expensive. The sheer virtue of anything on my face (even natural products) breaks me out.


My question is this... even tho my skin can be acne free as long as I put NOTHING on... should I go on accutane in an attempt to strengthen my skin?

Please also keep in mind, I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING... topicals work for a little while if at all and some just break me out, because again... I'm using ANYTHING on my face.

Thanks guys.

i am on accutane and i get these flakes over my face ,i have been having these dry flakes even before starting accutane ,the thing is whenever i check out a bump or touch my skin notwithstanding however gentle i be with my touch, i get something white coming over my fingertips ..is this my normal skin that could render scarring i know i sound like a paranpid but this happened to me earlier when i had a session of superficial peel added with microdermabrsion and the same flakes caused me to scar (well quite superficial scarring which most of people will dismiss as nothing)

i am frustrated as hell with it no matter how hard i tell myself not to touch it ,something always compels me to check out my face and the white flakes? them bastards drive me nuts ...i hope they are just dead cells.(i have developed a scarring tendency)

I started Accutane on 1/28/2010, taking 40MG twice a day.. so today is my 42nd day.

I thought I was getting away without an initial breakout, but in the past week, my skin has flared up BADLY... especially on my forehead, which was always my problem area.

This doesn't really concern me, as I was told to expect the IB, but I thought it would be sooner. My main concern is that my skin just isn't that dry while taking the medicine.

When I first started, the skin on my face was extremely dry, but now, I don't even need moisturizer anymore. Is this normal? My lips are still cracking, and the corners of my lips get crusty, which is good (well, not "good", but indicative that the medicine is working), but this lack of dryness is really scaring me...

Should I be worried?
Thanks all. Hopefully this will put my mind at ease, since I don't have my next derm. appt until March 29th.

Hi everyone (new here)
So, I've been on accutane for about a month and my skin is starting to really dry up. The only problem is that apparently my scalp is too, which makes my hair really prone to static. My question is how do you keep your hair from standing on end? I'm afraid to switch to a new conditioner because it might make me break out.

i am known to have flushing on my face, had urticaria once and my skin condition turned topsy turvy,where earlier it used to be thick,unsmitten by any depth of peel or anything, post-urticaria even the slightest of scratch would render a scar on it,i have never had cystic acne ..just minor to moderate and sometimes persistent acne and my flushing started ever since i had developed urticaria. Anyway the reason why i am here and waffling is i have been taking accutane from last two months recently i had a bout of vomitting and flushed heavily which has taken the glow away from my skin , can anyone help me and tell me what it is and how can i be treated.

p.s i am a doctor myself and as far as i can tell is the flushing i have over my face is petechia and this is possibly due to low platelets count(just a guess havent gone through a blood test)....is this the reason why even a superficial peel would scar me lately.....any treatment anybody??

I have less than a week to go and was wandering from anyone else's experience if your acne didn't really really clear up until a few weeks before the course was over. Mine has almost completely disappeared over the past week and a half. I have heard that even up to a month after the last pill is taken that my skin could either continue to clear up or possibly get a little worse again then better. Just wanted to hear other ppl's thoughts on this.

I can't stress enough how wonderful Accutane has been for me. I took it a couple years ago for some pretty bad acne-I think I was on it for about 6 months, and got up to 80mg a day (I weigh only 120 pounds so that was a lot). That first dose of Accutane cleared me up about 50%, to the point where life was bearable again. I took it again beginning last June and ending in December, and my skin is now 100% clear, something I haven't experienced since I was a child (I am 24). I used to dream about what it would be like to be able to wake up in the morning and LEAVE the house without spending an hour attempting to hide scores of pimples and red marks, or what it would be like to be able to walk with my head up, not trying to hide my face from everyone. Now I can do those things, can live my life without bloody acne getting in the way of everything I do. This would sound silly to anyone who has never suffered from bad skin, but for all the people who don't want to leave the house because of their acne, or who turn down invites from friends to go out, or who think they'll never have a boyfriend...it might not sound so silly.

I also had NO side effects from the Accutane either time, and I am really prone to dry skin. I used moisturizer on my face morning and night, just under my makeup, and tried to drink water. My skin was no dryer than it ever is in winter, no chapped lips, no hair falling out. No initial breakout either!! This time my dosage was at a steady 60mg/day for about five months.

Anyway, I've rambled on and on, and I just wanted to say, TRY ACCUTANE. Obviously it's different for everyone, but for me personally, this drug literally gave me my life back. Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is always look in the mirror for new zits, because it's a force of habit. I haven't found one in months and months and I can't describe how happy that makes me. I do live in fear that the acne will come back, and if it does, I will beg my dermatologist for another course of Accutane.

Hello i created this to have some questions answered about accutane. I was wondering the to get theses few questions out of the way:
I have prom in about a month and 10 days and i just started accutane, i have mild acne. Will i be broken out like crazy like most people.
10 days in and im broken out like never before on my chin and around my mouth, anything i can do to make the Initial breakout less severe then it is example drink more water, supplements
And i have been getting really red whenever i go out in the sun and my job is in the sun so i cant limit my time there. I wore spf 50 sunscreen with a hat, come home and look like a tomato. HELP!

so ive been on 40 mg of amnesteem for about a month now
my derm is up'ing my dose to 60mg.

history:
so ive suffered from acne since 8th grade...im now 19..
i went to a derm in th grade and he prescribed me doxy..
it got better...well to where i can stand it..
now within the past year it has gotten worse
so i went back to my derm and he put me back on doxy..
but it made me sick :/ so he put me on adoxa...
and i got clearer...so i quit taking that around june
now its november and im on my second month of accutane
within the first two weeks i did experience the initial breakout
but since then ive only had a few little breakouts but mainly the bad ones came when i was on the monthly

so im so excited to be clear
i cant wait

what i use:
neutrogena liquid face wash (the orange thing) morning and night
cetaphil moisturizer with the spf morning and sometimes night
and of course make up (merle norman)
for the dry lips...i have so many different stuff lol
-blistex, burts bees, softlips, chapstick*strawberry*, and lip gloss sometimes

I have been off accutane for a month now, and my lips have gotten a little better but not much. How long does it usually take for the side effects to subside?? I was on 80mg for 5 months. I weigh 170 pounds. Thank you

Acne.org message boards have successfully instilled a profound fear of Accutane into me with numerous horror story posts (especially Negative experiences with Accutane) only a few days before I was intending to ask for a prescription.

I know that it would be impossible to reach a consensus about whether Accutane is worth it - I have read many stories that can portray Accutane as either a miracle or a curse. But can we agree on some of the side effects?

Were some like vision loss or hair/skin thinning permanent? How about joint pains or sensitivity to light? Did Accutane give you permanent wrinkles? Are there any other alternatives less dangerous than a drug that is purportedly some watered down chemotherapy?

My acne is mild, yet persistent, and it has been bothering me for a while now. I have only gone through 3 prescriptions to treat it so far: Rosula, Differin, and Azelex. I suppose I can deal with the burden of acne now, and have it clear up slowly and surely, but I definitely don't want to do something rash and end up with a life-long condition that some Accutane users claim to suffer from.

I believe many other people scared of pulling the trigger on Accutane need some help, too. Please share your experience!

I'm a 23 year old male who took accutane July 2009. As many of you are aware hairloss was listed as a side affect. However when I talked to my doctor he said the hairloss caused by accutane was only one jump in the hair cycle and you would look like you would 6 years in the future. He said only regions that are typically affected by male pattern baldness would see any loss. Well I took 40mg of accutane once a day for two weeks ( he had me on 40 mg once a day instead of 20 mg twice a day) and my ENTIRE head thinned out. Not only did I feel like I lost 50% of my hair thickness but the actual hairs themselves that are left are thinner then what they used to be. I immediately stopped taking accutane and went to my doctor. He said because I was on such a small dose of accutane and I was on it for such a small amount of time I would be ok and it should grow back. Well it is now March 2010 and nothing has gone back to normal. I went back to the doctor again and said he does not know why it is not growing back. I'm really depressed and extremely angry because of this. I had such nice thick hair before and now I can see my scalp even when my hair is long and it is dry. Male pattern baldness does run in my family but it doesn't start until they reached their forties. What happened to me? Has this happened to anyone else? I really hope someone will respond because I am extremely sad and taking accutane is now the single biggest regret I have in life and I am absolutely miserable. Can someone please tell me what is going on? I hate life because of this. And my acne came back. I only took the drug for 2 weeks and I was on a low dose.

Ive been taking my daily dosage of 40mg at night all at once. Most people do take half the dosage in the morning then the rest at night. I aint able to see my derm till my course ends so I would like to know how yall take your accutane.

BTW I'm into my 4th week and the following week im upping my dosage to 80mg and I am thinking of doing the half morning/night routine now that my body has become used to handling 40mg at once.

Ok so Ive had a sucky few last weeks. I started accutane about a month and a week ago or so. About a week and a half ago, I got thrush, probably from the accutane. I still have it, Im going back to the doctor tomorrow to get bloodwork and see what I should do. Its only in my throat now and at the back of my tongue. I also can't really taste anything and I haven't been hungry at all. Also, when I first got thrush, I got these red bumps on my arms that are almost gone and my acne got horrible. So basically, its been a week or so now and my acne is clearing up but now i have a new problem. My feet are very red and swollen. My hands are similar but not as bad. they are pretty red and itchy. This just started last night and got worse since then. to help it, I put steroid cream on it that i got for the red spots on my arms and then i put vasoline on it. Then I put socks on and these gloves on my hands. My mom just said that they were dry and needed to be mouisterized so i need to keep the mousture in. I was just wondering if any of you guys have heard of this happening and if it is sortt of common. My feet are red and swollen and are sort of itchy. Please help guys. Im going to be on tomorrow morning before school and Im looking forward to replies and ill also tell you guys what they look like tomorrow after this whole vasoline and glove thing. Thanks.

Hey everyone im on my first week of month 5 on accutane. I havent had a new pimple in like 5 days and my skin doesnt feel like its going to be breaking out anymore. During the whole treatment the most pimples i'd have at same time would be like 3 or 4.

But I have soooo many red marks on my cheeks it makes me look like i still have acne and im wondering if i should expcet improvement on my last 2 month from how i am now?

I finish on April 30th and im wondering if the improvement is already done or should i expect more? I have alot alot of red marks on my cheeks and Im wondering if when I get off accutane they will fade faster and if getting sun when im off of it will do bad to the marks? THANKS EVERYONE IN ADVANCED!

So... does taking a dump not long after the pill affect it at all?

Hey you guys,
I am currently on my third month of Accutane (well Amnesteem) and I have been getting these massive itch attacks on my chest and back (sometimes arms). It feels like little ants are biting everywhere or little electroshocks. Anybody ever have this before? Is it due to the Accutane or could it be something else?

I know that your supposed to go through the whole initial breakout, but i'm on month three and my skin is progressively worse and worse everyday. i had my derm appointment today and both of the doctors were puzzled as to why im not reacting to the accutane like i should be. my skin now is waaay worse then when i started this treatment! i'm 140lbs and on 60mg twice a day. instead of monthly appointments, im now going weekly. =/

any similar experiences? is it just gonna take way longer for me to see at least a little result? im getting acne in places ive never had it before, its also very painful!

-acacia.

I'm 5 months though a 6 month course. 60mg for the first 3 mnths, and then 80mg (I weigh 120lbs). My dermatologist and I were happy with things until the 3rd month. Then I started breaking out again and he raised the dose. My acne was moderate before accutane & now my skin is headed back to where I started, except my lips and nose are dry on top of it. I don't use any makeup or pore clogging hair/skin products. Wash with cetaphil twice a day. I rarely consume dairy products (easing into veganism). I try hard not to touch my face. I take the meds religiously. Sorry for all the boring details... hoping someone here can relate.
I've seen this drug work for people far worse off than me. I'm so beyond frustrated. Why won't it work? Could I lengthen my course to 7 months and/or raise the dose a little? Could a 2nd course make a dramatic difference? Thanks in advance for any help :] Here are pics of both sides of my face:
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Just wondering when your hair goes back to normal...Im done in aboout a week and my hair is so dry, its even turned curly. Im confident the curlyness is due to the accutane considering my hair was only a bit wavy and not curly prior to accutane...not soo worried about this because it may be due to the dryness. But ya, when does your hair regain its shape?