20 replies to this topic

[lilly18]

lately accutane has really being getting me down, im over two months in and see no improvement, in fact my skin is probably 3x as worse then when i started, i know it takes time but to be honest its really takin its toll. im fed up of being red faced and havin itchy rashes all over my arms. i really dont know how much longer i can take, i need to see some improvement soon because im feeling really disheartened about it all. im fed up that out of my brothers and sisters i am the only one who has shit skin and has to endure this crappy medication. why me?!

what do you guys think i should use on my arms, my skin itches and looks a little like red sunburn patches?

i hope in a few weeks im feeling a lot better about taking accutane because right now im feeling crap about it, i just hope it clears me up, i have such high hopes of having clear skin but i just cant see it happening right now, or in the near future. what happens do you just wake up with clear skin (obviously not over night) but i cant seem to even see any gradual improvement.
i hope i made the right choice taking this

thanks for reading guys and girls

[Sara_1987]

I know how you feel.

At 8 weeks I had seen no improvement at all. In fact, my acne was worse than ever before! my face was so painful.
But then, now, during my 9th week or so things are finally getting better. my left cheek and forehead are getting clearer. my right cheek is still a disaster but accutane will work.

Keep that in mind; It HAS to work. there's only a tiny chance it won't. it has worked for so many people already so it'll work for me!

i've been suffering too..... dry skin, dry eyes, putting on lipbalm all the time... Rashes on my arms and hands, dry hair... it's really tough.

please hang in there; I know it's difficult but let's try to stay positive!

for you rash I highly recommend La roche-posay "Lipikar". it's this body lotion for very dry skin and it has cleared up the red eczema-like patches i had on my arms and hands in no time!

It's expensive though and maybe if you're in the US a little hard to find... You should be able to find it at pharmacies in europe though.

good luck and stay strong. pM me whenever you want! we're gonna get beautiful skin soon!

[elizabethmargot]

i am also in EXACTLY the same boat. like sara, i have finally seen some improvements in week 9 (clear back, forehead, temples, chin, and basically left cheek), but still have actives and some bumps on my right cheek. it sucks, it is sooooo hard. i feel scared that i won't clear, that i'll always have the yucky red marks, etc. but it has worked for soooo many people, just check out the gallery and look at the before/afters and try to have hope. i know it's hard - i am also having a really bad time, really depressed and sad and just SCARED that it won't work. so i know how you feel, but we have to just keep trying to stay positive because the chances that it WILL work are a lot better than that it WON'T.

[real maverick]

I've read a load of cases where accutane makes peoples skin 10x worse before it clears. You'll be clear eventually.

[JR86]

accutane sucks when you are on it, but it's worth it in the end.

[Sara_1987]

you know what's weird.
At first I was only going to be on 20mg and was not gonna be upped because my derm wanted me to do the long term-low dose thing. she was talking about people being on accutane for 2 or 3 years and not wanting to come off because their skin looked so good...!
And I don't understand why they would do that because I've read on here many times that your skin keeps on improving once you go off accutane...

but any way. it's not a problem for me because I have gone on a higher dose any way (50mg) and I'll probably go off it after - months or however long it takes me to be clear.
I wanna be on it for at least 6 months though to make sure I've done a complete course.

[soul78]

Looks like all 3 of us are in this together I am at 8 weeks and still not clear either. I also do not like being on the med because my face is red and tight and dry (some days it is bearable and some days it really is not). Not much we can do though, besides wait it out and hope for the best.

Stay positive and know that there are others in the same boat, so surely our progress or lack there of is more common then we probably think.

[hockey_guy16]

Ya im finalyl starting to see the inconsistency of accutane one day yuo look good then you look like shit the next 4 - 5 days. Although the side effects arent too bad for me but im going to b alternating from 80 mg and 40 mg in my 2nd month.

Also I have a question I seem to be gettin like raised red marks they arent like active anymore but still kinda looks like a pimple and they are dry and stuff if anyone has experienced that does it go away ?

[Danno]

Patience is one of the most important attributes you can have in life, and when your on accutane you require alot of it. Take it from someone who was on it for 11 months!

[Noremac]

i just really, really hope the scars fade. that is my one big concern.

as for the acne itself, it definetly clears up, my forehead is entirelly clear now (which was my main problem area) but still got a few around my mouth.

like what danno said, just be patient.

[soul78]

Ya im finalyl starting to see the inconsistency of accutane one day yuo look good then you look like shit the next 4 - 5 days. Although the side effects arent too bad for me but im going to b alternating from 80 mg and 40 mg in my 2nd month.

Also I have a question I seem to be gettin like raised red marks they arent like active anymore but still kinda looks like a pimple and they are dry and stuff if anyone has experienced that does it go away ?

Totally...It starts looking decent for a couple days and then I wake up one day and it's back like it was.

[mm8]

I've been off the shit for a months now and my skin has not improved. It seems it's destroyed forever because of Accutane. This forum is full of horror stories about it and I wonder why it is still on the market. It makes the skin worse rather than better and the only reason you take it for is to get better skin...

[Sara_1987]

I've been off the shit for a months now and my skin has not improved. It seems it's destroyed forever because of Accutane. This forum is full of horror stories about it and I wonder why it is still on the market. It makes the skin worse rather than better and the only reason you take it for is to get better skin...

there are gonna be horror stories about every medication. Keep in mind the many people who were helped tremendously by accutane and have had no skin problems thanks to it don't come to this board because they don't think about their skin any more...

I'm sorry your skin is doing so bad but it's not really ice that you're scaring and discouraging us all. There's always a chance accutane won't work, but that chance is minimal. I'm sorry it didn't work for you but chances are big it will work for me and others.
I've read many stories of people getting perfect skin thanks to accutane.

[mm8]

Minimal chance?

[Simmy]

I've been off the shit for a months now and my skin has not improved. It seems it's destroyed forever because of Accutane. This forum is full of horror stories about it and I wonder why it is still on the market. It makes the skin worse rather than better and the only reason you take it for is to get better skin...

STOP THE PRESS!!! Pull accutane off the shelf!!

[lots of ice cream]

Well this thread is discouraging
For those of you whose skin got a lot worse on tane - when did it start getting worse? Mine's been pretty much constant the first month..

[elizabethmargot]

I've been off the shit for a months now and my skin has not improved. It seems it's destroyed forever because of Accutane. This forum is full of horror stories about it and I wonder why it is still on the market. It makes the skin worse rather than better and the only reason you take it for is to get better skin...

STOP THE PRESS!!! Pull accutane off the shelf!!

you are being sarcastic, yes?

[elizabethmargot]

I've been off the shit for a months now and my skin has not improved. It seems it's destroyed forever because of Accutane. This forum is full of horror stories about it and I wonder why it is still on the market. It makes the skin worse rather than better and the only reason you take it for is to get better skin...

there are gonna be horror stories about every medication. Keep in mind the many people who were helped tremendously by accutane and have had no skin problems thanks to it don't come to this board because they don't think about their skin any more...

I'm sorry your skin is doing so bad but it's not really ice that you're scaring and discouraging us all. There's always a chance accutane won't work, but that chance is minimal. I'm sorry it didn't work for you but chances are big it will work for me and others.
I've read many stories of people getting perfect skin thanks to accutane.

i also feel so bad that it didn't work for you - it is my biggest fear - but PLEASE stop spreading the negativity to those of us who are still in the midst of treatment. it has been proven in many studies that accutane is HIGHLY effective, and that is MORE likely to work than not work - there is an FDA article that states that it is effective in achieving prolonged clearing of acne in 85% of its patients (http://www.fda.gov/f...1/201_acne.html). also, the galleries and logs of many users in this forum show that it works, and there would be even more of those success stories if those who got clear came back to the site to say so, but they don't, because they FORGET ABOUT ACNE WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE IT ANYMORE and never come here again. anyway, i'm super scared that it won't work, too, but try not to be so discouraging when it is more than likely going to work for the majority of the users on this board.

also - i'm sorry, but i just looked at one of your photos - your skin is CLEAR! you might have some superficial scarring, and if accutane caused that, that definitely sucks - but you DON'T HAVE ANY ACNE! i would be so happy to not have acne if i were you!!! you can get stuff done to get rid of your scars, too, and you'll be perfect then.

[mm8]

It's true that I don't get so much acne anymore after stoping Accutane, but as good as ALL of the scars are sustained during the course.

I certainly prefered to get some sports now and then and se them disappear in a quite short period of time instead of having the whole face covered in scars and red marks that probably won't go away.

I guess you could say it cleared me, or almost, but I'm pretty shore the acne will come back again when it gets cold (it usually does) and then Accutane did nothing good at all.

I understand you are worred about being "cleared" or not, I was too, and by the day I finished my 6.5 month course I had two active boils and some whiteheads left..after the course the whiteheads have turned into acne (kind of small though) and as of today (1 month past) I'm pretty much clear exept for a few blackheads and some small pimples and whiteheads and a spot that is healing (which is veeeery slow since I went on Accutane)...

The first 5 and half months of the course I was getting as much acne, or even more, as before.

Besides the red marks and skin texture hasn't improved a bit since finishing the course. I've been using some expensive night cream with AHA and vitamins for a while now but, as I thought, the results are not to be.

As for being negative, do you want me to lie? Why bothering asking if you don't like the answer?

[hatethyself]

It's true that I don't get so much acne anymore after stoping Accutane, but as good as ALL of the scars are sustained during the course.

same here, had no scars before but now, god it makes me angry.