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I created this post to supply the inquisitive minds with a complete well-written experience / tips with the Accutane journey. I have read many posts on this site and other for a few years now and never usually found an all-inclusive guide for Accutane before, so hopefully this will answer some questions you may have and provide that guide for you.
First things first, if you are considering Accutane and are reserved about it because of the bad rumors surrounding it, forget about them! The amount of positive experiences with Accutane outnumbers the bad experiences by such a large amount its ridiculous. It's just that people that have bad experiences tend to express their anger more than success stories because success stories don't usually come back to these blogs!
As a point of reference, ---- 140 lb / 21 yr old / Male ----- Claravis (Accutane) 60mg / day (30mg 2x per day) for 5 months.
Tips first, theres not too many...
1) AQUAPHOR!! Invest in this stuff its great and heals your cracked sad lips in about 2 seconds.
2) Aquaphor! Seriously, buy it.
3) Be active. Not physically strenuous active but swim, do something outside every day. On accutane you tend to get tired very easily and staying active is the only way to keep the Accutane tiredness at bay...
4) Using a moisturizing cream will help you on those extra dry days, although honestly I only used moisturizer on about 5 days out of the entire course, my skin didnt get too flaky. I seem to be in the minority here though.
5) Don't read all the crazy side-effects, you will start to think you have every one. There were times during my treatment I forgot I was on Accutane (minus my cracked sad lips) because I just didnt pay attention to it! It made the journey a lot easier. Trust me.
6) Try not to do hard drugs or drink too much on Accutane, its already putting your body through a lot. Admittedly I drank entirely too much on Accutane, maybe up to 3x a week some months, but my liver tests always came back perfect. (Thank you Super Liver.)
7) Buy aquaphor!
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Back to the journey...
So my entire course was 5 MONTHS. And I actually have one week left, but I figured this was close enough to the end to give everybody a clear complete assessment.
My skin started having problems when I was 14, first small pimples here and there and by the time I was 15, voila! Deeps cysts, pus, bacne, chest acne, and very bad cheek acne, usually clustering on my jaw line and wreaking havoc on my previously enjoyable life.
It eventually got so bad by the time I hit 17 I became quite suicidal about it. If you have experienced the life wrenching effects of acne you know what I am talking about. So like everybody else I tired everything... Benzaclin, tretinoin cream, tetracycline, etc. to no avail. After taking a tiny hiatus my acne reappeared when I was 20 and forced me to take the leap into Accutane.
First off, the only regret I have with Accutane is not taking it 5 years sooner!! Probably would have changed my life.... oh well.
So I started my Accutane journey 5 months ago, being a junior male in college and part of a fraternity. Not the easiest of circumstances.
MONTH 1 (The Start of a Long Road)
The first month of Accutane was BY FAR the hardest part of the entire experience. The first few days there was not much, but within 3 to 4 days my lips became very chapped and at the end of the first week, BOOM. World War 2 had less action than my face that week. I moved from what may be considered "Bad" acne to "Holy shit dude what happened to your face" acne. Not fun. My face broke out the worst it had in years, I got deep pimples all across my face, it was horrible. Broke off with a girl I was getting serious with because I couldn't handle the frustration I felt every time I looked in the mirror, I wanted to have a clear face for her. Just another clip of acne ruining my life. I digress. So yeah the first few weeks were very rough, pun intended, and the lips got real sad. Other than that the face got drier as well as the eyes. I didn't drink very much the first month.
MONTH 2 (The Frustration Month)
The second month on Accutane was better and worse than the first for a couple reasons. First of all, I did not have any results except for a red face with healing acne marks from the torturing first month, and it can be frustrating not to see results. My lips were still chapped, and my joints started to hurt, something that has never happened to me before. I was still getting pimples in certain areas, but they had definitely decreased in size and number from before I started Accutane.
MONTH 3 (The Turnaround)
I entered month three with a defeated attitude, the Accutane was not working as well as I had hoped and I was started to get down. The so-so results continued, and I did have less pimples although a rougher face. Then, in the middle of month 3, everything seemed to take a fantastic turn for the better! I would wake up some days and be amazed at how much better my skin looked even from the night before! It was an amazing feeling to finally wake up in the morning and not dread going to the mirror. Also worth noting, (obviously not related to my getting better) I did drink a lot in the third month. For all the commentors out there I know it's bad yadayadayada liver, I know. But yes, I would say that I drank about 3x a week, about 10-15 drinks per session. Liver tests came out perfectly normal. Also worth noting is that I used cocaine about 1x a week (fridays...) usually about a half-gram for a month or two, also never affected my liver or treatment. Not that I condone its use.
Don't use drugs kids!MONTH 4 (Better than Expected)
Wow! After an uplifting second half of month 3, month 4 was the best clearing I've ever seen of my face! I never got one single pimple in month 4, and every day I woke up was so much better than the last because my skin was healing at such a fast rate I couldn't keep up. My scars started diminishing, the red marks started to fade, and my skin was getting clearer. Most of the improvement happened in this month, and besides old marks my face was totally clear by the end of month 4. I started getting more positive comments about my face from my peers, and I started to feel more confident again. Lips were still severely chapped and joints hurt to a good extent, either way those minor pains were never going to stop me from finishing this miracle cure.
MONTH 5 (Tying loose ends)
Month 5 is probably the most boring month haha. Every side effect you have up to that point is established and your game plan has been set for a while, so nothing new comes up. My skin continued the healing process that started in month 4 and I am only staying on it for this month to hopefully ensure permanent clearing. My skin looks better than ever, my face is not too red for being on accutane month 5, and my scars continue to fade. While writing this, I have one week left to take. Keep in mind, I had BAD scarring going into this treatment, and accutane has already cleared so much of it up! The dermatologist said its very possible my remaining scars will fade naturally over the next year because I am still young, and hopefully I will be scar free! That would be a dream come true. I continue to drink, although not it's only about 1x a week, maybe 2 but I still have about 7-15 drinks per session.
All in all, I can say that taking Accutane has been one of the greatest decisions I have my in my life thus far, and as I said before my only regret is not taking it sooner!! I am going to follow this post up in a month or two when I have been off for a while and can give updated results. Hopefully you have not judged me too harshly by now, and I only hoped that this helped to provide a source of knowledge for the people that want it.
Good luck in the journey! Remember, Aquaphor!
