Starting date: 11/21/12

Initial dosage: 40mg; 1 per day; (taken w/ food)

Week 1

Day 4- I think I may be at the initial breakout stage. I quit drinking. I haven't noticed any unusual dryness yet.

Day 7- Acne is going crazy. It is making it much worse than usual. Lips are dry and peeling. Using Carmex.

Week 2

Day 10- Getting a lot of nose bleeds. Acne remains quite bad.

Week 3

Day 16- I am extremely broken out now. It is much worse than usual.

Week 4

Day 24- No noticeable improvement yet. My skin is a little bit more dry than usual, especially my upper and lower lips.

Day 28- Still average. Some new acne has appeared.

Week 5

Day 31- Saw the dermatologist today. Blood work was normal. I am now taking 2 pills per day, 40 mg each. I have been getting a rash on the backs of my hands. He gave some hydrocortisone for it. Also he told me to put aquaphor inside my nose to help with the nosebleeds.

Week 6

Day 38- I am really broken-out right now. My skin is not very dry. I am still on 80mg/day which is a high dose (I weigh 68kg).

Week 7

Day 48- No improvement. The nosebleeds have stopped now since using Aquaphor in my nose.

Week 8

Day 50- No results so far.

Day 54- I would consider this to be a "good" day (for me). Several big cysts are healing. Still a lot of acne.

Day 62- Saw the dermatologist today. I am still on 80mg per day. Still a lot of acne. No improvement so far. He said not to worry, it will work.

Week 9

Day 66- No improvement.

Week 11

Day 82- Still no improvement!

Week 14

Day 104- Still breaking out. Not impressed with results so far. Still lots of acne. Today is March 5th. Tomorrow will be a full 14 weeks (3 1/2 months). 1 1/2 more months to go.

Week 16

Day 114- Same old crap.

Day 118- I hate my doctor. He says "it looks so much better!" yet I am completely dissatisfied and he goes, "You are a difficult one to please."

I just looked in the mirror. I have yet another badly clogged pore by my nose, and tomorrow, it is going to be a cyst the size of a walnut. I still have so much acne on my shoulders that it hurts when I wear a backpack. And yet this is my last month on accutane, according to him. Great.

I am so irritated I think I will call up their office and complain. It's easy for this asshole to blow it off. He's not the one with the problem, so what does he care.

Week 21

Day 150- I know I've been updating this less and less, but nobody ever reads it anyway. My face is still broken out, but not as much as before it seems. In about 10 days, I will be done with accutane treatment. I am still taking the pills.

I have a nasty abscess next to my eye but it will be gone soon. I only hope I don't get another one once it has healed. If I stop getting new abscesses, then I will know that the drug has worked. It has already been over five months since I started treatment.

It looks like I may finally be on the road to recovery, but no guarantees. I'll keep my fingers crossed.