Acne in college is horrible, because most people are already waaay past it. When I'm walking around campus, I often feel so alone because it seems like NOBODY else has it. A couple people here and there have minor breakouts, but moderate / severe breakouts are almost unheard of.

I hope your journey goes well, and your side effects are minimal. Hopefully you can avoid the initial breakout too because it's awful... I'm going through it right now, and it's the worst acne I've had in ages. Let's hope we can both get through the course and end up with the nice skin we deserve!

Hi there!

I just wanted to wish you good luck. I am 4 months through my course of Accutane (1 more to go!) and the difference in my skin is amazing. I really hope you get the same results

I am having this exact experience So awful!! Truly depressing. I've had pretty mild forehead and the occasional chin acne, but my face absolutely blew up recently!! So I'm on my 10th day of accutane and really hoping for the best. What's helped me most is to STOP stressing about it, a positive attitude can make all the difference in the world for your body. Keep your head up, and think good thoughts! It'll get better soon and in 3-5 short months you'll be clear and confident! Good luck. Keep posting!!

Day 6

From day 1 to day 5 my acne actually cleared up a lot already. But then I woke up this morning with lots of pimples on my right cheek, and I'm feeling pretty depressed because I was almost thinking that a miracle had happened and that accutane was already working and that I was one of the lucky few who didn't get the initial breakout. I hope this is just an occasional thing and not the beginning of the initial break out

Day 9

My skin is still breaking out a little bit, but when I compare my skin to before I started accutane it has definitely cleared up a bit. I have less bumps on my face, but still al lot of red marks and a red skin tone over all. My skin is still a little oily, but my lips have started to become even more dry. I really can't wait for the accutane to really kick in, I am having a hard time being patient and I wish I could somehow accelerate the whole process.

Day 12

I woke up this morning with a few breakouts on my left cheek. This is pretty strange since my left cheek is usually my 'better' cheek and I often don't really break out here. My breakouts are also different from what I'm used to, they're bigger in size than what I normally get. They are also more under the skin and haven't come to a head yet. Usually I get spots with white heads on top. My lips have become much much dryer and also my skin starts to flake. I'm using a moisturizer now but it's really hard to make my makeup look normal since it seems to highlight my flakiness and dryness. I have also started to break out on my forehead, which is also strange because I usually break out on my cheeks and chin and not my forehead anymore. I hope that this is the IB and that it'll fade away and from now on my skin will only start improving. I'm still really really impatient and almost obsessed with my skin. Next week I have a few exams so hopefully studying will keep my mind off my skin (sounds kinda pathetic but okay).

I haven't mentioned this before, but I am in a long distance relationship and my boyfriend lives in the US. I met him when I was living there for 8 months. He has seen my acne, although my acne was actually doing pretty good most of that time. I think it was because of the sun and the salty sea water (I lived in California). He just bought a ticket to come visit me in Christmas break, and I'm really excited and I really hope that my acne has cleared up by then. I'll be 3 months on accutane by then. So for people past the 3 month mark of using accutane: when did you skin started clearing up?

Day 18

Okay so the initial break out that I was worrying about earlier was NOT the initial break out, because I am heaving the most terrible, frustrating break out ever in my life now!!! It started around day 14, every little tiny bump that had been sitting under my skin for months all of a sudden grew massive and formed a huge cyst. Very hard to deal with, my acne was worse than I had ever had before Accutane. Got me to wonder if it's really worth staying on it.. I also could not restrain myself from picking and popping every pimple so my face looked pretty gross and scabbed. Luckily for me I don't get scars, I only get hyperpigmentation that usually goes away in a month or 2. My skin is healing really fast, all the scabs are disappearing (although now they are flakes that are literally falling off my face, also not very appealing). I was so happy about the invention of makeup these past days, even though it didn't cover everything it still made my face look okayish, at least enough to to go classes and even give a presentation. I am kinda proud about that, that despite my terrible skin and feeling really insecure I still presented for 20 minutes on my own! So yeah I really really can't wait until everything heals and I'm really happy my boyfriend can't see my skin like this!

i feel your pain...specially the makeup part..THANKGOD LOL. Im almost at the 3 month mark of accutane..i have a lil over a week left. My skin is deft better but if i stopped using accutane tomorrow i wouldnt be happy with the results...SOO im hoping itll all go away by the time its over..but ANWAYS..goodluck i hope you have fast results with no side effects good luck.

Day 21

Okay so most of the actual breakouts are gone (probably because i popped every pimple i could see). The left side of my face is pretty clear (only hyperpigmentation and a few bumps) but the right side has scabs that are flaking and also a few bumps here and there. I've definitely noticed that everything heals faster. I had a cold sore the other day and that even healed up within a day, while usually it stays for 3 days. My lips are super dry, and started to crack open when I laugh, pretty annoying. My overall skin in my face is also way dryer, I used an old foundation yesterday that I haven't used in a long time. I I remember it never looked good on me because after a few hours it would always start to look really greasy. But now that my skin is dry I can actually wear the foundation for a full day without it looking greasy at all, it just looks matte. Two days ago my knee joints started to hurt too, but I wasn't sure if it was due to accutane or just because I was carrying a very heavy backpack. I've also been pretty tired this past week, even though I've been sleeping a normal 8h every night. I have the tendency now to attribute every little body ache/abnormality to accutane, but I'm sure some things are caused by other stuff as well.

Day 30

I saw my dermatologist last week, and I am now taking 40 mg instead of 30 mg. I'm still breaking out, although it's about the same as before Accutane. I am really glad it's not as bad as when I had my IB, but I'm kind of disappointed too because I really hoped that my skin had at least improved somewhat since starting Accutane. Left side of my face is still pretty clear, I'm still breaking out on the right side mainly. My skin is really red, especially right after washing it. I have a looooot of hyperpigmentation, which really sucks because that will take months to fade. I have been breaking out a lot on my back and shoulders, and that hasn't happened in the last few months at all. But I'd rather be breaking out there than on my face of course. I'm still pretty impatient and really want the Accutane to start working, can't wait to finally clear up. I was just browsing through out pictures and my skin looked so flawless it made me feel really depressed. Hopefully that'll be me in a few months again! I haven't been taking pics lately but I will again and I will upload them in a few days.

I'm in the same boat... my IB seems to be over, but I'm still breaking out. Although I have to say, my back feels pretty smooth at this point! Like, I have a couple tiny pimples that you can barely feel, and that's it. I can't wait for it to start REALLY working on my face though.

I read somewhere on this forum that a lot of people see major improvement in month 4.

I'm in the same boat... my IB seems to be over, but I'm still breaking out. Although I have to say, my back feels pretty smooth at this point! Like, I have a couple tiny pimples that you can barely feel, and that's it. I can't wait for it to start REALLY working on my face though.

I read somewhere on this forum that a lot of people see major improvement in month 4.

Yeah I can't wait! All we can do is wait patiently...

Day 37

My skin is doing pretty good, I have a few break outs still but they're slowly drying up. I stopped taking accutane for 3 days because I went to a party saturday and I really wanted to roll. I know it's bad for you, especially in combination with accutane etc. and I did a lot of research on the topic and I decided that I was going to face the risks anyways. I didnt' take accutane friday, saturday and sunday and I made sure I was really well hydrated. I also only took half a pill, to make it a little better for my liver. Accutane didn't really change the effects, maybe the comedown was a little bit harsher than normal but nothing too bad. My skin is feeling pretty smooth, I'm only still really bothered by my hyperpigmentation.

Day 45

My skin is looking pretty good overall, I have a couple of small whiteheads and I have one huge cyst and some hyperpigmentation. My lips are sooooo dry, it really hurts to smile because my lips are so chapped that they break open when I smile. Not fun

Also I feel like accutane is definitely influencing my mood, I've been having a lot of moodswings lately and feeling really insecure for no reason. I had some pretty emotional moments and I'm not on my period or anything. But I know it's all temporary and that it will go away once I finish my accutane treatment.

And today I saw something that made me kinda happy (although it's actually pretty mean to feel happy about it but oh well). I was walking to class and I saw one girl that is in some of my classes and she wasn't wearing make-up, and she was wearing a hoody so no one could really notice her. She is a very popular sorority girl here on campus and I've always envied her a little because she is gorgeous and naturally confident. But today I noticed that she has acne too! Not just a couple tiny pimples, but actually pretty severe acne and a lot of hyperpigmentation. Makes me wonder how many people (mainly girls probably) actually secretly have acne, and have just gotten so good at covering it up. Most of my friends don't really know the severity of my acne either, I mean they can see some raised bumps under my layer of foundation but only few people have actually seem me without make up on. I always felt so alone in my acne struggle, but since today I realized that I am not alone and that even people that seem flawless in my eyes deal with acne too.

Day 48

I broke out yesterday on the sides of my cheeks and on my neck. I couldn't resist popping them and no I have big red ugly scabs. I feel like my skin was doing so good and healing and now I'm back to the start again :/

Look at it this way - the time will pass regardless if you're on Accutane or not.

At least despite any negative effects or any bad days or breakouts, the medication is working inside you to the job.

I'm starting my third month and my skin has gotten much better but I still have the occasional pimple just pop out of nowhere... It's discouraging, but knowing it's part of the process and that there is still some improvement gets me through it. Hell, if you weren't on it now, it'd be just as bad as before.

Keep your head up and do your best not to touch your acne. The process gets worse before it gets better.