Hello everyone.
I've been a long-time lurker on this site and wanted to share my own personal struggle with acne and Accutane with this community by keeping a daily log on my progress and journey with acne and treatment.
Here's a little background: I'm a 19-year-old college student who has struggled with acne since I was about 15 years old. I grew up my whole life in Southern California, and though my face was not perfect, my acne was not severe enough for me to even consider taking Accutane. Last year, I took minocycline and used tretinoin. and the two did a great job of clearing me up. Everything seemed perfect as the medication was working before I left for college in the fall of 2013. Well, I moved to college on the East Coast, and my skin immediately started having issues with the climate change. With the cold weather, my skin started freaking out, and I was left with much scarring. I decided that I was sick and tired of dealing with acne, so I set up a dermatologist appointment. My doctor saw my face and called it moderate-to-severe acne, and set me up with Absorica (off-brand Accutane), which I have been taking since February 5th.
Tomorrow is my 65th day on Accutane. My course thus far has been a bit of a roller coaster. Good days are followed by horrible days, and I'm definitely not finished with my IB. I have pretty intense scarring, and I hope this goes away eventually. Most people (from what I've read) have experienced a pretty big change in the 3rd and 4th months on Accutane, so I try to keep my head up and stay content with myself and my face... I don't look in mirrors anymore, and for the first time in my life, I find myself trying to avoid being out in public. I go to the gym everyday, and it's where I'm able to let go and keep myself sane.
I'm going to post pictures of my weeks 1-9 of treatment so far so you all can see how my face has changed each week. I don't talk to many people about my struggles with my complexion, so I wanted to share them here. Attached are the views frontal views of my face these last 9 weeks. In my next two posts below, I'll attach pictures of each cheek (the places where I struggle the most).
I hope that one day I can be an Accutane success story. Until then, I'm just weathering the storm. 
Here are pictures of my cheeks, as promised.
Right...
And here's the left cheek.
I'll be updating each week's pictures on each Friday or Saturday (typically when I take them)
Let me know what you think!
Hello there!
So, you've started your 3rd month, huh? Hope you'll be seeing some results soon! We're kind of in the same boat, my cheeks are my problematic areas and they're pretty much scar ridden...
Keep track of your progress and good luck! c:
Day 66
Today is my 6th day since my Derm upped my dosage from 30 mg twice a day to 40 mg twice a day. In the past 3 days, I think my face is feeling a definite change, as I've had another breakout on my forehead. Before starting Accutane, I would only very rarely have acne on my forehead. Anyways, I've got about 6 or 7 cysts and pustules on my forehead at the moment, but only 1 active on my right cheek. I suspect this recent breakout is because of the change in dosage, and I've also been experiencing increased dryness. I feel constantly dehydrated, which is strange because I drink more water than anyone I know (about 1 to 1 1/2 gallons per day).
I know I've got a lot to be thankful for, but I can't help but be kind of bummed out today. I'm going home for summer in 26 days and I was hoping to show my family how much my first 3 months of Accutane have helped me.. I was hoping to go home and see my girlfriend and be confident about my appearance. She has never once brought up my complexion to me, and I guess that's just another reason why I love her. Anyways, I need all of the positivity I can get. I keep thinking about how thankful I'll be when I can look in a mirror and be proud of the face looking back at me. This whole process has been so humbling.
Until next time,
Robbie
Day 72
After my last post, I was in a little bit of a funk so I decided to get my hair all cut off. I've felt like my long (and mangy) hair was something I've been hiding behind for far too long and that I need to start being able to look at myself and accept what I look like. I cut it all off (as you'll see in the new pictures below), and I'm glad I did. These last 10 weeks have been difficult, but I realize that things should be getting better soon.
My face isn't exactly blowing up, but it doesn't feel like it's getting worse. I'm still getting occasional breakouts and getting white heads, but the cysts seem to be less and less severe. They are going away quicker than they used to, and I'm happy about that. I've still got heavy scarring, which I hope will change once I stop breaking out altogether. Anyways, here are this week's pictures.
Despite how it might look, I really don't have that many actives anymore. Seems like my skin is almost ready to start recovering. The IB from my change in dosage seems to have subsided.
Hope you all are doing well.
Robbie
Ooh, you look a whole lot better, bet the mood is matching! I think you'll be able to show your family the progress you've made with Accutane. It's obviously not some kind of magic and patience is needed, so hang onto the good things for now. You can always take care of the scarring later 
Day 78
So.. I was having a pretty good stretch of days on Accutane since last week. Since my last update, things have been fairly good. But in the last few days, I've been having worse breakouts than I've had in a while. I suspect that it's because I've had so much sugar in the last few days. I'm totally just waiting for the turning point where I stop getting breakouts and everything starts recovering. Here are this week's pictures:
Hopefully things will start turning around for me next week. I'm going home to be with my family and girlfriend in 12 days, so it's looking unlikely that I'll be looking good by the time I'm home.
Hope you're all well.
Robbie
Day 84
Hey everyone, good news over here!
This week has been a good one for my skin. I had very minimal breakouts and have 0 (THAT'S RIGHT, I JUST TYPED THAT) actives! I saw my deem today, and he even told me that he wants me to only do a 5-month course and that the scarring I have will eventually go away. I'm flying home to California next Friday and I have finals for school this week, so I'm praying for a good week on several levels, including my complexion. Finally feel some self-confidence looking in the mirror this week.
Here are the pictures from this week!
Hope you all are well!
Robbie