Hi. I used to have terrible acne to the point where it physically hurt and made me feel horrible about myself. The first round of accutane, during which I took 60 mg per day, helped tremendously. The side effects I had were mainly dry skin, redness in the face and extremely chapped lips (the ripping in the corners, scabbing over, and the continual ripping, woo).

I think I waited around 6 months after the first course, or maybe it was longer, but I started to get some spots again (nothing like before). So my doctors recommended a second course with a lower dosage.

I've been taking just 20 mg (1 pill) per day for 4 months now, and I am having some pretty bad joint pain and overall soreness without really seeing any results. If I sit down for a while and then stand up and walk around, my legs often feel like I played a soccer match the day before. I have chronic pain in different places all over my body, like in my wrist -- I don't know what carpal tunnel or arthritis feels like, but I imagine it would feel similar to this. When I wake up in the morning, I feel like an old man or something when I am just 22 years old.

I told my doctor about this, and she said I could quit if I wanted to, but she recommended staying on the medicine for two more months and taking ibuprofen to dull the pain. I wasn't sure about that. Popping painkillers every day just to continue a course that isn't visibly doing a lot for me right now -- I'm not sure it's worth it. What do you guys think? Should I quit, or what should I do?