Acne.org Products
This is a long post so please bear with me.
I'm 21 years old with tan Middle Eastern skin. I've had mild acne since I was about 15, but it was nothing serious at all. My main problem was never the acne itself, it was the post inflammatory hyperpigmentation that was left behind after each and every pimple went away. So basically, I would have only one or two minor pimples a month, but these would leavea permanent brown mark. Over months and months of time, these brown marks started accumulating to the point where PIH became a huge problem for me (even though the acne itself was very mild-it didnt bother me much at all).
i started seeking treatment for PIH, first through chemical peels and later through fractional laser sessions. While these did reduce the brown marks significantly at first, they would always come back again as soon as another pimple popped up.
i switched to a different dermatologist who suggested that i start a course of accutane, as he felt i should target the root cause of the problem (my acne) beforetargeting the PIH.
at this point, I'm on my second month of accutane (60 mgs and I weigh 70 kgs) and I see no side effects and no improvement either. The only thing i have noticed is my lips are quite dry. However, my skin is still oily, still breaking out on a regular basis (maybe even slightly worse), and no other side effects occurred. I am on a 1200 calorie diet as i am trying to lose weight and so i do not eat a lot of fatty foods. soI'm worried that even though I do take accutane with food, the fact that i am not eating fatty foods is affecting absorption. I also wear makeup on a daily basis (i'm way too insecure about my PIH to leave the house without it). I'm starting to lose hope , and my wedding is in 10 months, so accutane for 6 months followed by treatment for PIH was my last resort. Maybe I'm just being impatient. Is this normal?
Accutane affects everyone differently but at two months I think you're being a tad too impatient.
I was still at "worse than before" breakouts until about week 6. I'm approaching month 4 (or 5, I forget) tomorrow and am essentially cleared.
However, my friend also took accutane for six months and he actually didn't feel the full effects until a month or two after the end of the six months.
Also, I'm on 80mg (and weigh ~75kg) so they might bump up your dosage again and that could do it.
No side effects are a good thing but the lack thereof may indicate you can go to yet higher dosage. I feel like I'm really suffering at 80mg but last month they said I might bet bumped up to 100mg next month (if my liver can take it)
Hi Sarah,
ryanjsfx is right - accutane effects everyone differently. I just finished month 4 and finally saw significance clearance last week. Up until that, I had very few results and no side effects except dry lips.
That being said, it is very important to take accutane with fat. You don't need to drown everything in butter, there just needs to be some fat in the meal.There are lots of fatty foods that are good for you and can be weightloss friendly - nuts, avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, fatty fish like salmon.... Remember, fat doesn't make you fat! I have always seen the most weight loss when I was on low carb (high fat) diets.
Anyway, as long as you're taking accutane as you are supposed to with fat, just focus on your upcoming wedding and let accutane do it's job. Congrats and good luck!
Hi! I just finished six months on accutane and I can tell you that I saw zero improvement until end of month four! It's like overnight at the end of month four my face cleared 
but I must say my dosage did increase at month three from 40,40,60,80,100,100. Your doctor might bump you up and then you'll see a dramatic difference not in just acne but in side effects haha 
but BE PATIENT !!!!
PS. Do NOT cut out healthy fats out of your diet! There is research that if you take accutane with healthy fats, it's absorption rate doubles