Hi All,
I'm a 24 (almost 25) year old female and have had acne for about 1.5-2 years. I started Roaccutane on 31/08/17 at 20mg a day for the first month. By the end of the month my skin was looking so much better. I had my first follow up appointment with a dermatologist and they increased my dose to 40mg a day for the next two months. However, I'm now at the end of the third month and my skin is just as bad, if not WORSE than before I started. The breakouts have been persistent throughout month 2 and 3 and I am really struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I wasn't expecting immediate results but I would have expected at least a small improvement after 3 months on the medication. I always take it with food, have a good diet, drink lots of water, have a good skincare regime, but my skin is just not getting any better. Every time it starts to get better I then break out all over again and it is just a vicious cycle.
I spoke to a dermatology nurse on the phone today and she told me to stop taking Roaccutane for two weeks and to then start again on 20mg a day.
Has anyone had a similar experience? Or any advice or suggestion to offer? I would be grateful for any help or to hear your stories as I am really struggling at this point.
Hi HugRonald
I was breaking out right up until month 5 and then had some more smaller spots at the beginning of month 6. It's only now in month 7 that I'm completely clear. I realised after the first few months it wasn't going to be a quick fix for me and found myself getting annoyed that I wasn't consistently clear but I really feel it's worked now and I couldn't be happier with my skin. Like you, I started on a low dose and just needed to be patient. So long as you can deal with the side effects I'd say keep persevering but ultimately get your dermatologists advice.
Thanks for your replies. My dermatologist told me to stop taking Roaccutane altogether for 2 weeks, then to start it again at a lower dose (20mg). She said the dose I've been on at the moment (40mg) is too high for me which is why I've been breaking out so badly. At the moment I would say my acne is10x worse than before I started. It seems the medication really isn't mixing well with me, but let's hope that changes when I go back down to 20mg.
I am being patient, but the fact that my skin is 10x worse after 3 months of treatment is really disheartening.