Hi, im an 18 year old guy and have been batteling acne for about 3 years now. Before the acne my skin was really good, i would never get a pimple but in high school things changed. It started out as very mild, a few pimples on my left cheek but over the years it has gotten much worse, the acne now covers most of my face. I dont have any cysts, most of my acne is the red bump inflamed type that has no head. I went to my first derm appointment yesterday and tommorow i will get a blood check. If my blood checks out fine i will be put on accutane. I decided that i will share my journey with all of you. I will update this post every week and tell you about any side effects and how my skin responds to the drug.

Edit #1: Week 1,
Acne got worse i guess as part of the initial breakout. Skin isnt dry yet but my lips def are getting more dry. Starting dose 30mg. After first month i will be put on higher dose.

Edit #2: Week 2,
My acne has already started to clear up a little but, there are still active spots on my forehead and cheeks but it seems like the really bad closed comedones are mostly gone. I am fully expecting to break out some more in the future though because my acne shouldnt really be improving after only 2 weeks on accutane. My lips are getting really dry on only 30mg, i can only imagine what it will be like when i get put on 60 or 70 next month. Aquaphor is a must have.

Edit#3: Week 3,
Not much has changed, lips are still dry, acne is still getting better, most of the closed stuff has now come up as whiteheads and i'm guessing it will slowly go away. Although i do have some weird spots on my legs and shoulders that i would never get before accutane, not a big deal but still something to note.

Edit#4 Week 4,
Went to my derm today and got my dosage raised to 40 mg, i was expecting more tbh but since my lips are getting dry and some joint pain is starting to show up, she said that slowly raising the dosage is a better idea than rushing into things. Getting some acne flares on my cheeks, my forehead is getting better. Other than that, nothing new to report.

Edit#5 Week 5,
Acne seems to be clearing up a bit, but skin is now getting dry and a bit flaky.

Edit#6 Week 6,
So i have some bad news, kind of. As many of you would know one of the more sucky side effects of accutane is that your skin becomes more sensative and red in some areas and hyperpigmentation gets worse. This is the case for me now. While there arent many active acne spots, there is a lot of redness on my face from previous acne. I hope this goes away as i progress further into my accutane treatment, but it may be one of those things that goes away after i finish my course.

Edit#7 Week 7,
The side effects are def showing up more now. Really dry lips. Mild dry skin that gets red fast, dry eyes, joint pain, got a couple of nose bleeds. Skin gets better then breaks out a bit and its kind of in that cycle. I think this is gonna keep happening till like month 4 or something. I hope i wont be left with too much scarring, i cant really afford scar treatment

Edit#8 Week 8,
Nothing new really. Going to my derm in 2 days. Il ask her if she could raise my dose to at least 60mg since i do weigh 165 pounds. Side effects are still the same, lips get dry 15 min after applying aquaphor, kinda annoying. My eyes also get really dry when i go outside, kinda worried beacuse summer is over and its getting colder and windy here so i hope it wont be too much of an issue.

Edit#9 Week 9,
Got my dosage raised to 50 mg. Getting more dry. Got some flaking on my arms. Got a mini breakout when i raised my dose. Other then that, nothing new.

Edit#10 Week 10,
Acne is getting better. There are no raised spots that i can see atm. Side effects are the same. Hyperpigmentation is also getting better. My forhead is clear, just a little red from the spots before. My cheeks are my issue and still hold quite a bit of hyperpigmentation. But thats about it.

Edit#11 Week 11,
Got some new pimples on my chin from shaving, my fault. Face is getting more clear. Kinda intresting thing is that my left cheek was my main problem area but now it only holds hyperpigmentation and no active breakouts while my right broke out a bit. I got some eczema on my arms. Feeling really dry all over but il get through it.

Ediy#12 Week 12,
Broke out a bit again. Face is reallly dry now. Eczema patches on arms and legs. Going to my derm tomorrow, il try to get my dosage raised to 60mg and il probably take that for the rest of my treatment.