Wow, so relieved and thankful to be posting here after finishing my course, rather than in the Negative Experiences thread!

I have never had perfectly clear skin, except for one summer when I ate a vegan diet - my skin was glowing and clear then and I would suggest to anyone suffering from acne that they give the vegan thing a try if their lifestyle allows for it - but other than that stint, which I couldn't keep up, I've always had acne, and it got really bad by the end of last school year. So I went to a new derm at the beginning of the summer, who took one look at me and said, "You need accutane."

After doing a little research online, I was highly reluctant to take accutane, as you can probably imagine. I talked to my regular doctor about it, and she said that derms don't prescribe accutane lightly, that they usually prescribe it in cases where there's a risk of scarring, and that I probably needed it.

So I took her advice and started accutane. For the first two and a half months, my skin looked worse than it ever has in my entire life BY FAR. If I had been at school, I don't think I could have dealt with it. Other than that, the only ("only") side effects I experienced were very dry lips (you must carry aquaphor on your person at all times! you do NOT want to get caught without it!), and, later in the course, dry skin on the rest of my body (nothing some lotion couldn't mostly take care of). My hair was also dryer, which actually was awesome - it had more volume and I had to wash it less! But the worst thing I had to deal with was depression. I think the medication exacerbated already-existing but manageable emotional problems, in a way that was noticeable to the people around me. I did not stop taking the pills or take fewer of them because I believed - rightly, I think - that I would feel better the faster my skin cleared up. The depression lifted after the first month or month and a half, and I've felt back to normal ever since then, but it was pretty scary for a little while there.

So, anyway, I stopped taking accutane over a month ago, my skin looks better than it has at any point since puberty aside from my vegan summer, my acne scars are fading every day, my skin is soft and normal (neither oily nor dry), and I look basically flawless with a dusting of mineral foundation. It's a good place to be! Oh, and I wash my face twice a day with Philosophy Purity Made Simple, and moisturize with Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream (comes in a tub). During the accutane I used that cream and washed with a Cetaphil gentle cleanser.

Good luck if you decide to take accutane! I'm glad I did it. If you are in school, however, I would recommend starting your course in the summertime; the terrible acne and mood swings would have been pretty overwhelming to deal with in college.

I am 30 years old, female, and have had moderate to severe acne since my late teens.

I took Accutane for 6 months to clear up persistent and scarring back acne, face acne, chest and throat acne. I went off of it the end of August and was almost 100% clear in August. By September I was 100% clear. Zero acne. My skin was fantastic. Flawless.

In December, I started getting one or two small pimples on my face and back. I started to fall into despair. Did I really only have three wonderful months before it all started coming back?

My derm had told me repeatedly that picking at my acne was a huge exacerbator for acne, making it much worse and that I wouldn't ever be truly clear if I kept picking at the pimples.

So. When those little pimples showed up in December, I refused to pick them. I just left them alone.

They disappeared in about a week, and I was 100% clear again.

Now in January I have a few pimples on my chest, back, and face. I have not picked them, I have not touched them. They are almost entirely gone, just one on my back that is tiny and one on my face that is a little red, but hardly noticeable. YES!!!!!!!

I am pretty sure this is hormonal acne, related to my period, now that I'm off birth control, etc. It is NOTHING compared to what I'd had one year ago, so hideous my back looked like I'd been shot with birdshot.

Accutane was a godsend. Before Accutane I'd tried antiobiotics, which worked a little, but not for long, Clearasil, birth control, Retin-A Micro, and BP. Nothing worked for very long or very well.

I'd have acne travel down my arms, so I couldn't wear sleeveless shirts, let alone a bathing suit. I never let my back or chest show.

I started on 40 mg and went up to 60 about halfway through.

My side effects were VERY dry skin and VERY dry lips, and a rash on both my hands. Also, very dry hair.

At the end, I only had to wash my hair once a week, it was so dry. Amazing.

My face was so dry, flakes and powdery dead skin would drift off like dust. Peeling and flakey.

I tried everything, got very expensive products that did nothing to help, for my face and my lips.

Then, as a last resort, I tried regular old Vaseline on my lips. It worked like an absolute charm. That cheap tub of Vaselin worked perfectly, completely saved my lips, and so much better than the expensive stuff.

My face was also horribly, horribly dry and nothing was really doing the trick. So, finally I smeared Vaseline on my cheeks, chin, forehead, nose, my whole face. Ta daaaa!! Miracle cure. Made my face perfect and soft.

So as not to look like a greasy freak, I would smear my face with Vaseline at night before bed and that took care of it for the next day, pretty much.

I really recommend Vaseline in this manner for anyone fighting extremely dry lips and face.

And, that's pretty much it.

Accutane saved me. I recommend it 100%. It's changed my life.

I'm now back to oily skin and hair so greasy I have to wash it every day. My skin is still sensitive like it was during Accutane though, I think, since I washed my face with an astringent and my face went crazy red and painful, like a burn. So I don't use any products on my face.

I pray that my back, face, chest and neck (and arms) will continue to be 99% acne-free. If I have to go back on Accutane again, I will.

If you are suffering from persistent and debilitating acne, I recommend this. Please do try it! it is a powerhouse.

I just read Willa's post and my experience was very similar, so I decided to finally post my Accutane experience.

I'm a 33 yr old female and struggled with moderate facial acne with a noticeable hormonal component since I was 16/17 yrs old. The only treatment that seemed to work was antibiotics, but I always hated the thought of being on long-term antibiotics, and whenever I quit taking them my acne came back. I just decided to live with it for 16 yrs, until winter 2009 when my back exploded with very painful cystic acne that covered the majority of my back.

I couldn't pinpoint any significant lifestyle change that could have accounted for it, so I decided enough was enough and took the Accutane plunge. I started on 80 mg/day (I weighed 64 kg) and continued for four months (April to August 2010). I was fortunate to not experience an IB and was mostly clear after the first month, although it took my back a couple of months to start clearing (my derm said that's typical). I was completely clear at the end of my four month course. My major side effects were dry everything, significant hair thinning/shedding, noticeably decreased healing time, and very prominent muscle/joint/back soreness. It was all manageable.

Thankfully, ALL of the side effects slowly subsided after I finished my course. I am about 5 months post-Accutane and everything is back to normal, including my hair, which took the longest and, thus, worried me the most. I had made peace with the fact that I was just going to have dry/thin hair for the rest of my life, which I now know was unnecessary.

About a month ago, which was four months post-Accutane, my face slowly began breaking out again. I would classify it as mild acne, so it was about half the strength as my pre-Accutane acne. Discouraging, sure, but it's all relative. It definitely seemed to coincide with my period, just as it has all of my life. My back has remained clear, thankfully.

It's sad having to go back to worrying about my skin, but if my acne does not worsen, it is definitely something I can live with. If it returns to it's pre-Accutane strength or my back breaks out horribly again, I will consider doing another round of Accutane. My fingers are crossed that it doesn't come to that.

In all, I would still recommend Accutane, even though I am generally very anti-medication of any kind. There seems to be a lot of variation in how well it works for people, which is to be expected. If you've tried everything else, are living a constrained version of the life you deserve to live, and are in general good health, I think Accutane is definitely worth a try.

I decided to take accutane after I tried everything in an effort to get rid of my acne. I took it and experienced the following side effects: dry skin, dry hair, chapped lips, constant drowsiness and minor lower back pain.

It cleared me up completely, and now 1.5 months post I haven't had one legitimate pimple since the beginning of month 3. All the side effects went away 2-3 weeks after my last pill.

It's definitely a long journey, but worth it.

If you've tried everything to no avail, then I would suggest considering accutane.

Well, I took my last pills this evening. I've been on a relatively low dose of 50mg per day for 4 months, making a cumulative dose of 90mg/k. Maybe that was because my acne, although persistant and cystic, wasn't too bad when I had my prescribing appointment (at the end of a long summer outdoors whch has always helped my fac e clear up).

What can I say? The proverbial IB started within 4 days but only lasted 2 weeks. From that time I started to heal, and have been totally clear for well over 2 months! That makes this the longest time without spots in my entire teenage/adult life. ALL my spots have gone - blackheads around my nose which have been there for ever, spots on my arms, back, bum and outer thighs which were always present and sometimes turned cystic. But mainly my face - it's totally clear, and that's an amazing concept.

Side effects. All the usual drying stuff but nothing too bad. An increased lethargy resulting in sleeping longer and deeper at night (no bad thing). Some joint pain in the 3rd and 4th months, including lower back ache and nasty hip joint pain which made me hobble around for 3 or 4 weeks but then subsided. Blurred vision at times due to dry eyes and contact lenses, but managable. Interestingly, my dandruff has cleared up completely, and there has been no noticable hair loss (one of my main concerns at the beginning).

Another interesting thing - the scarring on my face has improved noticeably. Many of the pits seem to have filled in to some extent - even the huge ones left by massive cysts. Not sure why this would be but it's very welcome! I never suffered badly from red marks and so that hasn't been an issue on way or the other. My skin also feels tighter. No increase in wrinkles which others have mentioned.

All in all, I think I've got off lightly. I'm glad I did this in the winter months - I cycle a lot and didn't want to be exposed to the sun for hours on end. My training has dipped slighty from previous years - I'd say I'm down 5% in performance. During the hip pain period I had to lay off running completely, but I'm back on it again. Cycling and fixed weights haven't been a problem at any stage.

Would I recommend accutane? Yes, definately. Do your own research, but please bear in mind that you won't neccesserily get a balanced view, either here on Acne.org or on the web in general. There is a very vocal minority who (may) have suffered long-term side effects who tend to dominate any discussion of accutane and who will tell anyone who is prepared to listen all manner of horror stories of how it will screw you up permanently. PLEASE, don't let this put you off. Try and stick to the most objective stuff you can find and, of course, your dermatologist, who should be able to give you a balanced view and answer any concerns.

I was personally put off accutane for several years because of these very horror stories, which any google search will throw up. IMO this gets muddied by the litigation in the US - there are issues of on-going compensation claims which clouds the issue. My only regret in this whole experience was that I let these stories influence me and delayed my treatment. I could have been clear years ago, instead of messing about with ABs, topicals, diets, etc, all of which I tried and none of which made the slightest difference - they just made me feel even more useless and helpless.

But finally, it's your decision. For me it's been one of the most positive experiences of my life. I truly feel like a changed person, no longer sculking in the shadows, avoiding eye contact, always worried about how my concealer looks. If, six months down the line, my acne comes back then I will seriously consider a second course. And if, in a few years time, I discover that I've developed a long-term side effect (which would put me in a tiny minority) then it would have been as a result of my own reasoned decision. I won't be bitching.

I finished my full course of Accutane over 6 months ago and I haven't had a pimple the ENTIRE six months. Its AMAZING. I truly cant tell you how happy I am to have finally found a cure! Derm put me on 120 mg of claravis (generic accutane) for about 8 months. I would take 2 pills one day, one the next, and so on. The first couple months acne was slightly worse. Then is started to really clear up. Now all I use is Purpose face wash to wash my face (with a small facial loofah from walmart) and Burts Bees Day Radiance cream for moisturizer. I swear my face couldnt look any clearer! Its awesome. Wish I had posted earlier, I just have been so busy living my new life acne free. woohoo!~

I absolutely loved my experience with Accutane (generic: Claravis)!

My 1st month I started out at 40 mg to adapt to the drug. Then, the 2nd I was on 60 mg, and 3/4/5 I was on 80 mg. I weigh 75 kg.

I really do not feel I need to type out the whole thing again so here is my success story (with pictures and my side effects):

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Accutane-...06#entry3018006

By the way, this thread was made about 2 weeks ago. My derm originally had me on a 6 month course but I did so well we stopped at 5 (2/1/11 instead of 3/1/11). I cannot recommend Claravis enough! My skin is now baby smooth and I will be starting a topical retinoid soon to maintain my results.

EDIT: I also should mention I only payed $10 every month for it. With my insurance it was an amazing deal.

I'm a 30 yr old female and I had pretty severe cystic acne when I was a teen -- I'm talking full on cysts that sometimes turned to blisters all around my face. I had people stare at me in public...it was AWFUL. After trying every anti-biotic/topical combination known to man, I took a 6 month course of Accutane in 1997 (IIRC it was 80mg/day). I was not on BC at the time.

I don't remember any side effects other than dry skin/lips and slightly elevated triglycerides. When I stopped the medication they went away along with the acne. I was perfectly healthy then and still continue to be now. I certainly thank my lucky stars every day for that.

Since taking Accutane I do get the occasional pimple/breakout, but they are very small and mild and only happen when I am stressed out. So, for the most part I have remained clear

My personal experience with Accutane was very positive. It not only gave me my life back, but also gave me a life. I would like to thank God/Allah/Buddha/Zeus/FSM for this drug.

I was surprised and humbled by some of the posts on the negative thread. I do hope anyone suffering from severe acne at least considers Accutane as a treatment but be aware that YMMV.

I'm a 30 yr old female and I had pretty severe cystic acne when I was a teen. After trying every anti-biotic/topical combination known to man, I took a 6 month course of Accutane in 1997 (IIRC it was 80mg/day). I was not on BC at the time.

 

I don't remember any side effects other than dry skin/lips and slightly elevated triglycerides. When I stopped the medication they went away along with the acne. I was perfectly healthy then and still continue to be now. I certainly thank my lucky stars every day for that.

 

Since taking Accutane I do get the occasional pimple/breakout, but they are very mild and only happen when I am stressed out (like now that I am working full time as an engineer and doing an engineering grad school program my stress levels are off the charts at times! -- I'm breaking out a bit more than usual, which is why I'm lurking on these forums right now for some tips. I saw this Accutane forum and thought I'd add my experience with it).

 

My personal experience with Accutane was very positive and I was surprised and humbled by some of the posts on the negative thread. I do hope anyone suffering from severe acne at least considers Accutane as a treatment but be aware that YMMV.

I have almost EXACTLY the same symptoms as you. I had awful acne when I was younger, went on roacutane and it was a wonder drug. I remember it gave me red skin and dry mouth/lips and stuff but the acne cleared completely and it was clear for years. I'm now 33 and for the past year my acne has started to come back. I tried topical treatment but it didn't do much, I tried it with antibiotics and it cleared up a bit but when I stopped taking them it came back. It's mostly on my jawline, face and neck with a couple on my back and shoulders.

I've got a doctors appointment today so I'll chat with him and see what he says about me going back on Roaccutane.

So it's roughly about 5 1/2 months since Ive finished my course, and I have to say everything has been great I havent had a pimple since around this time last year (although I get one every now and then but I dont even count it as a pimple since theyre very small and are gone within 2 days but only get them when im stressed out ). My life has completely turned around for the best thanks to accutane, this medicine works. I was blessed not to have the severe side effects I had always heard about.

Here's my experience:

I'm 24, and my acne really started flaring up around the age of 15. Oil production went into overload to say the least. I can definitely tell it's genetic. I tried everything in my teens, including every over the counter wash and creme you could think of, prescription washes and cremes, Proactiv, Retin-A, oral antibiotics, the old "Tylenol" remedy, changing my diet, etc etc.

Finally, around the age of 19, I heard about Accutane and gave it a go. Holy crap, it was like I discovered the Fountain of Youth for zits. Oil went away, zits dried up, it was perfect. With that said, I never completed a full on course. I would take enough to where my skin would get dry and the zits would be gone, and then I would stop taking them. I just couldn't stand the raw face and lips. So by rationing them I got all the benefits with little bad side effect. The most I need to take is one 20 mg pill, maybe twice a month in the winter, once a week in the summer. It's pretty much just a maintenance dose.

I've heard that low dose regimens are common in Europe, but it's hard to find a lot of information about them. I never even brought it up to my derm because I know how skiddish they are about Tane. My acne is by no means severe, but my forehead without Tane is constantly bumpy, and sometimes there are whiteheads. It's more annoying than anything. I just don't feel that I can be taken seriously as an adult with acne on my face. I know this isn't probably the best long term solution, so I'm looking at ordering a Tanda blue light system off Ebay. If that doesn't work, I always have Tane .

It is very refreshing yet overwhelming to finally have my life back. I took my last dose of Accutane today, and I have never felt better. I am so looking forward to just living again. I am happy to finally be able to walk around without makeup without constantly scrutinizing every last fiber of my skin. I went without makeup today and my aunt complimented me on my complexion and how clear I looked. I have my 'before' pictures saved to my phone. I look at them from time to time to remind me of how far I've come and the personal endeavors that I have experienced. The decision to go on Accutane gives me a new perspective on life. I am ready to enjoy and embrace everything that comes my way without having to worry about makeup rubbing off, or a spot showing through the makeup, or uneven foundation that looks streaky. I stopped wearing foundation several months ago. Accutane was excruciating. The dry flaky face, peeling lips, and painfully cracked hands were nothing compared to the emotional turmoil that I would experience on a daily basis. I will always be my own worst critic and finally that paranoia has been quelled because of what this drug has done for me. If you have any doubts, please just put those aside and go on Accutane. To think that my skin will never be back to the way it was is extremely reassuring. I have a handful of red marks that I need to treat and it will take about 2-3 months to fully fade them, with the help of a retinoid, of course. My makeup routine only takes about 5-10 minutes to complete now. Before, it used to take me an hour and a half and I would still be unsatisfied with my appearance. I do not know how much more I can say, but I do plan on creating a log of some sort on acne.org after I have fully finished clearing my face up with Retin-A. If anyone reading this has any questions regarding Accutane, please send them my way!

It is very refreshing yet overwhelming to finally have my life back. I took my last dose of Accutane today, and I have never felt better. I am so looking forward to just living again. I am happy to finally be able to walk around without makeup without constantly scrutinizing every last fiber of my skin. I went without makeup today and my aunt complimented me on my complexion and how clear I looked. I have my 'before' pictures saved to my phone. I look at them from time to time to remind me of how far I've come and the personal endeavors that I have experienced. The decision to go on Accutane gives me a new perspective on life. I am ready to enjoy and embrace everything that comes my way without having to worry about makeup rubbing off, or a spot showing through the makeup, or uneven foundation that looks streaky. I stopped wearing foundation several months ago. Accutane was excruciating. The dry flaky face, peeling lips, and painfully cracked hands were nothing compared to the emotional turmoil that I would experience on a daily basis. I will always be my own worst critic and finally that paranoia has been quelled because of what this drug has done for me. If you have any doubts, please just put those aside and go on Accutane. To think that my skin will never be back to the way it was is extremely reassuring. I have a handful of red marks that I need to treat and it will take about 2-3 months to fully fade them, with the help of a retinoid, of course. My makeup routine only takes about 5-10 minutes to complete now. Before, it used to take me an hour and a half and I would still be unsatisfied with my appearance. I do not know how much more I can say, but I do plan on creating a log of some sort on acne.org after I have fully finished clearing my face up with Retin-A. If anyone reading this has any questions regarding Accutane, please send them my way!

its good to hear and ecouraging that its worked so well for every1

anyway i was wondering, is taking 10mg per day the same as taking 20mg every other day? they have the same side effects and results and everything?

please i need a qucik reply if possible!

I've been on accutane for less than three months and the results have been wonderful. I've had my friends, who didn't know I was on anything for my skin, tell me how great my complexion had become. I mean, my mother and my girlfriend had been saying it looked good but I assumed it was only because they were expecting it to because they knew I was on roaccutane. But to have people who had no idea notice felt so good.

I had it really bad on my back (and chest), too, and even as I was promised good results from these pills I had my doubts my back would ever look this good. But the scars are the only bad memories of the bacne - I'm so happy right now. I can actually swim my shirt off now, and get a tan, and not have to worry if my shirt's collar exposes too much chest.

The best thing is I'm only halfway through the expected course of the pills and it's already working well - I assumed it would take six or so months to start working but it's already so amazingly good. I feel good about myself for the first time in two years.

I used to be a regular visitor to this site, which i found helped me greatly during my time with acne. I promised myself that I would post on this particular topic once I got cleared and here I am.

I completed my accutane course about one month ago in March after having started in September. The first 2-3 months were truly awful and the drug pretty much set me back for the whole time, with my main problems being fatigue, facial redness and regular breakouts all over my forehead, cheeks, jawline and neck. Around day 80-90 it became apparent that breakouts had been slowly receeding and the healing process had begun. Thankfully this continued all the way until the end of my course around day 190 where I was fully clear aside from some red marks that are still fading but barely noticeable.

Now looking at my skin it really is an enormous achievement. Looking into a mirror with harsh lighting was an absolute no no for years and years (since I was 15, i'm 19 now). However, I can do it today and honestly admire my complexion. Life is far from perfect. Please don't believe that accutane will destroy your troubles and insecurities, it will not. What I can firmly say however, is that there is no better feeling than to be able to get on with life without having the weight of acne on my shoulders. Accutane is your decision but remember for all the hardship there almost always is a positive outcome in the end as i found out.

Best of Luck to all!

Hi all,

I used to browse these forums for inspiration and feel i owemy story to my fellow 'acne family'.

I suffered acne since i was about 13 or 14. I didn't drink much water and didnt look after my skin much. I was never teased even though at times it was quite severe. I saw people around me taking something that really dried their skin. I did nothing for a long time. When i was 16 it went away and then came back every once in a while. During uni i had moderate uni and then when i started working full time while studying full time it returned (due to stress). I used proactive which was pretty good.

Sometimes my skin would be pretty clear and i would get complacent with proactive. I was working a very stressful job and used to take ecstacy once a month. Sometimes quite a few. There was one time when i worked from 8am until 10pm then ent out to party and stayed up until midnight the next night. That triggered a massive outbreak. i would say half of my forehead has terrible cyctic acne and i had maybe 15 pimples on my face (other than forehead).

It took me about 3 months of 2 times a day proactive until it finally calmed down and got back to normal. Just a few pimples maybe 5 noticable ones.

Ended up going back o uni (no job) and started going to the gym and had a very very easy 5 months. Used a lot of proactive and my skin was almost perfect. i was very happy and my skin was great. I then had a very stressful end of semester and then again mixed that with lack of sleep + ecstacy and cocaine (first time) and had also changed to some crappy thing called clear pores. TERRIBLE OUTBREAK. it ruined my life for about 9 months. 50% of my face and top half of neck and some chest back etc covered in cyctic acne. I ate only veggies and water for like a month. washed my face every day day. I even tried a diet where i only ate apples for 3 days. 1 month after the outbreak I was on accutane which had almost immediate effect. OIt may have been the whole month of veggies and water and complete cleanliness. But my acne got better. I wont be descriptive on my accutane time. But i started on 10mg and erithromicin or something 2 in the morning 2 at night i think it was.. i was put through accutane VERY VERY slowly in case of a bad outbreak. by the end i was only on 60mg. i weight about 70kg.

i am completely cured. i have the odd 3-4 small pimples but really who cares..... the only thing i have noticed now is that i blush - flush??? when i play sports my face goes very red. when i am embarrased my face goes red or angry. sux but whatever, u cant have it all. Anyone got any ideas how to get rid of that please message me.

I have taken ecstacy once in the last 2.5 years and hated it. i have the odd beer now. am quite grown up from that stuff and dont really recommend it. i think i put my body on lots of stress and somewhat maybe because nobody bugged me about my acne, most of the time i was just in denail about it.

One thing doctors never said but i observed is cleanliness is very important. oily hair on face. dirty iphone on face. jewelry, pillow covers GIVE U ACNE. doctors just say acne is hormonal, comes from within but CLEANLINESS DOES HELP. i barely wash my face and can sleep with my face on a dirty floor with little effects. but accutane was great.

anyone that wants advice or more details pls message me. acne sux and nobody deserves it. I am 25 and have finally beaten it. been clear for a whole year. I have lots of opinions and knowledge i believe now. my confidence has been forever scarred. and i stay home a lot more than i used to. 4 months of terrible cycstic acne did this to me.

anyway, poorly structured, probably missed a lot but wanted to share that. Good luck everyone I really wish everyone could be acne free.

Hi everyone on the accutane journey...hope all is well.

Some of you may know me from my log that started around september as noto214 or by my first name Jay. I had been posting a log since about September-ish during my accutane journey myself. Sadly my account got screwed up and I can't log back into it.

So I made this to tell my accutane experience briefly, and where I stand now.

So in total I was on Accutane for about 6 1/2 months. My cycle went something like this.

Month 1- 40mg per day

Month 2- 80mg one day, 40mg the next

Month 3- 80mg one day 40mg the next

Month 4- 80 mg one day, 40mg the next

Month 5- 80mg one day, 40mg the next

Month 6- 40 mg per day

After month 1 everything started getting drastically better, and by month 3-4 I was more or less getting maybe one new pimple every week if that.

By month 6 I was barely getting any pimples besides razor bumps from shaving, but my face was otherwise completely clear. Same as my body, after about month 4 my body was 100% clear for the most part.

And now...

1 MONTH POST TANE

I can honestly say that as of now, accutane was the best decision i ever made regaurding my skin. Now that the oilyness of my skin has returned, I am getting some small breakouts...but when I mean small I mean SMALL.

And the thing is, I used to get a new cyst every week, so now the breakouts I get are not even poppable pimples for the most part, their just small red bumps. Every now and then I'll get a decent sized one, but their NOTHING like the were before.

While accutane DID NOT cure me...it deffinately made a HUGE improvement on my self esteem, and overall happy-ness with how well it worked. For now, I can deal with these minor breakouts, and I hope my skin stays this good. The small pimples here and there don't bother me at all, its when I had a bunch of acne, and some were very large, that I was in very bad spirits.

Also, I'm in the gym lifting weights 5 days a week and I'm a male, so my doctor says that this may be the cause of me still getting minor acne. Every time you lift weights you naturally boost your testosterone levels, so this could very well be the cause of my small breakouts.

If need be, and my acne gets out of control once more, I'll most likely hop on the tane for round 2 and try and kill it completely once and for all. But lets hope these awesome results stay for as long as they can!

Another thing, even almost a month post tane, my skin is still extremely sensitive to sun. Yesterday the sun was out and hot for the first time in months, and today I have some decent sunburn all over my face and I was outside for no more then 2 hours, so be careful everyone.

I wish all of you good luck on your journey, and remember to keep your heads up through the bad times, because it does get better. I was just as skeptical at first...but with time comes good things. Lets hope my results stay! Wish me luck

If anyone needs help, or any questions at all I'm here to help...shoot me a message!

I used to surf this board about 8 or so years ago. My daughter had pretty significant acne. Not cystic, but lots of pimples.

She took accutane in her freshman year of highschool, and it seemed to take forever. Her face was red all the time, and the pimples were worse than ever. Finally, about 4-5 months later she looked fantastic. Her skin looked perfect.

Then, about a year later, it came back, and she went on a second course. Same thing, redness, she looked bad, then after it was over she looked great.

She still looks great, and it has been about 6 years since she went off accutane.

Well i haven't been on the boards in a while since I haven't really needed to. I started my first round of Accutane in July of last year and have been off of it for 4. I felt like coming back and sharing my view of Accutane because I just watched an episode of "True Life: I Have Acne" where ALL of the people on it considered Accutane, but none of them ended up taking it, and I truly felt sorry for them! (silly I know). Accutane has given me my confidence back, although it has only been 4 months I really think I would have realized by now if I need a relapse treatment. The ONE thing I would complain about is of course the common, dry lips, dry skin, nose bleeds (BAD NOSE BLEEDS) but I also have been getting styes a lot lately. I never have good sleeping habits so maybe that is the cause, but they never really started until I finished Accutane.

if your thinking about accutane, please, do it. i tried a lot of stuff beforehand, and it is the only thing which has worked. i have been off of it for a couple months now, and although i still have scaring, the zits are at a minimum. in terms of side effects, i had a sore back for a couple months, and the dry lips, however it is completely worth it. t feels like yesterday that i was reading this forum, contemplating starting on the medication. time has flown by and it has worked wonderfully! (knock on wood)

Hi, I want to post my POSITIVE experience with Accutane, because I feel the internet and message boards give a very skewed image of Accutane, since usually only the people with bad experiences go on the internet to complain, and the people with positive stories tend to forget to report about their experience (like myself....). For people starting out on accutane reading all those bad stories can be very scary, it sure was for me many years ago!

So. I'll try to keep this 'short', although my acne story is a long one.

Basically I had had acne for about 5 years before I went on accutane. I had tried every topical treatment out there, as well as several birth control pills, natural treatment and vitamins and several antibiotics (I think I went through about 7 courses of antibiotics, each at least 3 months long, which wreaks havoc on your immune system).

As you can imagine I was at my wit's end and very down about my skin. I never had severe acne, just mild to moderate, but it was bad enough to get me very sad about it and my self confidence was very low. I even remember skipping classes at college because I couldn't bear to have my face seen in public.

Any way, my derm finally put me on accutane. I honestly do not remember my dosage. I think it was 60mg the first time (if anyone wants to know, I posted here a lot so if you go through my posts I'm sure you'll find exact dosages and length of treatment...). I was on accutane for several months and had my blood check once a month. I never had problems, the side effects were really not that bad. I could see improvement in the 3rd month and after that it improved fast. My skin was completely clear after a couple of months and my treatment ended.

After a year off accutane unfortunately my acne came back. It was very mild, but I did go on another course of accutane (at a lower dose). Again, no bad side effects. Skin got dry, but never scary peeling or anything. I just moisturized well and used a lot of lipbalm.

After my 2nd course my skin was completely clear again and it has been ever since. A year or 2 ago I still got a tiny zit every once in a while (usually from messing with new products or picking a tiny blackhead or something...stupid me). Now i never get pimples any more (knock on wood!).

I went on accutane for the first time when I was 19. I"m now almost 24 and am so happy that I have nice skin now. Accutane has been truly amazing for me and I'm very thankful this treatment exists. I now have a very simple, gently skin routine. I still am very scared of getting clogged pores, so I don't put oily things or rich creams on my skin. I just use a gentle cleanser from L'Occitane, some mineral powder make-up from Vichy and at night I occasionally use Diacneal (it helps keep my skin smooth and is nice for blackheads. Just keeps my pores clean).

i was lucky to get minimal scarring. I do have some very large pores (kind of look like holes) on my cheeks (where my acne was always worst). It's really minor though, so I don't mind it too much.

Just wanted to share my story and I hope you will all have a great experience with Accutane as well! I know how terrible acne can make you feel, so I hope you can all have nice normal skin one day.

Good luck!

Sara

i'm so glad that this is here, since i really needed this and wanted to know all of the positive experiences that other people have had before starting my accutane course.

all i can say is that accutane is amazing. before starting it, i had severe acne which included cysts and had an extremely oily face. it lowered my confidence and self esteem and i could never look at people directly in the eyes. i had acne for about 5 years (im 15 years old now) and it just seemed to get worse over the years. finally, i went to go see a derm and he put me on accutane.

i started with 40mg a day and 2 weeks later, i boosted it up to 80mg a day. i read all about the break out that suppose to happen and i was expecting the worst. but i was surprised because it wasnt that bad at all! i only got 2 or 3 new pimples and it wasnt even that bad. what i looooved was that my face was starting to get less and less oily and my face felt much better.

i am now done my course of accutane and i couldnt be more happy with the results

im completley clear and i love my skin now. it was definitly worth it and i STRONGLY recommend it to anyone out there who wants to take it

Well folks,

Where do I begin? LOL. Almost 39 years old and feel like I've lived a lifetime in dealing with skin issues. To give a quick rundown, acne started immediately at 13, things were fine until 19 and 20. I took topicals and antibiotics throughout my entire 20's until 28 and getting bad and painful cysts throughout the entire time. I had never heard of accutane (this was mostly pre-internet) I finally began hearing about it on-line.

So, I stopped all treatment in late 1999 and made and appt with a new derm. In January of 2000 I walked into his office with the face from hell and a list of everyting I had done already. He is very pro-accutane and put me on it. In 2000, keep in mind that all these bowel stories and depression stories weren't even being mentioned. Only the damage to unborn fetuses was the big "issue" with the drug at that time.

Anyhow, I started at 40 mg a day for two weeks and then 80 mg a day from then on until June when he had me doing a phasing down regimen. July 4th, 2000 was my last pill. It was like a miracle to me, the dryness was amazing to behold for me. Side effects was hair loss in the 5th month(didn't bother me, I have thick hair) some rectal itching(don't laugh) and flushing issues. No question that the severity of the acne was permanently reduced even though I began getting some breakouts and the oil came back. (I went back on the usual topicals and antibiotics)

I also started growing sebaceous hyperplasia. These are little flesh colored bumps that are oil glands that literally grow out of your skin. I probably got about a dozen of them. In 2002 I had them cauterized, a few went away, a few came back but smaller. So I just let that go. The flushing did aggravate me and in 2003 I had laser surgery for that(for those who think you are stuck with it, you are not. The laser helps) I had two laser treatments and it helped a lot. So time passed....

2004-I start getting the large spots again and I was like (oh hell no!!) I go back to derm, but this time I requested only half the dose. (40 mg) so I had a successful treatment from May 2004 to November 2004. This time not as bad with flushing, plus I really treated myself better than before. I didn't use much lotion for example in 2000, because I was so mentally conditioned to be anti-moisture. This time I used a lotion with collagen in it to moisturize and keep the skin strong. The flushing once the treatment over wasn't as bad though i still had some facial redness. I had mild anal itching on the 40 mg course but not bad. (I did eventually go to a gastrologist(sp?) for some cream to put down there since I had developed a small hemmoroid. Used cream and it was fine. btw folks, the key to the flushing episodes, put something cold on each cheek for a minute or so. It will stop it completely.

2005-I decided to do a couple more laser treatments for the redness. Helped a little and I have been fine with it since then. Only mild occasional flush spells. Acne wasn't cured, but improved to a "chronic, stubborn, moderate condition." back on topicals and antibiotics.

2011- Well, here I am folks and guess what? frustrated with this face full of oil, antibiotics that don't seem to work anymore. (17 of 20 years now on antibiotics-think about that!!!!) I went to a new Derm last week and here I am on my 4th pill of Accutane. (my 3rd course) and you know what's odd?? I've taken the stuff twice with no severe problem, but yet I find myself a little scared and nervous this time...Maybe it's all the controversy that has developed with this drug, the lawyer commercials, the bowel issues you keep hearing about. But what the hell do I do? I'm almost 40 in another year and I cannot live on these damn antibiotics forever.

Bottom line-if this 3rd course of Accutane(well Claravis but same thing) can just put my condition to a mild condition that can be controlled with topical medications like benzaclin and retin a micro then I will be one happy man.. That's all I ask.

It's been a long journey, so many doctors, so much $$$, so much patience, frustration. I'm starting yet another and I just pray it's the last and that it's successful in how I need it to be.

Look forward to talking with you all,

This is supposed to be positive, despite how negative it may sound. I'm 16 and started accutane early 2011. 6 months of 80mg a day was like being sick for 6 months, for me. I experienced lots of joint pain, nose bleeds, bleeding lips, dry eyes, dry everything, mild depression, etc. My acne cleared up so nicely though, even though I looked like a methamphetamine addict for half the school year. I actually still have a few weeks to go, but I can conclude that accutane worked really well. I just really hope the side effects don't stick around after I'm done.

did my 1st accitane course last year. it worked. i relapsed december 2010. started 2nd course 10th feb, finnish in 2 months time. i was on 80mg - 60 mg - 40mg, i am on 40mg for anothwer 2 months. i weigh 74kg's however I did weight 79kgs when I started. I have had manyyyyyyyyyyyyyy badd side effects, depression, rashes, NIGHTMARES EVERY NIGHT, serious depression, i also have felt very dizzy and spaced out like I am taking drugs or like I am stoned.

overall, my skin is now clear however dry, but dryness is good as it means no spots..... so it's gooood but like I feel pretty slow and shit, cause I'm like on a 5 tablets today yeaaaa, not very nice :/