I'm not sure if your breakout is normal or not because I can't see it, but it is normal to have a crazy breakout during the first or second month of treatment. It is your body purging. And most people get it around their chin/jaw area.

Well I'm Joe, I'm new here. I've had acne since well forever I guess. It's pretty bad I have acne all over my face blackheads whiteheads and a weird just bumpy texture that's skin colored. I've tried literally every treatment known to man perscription or not. Well recently I noticed accutane which here is called roaccutane is available. So I went to a doctor got bloodwork done and was started on 20mg per day, before I started this I was on doxycycline then clindamycin and well it was working ok except for the bumpy texture stuff and the blackheads behind my ears. I'm now on day 3 and my face has gotten rediculous like bad painful puss filled swollen red acne on me cheeks and jaw line. My skin is oily yet and I can feel many more pimples on their way.. I work private security on an army post here in Kuwait and I have to interact alot with people,, this is horrible.. I dunno if this is normal or if I'm on the right path but I could use some insight, the doctors here do not speak good English so it's hard to communicate with them. Should I be on a higher dose? Is this all going right? What can I do to reduce swelling and these breakouts altogether? any info would be appreciated thanks yall!!

I'd be careful- either it's the initial breakout (should end by the end of the second week) or you are having some sort of reaction to the drug (although that is unlikely). If I were you I'd keep going for another 2 weeks and see if it improves; if the symptoms get drastically worse (they are likely to get a bit worse and then plateau) or if you're getting other unexpected side effects I'd stop the treatment. As I said though it's more likely than not the initial breakout.

Hopefully you wont take this the wrong way, but from your description it sounds as if your acne is pretty severe. I'd of thought (all of what I said is based on opinion not fact! ) the initial breakout would be worse with more severe acne. Also 20mg is a relatively low dose; ROUGHLY you should be on your weight in kg= dosage in mg; (IE if you weigh 60kg, you can take 60mg a day) although this is dependant on the severity of your acne and your toleration of the side effects.

SO yeah if I were you, keep taking them for another 2 weeks see how it goes. If the side effects aren't too bad go to your derm and increase your dose to 40mg, then 60 or whatever he thinks is best

You'll find plenty more info and experiences on the boards, and you'll probably get a tonne of better answers too

Hey joe, im kuwaiti and i live in kuwait too. dont worry i got an initial breakout in the last week of my 1st month but now its gone plus i wouldnt recommend u staying out in the sun for too long it made me look REALLY RED so i suggest you use a sunscreen with a minimum SPF 15

Having this sort of breakout when stopping antibiotics and switching to Accutane is common. Getting really oily before drying up is normal, too. It will get better, but this is a slow working drug. Hang in there and definitely keep that spf with you.

Hi Joe, I may not be very much help, but I may have a few suggestions

If you're on base, can a military translator go with you to your appointment? If not, maybe you could ask one to translate something hand-written for you.

You are probably just having an initial breakout, that will go away within a few weeks. If it doesn't, you could see if your doctor thinks you should increase your dosage, based on your weight. My doctor gave me a prescription for an antibiotic called Bactrim to help with the initial breakout. Your doctor may or may not want to do that though.

I had a bad texture to my skin when I started Accutane, and I used a Salicylic acid pad like Stridex for Sensitive Skin once every couple of days. It helped a little bit. Be careful though... Using products like that on Accutane is not recommended.

Best of luck!!

Hey

I know my post is super late. But im moving too Kuwait and I was wondering did you need to see a dermatologist to get a prescription for your accutane or did you go to a gp. Also did you need to get the bloodwork done every month?. And what did it cost more or less?