Hey guys,

I've only come on to this Forum just to share my experience, I think it will be good for me to put it out there. Since 2010 I have suffered with bad acne, and I have been to the doctors and been given many different creams, lotions, gels and tablets. You name it, I've probably had it. Unfortunately, here in the UK a doctor can only prescribe upto a certain level of strength in tablets and creams. If nothing the doctor has prescribed has worked, they will then refer you to a dermatologist who is obviously allowed to prescribe Accutane.

My case wasn't even questioned, it was clear that I needed the treatment of Accutane, at the full dosage for the longest time possible or until it had cleared. Once I had started the treatment, like many tablets, it took a while to kick in and I was losing hope after a week or two of no effects. All I did was keep reminding myself that this is the strongest tablet they have for acne, so it will work in the end. My patience paid off! After taking the treatment for around 8 months I think, my skin had cleared miraculously!

So yes, in the end I got the result I wanted. Was it pleasant? No. I'm not going to tell you it's a miracle drug that you will sail through the treatment fine and dandy until your skin clears. You kind of have to show your strength before you get the results.

Lets deal with one thing at a time. The first effects you will start to see if probably your skin will start to dry out. This is simple to cure, just use moisturizer every morning and it should last the day and keep your skin smooth. Yes it's a bit more effort than usual, but if you already moisturize it's a bonus! Secondly, I started to get very dry lips. It seems to just happen gradually, you start biting them because they're dry, but you think they are peeling because you're biting them! It's a bit of both to be honest, but this can be solved with some lip moisturizer, but this doesn't completely work! They take some time to get under control, and I never managed to ever get my lips smooth again until I stopped the treatment. I had nose bleeds every now and again, maybe once every 2 weeks or something, but I think this was due to the skin drying out and causing my nose to bleed quite easily. This is just something you let bleed, and when it's finished you carry on with your everyday life.

Finally, this is the one that effects you the most and probably the most unpleasant one. Before I started the treatment I was happy probably 95% of the time, always laughing and having a joke with mates, had ambitions in life and looked forward to what the future would bring. When I was on these tablets I just didn't bother with anything. I stopped giving interest in my education, stopped going to college as frequent as usual, stopped making the effort to see friends, didn't even look forward to what the future would bring and just lost my desire for my ambition all together. Yes, this was due to the tablets and it is stated on the information leaflet but I'm not going to lie and say that I was fine for the whole treatment. They do say it could possibly lead to suicide, and yes, I did on a number of occasions contemplate it, but I just had to remind myself that it was the tablets making me think that, not my actual self.

So, beside the side effects, the tablets did what they are meant to. Yes, my skin has cleared everywhere, but I still have a bit of a bad complexion. This is because I picked my acne, causing scared and red marks on my face! But it isn't really really noticeable and doesn't knock my confidence as much as my acne did. Yes I still feel people look at my scars when they are close to me, especially young children who don't really understand, but it's much easier to handle than having acne.

To deal with the scars I am currently doing 3 month treatment with BioOil, and up to now I am seeing small differences and I have been using it for a month. The picture below was taken after I finished treatment but before I started using BioOil. I will update with another picture once my 3 months of treatment with that is done.

Hope this story is useful for you, feel free to ask questions and good luck for anyone else on the treatment!