What dose are you on now?

I am so frustrated with Accutane.....its going to be my 10th week on it...and im still breaking out in cysts and pustules everyday. My face is 4 times worse then before and now I have scarring as well. every morning I wake up and im just so sad cuz there is new shit on my face every time. Just not dealing at all very well with this.

Sankofa, you must persevere. This is how Isotretinoin actually works. It is the same with topical retinoids. Retinoids work by making the acne worse for the first half of the period. All the dermatologists will tell you this. And then, you will start to see the difference as you continue with the course. It is very rare for oral retinoids to simply make the acne worse and then to have no therapeutic effect whatsoever. It always gets worse. And then it will get better. Your doctor should have prepared you psychologically for all this i.e. for it to worsen at first. Persevere. In 6 months time, believe me, you will see the difference. By the way (I hope you don't mind me saying this) from your picture, I think you are a very attractive woman, acne or not.

I am on 60 mg...was doing 40..couldnt handle the 80 it was too strong for me

Please keep going. Honestly you will have your life back soon. I started my course in the July I think it was and I remember having spots In the september but being completely clear by the November! It does take Time and I know how frustrating it is when you read stories of people who's skin only gets better and they don't break out. Have you thought about a short course of antibiotics to help with the breakouts?

I realise it's hard to believe now, but it will work and you will get through this

Xx

Also....A year after my course ended I couldn't see my scars bar 2 or 3 faint ones. They filled in on their own. X

Im on the same boat over here. 40 mg/day since 1st month, heading to my 15th week, 4th month. No signs of improvement, just getting deep cysts all over my face. My skin has never looked so bad. I have been thinking a lot about it and Ive realised that maybe accutane is not the right drug for me. I would pay the toll with all the side effects if my skin got clear, but its a high price to pay for not having any result. I don't think it is normal to still have cysts at this stage. On the top of everything, my crazy derm wants me to do a "peeling" to help dry out these cysts. I mean, are you serious? Any person who has ever had cystic acne knows that "peelings" do NOT work, besides the fact that my skin is dry as hell.....

Anyway, I will keep taking the pills, but I am hopeless.

Any improvements?

Wait--so it made it worse? Are you purging?

Sorry to hear this. I'm planning to go back on it myself and this scares me.

I am finishing Accutane this month and let me tell you, it takes time to work. It took a few months for it to start clearing my cystic acne and now I'm clear. I started purging almost instantly! I've been on Accutane since May of this year. Don't give up! I've seen stories where people don't start clearing up until their last month. We're all here to support you.

Almost 3 and a 1/2 months in (40mg/day) and finally breakouts are becoming less severe. I have spent the whole 3rd month with gigantic cysts in my face, it didn't even look like acne, it was more like... i don't know, just scary, i thought i even became momentarily disfigured because of the cysts. hell plain and simple, thats all.

about a week and a 1/2 ago the cysts started to literally EXPLODE and there wasn't even that yellow pus inside, it was just thick dark blood, disgusting and terrifying. Well, since then the cysts are smaller and not so frequent.

I really hope all of this I have been through was just (JUST? HAHAHA) the IB and that the medication will work for me. Ill keep my fingers crossed. Thanks everyone for the support, I would probably have stopped the medication if it wasn't for you ^^

Unfortunately there's no hope for some people in getting rid of acne.

There's always hope!!