I recently (about two weeks ago) started accutane and it has literally changed my life already. I can't comment on the long term side-effects but it has fairly instantaneously cleared my skin of acne. I've had fairly severe cystic acne for 8 years now and have been through more antibiotic regimens and topicals than I can remember, none of which had any positive effect. I was recently put on 30mg twice a day of isotretinoin, and though I've had many of the common side effects such as dry and itchy skin and scalp, chapped lips, and dry eyes, none of the side effects are intolerable, and I haven't experienced any of the less common side effects such as joint pain and hair loss. I have not gotten any new cystic acne or whiteheads since beginning accutane and all existing acne fairly quickly regressed. For the first time since I can remember I feel comfortable leaving my house without make up on and confident about my skin. I would seriously recommend accutane to anyone considering it who feels like no other treatments are working. The side effects are well worth it in my opinion. Good luck!

All medications have side effects, antibiotcs, The Pill ect. Its something you have to weigh up. Do your own research and make the decision that YOU are comfortable with. With reaccuring acne, there is something not right internally, if you can rule out other causes, then why not give roaccutane a go?

Best of luck

It really is a toss up for me

Im 2 weeks off tane and still am not sure if it was a good or bad decision

Check out starting tane thread on this page and u can follow the journey many of us have taken

I think we could all agree the ride was tougher than we expected and many of us had to alter our definition of what we expected post tane

I had mild but persistant adult acne

after 4 yrs of trying everything i decided to try tane

I had a bad IB a mnth after starting tane and never really stopped breaking out the entire time (small red bumps etc)Im

2 weeks post tane and am still having the same problem

I dont know if it didnt work or the bumps are due to irritation or dryness

I havent had a MOTHER breakout in mnth so I guess that is a good thing and i dont have blackheads anymore

My skin isnt an oil slick

BUT I have major redness and if i do anything like work out or exert myself (and heat)

I become VERY red and even get little red bumps

could be rosacea or dermatitis

Im def not one of the people yelling from the rafters tane was the best decision i ever made

any questionsLMK

Kim

I took accutane back in 2001. My skin became flawless. I would have strangers approach me out of the blue, to complement how amazing my skin looked. Fast forward to 2015 and I'm still experiencing side effects. Accutane changed me for the worse. Sad part is, my acne wasn't all that severe. My real problem was oily skin. At the time, I also drank a lot of milk and ate refined carbs so I believe simple dietary modifications would have been enough.

This is my point. Once you control all possible dietary and lifestyle factors that can cause acne and it still hasn't resolved, then you can start to consider nuking it with something like Accutane. However, if I was given the option to do it over again, I would never take accutane.

How bad is your acne? If it is really severe then it might be an option. Otherwise please don't do it. I stupidly decided to go on low-dose Accutane treatment 3 years ago even though I never had inflamed acne, just very oily skin and tons of blackheads. I did not even finish the whole course, but now I am suffering from severe depression which will probably stay with me for the rest of my life.

Heck yeah its worth it. I went on Accutane 8 years ago and had no acne for the last 7. I shouldnt have read all the negatives about accutane and went on it sooner. I was scared as crap going on it, but I was getting scars and more scared about that. Dry skin and irritable bowel were the side effects that lasted for a few yrs after tane. I only washed my face with water and used Aveeno shower wash on my chest, underarms and junk for several years. Even then I put Aveeno moisturizer on my whole body and got face moisturizer. I didnt actually have diarrhea most of the time, but I did get to feeling like it a lot. I changed my diet around to cater to this and knocked that problem completely out.

If your scarring or your acne and oil r really bad then dont wait.

Hey guys!

I'm on my third week of accutane on 40 mg daily. I have moderate but persistent acne, and I've been experiencing dry lips and just strated getting chicken skin. Is that normal? If so, when will it fade? Will it ever fade? It bothers me a lot..

I'm worried if I've made the right or wrong decision, because I surely don't want to face serious side effects in the future. I don't want to ruin my body because of some acne. What do you guys think I should do?

I agree with whomever said that you should try to make dietary/lifestyle changes and if that still doesn't work then do accutane. You should also realize that the people on this board are disproportionately going to be people who have had trouble with accutane (it not working, side effects, etcs.) because the people who aren't having trouble don't need the forum.

I refused to do accutane for years because I was scared from things I read on the internet and I would give anything to have the last 5 years of awful skin back. I'm into the last month of my accutane treatment and am ecstatic about having done it. My skin is clear for the first time in the last ten years and it is amazing. I can go out without makeup on!

I think trying to be very careful with my hair/body and with following my doctor's instructions have been important to making sure it is a less painful and effective process (no alcohol, dilligently applying lotion/lip balm, conditioning my hair well with only a light shampoo, eating healthy, only light exercise at most, lots of sleep and water, taking doses on time everyday, etc.)

Its funny how we have to spend thousands of dollars and hours on forums researching and finding cures for something as simple as a fkin pimple. Human evolution my asshole, nature fucking sucks. Anyways, starting my treatment today. Hope I dont fkin bleed or get depressed

cause then ill actually go kill myself. Thanks