Hi. I am new to this forum, but a veteran it seems in dealing with my good old buddy, Acne. I am 23 now, and thankful not to have severe acne, its just localised in two areas of my face really lol.

I'll briefly share my story, so when I was 15, spots appeared on my cheeks and forehead. They would subside and I could get rid of them if I stopped thinking about them. Then as I went to College (not University, UK's meaning of College is like education before University), that's when the acne problems really started. The spots on my cheeks wouldn't budge. Started to get more worried about it, went to the GP, tried Duac cream, Adapaline, some of those disgusting other tablets that just hurt my stomach - ALL TO NO AVAIL. In fact, it was the Adapaline that scarred my cheeks, as I used to feel it burn into my skin when I applied it. Stupidly I continued to use it for a good 6 months or so...Anyway. Went back to the GP and he said he's got only one more option. And it was the big A. Or the big R in UK. Roaccutane. The so called "wonder-pill". It was my last resort, I tried everything else so I thought I needed to get acne out of my life whilst I still have my youth and I will be so much more confident in my later life. So I was referred to a Dermatologist. Started the treatment on March this year, side effects were the usual through the first course; dry skin, chapped lips, moodswings etc. Then into halfway through the second course in June that's when things got weird for me. My appetite was just gone. I started feeling bloated. Nauseaous, overly tired. So the month of fasting was coming up for me and I tried to keep taking my tablets whilst not being able to eat or drink anything all day. That didn't work out for me and I started getting ill because of it. So I made the conscience decision to stop taking my tablets.

And now here we are, present day. Roughly I have a had a break from the pills for about 2 weeks (maybe less). I have 198 tablets left before I will be happy to finish the treatment. I take 2 daily after my lunch, at 20 mg each due to my weight (I used to take 3 but as I lost a lot of weight this has been reduced). I'm hoping if I can just grin and bear the side effects (and boy are there side effects!) for another 3 months and 2 weeks....I can go to the Derm for the third and final meeting and get the "all clear" as it were to come off them for good. Despite the side effects, those initial three months when I was on it my face had never been SO CLEAR. It was a tough decision having the break from the pills, as I wanted to fast but I knew my face would start to break out again (which it has a little).

So to conclude, I am just on here to share my journey as I try and complete the last period of my treatment. I have to meet the Derm at the end of August, where it will be assumed that I can come off the pills then, but of course that isn't the case as I will still have many tablets to run through. As well as this, my dosage has been reduced from my starting point, so obviously it will take much longer. But all in all, I think I will still be within that 6-8 months duration.

I am hoping to be done by the 1st November this year. Wish me luck people. Also, it would be good to know if anyone else on the treatment is suffering from a bloated stomach, gas, constipated diarrhea (it is a term, look it up lol) , and the inability to "feel like eating". As that's what I'm going through right now and it sucks.

196 tablets to go and counting...