MOD Edit: moved to the prescription acne medications forum. ~ WishClean

U should b on it already if u r scarring. I used it for 5 months years ago. Cleared me up with minimal side effects besides dry skin. I did get ibs after accutane which may or may not have been caused by it. Took 2-3 years to get a better diet with probiotics now 100% over any ibs issues.

Depends. For those of us who've bee on multiple courses then the answer is no. I would encourage you to look into diet changes and such before trying this drug. My skin is so much worse off after all the acne treatments and I still have not found my root cause. I wish I had been more educated when I was your age.

My parents believe the scars are not permanent.. Which they are and basically I eat healthy and hit the gym but I just can't deal with it anymore it really affects my workouts and I live on the lake and can never go on a boat/beach/ or even swim in my own pool now, I took all proteins and gluten and dairy out of my diet and no change so far

And another weird thing is my cheeks have stayed consistently clear through all these years which is weird because most commonly acne is on the cheeks

It sounds like your acne has reduced your quality of life significantly. I have mild, but persistent acne and I'm on my first month of Accutane. For me, I hit the age of 26 and the cystic acne started. I'm just so sick of dealing with my skin constantly creating pimples. I have never had a completely clear face, other than when I was on minocycline, and I wanted to try to get rid of this for good.

My dermatologist's words were something like, "You'll hear a lot of different things about Accutane, but really, the side effects are dry lips, dry skin, nose bleeds."

For me, it was a no brainer. Although I wish I would have come to acne.org sooner. I've learned a lot of things that probably would have helped me. I guess after trying so many otc products, I lost faith in anything reducing my acne and just accepted it.

For you though, it sounds like you're quality of life is drastically reduced by your acne, you clearly have severe acne, and the body regimen would be a huge undertaking due to such a large affected area... I'd go for it. If you have issues on Accutane, you can go off of it at anytime.

In the meantime, browse the acne.org articles. I've learned so much since coming here. Even if you decide to go on Accutane, you want to know the right way to treat your skin after it is clear so you don't end up back where you started.

Good luck!

It sounds like your acne has reduced your quality of life significantly. I have mild, but persistent acne and I'm on my first month of Accutane. For me, I hit the age of 26 and the cystic acne started. I'm just so sick of dealing with my skin constantly creating pimples. I have never had a completely clear face, other than when I was on minocycline, and I wanted to try to get rid of this for good.

My dermatologist's words were something like, "You'll hear a lot of different things about Accutane, but really, the side effects are dry lips, dry skin, nose bleeds."

For me, it was a no brainer. Although I wish I would have come to acne.org sooner. I've learned a lot of things that probably would have helped me. I guess after trying so many otc products, I lost faith in anything reducing my acne and just accepted it.

For you though, it sounds like you're quality of life is drastically reduced by your acne, you clearly have severe acne, and the body regimen would be a huge undertaking due to such a large affected area... I'd go for it. If you have issues on Accutane, you can go off of it at anytime.

In the meantime, browse the acne.org articles. I've learned so much since coming here. Even if you decide to go on Accutane, you want to know the right way to treat your skin after it is clear so you don't end up back where you started.

Good luck!

thank you helped a lot, did you have an IB? And I only get like 2-3 pimples on my back now from using head and shoulders on my body wish I would've don't it 3 years ago

I'm 16 and I was literally in your position a month ago. I had changed my diet to better my acne and my health that I even lost 80 pounds over the course of half a year yet my face progressively got worse. I tried countless antibiotics, every appointment increasing the dose, or switching to an even stronger antibiotic. I went through all those super harsh burning BP creams, etc.

Ha, I even went through the psychotic phase with my mom blowing up over me considering taking such a strong medicine and kept saying I was "depressed" (she obviously didn't understand I was sad all the time having to painfully wake up in the morning and looking at yourself in disgust because of how I looked but not because of anything else) and so after a month of persuasion she gave in when my dermatologist was basically "this is his last option".

So far for the month and half I've been on accutane it has changed my life so drastically in such a positive way. Everything is so much smaller and instead of having 5 cysts a week I have like 1 or 2 every week and my oily skin is completely gone. A lot of red marks I had is fading and I've never been so happy and positive in my entire life. I strongly advice that you make the leap of faith and start the medication! Good luck and I hope everything becomes better.

If it works for you with very minimal side effects of coarse it would be worth it. That may not be the case though. It may not work all together or may have side effects, it would be up too you after the coarse if you think it was worth it or not. If you have bad acne which is scarring and have tried other treatments it is a good option

none of us here are doctors but I would personally say go for it if your doctor reccomends it.

 

It sounds like your acne has reduced your quality of life significantly. I have mild, but persistent acne and I'm on my first month of Accutane. For me, I hit the age of 26 and the cystic acne started. I'm just so sick of dealing with my skin constantly creating pimples. I have never had a completely clear face, other than when I was on minocycline, and I wanted to try to get rid of this for good.

My dermatologist's words were something like, "You'll hear a lot of different things about Accutane, but really, the side effects are dry lips, dry skin, nose bleeds."

For me, it was a no brainer. Although I wish I would have come to acne.org sooner. I've learned a lot of things that probably would have helped me. I guess after trying so many otc products, I lost faith in anything reducing my acne and just accepted it.

For you though, it sounds like you're quality of life is drastically reduced by your acne, you clearly have severe acne, and the body regimen would be a huge undertaking due to such a large affected area... I'd go for it. If you have issues on Accutane, you can go off of it at anytime.

In the meantime, browse the acne.org articles. I've learned so much since coming here. Even if you decide to go on Accutane, you want to know the right way to treat your skin after it is clear so you don't end up back where you started.

Good luck!

thank you helped a lot, did you have an IB? And I only get like 2-3 pimples on my back now from using head and shoulders on my body wish I would've don't it 3 years ago

I'm on day 18 now (I think) and my initial breakout is going strong. Haha! In the past week, though, it's changed a bit. I have more pimples, but they're not cystic, and really quite small. I'm learning not to touch my face, so most of the time it isn't even visible.. Not angering my face has been very beneficial! That's one of the things I've learned from this site. I even had a few days where I went out without makeup. *gasp* Anyway, even if the initial breakout was bad, it would be worth it for the payoff in the long run.

 

 

 

It sounds like your acne has reduced your quality of life significantly. I have mild, but persistent acne and I'm on my first month of Accutane. For me, I hit the age of 26 and the cystic acne started. I'm just so sick of dealing with my skin constantly creating pimples. I have never had a completely clear face, other than when I was on minocycline, and I wanted to try to get rid of this for good.

My dermatologist's words were something like, "You'll hear a lot of different things about Accutane, but really, the side effects are dry lips, dry skin, nose bleeds."

For me, it was a no brainer. Although I wish I would have come to acne.org sooner. I've learned a lot of things that probably would have helped me. I guess after trying so many otc products, I lost faith in anything reducing my acne and just accepted it.

For you though, it sounds like you're quality of life is drastically reduced by your acne, you clearly have severe acne, and the body regimen would be a huge undertaking due to such a large affected area... I'd go for it. If you have issues on Accutane, you can go off of it at anytime.

In the meantime, browse the acne.org articles. I've learned so much since coming here. Even if you decide to go on Accutane, you want to know the right way to treat your skin after it is clear so you don't end up back where you started.

Good luck!

 

thank you helped a lot, did you have an IB? And I only get like 2-3 pimples on my back now from using head and shoulders on my body wish I would've don't it 3 years ago

I'm on day 18 now (I think) and my initial breakout is going strong. Haha! In the past week, though, it's changed a bit. I have more pimples, but they're not cystic, and really quite small. I'm learning not to touch my face, so most of the time it isn't even visible.. Not angering my face has been very beneficial! That's one of the things I've learned from this site. I even had a few days where I went out without makeup. *gasp* Anyway, even if the initial breakout was bad, it would be worth it for the payoff in the long run.

I just don't want a bad initial breakout because school pictures and senior pictures and homecoming soon.. But my face really only has 1-2 active rn so I wonder how accutane will deal with mild acne

I was on 6 mnths accutane for mild acne

the first 4 weeks were great than I got hit with the dreaded IB

thought i was smooth sailing since not everyone experiences it

I had about 4-5 HUGGGGGE breakouts/cysts on the right side of my face over the holidays

after that I had constant redness, irritation and dryness the entire rest of my course

I am about 2+ mnths from stopping tane and honestly feel like na odd ball saying this but Im not sure knowing what I know now IF i would do it again

Maybe because my acne was only mild but now my skin is bumpy, red and VERRRRRY sensitive

OILY on the surfave but dehydratd and I cant use much of anything on my face

The large breakouts I used to get I dont anymore

they pop up but stay small and go away quickly and the small blackheads are gone

so I feel like ive traded one more obvious problem for a more subtle skin issue

good luck

if u start though and exp side effects etc you can always stop

I have to say, for me, it was a more challenging road than I expected