Hey guys, I'm 16 years old and I started taking accutane in May when I had moderate acne. After about a month, it did get very bad and I couldn't even go outside. I finished 4 months of the treatment a week ago and I just had some questions about it, because my acne is still bad and hasn't gotten any better even though my doctor said I only have to take it for 6 months...
1) I've been using topical treatments throughout the 4 months and I've heard that's a bad idea. I use the neutrogena pink grapefruit scrub and sometimes take cotton pads, put some peroxide on them and rub them on my face right before bed. Recently I bought the neutrogena 10% benzoyl peroxide "rapid action vanishing cream" and I don't know if it helps.
2) Does moisturizing your face help reduce acne? I've heard that because accutane dries out your face so much you need to put lotion on so that your face doesn't produce even more oil. I'm using the clearasil rapid action treatment lotion but it doesn't really seem to make a difference.
3) did stress affect your acne?
4) Any dieting tips that you guys could give? I've gotten mixed information from the internet - some articles say that foods don't really affect acne and other sources say that dairy and junk/oily food makes breakouts worse. I would appreciate any other things that in your experience made acne worse.
I'm only on my 10th week of Accutane and am just now noticing a slight difference. You are taking it with a high fat meal every time right? I didn't know about doing that until recently and notice a HUGE difference in the morning when I eat it with fatty foods.. So definitely pay attention to that. At LEAST 20mg fat EVERY time you take the pill.
Are you drinking lots of water? Be careful with all of the topical stuff, it can actually irritate your skin more and break it out. I just use the Cetaphil wash.
For moisturizer I use the dramatically different from Clinique.
Stress does affect acne, try not to stress ABOUT your Acne.
Just make sure you are taking it with a high fat meal, and drinking lots of water. Some people don't notice a difference until the 4-5 month, some are completely clear after the 2nd. I am starting my third and am seeing a little bit of clearing up.. Hang in there, I know it sucks. Trust me.