Hey! I'm a 22 y/o female and started my first month on 20mg Absorica. Derm said she starts all patients off at thsi dose to see how my body responds to this medication side-effect wise. I did great so she moved me to 60mg for my 2nd month and 60mg fo my 3rd (I'm on week 11)

So I had a horrible initial breakout that lasted literally until now, I am seeing a difference every morning when I wake up. You can see my gallery, my face looks like a pizza face now but thankfully all cysts are gone, it's just scars and little breakouts... Which still sucks but I'd rather be able to cover up the redness than cover up huge volcanoes on my face, you know?

-This morning actually I noticed the redness is better than 2 days ago... So it was a little re-assuring. I was starting to lose hope.

MAKE SURE you take your accutane with a HIGH fat meal, derm forgot to mention this is how accutane is absorbed and I just took it with food like a banana, that's it and basically the medicine just goes right through you and isn't absorbed if you don't take it with a high fat meal, this step is extremely important.

Don't use a fash wash that will dry your skin, it's awful. I use Cetaphil and it's perfect.

Good luck:)

Hi Liz!

Thanks so much for responding! I am glad to hear that things are going well now with your course and improving every day, I'm sure it won't be long til you are totally clear and acne is all but a distant memory..I'm jealous! It seems like our skin situations are a little different as I have delevoped rosacea and seb derm over the years of using harsh chemicals on my face. With rosacea sufferers like myself we are not supposed to take more than 20-30 mgs of isotretinoin because it could actually worsen some symptoms. So that is why I will be staying on a lower dose for the entirity of my course. I just hope that 20mgs for 5 months is enough to give me some lasting results or even a little bit of temporary relief. Thank you for the advice on taking it with food, I thought that you didn't have to take absorica with a high fat meal but I guess you do. I will definitely have to make sure of this with my claravis since it is just generic. My question for you is when did you expirience your IB? Was it on the 20mgs or when you jumped up to 60? Did your derm give you anything to combat the IB like prednisone? I'm hoping that with starting on 20mg and not jumping up at all that I will avoid a nasty IB but knowing my awesome track record of skin issues I will probably end up getting one. Any insight on the IB related to dosage would be appreciated! Thanks so much for sharing your story and congrats on seeing clearer skin!

Hi Liz!

Thanks so much for responding! I am glad to hear that things are going well now with your course and improving every day, I'm sure it won't be long til you are totally clear and acne is all but a distant memory..I'm jealous! It seems like our skin situations are a little different as I have delevoped rosacea and seb derm over the years of using harsh chemicals on my face. With rosacea sufferers like myself we are not supposed to take more than 20-30 mgs of isotretinoin because it could actually worsen some symptoms. So that is why I will be staying on a lower dose for the entirity of my course. I just hope that 20mgs for 5 months is enough to give me some lasting results or even a little bit of temporary relief. Thank you for the advice on taking it with food, I thought that you didn't have to take absorica with a high fat meal but I guess you do. I will definitely have to make sure of this with my claravis since it is just generic. My question for you is when did you expirience your IB? Was it on the 20mgs or when you jumped up to 60? Did your derm give you anything to combat the IB like prednisone? I'm hoping that with starting on 20mg and not jumping up at all that I will avoid a nasty IB but knowing my awesome track record of skin issues I will probably end up getting one. Any insight on the IB related to dosage would be appreciated! Thanks so much for sharing your story and congrats on seeing clearer skin!

Yeah it's a little different but I really hope you don't have to go thru the IB, I noticed it about a week and a half after I started, then the 3rd week it started getting better, I had like 3 days of awesome skin... then day by day it kept getting worse and worse (this was on the 20mg) until literally just recently.. My skin has never been so red. & this morning it looked so much better. So I pray that the IB war is over for me and my skin will just keep getting better but I have the WORST luck... Is it bad that I can't even imagine a life for myself 100% acne free? LOL. Anyways, I hope your adventure goes smoothly. The side effects are nothing for me... I was so paranoid for no reason. I have heard that the lower dosage you are on the longer you have to be on it? And I thought the same about Absorica but I definitely notice a difference when I take it with a higher fat meal so I'm going to keep doing it and not risk it lol. & you're welcome!! Let me know if you have any other questions. My derm didn't give me anything for the IB

I'm on 100mgs so I have no experience with 20mg doses but I have a few answers. I have experience no IB so far. I have seb derm and extreme facial flushing before taking accutane. My face has become much redder, the breakouts from seb derm have subsided quite a bit. Thats sorta a halfway dose, not micro but not standard. I have no idea if the results will last but I would imagine it being much less since you are not hitting your cumulative dose from permanent remission.

Best of luck, take care of yourself, moisterize and take it day by day!

Thanks Chris!

100mg seems like a lot to me. The good thing is you will definitely hit your cumlative dose and have a great lasting effect im sure. It's very reassuring to hear that you didn't expirience any sort of IB. I hope I am as lucky as you are with that! It seems like we are in a similar situation witht the seb derm and facial flushing. My seb derm is mostly around my nose and a little bit on my forehead. It is really bad right now and the flushing I get makes me super embarrased. My derm told me that a higher dose of accutane would worsen my seb derm but Im glad yours is getting better. Did it get worse in the first month then gradually improve? Has the flushing become worse or is it less frequent now? Im hoping my derm will extend my course a couple months and possibly bump me to 30mgs so I can hit my cum. dose. Seeing as im a little under 130lbs maybe I will be close. Thank you for the insight. I hope things continue to improve for you!