i'm taking 40 mg of accutane a day, and started 5 days ago. i'm not really experiencing a lot of side effects other than chapped lips and mild headaches. even though it hasn't even been a week yet, i'm scared that because my skin isn't dry, that means the accutane isn't working. will this change later?

Try not to get too stressed and worried....waiting for side effects to happen! Everyone is different and everyones dosage is different, so its not one rule for all. I'm on day 14 of taking 20mg a day (low dosage! I'm male and around 88kg)...I'm hoping to stay on a low dosage but for longer treatment period to keep any side effects as mild as possible..after the first few days my lips started to get dry but I've been using a good lip balm since day one and it seems to be working great..

The fact that you already have chapped lips, would be a good sign that accutane treatment is already starting to work, as this seems a normal side effect for alot of people. Please try not to worry, not everyone has sides effects and if they do they can in alot of cases be mild but this doesnt mean the treatment isnt working. In many cases it could just mean that your body is tolerant of the treatment which is a good thing....5days is still early so I think your skin will start to get drier at some point soon, as you start producing less oil from your pores, so always good to have a good moisturiser ready just in case! Hope treatment goes well for you. Best wishes

I had no side effects while on accutaneChapped lips was it. I stopped washing my face with anything but water and started washing my hair every other or third day. I also only used soap on my chest, underarms and junk. I had some bowel issues that started a year or so AFTER accutane. Those went away and i am now around 9 years post accutane with 0 side effects other than way better skin. I changed my diet and am still unsure if accutane actually had anything to do with my bowel issues.those issues have been gone for years in any case

thank you! my skin is actually more dry than it has been before today, but only around my ears and on my neck for some reason...