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I'm 32 with stubborn treatment resistant acne and my derm put me on it yesterday. I don't have loads of acne but it just wont go and the scars it leaves are red and horrible, the indications for the tablets yes are severe acne but also acne that wont respond to other treatments. I don't see why you would't be a good candidate due to your resistance.

9 hours ago, elee92 said:

Hey all  I'm finally scheduled to see a dermatologist next week, but I wanted to get a better grasp on whether I would/wouldn't be a good candidate for Accutane before I go (and maybe make a fool of myself). Please please please give me any feedback or advice/something/anything!

I™ve been struggling with acne since puberty “the type where 90% of your face is covered in very inflamed pustules at all times. Multiple OTC products, dermatology appointments, prescription topicals, and antiobiotics later, I was still the same acne ridden teenager. My derm started me on Accutane, but within 2 weeks my mom stopped me after she read all the horror stories.

 

Fast forward a couple years and for unknown reasons, my acne slowly calmed down. But all good things must come to an end “ my acne came back with some serious personality change. This time, they were pustules AND (small) cysts on parts of my face that randomly came and went. Over the years, the cysts increased in number, different parts of my face started getting involved, and they started coming faster than they disappeared. I gave a couple of topicals a second chance in hopes they™d work this time (they didn™t).

 

Fast forward a month or two “ I had one of the worse breakouts in a while (the underside of my chin and my jawline was covered in at least 10 cysts and oodles of pustules; my actual face just had a typical breakout). I ended up sending a picture (the ones at the end of this post) to my sister about 1.5 week post-breakout and she flipped out and urged me to see a derm before I get permanent scars. So here I am, eagerly (anxiously?) awaiting my visit to the derm.

 

I guess my self-doubt comes from the fact that my acne isn™t constantly on the entirety of my face and it™s not nearly as severe as the pictures you see when you google œsevere acne. The only scars I have are a couple of tinnyyyy ones from when I picked at my skin years back. It doesn™t help that the bad breakout is now 85% healed and my recent œbreakout is laughably mild in comparison. 

 

At the same time, I feel like I™ve exhausted my other options and Accutane seems to be the most promising option left (btw I™ve been on birth control for years and it™s obviously doing nothing for me except keeping me not pregnant). I will begrudgingly admit that I™ve let acne affect my self-esteem and I pretty much have no social life anymore because I™m too embarrassed to go out with a face that™s always covered in acne and/or hyperpigmented spots. My mom also had acne well into her 30s and has some scars on her face, and I™m filled with absolute dread knowing that I might have to go through another 10+ years of this with possibly more noticeable scars.

 

Are my self-doubts right? Or should I tell those thoughts to shut up and ask the derm about Accutane? 

Sorry for the long post...

 

Hi there!  If I can ask, what birth control pill are you taking?  Certain BCP are know to exacerbate acne in some patients.  Yasmin/Yaz, Dianette, Diane-35 are the best for hormonal acne.  Ortho- I think is mixed reviews. Spironolactone is alos another option for hormonal acne, jaw, chin area.

10 hours ago, CarpeMomentum said:

Hi there! If I can ask, what birth control pill are you taking? Certain BCP are know to exacerbate acne in some patients. Yasmin/Yaz, Dianette, Diane-35 are the best for hormonal acne. Ortho- I think is mixed reviews. Spironolactone is alos another option for hormonal acne, jaw, chin area.

I was started on Yaz, which made me a 30lbs heavier emotional psycho for about a year. I got switched to ortho, which thankfully didnt give me any crazy side effects and Ive been on it ever since.

I honestly dont think this is hormonal acne, though. My acne spontaneously started calming down a year before I got on Yaz and it wasnt until 3 years after I started ortho that my acne started coming back. The beginning and change of bc pills never triggered a significant acne event. My breakouts are also completely unrelated to my period. They also breakout in different spots and doesnt favor one spot over the other. I actually dont remember the last time I broke out in my chin/jaw area. The previous one was mostly on my cheeks and annoyingly my eyebrows

The idea of taking a diuretic long term has never appealed to me. I know it's a pretty mild diuretic, but it doesnt take much to throw my electrolytes off balance. And after going through the renal unit, I can't imagine what my kidneys are going to look like after years of taking a drug that wasn't meant to be used indefinitely =/

11 hours ago, Bentley.boo said:

I'm 32 with stubborn treatment resistant acne and my derm put me on it yesterday. I don't have loads of acne but it just wont go and the scars it leaves are red and horrible, the indications for the tablets yes are severe acne but also acne that wont respond to other treatments. I don't see why you would't be a good candidate due to your resistance.

I guess anytime I read about people with severe acne, it seems like their acne is all over their face at all times that doesn't heal by itself for years and years? The severity of my acne is high when I first get the breakout but becomes moderate and mild over 2-3 weeks. I'm having a "good month" since I've only had about 3 breakouts this month...but it's kind of unfortunate that I'll be going to the derm when my acne has calmed down =/ I'm also seeing this derm for the first time so I don't know if she'll want to put me through topicals and antibiotics just so that she has that on record herself.

I was worried that my skin wouldnt be at its worst or even worse i would have a magical day of it not seeming too bad when I went. I started taking photos when I got the appoiment. There is a 4 month wait here to see a derm so I had plenty of time. It's just a back up to show them. I didn't need to show her though and my skin was no where near its worse when I went. So maybe go prepared with pics.

I'd say you're a very good candidate for accutane. When I first went to my current derm I was having one of my clearer days and things were healing and not as bad as usual.... Typical!! I'd advise taking any photos with you just in case. Some derms like to try you on everything else first but sounds like you have already tried a fair few things so take a list of all the topicals and antibiotics you've tried in the past too X good luck!! X

On April 23, 2016 at 3:00 AM, Bentley.boo said:

I was worried that my skin wouldnt be at its worst or even worse i would have a magical day of it not seeming too bad when I went. I started taking photos when I got the appoiment. There is a 4 month wait here to see a derm so I had plenty of time. It's just a back up to show them. I didn't need to show her though and my skin was no where near its worse when I went. So maybe go prepared with pics.

I got lucky and got an appointment a week after I called  I was scrambling to find pictures that would show my acne problems but then realized I avoided taking pictures/deleted all pictures that showed my acne for the past few years hahaha. So I guess I'll go in with these 2 pics. 
 

On April 23, 2016 at 4:17 AM, Clareb78 said:

I'd say you're a very good candidate for accutane. When I first went to my current derm I was having one of my clearer days and things were healing and not as bad as usual.... Typical!! I'd advise taking any photos with you just in case. Some derms like to try you on everything else first but sounds like you have already tried a fair few things so take a list of all the topicals and antibiotics you've tried in the past too X good luck!! X

Thanks! I hope the derm can take my word for it. My mom can't for her life remember the dermatology place's name =| 

Mine was a bit stand offish at first apt but in the second didn't even check me over and agreed to accutane so don't be disheartened if that happens just insist on going back...I had to take isotrex and try it for a few months first then he was happy that id tried pretty much everything! Your facial acne looks a little more severe than mine was so I reckon you'll be fine X good luck finding the derm of your dreams! X