Hello everyone!

I've been meaning to post an 'Accutane Experience' write-up for a while now, as I spent years of my life trawling through this website, reading up on everyone else's experiences. All of the posts and reviews have given me hope, occasional dread, and mostly a whole lot of comfort in knowing I wasn't going through the agony of acne alone. I hope this post can provide some of that same hope and comfort to anyone suffering with acne and thinking about going on accutane.

I've been off accutane for a month and it's one of the very best decisions I've ever made. It's an extremely freeing feeling: the shackles of cystic acne have gone, and my self regard, hunger for life and confidence have taken their place.

I want this review to be as helpful and succinct as possible, so before I get too poetic, here goes.

My type of acne:

Face: Hormonal and cystic; concentrated around the chin and jawline. Every month or so I would get huge, marble-shaped cysts. I'd hold warm compresses to them and stay in my room all night. Sometimes, my skin would be clear. But that wouldn't last.

Body: Mostly concentrated on shoulders, chest and upper back, with a few on my lower back too. Occasionally cystic, but mostly whiteheads. Often very red and sore. I have small but noticeable keloid scars (or perhaps hypertrophic? I'm not sure of the difference. In any case, the scars are raised) left on my chest, and a medium-sized one right on the very tip of my shoulder. Wearing strappy tops is still a bit of a worry for me, sadly.

Things I've tried:

Antibiotics (tetracycline) on and off for almost 9 years.

Apple cider vinegar. I seeeriously doubt this works.

Cutting out dairy. Meh. Didn't see much difference. I missed cheese.

Birth control pills on three separate occasions. Hated all three times. Cried every day. Acne didn't change, or got worse.

Time on accutane:

4 and a half months. It's short, I know. But my derm was pretty confident I didn't need it any more as my skin improved so drastically. Also, there's a study into the cumulative dosage method not being the most accurate. I'll give you a link if you want.

Dosage:

Month 1 20mg

Month 2 20mg/40mg on alternate days

Month 3 40mg/60mg on alternate days

Month 4 - 4 and a a half 40mg/60mg on alternate days

Summary

Month 1: Honestly, my skin was pretty clear when I took my first dose. I was having a good skin month. But I knew it wasn't long before the acne would come back plus, I'd been on the waiting list to see a derm to get accutane for about 4 months, so I was taking the damn thing no matter what! Anyway, my skin stayed clear. I noticed the tiny, tiny blackheads on my nose I've had FOREVER creeping to the surface. I'd gently exfoliate, and eventually, they just disappeared. They're still gone now. The only side effect I had in Month 1 was flushed skin.

Month 2: A couple of zits here and there, but nothing worse than I normally get. I had a lovely line of spots on my shoulder... I started to notice my joints aching a little.

Month 3: I basically was a huge hypochondriac this month. I convinced myself I had intracranial hypertension due to a couple of headaches and a bit of dizziness. I did have really achey joints at this point, but it was bearable. Dryness kicked in: my make-up looked a bit flakey and I was constantly putting chapstick on. I got a cystic spot on my chin around my period.

Month 4 to 4 and a half: Skin looked great. Same side effects as before. I was lethargic, dry and achey. I went back to the derm, they congratulated me on how great my skin looked (and gave me useless advice on scarring, but that's another story). I left his office without another prescription and went on holiday to Milan the next day. I might have spent a little too much time in the sun drinking Aperol Spritz. Oh well. Now here I am, with the smoothest, clearest skin of my life.

Key takeaways:

The biggest thing is that it was literally fine. I had none of the terrifying side effects; my mood, if anything, was better because I was so optimistic about my clear-skinned self. I simply didn't think about the fact I was on accutane as much as I thought I would. In fact, I hardly ever thought about it. I just got on with my life, and ultimately, nothing was different except for the amount of chapstick on my desk at work.

Also, I didn't consider how much the consistency of my skin would change. It's so soft! I can't stop stroking my chin and back.

I'm aware that my acne might return, and I would take accutane again if it did. But I'm very hopeful that I'll be one of the lucky ones that doesn't get it again, or at least I get "normal" acne instead of cysts and body acne. Honestly, I just don't wanna give up cheese again.

My only question to you guys is:

Any advice on raised scarring? My derm was truly useless and told me I'd simply never have normal skin and to try Bio Oil. Should I go to a clinic, look at getting some kind of procedure done?