@WillingPastor

Hi Willing,

I am a 30 Year old Male (200Lbs) and I am on my 3rd month of low dose Accutane (20mgs a day) and so far I have been breaking out the entire 2 months that I have been on it, but it seems to be slowing down now (fingers crossed).

The only side effects that I have experienced while being on this dose is Dry skin and lips, but other than that, nothing else.

How has your treatment been going?

Hey,

I'm 25, and currently taking 20mg of Accutane 3 times per week, the so called ultra low dose course.

I already went on 4 full courses of Isotretinoin before, but my acne is persistent and always returned so after reading a lot of this stuff on internet and thinking better, i talked with my derm and she agreed to prescribe to me a low dose treatment for an indefinite time. I'm on week 4 and acne still present, but less, and my skin is already dry and lips of course. The effects are pretty much the same as a full dosage treatment, but a little smooth, is totally ok and i expect good results in 2 months.

1 hour ago, Rafael P. said:

Hey,

I'm 25, and currently taking 20mg of Accutane 3 times per week, the so called ultra low dose course.

I already went on 4 full courses of Isotretinoin before, but my acne is persistent and always returned so after reading a lot of this stuff on internet and thinking better, i talked with my derm and she agreed to prescribe to me a low dose treatment for an indefinite time. I'm on week 4 and acne still present, but less, and my skin is already dry and lips of course. The effects are pretty much the same as a full dosage treatment, but a little smooth, is totally ok and i expect good results in 2 months.

How do you classify your acne as? Mild, moderate, or severe?

1 hour ago, Ludadubz said:

2 hours ago, Rafael P. said:

Hey,

I'm 25, and currently taking 20mg of Accutane 3 times per week, the so called ultra low dose course.

I already went on 4 full courses of Isotretinoin before, but my acne is persistent and always returned so after reading a lot of this stuff on internet and thinking better, i talked with my derm and she agreed to prescribe to me a low dose treatment for an indefinite time. I'm on week 4 and acne still present, but less, and my skin is already dry and lips of course. The effects are pretty much the same as a full dosage treatment, but a little smooth, is totally ok and i expect good results in 2 months.

How do you classify your acne as? Mild, moderate, or severe?

Mild-moderate but extremelly persistent, any acid or cream has never worked for me. And i have some problem with folliculitis on my scalp and beard, accutane is improving it. The only bad thing on this course is that the results are slow, you need to be persistent and mostly patient.

Hey Guys, just a quick question what does IB mean, Im only new to this stuff. Im currently on the 10mg a day, I started off on the 20mg and could not deal with the side effects. I had severe headaches, was very emotional and my vision had changed at night. So i have been put down to a lower dose, 10mg every second day. Will this still be effective ?

I am just starting 10mg a day for extremely oily face with mild acne.

Previously, I was on ultra low dose accutane when I was working in the Philippines. The derm there is more open-minded compared to those in Australia. He prescribed me with 4 boxes (120 pills) of 10mg accutane and basically trust me to experiment with the dosage myself. I left the Philippines so I had to reduce the dosage to something like 10mg or 20mg per week, to stretch it out as long as possible. In the end, my oil came back full force, so I had to find another derm in Australia.

Recently, I visited a new derm in Australia. He is great and very understading. He said my previous dosage is too low to have any long lasting effect. He is willing to put me on accutane for 9 months to 1 year, starting with 10mg per day for at least a few months. He said this should give me a more permanent effect, hopefully 5 to 10 years. I am glad to have found him and hope to have my oily face cured.

On 7/29/2018 at 6:18 AM, SarahEl said:

Hey Guys, just a quick question what does IB mean, Im only new to this stuff. Im currently on the 10mg a day, I started off on the 20mg and could not deal with the side effects. I had severe headaches, was very emotional and my vision had changed at night. So i have been put down to a lower dose, 10mg every second day. Will this still be effective ?

IB is short for initial breakout. Most accutane users experience a period of more severe breakout at the beginning of their course, due to the drug pushing out the "bad stuff" all at once. The duration of IB varies from person to person.

I cannot comment on whether your dosage is effective, this question should be addressed to your derm. However, your side effects sound severe and you should definitely talk to your derm about them.

Iam currently starting at 10mg per day for extremely oily skin, but have previously been on the same dosage that was gradually reduced to 10mg per week. I too experienced occasional headaches, dry eyes and lips (manageable by lip balm and eye moisturiser), but no emotional feelings. I usually take the pills at night after dinner, so any headache can be countered by going to bed early.

How are you all doing?

I am on day 75 (10mg/day) and still moderately breaking out.
I still get stubborn cystic acne on my face and they never seem to get dried up and leave me red pigmentation marks even if they get dried up.

Anyone here planning to take low dose Accutane for long-term?

I am planning to take it for 1-2 years (going to decrease the dose when my face becomes stable)

I am also planning to do scar revision treatments (TCA Cross and Subcision) when the IB is under control and my face become fully stable. I have extremely severe deep pitted scars (all types of scars).

Regards,

3 hours ago, Gimozzi said:

I am also planning to do scar revision treatments (TCA Cross and Subcision) when the IB is under control and my face become fully stable. I have extremely severe deep pitted scars (all types of scars).

Hi Gimozzi,
Ive registered on this forum just to tell you to be very careful with that: while you are taking isotretinoin, even a low dose, your scarring capacity is seriously affected. That means any scar treatment will have to wait until a few months after you finish taking pills. Otherwise you might make things a lot worse.

Regards

2 hours ago, SrDante said:

Hi Gimozzi,
I™ve registered on this forum just to tell you to be very careful with that: while you are taking isotretinoin, even a low dose, your scarring capacity is seriously affected. That means any scar treatment will have to wait until a few months after you finish taking pills. Otherwise you might make things a lot worse.

Regards

Omg, how generous  thank you so much for your consideration.
I know isotretinoin negatively influence healing ability but recent studies say that low dose accutane is okay with some of the treatments. There are doctors who are saying it is okay to do low dose accutane while on some treatments and there are some doctors who are totally against it.

My doctor says he has been treating patients with some treatments while on low dose accutane.
I am quite afraid that it might negatively affect me (I have extremely sensitive skin) but I am going to try it.
Plus, my doctor has done spot treating few of my scars with TCA Cross while on low dose Accutane. Although I would not say that I healed perfectly fine, I had no trouble healing.

I am still fighting with this stubborn active acne, when it settles down, I am going to start treating my scars with Subcision + TCA Cross treatment. Hopefully I heal well.

Again, thank you so much for your time and consideration. I really appreciate it.
 

20 hours ago, Gimozzi said:

Omg, how generous  thank you so much for your consideration.
I know isotretinoin negatively influence healing ability but recent studies say that low dose accutane is okay with some of the treatments. There are doctors who are saying it is okay to do low dose accutane while on some treatments and there are some doctors who are totally against it.

My doctor says he has been treating patients with some treatments while on low dose accutane.
I am quite afraid that it might negatively affect me (I have extremely sensitive skin) but I am going to try it.
Plus, my doctor has done spot treating few of my scars with TCA Cross while on low dose Accutane. Although I would not say that I healed perfectly fine, I had no trouble healing.

I am still fighting with this stubborn active acne, when it settles down, I am going to start treating my scars with Subcision + TCA Cross treatment. Hopefully I heal well.

Again, thank you so much for your time and consideration. I really appreciate it.
 

I™m glad if I can be of some help
In a past treatment, when I was taking 30 mg per day, I did myself a little cut in my hand - the kind of wound that is usually well healed. But it left me a very visible scar because of the treatment... thankfully it™s little and it™s in my hand, so not a big deal, but I learnt to be very careful with wounds and isotretinoin 
I started a month ago another treatment with 10 mg per day. I™m much better than when I did the last treatment, but I still have acne issues when the weather is cold; in the summer I™m mostly OK. My derm thinks 10 mg will be fine for me, I hope it will. I™ve read some research saying that this dose is effective, but the relapse rate is higher than with a higher dose - but not much higher, maybe 15 vs 30%. The side effects where much lower and it seemed to be a good choice, considering it™s much safer.

20 hours ago, SrDante said:

I™m glad if I can be of some help
In a past treatment, when I was taking 30 mg per day, I did myself a little cut in my hand - the kind of wound that is usually well healed. But it left me a very visible scar because of the treatment... thankfully it™s little and it™s in my hand, so not a big deal, but I learnt to be very careful with wounds and isotretinoin 
I started a month ago another treatment with 10 mg per day. I™m much better than when I did the last treatment, but I still have acne issues when the weather is cold; in the summer I™m mostly OK. My derm thinks 10 mg will be fine for me, I hope it will. I™ve read some research saying that this dose is effective, but the relapse rate is higher than with a higher dose - but not much higher, maybe 15 vs 30%. The side effects where much lower and it seemed to be a good choice, considering it™s much safer.

Is been nearly 80 days for me for taking 10mg/day. I am still having issue of breaking out. They are so stubborn.. always 2-4 active ones on my face no matter what I do... 

Are you planning to take low-dose for a long time?

The side-effects are certainly less than the normal dose. Do you do monthly blood test too?

Hope everything works out well for you!

I took 10mg dose for 13 months. I have been off Accutane for nearly five months now and I only get the odd breakout here and there, so I'm very happy in that regard. My dermatologist said newer research is showing doses of 10-20mg are proving to be just as effective as the traditional higher doses and with a lot less side effects. I weigh nearly 90kgs too.

On 11/9/2018 at 7:43 PM, ScarRight said:

I took 10mg dose for 13 months. I have been off Accutane for nearly five months now and I only get the odd breakout here and there, so I'm very happy in that regard. My dermatologist said newer research is showing doses of 10-20mg are proving to be just as effective as the traditional higher doses and with a lot less side effects. I weigh nearly 90kgs too.

Are you planning to take longer? or are you done taking it anymore?

Did you experience any Initial Breakout?

Thanks

6 hours ago, Gimozzi said:

Are you planning to take longer? or are you done taking it anymore?

Did you experience any Initial Breakout?

Thanks

I'm done with Accutane. There was no Initial break out for me. I think the lower dose may help with that.