Chances are if people were cleared permanently or long term they're no longer hanging out on these boards. My dad and uncle both took Accutane 27 years ago and have never had more than minor pimples since.
I took Accutane in 2005 for 6 months at a high dose and my acne came back about 3 years later. It only came back to the left half of my face and is usually moderate but sometimes severe. The rest of my face and body is still 100% clear.
I finished my Accutane course in June of 2009, was TOTALLY clear with 0 pimples from June 2009 till about 2 weeks ago.
Now im breaking out a lot it sucks big time. I dont have the same insurance as before and accutane is going to cost me a lot more then it did the first time if I decide to go back on it...dont know what to do.
Is the 2nd time on accutane as harsh as the first with side effects / IB etc?
Im thinking of starting on the Acne.org Regimen to see if that helps. Has anyone had success with that post-accutane?
my acne started coming back after about 2 months after finishing. It was gradual at first, but ended up coming back actually worse or the same as it was before. However, I was on a very low dose (10mg) so that may have been the reason. I'm now on it again for the 2nd time, so hopefully it will work now!
Had medium acne before accutane. During accutane I broke out horribly and then for the last two months was completely clear. Now I'm off for about 2 weeks and noticing very small white heads on my forehead and I'm buggin. Like if I have the occasional pimple I'm cool. But praying it doesn't come back. 
lol, after I did accutane the zits came back with force 3 weeks later.
But, my bacne never did, it was completely cleared for 4 years. My face, was another story- but a more manageable story.
That is until recently, like the last month. I'm going on the tane again, so hoping for some more permanent results.
I was on Accutane in 1999 for 9 months at age 19. It was amazing, completely cleared up my red, swollen, pimple haven. I had no confidence. girls liked me, but didn't want to date the kid with such bad acne. A year ago I went back to the derm for pimples around my neck line. I have been on minocycline and tritinoin creme for the past year and it keeps getting worse.
I doubt its bad enough to get back on Accutane, but my confidence is going down, I'm getting stressed out about it, and I fear it will keep getting worse!! In florescent lighting, bathrooms/offices, my face looks inflamed and spotty with redness.
So yea, i was a success story for a solid 10 years, and now I'm back looking for the fix 
I took accutane for a YEAR
first few months 20mg, then like half a year of 40mg, and then half a year of 60mg.
All the way through and for a month orso after: perfect skin... the red pigments from previous acne still there but fading slowly.
Now over the last month and a half I have slowly started getting more and more. Less than I used to, but still significant.
So I have been through hell for the past 12 months (although everyone is being treated only 5 months....) and acne is returning. The dry skin is still there.
It's Netherlands so I can't see him until over 4 months....
I have been on Accutane 4 months from 15th of Feb 2010 to 15th of June 2010.
Whilst on accutane my skin was looking fantastic and I did not care about the side effects I had from it.
I was so happ that I did not wanted to get of it!!!!
3-4 weeks after my last day on the drug my F*%$!ng acne!!! came back, strange spots, they are different now, you cant even squiz them like the old ones.
I have to go back to my GP and ask her to reffer me to hospital to dermatology ward.
I'm so dissapointed, I thought my skin will last acne free for longer period of time than a month.
Im 18 and have just finished my THIRD round of roaccutane with very long periods.
First round - 9 months
Second round - 11 months
Third round - 12 months
The doses were around average for my weight (73kg, was on 40-60mg/day). My dad is on a low dosage for life because of his cystic acne and it keeps it his under control. My acne was not terrible, just very persistent and each one lasted for weeks at a time. Everytime my skin has been perfect at the end of the cycle and was usually fine for a few months but then sloooowlly creeped back.
I hope the last round lasted long enough to ride out most of my hormonal fluxes haha =)
Good luck to everyone, but this has just been my experience.
Hi
Ijust called my Dermatologist and booked an apt for this Friday 8:30 am.
I won't let my acne ruin my life again!!!!
I also too some photos on my acne face on my mobile just to show her. Because they are getting worse and better so i wan't to show her the bad ones I had last week ago.
I hope she will put me back on the drug....
Hi Guys,
Just to let you know that I've just seen my dermatologist and she has put me back on Accutane. This time on 20 mg instead 60mg.
I will be on it for 6 months. I'm so happy. I don't care about the side effects; I doubt that there will be a strong ones as I am on the lowed dosage now. Anyway Hooray!!! : 
I was on it back in 2006-2007. And it worked wonders!!.....I had beautiful skin..all for about 2.5 years. I ended March of 2007..and now my acne is back..almost just as bad as before. I first noticed it to resurface a few months -- maybe in June 2010. So basically accutane is great while it lasts. You pay thousands upon thousands for this treatmeant thinking you ar emagically cured forever...when in reality it is just an extended version of other products.
The only side effect from that long list I saw was increased dry skin. I already have eczema, so the medicine aggravated those areas while I was on it. Once I came off the effects weren't as bad. However, I do have milde dandruff. In all 18 years I had NEVER had dandruff. NOW, after takin gthis medicine I can't get rid of it no matter what I do! And I find myself glued to a bottle of moisturizer probably for the rest of my life. SO yes -- watch out for dry skin on this medication!!
All in all if your acne is severe enough that it is affecting your self esteem then I would say go for it. Just be aware that it doe not last "forever" like most dermatologists make you believe.
Hope this helps!!
Hello, I am currently on my last month of tane, I have taken 80mgs everyday. My face, back, and chest cleared amazing the fourth and fifth month, but after my fifth I failed to get my prescription filled in time and I was off it for about 12 days, within those twelve days, I already started to get cysts and red marks and some chestne. I was pretty confident that it was going to go away forever because my father was on it years ago and it worked wonders for him, but mine already came back in 12 days, so I am doubtful this last month will prove anything. I'm going to ask my derm for different meds for two months and another treatment following it.
Hi everyone. To let you know my experience, I had bad acne as a teen (well since 12 yay) and subsequently was prescribed accutane at 16. (For free because i live in the uk, I cant believe you have to pay for it in U.S it is insane) Anyway after about 6 months I had no acne and then at about 21 it came back but nowhere near as bad but bad enough that i went to the GP and got some lymecycline and dalacin. In about a month the acne went but i finished the 2 month course and it was all good. Then after about 2 weeks the acne resurfaced (arrgh!!) so i used the dalacin which I had left (dalacin is a lotion) and amazingly they cleared up. Then after 2 weeks they came back (ARRGH!!) so i went to the GP and he said hmm ok heres some lymecycline but I don't think we'll need the dalacin. 2 months later and no improvement so I think that antibiotics are shitty and I'm going to get the dalacin on tuesday. (for free)
Yes, it came back three months after I completed a four-month cycle. Full force. The only thing (knock on wood) that didn't return was my bacne--- but my neck/scalp/face acne is raging full force right now. Especially little hard super-deep pimples that are ALL OVER THE PLACE AND NEVER SEEM TO HEAL...
I'm a 30yr old female, BTW. Not a testosterone-raging teenaged male.
I was on Accutane for about 5 months and my skin was awesome for about 1 year. Now it is coming back.
The annoying thing s that my Dr. wants me to try all other options again (antibiotics, topicals, etc) before going onto a second treatment. I am so worried about scarring again!
I am now trying cephalexin and retin-A. I worried it will not work though because doxycyclin with differin did not work before.
my friend took accutane for 6 months, than her skin was beautiful, after one year she start it to get acne again unfortunately her acne came back and worst. i though that maybe if she takes accutane for a second time it would finally completely kill the acne. so she took it, twice, everything went 100% fine. after two years her acne came back, not so bad like it was before. but she still has acne again. now she wonAt take accutane again because the side effects are pretty shitty you know. i just think that itAs ok to handle the side effects 1 time or 2 times, but not 3 times! is just too much. now she is going all natural, eating healthier, using topical creams etc. her acne is getting better but...she just wonAt take accutane ever again.
i just guess that for some people accutane cured their acne forever but for some people donAt. i guess my friend was the unlucky one. is just sad you know, because accutane seems to be the best solution to cure moderated to severe acne. but you know sometimes some things donAt last forever.
omg reading this thread depressed methen i realized that all the people who had accutane curing their acne forever probably never came back to this site but all those who have had acne come back came back to this site
Nevertheless, about 20% of people use Accutane again after their first course.
I was on Accutane for about 5 months and my skin was awesome for about 1 year. Now it is coming back.The annoying thing s that my Dr. wants me to try all other options again (antibiotics, topicals, etc) before going onto a second treatment. I am so worried about scarring again!
I am now trying cephalexin and retin-A. I worried it will not work though because doxycyclin with differin did not work before.
It has been a little over 3 weeks, my acne is CLEAR again!! yay! The cephalexin and retin-A is working!!
It did not work before accutane, but it is now. I highly recommend trying this combination.
Hello~~ I am back here on this forum..how sad...here is my story. I had acne since I was 18 or so, and it got pretty bad when I was around 26 after I met my wife(I am 30 right now). I always thought it was the stress that got me into this acne mess...but who knows? Even until now, i still don't know why I have acne. My dad used to have bad acne when he was young, so I guess it may have something to do with the genes? I had try PB, Antibiotics many times before, but none of those stuff really work. So I decided to request my doctor after I found out about accutane from my coworker. I had moderate acne as the doctor said 2 years ago. So i was prescripted for 40 MG for 2 months, it worked quite well after couple of outbreaks in the beginning for couple weeks. So I went back to the doctor to get another 2 months. All I had was dry lips and acne scar from the previous outbreak.....but it is such a big relief that my face was grown out of acne. The reason I took accutane because I wanted to look the best on my wedding last August, and it did helped me alot. I am still glad that Accutane did help me go through all that. So after six months which is 2011 Feburary, I started to have sign of outbreak... I immediately go to my doctor to ask for some accutane, but then he only gave me 10mg for a month as he said my acne is very mild. The doctor said my acne problem will eventually go away, and he gurantee me that I will have no acne when I am 35...but know whos.. some people here get outbreak even when they are 39, 45...... Anyways, my acne started to go away pretty quick in less than 2 weeks. Now it is May, and my acne is back again just last week. There were more than 5 small pimples last week, and now there are 3 papules this week on my face. I am going back to the doctor again tomorrow to get more accutane. My advice for now is... Accutane does help with your acne problem, although acne may come back to haunt u again. I will probably come back here to post some update either I am cure or not. Good luck to everyone.
I had acne for 6 years on and off. I tried everything from Dianette, Homeopathy, chinese medicine, anti biotics and finally Roaccutane. Everything worked but the Acne always came back in the end. Roaccutane worked best my skin was clear (Odd spot once every 3 months) for over 18 months and now i am breaking out again. Its not as bad as it was but still have about 5 plus spots on my face going to take roaccutane again. Hopefully that will be it.
