I'm about 12 months after taking my last pill of accutane. My skin is sort of back to normal, in that it is oily again but there aren't that many spots. I sometimes get them but they're always very small and go away quickly, and are usually brought on by irritation from shaving.
I do think I have rosacea though, as my skin is still quite red all of the time. Depresses the shit out of me
I began getting breakouts in the 3rd grade & have had problems of one sort or another ever since (I am 45 now--that's 36 yrs.!!). My acne began worsening in my early- to mid-20s & has continued like that ever since. 1st course of Accutane I was 23. Just finished my 5th full course at 45. I need to go back on it about every 3-5 yrs. I do fight breakouts off and on in-between, but when they start to get uncontrollable, I go back on it.
Don't know if this will ever end for me. It is really hard. Most women in their 40s do not have any acne, much less a face-full. The first 4 courses, my skin broke out the entire time I was on it but then, 1-2 wks. after the course was over, it was flawless. This time, my face is covered with about 15 "sores" over a week after completing the 5-month course. Most of these began showing up a couple of days after I took my last pill. Very, very discouraging & scary/depressing.
It's been almost a year since my last treatment with Accutane in 2011. I had a lot of white heads and a few pimples that are swollen and red back then, and Accutane was my last resort to treat my acne when the antibiotics and facial creams that Ive used in the past did not seem to completely clear up my acne. My treatment lasted for five months, and after the first few months, my skin cleared up really well. For me, the medication was like a miracle drugthe ultimate answer to treating acne without having to starve myself from gorging down sugary foods and drinks. Well, I was wrong. Dead wrong. My dermatologist gave me false hope too. He said that Accutane treats 80% of the people with acne or something along that line. For the next two months after my treatment, there were some tell-tale signs of acne, and I started freaking out. My acne got worse again and I had to visit my dermatologist once more. He told me that it was normal for some people to have acne again even though they have completed their Accutane treatment. I was dubious. I thought it was total BSwhatever he said. However, after looking at some answers from Yahoo Answers and from this forum, I kind of believed it. But I still dont understand why Accutane did not cure me completely. I thought it was the ultimate, badass drug out there that you would use if all else fails. I reflected on this and I remembered someone saying You can control acne but you cant cure it. I guess its true.
If you still get acne after your Accutane treatment, this might help. Ive been looking into ways to help control acne and I realized that your diet plays a major part in it. What you eat can affect you in many ways. Ive once asked my dermatologist if I have to avoid certain foods that might cause acne, he said no. Despite what he said, I decided to avoid certain foods in order to avoid major acne break outs. I went with my plan for a week and it actually worked. If you want to effectively control your acne, you dont have to avoid eating everythingjust dont eat too much of it. However, it would be better if you avoid eating the foods that would trigger the acne outbreaks. Its like what they say: no pain, no gain.
Aside from my diet plan, I am currently on antibiotics again and I am using Differin for a topical gel. Ha. The irony. Its back to square one for me.
I think most people who got clear skin didn't come back to this site so you're mostly going to get a lot of people who it did come back for.
Also, not every treatment (no matter how strong) is going to work for everyone.
Despite all the negative responses, I'm looking forward to being off this crap. I'll do whatever I have to do to prevent it from coming back (changing my diet, exercising, using a retin-A gel, etc). If Accutane doesn't work after 3 tries then maybe look into food allergies or something because obviously something is wrong inside the body. Hell, maybe try hormone free meats and dairy. Even if you're 30 something, hormones in your diet isn't going to help your acne, lol. Kind of a random comment but hormones/antibiotics in meats and dairy creep me out.
I also wonder if maybe some people assume their acne is gone for good and don't bother to take proper care of their skin. I'm talking more about teens and young adults. I see a LOT of posts from people who go on these meds and don't even bother to keep up with proper skin care while on them so I certainly doubt they bother once they get off.
I'm only on my first course but considering how much happier I am now that I've cleared my skin I will happily do a second course if I have to. Even with the horrible back pain, cracked lips, and headaches.
I don't think of Accutane as the cure to my acne. I still believe that I will have to control my acne even when I am done. Still going to have to avoid foods that cause flare ups, keep my face clean, and use the occasional topicals from my Dermatologist.
I am back again and this is my 3rd post in this thread, and to check the previous post, it was May 2011 I made my last post. After my treatment from May 2011 for around 6-7 months with 40mg, I was acne free for almost 7 months til right now which is July 1st 2012. My acne is back again this time, but for sure way less severe than before. Doctor gave me the option for either Anitbiotics, cream or accutane. Of course I rather go with accutane, as I really enjoy the feeling of acne free. I am starting to get greedy now as I don't want any acne at all.... The antibiotics and cream never work for me before. This will be my 5th time on Accutane, and on 20mg daily this time or 40mg if I would like, for 2 months. I am not sure why my acne return, perhaps improper skin care? I really don't know. I am a strong believer that my diet has nothing much to do with my acne other than heredity. How do you guys take care your skin after an accutane treatment? I would like to hear and try it out. Again, I will be back to post more feedback when I finish my course either I am totally cure or not. I will keep trying until my acne mystery is solved.
It's sucks. I'm frustrated. At first I had hope, Accutane made my face the clearest it's been and went away on my face and was happy and thinking did I finally beat acne . Then last October started coming back, so went on medicine then was off. Then came COVID19, maskne is affecting my face. It's been worse it has since taking Accutane going for the wasted Prego test every month, appts.... so Now I'm on Minocycline, Dapsone gel, starting birth control pill but different one this end of this month to see how much it helps with hormonalacne. Willsee if that can clear up this time and am in my early 30's. Right now don't want to go through the extreme dryness, cracking, lips, rash on skin, when accutane was only a temp. fix for me like ae band-aid? before things got worse again after a few years. Unfortunately was in my genes, my mom got it when she was younger, my twin did and has scars. Not sure how my older sister was lucky with having it, and it went away on its own where I Can't seem to win the battle with it. You pay for specialists, when they can't even seem to solve the problem. By middle of next year may go to a new dermatologist all together for change to see if that's what it takes