Hey you guys my name's Chris and I'm documenting my accutane experience. Hopefully this will be helpful to others planning on getting on this drug and about what you"ll experience. But this is mostly for me so I can vent out my feelings and move on. First of all let me tell you a little about my struggle with acne. I'm 18 years old and a freshman at UCSD. I've been struggling with acne since 7th grade although it was not nearly as severe. Eventually, I went to a dermatogist and he prescribed me a bunch of topicals that to my dismay had no effect. I lived with my acne for basically all the way up to junior year of high school and then it started to get pretty severe. After much research, I was led to this site and I tried Dan's Regimen. It worked wonders and completely cleared up my skin. Luckily for me this was right around my junior prom and I had a great prom. Unfortunately, after going on a plane they confiscated all of BP, cleanser, ect. and I was without my acne regimen. As soon as I got the money, I ordered my regimen supplies and they arrived but luckily for me my acne was very mild and that of a normal kid. I wasn't religious about Dan's regimen and stopped using it. Then disaster struck. I moved to San Francisco due to complications with my family and my acne flared up. For 6 months it got worse and worse and my Dad offered to take me to a dermatologist several times throughout this period, but due to my prior experience with a dermatologist, I kept putting it off. In this period I tried Dan;s regimen again, but my face had built up some type of BP resistance and my face would just turn red and my acne barely improved. I became frustrated with myself and lost self-esteem and I basically turned into a recluse. I started getting cystic acne and I succumbed to my Dad's request to go to a dermatologist. He put me on oral anti-biotics but they only had minimal effects. And now, after coming to San Diego for college, I visited and dermatologist and she put me on Accutane.
Well I"m sure if you read that huge chunk of text above, you're probably wondering what I look like. So here are some pictures:
I try to think positively about my acne, but as I"m sure you all know it's hard. I remember being a lifeguard and having children go up to me and saying, "Why do you have boo boos all over your face". It really kills my self-esteem. But oh well. No one said life is easy. However, acne has been a beneficial adversary in some respect. It makes me work harder because I feel like since I"m lacking in one area, I have to make it up in another. In high school I got a 4.4 GPA and throughout other aspects of my life I've made great achievements. (Oh by the way I'm starting this on my third day of accutane).
So two days ago I picked my Isotetrinoin. It was abrand called myorisan. As of now, I'm 175lbs 6 foot 1 and taking 40mg a day, but as I progress through the cycle my derm said she"ll up the dosage. Well from Day one and Day two I haven't noticed any improvement. I was very excited to start the drug and I'm actually looking forward to some of the side effects (like dryness of the skin, lips, ect. not liver failure and the bad ones). In day one I experienced some joint pain, but I"m not sure if it was just placebo effect. I also noticed my skin started breaking out more big frowny face 
(((. But, I also heard that this is completely normal. Additionally, I"m not sure if it's a good break out because so far my chin has got a bunch of little pimples with the ugly yellow puss heads. I think maybe accutane is pushing up all the oil out of my skin but it could just be an IB ( I hope for the best though). I pop the bigger ones with a sterilized needle because they're so ugly to look at ( I know I shoudn't). I try to avoid mirrrors though so I don't know what I look like. It makes me feel a little better 
and prevents m from popping/picking.
Additionally, I tried to talk about my acne with my room mate and a few of my suite mates for some reassurance since they're my closest friends here at UCSD now. It didn't turn out so well. They told me I could clear up my face if I just washed it more and didn't touch my face at all. I told them I already wash my face with a cleanser ( dan's cleanser) twice a day and anymore would irritate my face. I also told them I rarely touch my face at all maybe two to three times a day maybe because I have a random itch on my nose or something. I told them acne is mostly caused from genetics because you inherit a skin type more susceptible to acne. They acknowledged that statement but disagreed with me saying washing and not touching your face can clear you up. They were just ignorant. Although they did offer to let me use their cleansers, but I politely declined their over the counter neutrogena proucts saying I"ll stick with the accutane my derm prescribed me.
Well best of luck to everyone on the drug. I feel like this journey is going t be a tough one but I"m willing to stick it out util the end.
Good luck man! Don't ask for advice from people without acne. They know nothing! You will very likely have an initial breakout and it is going to suck hard because you live on campus. But who knows. Your skin is already pretty bad so you might not even notice. I looked like I had smallpox for 9 days!
Back again. Day 7 and I'm experiencing side effects! Wooh! I'm not quite as excited to be experiencing them anymore. I have dry skin and dry lips, not to mention an initial breakout. I've gotten a number of small pimples around my chin and lips. It kinda hurts to eat and smile. The redness all over my face has gone down much (I'm excited for that because to me the redness seemed like a bigger problem than the acne). I've been feeling like crap and have been a bit depressed but that is probably because i've had a rough day. While riding my bike to the Calc Lab my water bottle fell, got caught in the wheel, and caused the back tire off the ground and flipped the bike while I was on it. I went plunging into the cement. Right now I'm hurting all over and I plan to go to the doctor tomorrow to get my knee X-rayed. All in all today has been one hell of an experience.
