I've had acne for about 6 years now and it's mostly stayed under control with antibiotics and topicals but my face has gotten permanently red over the years from all the products and my acne has gone from mostly inflammatory to non-inflammatory (even though I still get cysts from time to time). My current derm has me on Bactrim and no topicals at all right now but I've been on it a month and nothing has really changed except that I stopped getting cysts. Instead, I noticed that my face is now covered with closed comedones and tiny skin colored bumps everywhere. I also have extremely oily skin to where I can see the oil coming out of my pores within 10 minutes after washing. I'm going to a new derm this Thursday to ask if I can be put on a low dose of Accutane (hopefully 20mg because I'm only about 110 pounds). Right now, I'm just worried that she will refuse to prescribe it for me due to the fact that I don't look like I have really bad acne... but I've really tried every prescription product out there and nothing has helped. What do you think will help to convince her if she refuses?
Acne looks slightly better in these pictures than in real life... especially in the sun 
Similar boat my friend!!
In honesty, my acne is not that bad. I scar very easily so it looks worse than it is. I was prescribed it no problem because I too had tried everything else. I was also prescribed it because the psychological effects were very bad for me, which I stressed to the doctor.
Hi, I'm also similar to the both of you. My acne isn't severe, wearing makeup it doesn't look too bad however I suffer from small reoccuring cysts on my cheeks. I tried everything else creams, lotions and antibiotics, none worked so I was put on accutane, 20mg now I'm on 60mg. Accutane isn't work amazing miracles for me, been on for about 5months however I know that it sometimes takes longer for some people.
Besides the severity of the acne at the time of the visit, what other things do dermatologists consider about Accutane candidates? These things are towards the top of the list: how long you've had acne, how acne affects you psychologically, how many other treatments you've tried, and scarring,
I hope my skin looks at least as good as yours when I'm done with accutane! Mine is cystic and nodular and it never bothered me but I finally pulled the trigger on it because my face hurt too bad and it got to the point where I wouldn't want to take pictures with my girlfriend. Just decide if its really worth the risk and commitment! Best of luck!
accutane would be of great benefit to you. If your doctor refuses to prescribe it to you, then I would see another dermatologist. Alternatively, if you live in America you can very easily order it online (pm if you want sites). I would recommend starting the first two months on just 10 mg a day to minimize the your initial breakout especially since you aren't really using anything too strong at the moment and you have very oily skin (so accutane is probably going to bring a ton of stuff to the surface for you).
