Alright, this is coming from a 16 year old boy. I am very experienced with this sort of stuff. I've been on every single antibiotic you can name. At one point I had VERY severe acne. I took Accutane for five months and am now starting my second session after a relapse. I'm unsure of what you consider to be 'rough' skin. If you happen to mean extremely dry and cracked, painful, there are a few suggestions I can make. First of all, avoid over washing. I've made that mistake far too many times. It DOES NOT help. It merely irritates the skin further. Try to avoid picking at your acne, to state the obvious. Always use a moisturizer on your skin. I use Cetaphil for example. Never leave your skin unmoisturized. The accutane will dry out your face significantly. You will need to apply lotion vigorously. Now, accutane did clear up my acne wonderfully. And the dryness subsides a bit, but will never go away totally. I still have to lather my entire face in lotion every time I wash it. So that covered dryness. PS Vaseline can work wonders on scabby healing zits. Do not under any circumstances put Vaseline on active zits or on clear skin, as it can cause a breakout. I use Vaseline on my lips. Chapstick will not do shit for your lips on accutane. Now back to rough skin. If you mean scarred and indented, there is not too much hope. I for one have not tried any scar removers due to the fact that my acne has not yet vanished by any means. I fear that scar removers would only do more damage. It seems that only time can heal some things. And some things you may just have to live with. Bottom line: do not let acne control your life. It does not define you. At times I felt like I was disgusting and meaningless and wante to end everything. But don't give up, cause there really is hope. Acne doesn't make your loved ones love you any less, despite what you think. Have a positive attitude and live you life to the fullest. I have accepted that acne is a part of my life, but I try not to let it hold me back. It's terribly hard but I manage. Hope this helped a bit.

Alright, this is coming from a 16 year old boy. I am very experienced with this sort of stuff. I've been on every single antibiotic you can name. At one point I had VERY severe acne. I took Accutane for five months and am now starting my second session after a relapse. I'm unsure of what you consider to be 'rough' skin. If you happen to mean extremely dry and cracked, painful, there are a few suggestions I can make. First of all, avoid over washing. I've made that mistake far too many times. It DOES NOT help. It merely irritates the skin further. Try to avoid picking at your acne, to state the obvious. Always use a moisturizer on your skin. I use Cetaphil for example. Never leave your skin unmoisturized. The accutane will dry out your face significantly. You will need to apply lotion vigorously. Now, accutane did clear up my acne wonderfully. And the dryness subsides a bit, but will never go away totally. I still have to lather my entire face in lotion every time I wash it. So that covered dryness. PS Vaseline can work wonders on scabby healing zits. Do not under any circumstances put Vaseline on active zits or on clear skin, as it can cause a breakout. I use Vaseline on my lips. Chapstick will not do shit for your lips on accutane. Now back to rough skin. If you mean scarred and indented, there is not too much hope. I for one have not tried any scar removers due to the fact that my acne has not yet vanished by any means. I fear that scar removers would only do more damage. It seems that only time can heal some things. And some things you may just have to live with. Bottom line: do not let acne control your life. It does not define you. At times I felt like I was disgusting and meaningless and wante to end everything. But don't give up, cause there really is hope. Acne doesn't make your loved ones love you any less, despite what you think. Have a positive attitude and live you life to the fullest. I have accepted that acne is a part of my life, but I try not to let it hold me back. It's terribly hard but I manage. Hope this helped a bit.

@WMan: Hey thanks for the reply!!! awesome feedback!! exactly what i was looking for!! and yes, the rough skin is only around a scar i got from hockey. Oh an by the way!! is accutane worth it? on tuesday, the dermatologist gave me the option to use it. im going back in a few days to let him know whether i want to try it or not. is it worth it? should i try it? please reply man!!!

Okay. For me, accutane was worth it indefinitely. I had it badddd. I couldn't even use a pillow without extreme pain. I needed it. I would not recommend any topicals. If you don't think your acne is to severe, try getting minocycline. It did work okay for me. I would have jumped for joy at an earlier offer to go on accutane. It really is a miracle worker. Just be prepared...it never goes away. But dry skin is better than acne, I can argue that. Other than the dryness, I had no other side effects. Well...jaw locking for awhile and bad lips. But it's all okay. Compared to where I was a year ago, wow. I don't know how I lived actually. Go on accutane dude. In my opinion, anything is better than acne.

@WMan: Thanks! My dermatologist appointment is tomorrow i cant wait!

I am a 28 year old male who was battling acne since the age of 15. I started Accutane over a year ago. I have actually been off of the drug for nearly 6 months. I will give you my 100% honest opinion about my experience. Remember, drugs will affect everyone differently.

Within a week I completely quit having breakouts. Week two I had no more oil on my skin AT ALL. This stuff will dry you out like you would not believe. You will want to have a lot of water based creams and something for your lips. I also had to purchase some saline gel nasal spray to help with the nose bleeds.

The side effects for me were a walk in the park. Some mild headaches and joint pain the first two weeks. After that it was just very dry skin. My oil production has now returned but I would say it's about 25% of what it use to be. I had extremely oily skin before.

Since I stopped using the Accutane I have had maybe 3 little white head bumps on my face from shaving. That is it. It's all gone and I don't see any signs of it coming back, YET.

It may come back sometime down the road but as of right now my skin is in better shape than my friends who have never even had acne. No more black heads, cysts, or pimples.

You will see a lot of people who talk very badly of this drug and some who do not. For me it was an experience I wish I would have gone through a long time ago. It's the best decision I have ever made in my life. I don't have to use medicated cleansers or even wash my face with anything except pure water.

Good luck!

@Chaseap01 Thank you! Do you know the success rate of accutane? If not, does it work for everyone? maybe not the first time they use it, but does it eventually work for everyone???

I am not sure of the exact success rate but I have heard several different answers. I have read online that there is an 80% chance it will never return. 20% chance you will need a second course. My derm told me that she has been prescribing Accutane for 15 years and it has completely cured everyone she has ever given it to. I guess it just depends on how your body responds to it.

Thank You!! Helps A lot!