I'm in my 5th week of accutane, everyone's experiences are very different in their own ways but personally for me the first 3 weeks were insane! I can't comment on what's going to happen next but I'm sure I'm over the IB but saying that I've read people being clear at 3 months or it's completely different for others and they will get their IB then.

If you can wait until early next year I would as I can totally relate to what you mean when you talk about holidays and photos!

Plus if your going to a hot country on your holiday I wouldn't recommend it, your skin will be super sensitive to the sun

Hi - mine started about 35 days into my course, I believe. It wasn't an experience I'd want to go through again, but it certainly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (it was pretty bad, but it went away much more quickly than a breakout of that magnitude normally would). I'd say that if you are worried about holiday pictures and stuff like that, waiting until next year might not be the worst plan.

My IB experience wasn't fun but wasn't awful. I definitely never had my face breakout in 30 cystic pimples or anything. But I know my skin was pretty bad at the end of week 2, cleared up beautifully by the end of the first month (or around day 45 I guess), back to awful again at week 6-8 (this was my lowest point by far. I simply wasn't expecting it that late in the course, particularly after being clear at the end of month 1). But that was the turning point, as I've been largely clear since the end of month 2. On my 6th and final month now and skin is pretty much flawless (but really red, so I'm looking forward to not looking like a lobster all the time). I think waiting until after the holidays may be smart; I did something similar by waiting until after my college graduation to begin my course. But then dive in full steam ahead. New year, new skin!