Hi! 23/f here!
I have been lurking on this site for months now and have gained so much insight into other people's experiences with tackling acne that I thought I would document my progress now I have been prescribed Oratane 20mg a day. I hope someone finds the information that I post useful! 
Bit of background:
Like alot of you here I struggled with the odd pimple as a teen. Looking back I dont believe it bothered me too much as I saw having acne as a process of growing up that everyone had to go through to some extent - plus a majority of teens went through some form of it in high school so I never felt weird about it.
When I entered college at 18 I was put on birthcontrol (diane 35ED) and cleared quite significantly however the pimples themselves changed. I never got the same little inflamed ones that plagued my forehead as a teen - when i got them they became big and deep and painful and could be anywhere from my cheeks, nose or chin. Again I wasnt too bothered by this as my face was clear enough I could handle a few cysts now and then. It carried on like this until I hit 23. Thats where my real problems started.
Seemingly out of nowhere I was plagued with very inflamed pimples on my cheeks and jawline. I had never in my life experienced such bad skin. Seriously - it went from very mild to moderate in the span of 3 weeks! I went crazy trying things to fix it and broke down emotionally trying. My self confidence has plummetted since and i still have not recovered fully. I still feel emotionally scarred by that breakout as I feel like my face is now a timebomb - the slightest wrong move could set it off!
Anyways I finally broke down and visited my GP. She prescribed me differin - my skin got worse. I know differin is suppose to take months to start working but I was emotionally drained. I didnt want to wait to maybe see results - i wanted someone professional to help. So within a month I returned and asked to see a dermatologist. She agreed and prescribed me minocycline in the meantime...so i continued with differin and took 100mg of mino everyday for three months until I got the appointment.
My skin had cleared dramatically on mino and differin - im not entirely sure which was more effective but I stopped breaking out after about a month or two of use. When I saw the derm I was keen to start getting off antibiotics. She told me to keep going and then start to taper off so I booked a 3 month check up.
By the time 3 months rolled around I hadnt broken out much but I had alot of clogged pores on my chin and still really oily skin. My derm gave me two options. More antibiotics and more agressive topicals...or Roaccutane. I was a little taken a back by that suggestion as my skin wasnt too bad..but the clogged pores were not responding to anything and having to blot my face every hour was getting me down as well. Also the thought of not having to worry about acne long term was nice. So I agreed.
Before anyone jumps down my throat about going on Roaccuatane with my now mild acne - yes I know the risks, yes I trust my derm. This is my decision, no one elses. I want normal skin.
So here I am now 7 days into treatment.
In terms on acne...nothing much has happened. Clogged pores are still the same.
Side effects are already starting though. I cant believe how quickly they started!!!
For the past two days my skin has a weird lumpy texture to it...I cant explain it. It doesnt look like pimples are coming up its just a bit bumpy..its so weird! My skin has also become sensitive - feels sensitive to the cetaphil products i have been using too so I have gotten pink and irritated in a few areas. My boyfriend told me today I looked sunburnt which sucked 
My skin is also more oily than its ever been! Its so oily I can barely cope! Im not sure whether this is a common side effect but I hope it goes away soon!
I also have dry eyes and have been feeling a bit tired - more than usual...dont know if its because I have had a big week though.
Anyways this post has been quite lenthy! I promise they wont all be this long.
I will try and do a post every week! From what I have read side effects change quickly so ill try and update on my progress as best I can!
Wish me luck! 
Week 2
This week has been toughhhhh. Not ony side effects wise but I caught the mother of all colds and had possibly the busiest week at work I've had this year. Fantastic timing! I also thought I was having heart palpitations at night so I guess ill monitor that although i think that would be stress/sickness related more than anything.
Anyways lets get into this weeks fun.
Skinwise...meh not much has happened. I havent broken out anywhere (touch wood) which is nice but clogged pores dont look different. That weird bumpiness to my skin has subsided thank god. I will say oil-wise i dies up like a raisin this week. That was a little weird. I have never had to deal with dry skin before so I'm a real newbie at hydration. I am using cetaphil gentle cleanser and lotion (switched to the cream) and the moisuriser looks greasy through the day so im tryig to find a good one thats a bit more matte. Also I will say my skin is weirdly shiny - especially with makeup. My regular makeup (clinique antiblemish) also seems way too drying now so im now stumped in that department too! This is a real learning curve this week.
I will say I dont look as lobster-y than I did last week but I still look slightly burnt in the face (yes Ive been using spf religiously - plus I dont see a lot of sun anyway worrking in an office) Im hoping the redness leaves to the point of feeling a bit more confident without makeup.
Other side effects
-dry eyes
-slightly sore back/legs every now and then but on days i take fish oil I dont notice it.
-dry lips - holy hell nothing moisturises them!!!
-dryer scalp that is starting to look a bit flaky
Apart from that its going ok. Just annoying side effects..will update again next week!
Week 3
Week 3 was smoother than week two. But it had its own problems nonetheless...
I will start off by saying that I had my dermotologist appointment at the start of the week. I let her know my side effects and the ones that were bothering me the most. These have been the redness (which comes and goes in intensity) and the dry eyes. My eyes were pretty red on a couple of days so I have been using eyedrops daily.
In terms of breakouts I still havent had anything to write home about. Skin texture looks a little better and I am not sure if I have had some black heads crop up on my nose and beside my nose or whether Im just overanalysing my skin now or whether they are getting pushed out so are more promenent? who knows! Annddd these "clogged pores" on my chin as still there...the bastards.
So my dermo gave me some options as she said she was planning on the 6month fast and furious course but if I am concerned about the side effects then it is possible to drop my dose.
Of course being wised up from this forum I questioned her about the length of the course if I dropped the dose as I know its a cumulative thing - she said if I went down to 10mg a day it could mean I could be on it for 2 years!! 
whaaaa..?
She explained many people prefer to do it that way as its gradual improvement but gentle side effects but said I have some room to play with my dose depending on how I want to approach the treatment and she will give me the go ahead to raise my dose if I wish once she sees my next blood test result. Anyway...Its given me a bit to think about.
I'm thinking if I dont see an improvement in how bleeping red my face gets (I know this is a fairly common side effect however I have read horror stories about people getting rosacea and my mum has it so It is a cause for concern in my eyes) and eye dryness by the end of next week (the first month) I might see what happens if I go down to 10mg the next month and go from there.
I dont know...if anyone has suggestions Im definately all ears!
Anyways until next time!
Week 4
Week 4 has been pretty cruisy. I'm noticing my skin seems to be getting used to the dryness and the new moisturizing routine as it doesnt feel as rough and parched anymore.
My face is pretty clear at the moment- no break outs! My only problem is my chin area, Its still bumpy *sigh* all I can say is the bumpyness looks better without the oil on my face.
Still having trouble getting makeup thats suitable to my skin as well. So far I have the MAC studio sculpt (which works pretty well) and have just bought the bourjuis healthy mix serum...so will see how that goes. I also dont mind the garnier bb cream for lighter coverage. Have been trialing the revlon photoready bb cream and thought it was ok...until I saw myself in more natural lighting and it looked horrible and dry.
In terms of side effects my face is not unbearably dry and neither are my lips this week for that matter (as long as I apply chapstick every hour haha)... however I did forget a chapstick when I was out for lunch one day and I realllllllllllly noticed the dryness then.
The redness though....its still the number 1 hated side effect. I decided today to try push through another month on 20mg but tonight for some reason my face looks like a beetroot (some nights are better than others) so Im beginning to reconsider. I so wanted accutane to make me confident in my own skin but it seems to be doing the opposite. The redness is horrible.
If anyone has any tips on this side effect I would much appreciate it!
Anyways until next time!
Ok so tonight my face was BEET RED after cleansing and the redness has not subsided after a few hours. VERY concerned about this ...was thinking today I would drop my dose but now im thinking of quitting altogether until this redness subsides and my skin goes back to normal. A little redness is fine for me but this is next level - like fires of mordor red - especially concerning on such a low dose.
This sucks.
that's really sad. is it a common side effect?
Hi freakingthefrackout
I have done a fair bit of research on it (on this forum and I also asked my dermatologist)
Some people do get it and refer to it as "tane burn" - that look of being sunburnt. My dermatologist didn't seem phased by it and said that some people do end up getting a bit red in the face but she couldn't tell me if it was an indicator of rosacea. To be honest though I think I worked myself up about it though! I tend to do that when I have been on these forums too much haha 
I did however decide to drop my dose to 20mg 3 times a week and see if I get improvement as I am pretty clear at the moment (apart from a couple of annoying clogged pores) so I figured id give it a go for a month.
I went on holidays with my boyfriend this week and didn't wear makeup and it was actually not bad! I noticed it would only get terrible after moisturising at night. I recently ordered the La Roche-Posay Effaclar H Multi-Compensating Soothing Moisturiser and gave it a whirl tonight and didn't go beet red(still pink but not terrible sunburn looking). I'm thinking my cetaphil moisturizing cream is to blame and was perhaps irritating my skin. Anyways I will carry on with the La Roche-Posay (have also been looking into the Paulas Choice Recovery range which looks good for redness) and my low dose and see if it keeps the redness at bay and my breakouts down.
Not giving up yet!
I am having a bit of redness too, definitely more than pre-accutane. I'm trying an ultra sensitive balm cleanser from lush tonight, hopefully will tone things down. And my lips, oh the pain, i cant cope with such extreme lip dryness.
Ooooh let me know how that goes! I just received the Paulas Choice Recovery range and will see how that goes but my redness has calmed down significantly in the past week so im feeling more positive.
Yes the lips are a pain in the butt! I was putting straight Vaseline on them for a while haha. The dryness has gone away a bit after dropping the dosage but still crack like crazy if I don't have lip balm on me throughout the day.
What is your dosage?
Week 6
So here I am at the end of week 6! Accutane has already been quite the up and down roller-coaster for me so will be interested to see what the next few months bring!
After my last post I decided that I would drop my dose to 20mg thrice a week (mon, wed and fri) to see if my concerning side effects (redness in face and dry, red eyes) would subside. I decided on this because *touch wood* but I seem to be one of the lucky ones as my skin has not broken out at all since I started and has continually improved. Its about 98% clear at the moment (some clogged pores and TINY pimples on my forehead) and my derm has given me room to play with dosage so I figured I would try and up it again after a month or 2 on this dosage (once bloodwork clears etc..)
So life as an ultra low doser has been pretty sweet for the moment. My eyes feel normal-ish again and my lips arnt burning to hell anymore and the beet redness has gone away for the most part. I did get pretty red on the weekend but I was at the beach and it may have been sunburn... Not 100% sure cause im pale as ghost and burn ridiculously easily anyway. Also my skin hasn't really started producing much oil again but it definitely feels less dry as well.
I guess the only thing im concerned about is the remission aspect of this journey if I stay on a low dose long term.
I might discuss this with my derm next time.
Anyways! Until the next entry!
Ps if im game enough - will post a pic soon