Well today is the first day of accutane for me. I will be starting at 40mg a day. I have tried everything including tetracycline, tazorac, even b5. However I do not have cystic acne, only moderate acne which is scarring really bad and the worst case of blackheads ever. The blackheads are what I am really after but I have extremely deep, large, and oily pores, the kind where an hour after washing you see beads of oil. So the fight begins.
i just started accutane about 2 weeks ago..almost. well i take 30 mg 2x a day....i have pretty much the same. i have probably like moderate/severe acne, but they freaken scar so bad. i havent had an initial breakout yet. KNOCK ON WOOD!! but just some bad lip chapping and my nose seems dry which is weird. but yah anyways...i am actually starting to see my skin clear up. like normally i have like 2 - 5 big pimples at a time and right now i think 1 like medium sized one. and i am just getting some random white heads, so maybe this is the begining of the break out i dunno. but good luck and keep me posted on your progress!! im there with you
Hey thanks for all the advice and help, well day 6 update:
No initial breakout only a few new pimples. Skin is starting to be less oily, even less than when I was on B5. No real dry skin yet and I'm not moisturizing, but I plan to within the next week, just need to decide on a brand. Lips are dry but I'm pretty used to that from B5, no matter what amount of chapstick I use 5 mins later its completly gone. Girlfriends not so hot on this one lol. Well more to come...
Day 10:
Skin still oily but also dry, fun stuff, I moisturize but I still have this fear it will clog my pores and make things worse. But omg were my lips craked and bleeding today, threw out the chapstick and got some carmex which is a million times better and tingley lol. Had 5 beers but did so at 8 and I'm taking my medicine now at 1 so it is well out of me. Wow does accutane make u a lightweight. Just a warning if u drink take it easy till u know ur limits cause 5 seriously felt like 8 or 9. And in these 10 days I've gotten 3 pimples which were all medium size but were by my hairline and jaw so they werent even hardly noticably, no more on my cheeks yes! Well I'm out.
So what are people's opinions on taking accutane if you have very mild acne? Can the flare up turn it into severe acne and leave you with worse skin? Honest opinions please.
very mild acnes, then u should shy other products. I mean its hard to have just 1 or 2 pimples but going on accutane with mild acnes is not worth the risk !!
So what are people's opinions on taking accutane if you have very mild acne? Can the flare up turn it into severe acne and leave you with worse skin? Honest opinions please.
very mild acnes, then u should shy other products. I mean its hard to have just 1 or 2 pimples but going on accutane with mild acnes is not worth the risk !!
its defintally not worth the risk. there are plenty of things out there for mild acne that work well im sure.
anywayz.
fallinapart-
i just started accutane yesterday. im also on 40mg once a day.
so in about a week i should be expecting some dry skin & lips? that is when yours started happening
my face kind of feels dry right now.. but i only took 1 so it must be the cold or something.
hey, goodluck with your battle against blackheads. Accutane (I'm in my 6th week) did wonders for my blackheads. I had a few, maybe a half dozen which had lingered for years on my face, by week 4 all were gone. It is odd watching them push themselves out. Avoid the urge to squeeze them out yourself, your skin, especially face, will bruise very easily on Tane.
So what are people's opinions on taking accutane if you have very mild acne? Can the flare up turn it into severe acne and leave you with worse skin? Honest opinions please.
very mild acnes, then u should shy other products. I mean its hard to have just 1 or 2 pimples but going on accutane with mild acnes is not worth the risk !!
its defintally not worth the risk. there are plenty of things out there for mild acne that work well im sure.
anywayz.
fallinapart-
i just started accutane yesterday. im also on 40mg once a day.
so in about a week i should be expecting some dry skin & lips? that is when yours started happening
my face kind of feels dry right now.. but i only took 1 so it must be the cold or something.
im on 60mg/day and dry skin didnt kick in til 1 week later but the initial breakout started the next day for me !!
So what are people's opinions on taking accutane if you have very mild acne? Can the flare up turn it into severe acne and leave you with worse skin? Honest opinions please.
very mild acnes, then u should shy other products. I mean its hard to have just 1 or 2 pimples but going on accutane with mild acnes is not worth the risk !!
its defintally not worth the risk. there are plenty of things out there for mild acne that work well im sure.
anywayz.
fallinapart-
i just started accutane yesterday. im also on 40mg once a day.
so in about a week i should be expecting some dry skin & lips? that is when yours started happening
my face kind of feels dry right now.. but i only took 1 so it must be the cold or something.
im on 60mg/day and dry skin didnt kick in til 1 week later but the initial breakout started the next day for me !!
ah yah. my skin isnt dry at all at the momment. but ive noticed im breaking out quiet a bit. & also i had a very mild headache yesterday that lasted all day. but now that i slept its gone. but im thinking its going to come back after i take my next pill today.
So day 16 update yea im bad at this,
so face is no longer shiny but still a little oil left. honestly a 300% improvement and when my dose gets upped it'll all be good. Blackheads are less visable already but still there but im honestly so happy that if this is at good as it gets i am satisfied. Uhh overall acne down ive honestly had less than 10 pimples since start and all have been in weird places where i normally dont get acne. body acne still moderate but i could care less. Overall my skin looks healthier and brighter, i dunno how to describe it, not crappy like before i guess. Red marks also look better. So far A+, only side effects chapped lips, got carmex, and bad back pain but only when i lift stuff or bend over for long periods of time. But definetly worth it. Stay tuned almost time for bloodwork again, *sigh*
So day 16 update yea im bad at this,
so face is no longer shiny but still a little oil left. honestly a 300% improvement and when my dose gets upped it'll all be good. Blackheads are less visable already but still there but im honestly so happy that if this is at good as it gets i am satisfied. Uhh overall acne down ive honestly had less than 10 pimples since start and all have been in weird places where i normally dont get acne. body acne still moderate but i could care less. Overall my skin looks healthier and brighter, i dunno how to describe it, not crappy like before i guess. Red marks also look better. So far A+, only side effects chapped lips, got carmex, and bad back pain but only when i lift stuff or bend over for long periods of time. But definetly worth it. Stay tuned almost time for bloodwork again, *sigh*
glad to hear ur doing better. ive never had any blackheads prior to tane, but the during the first week my nose exploded with them. i had like 7529875823 on my nose. a month later they were completely gone 
im on day 8 & I noticed that my blackheads on my nose are turning blacker & sticking out more :S weird.
Day 18:
Holy sh*t is my face lookin bad. Only a few pimples but everything is coming to the surface. My blackheads that I've always had are big, black, and stickin out just like yours. So today I looked in one of the 10x magnification mirrors, never doin that again lol. Anyways there are little tiny blackheads coming out of no joke half the pores on my face, but theyre not visable unless ur an inch away. So I guess this is my pores clearing themselves out, nasty. Anyone know how long this will last? But to whoever posted earlier about them comin out thank you cause I never would have expected this. And I'm the weekend drinker type but I'm givin it up because I took my pill and got wasted a few hours later and the next day my face was visably oilier, not worth it if you ask me. Well good luck to everyone else on tane and thanks.
Day 29 woot woot!
Well went and saw the derm today and he raised my dose from 40 to 80. I was really surprised that he just skipped a month of 60mg but oh well he's the one who knows. Uhhm my acne is allright, no active pimples at the moment, but I have like bumps I guess where crap is comin up. Like the skin isn't smooth, its really weird. Also the last few days Ive been battling a dry skin red rash, its almost gone but I'm afraid the double dose will only make things much worse. My derm said this rash was normal and I have only more to look forward too, hooray! After one month all small blackheads are gone and the only one's left are on my nose, under my eyes, and on my chin. And these are the large ones, like huge. Any normal blackhead is gone now and the one's I have left are disappearing fast and will hopefully be gone in a week or two. Ahh the joys of tane
Day like 39 or somethin,
So accutane is going good my blackheads are almost all gone but I am left with some big nasty pores and lotsa scars but hey whatcha goona do sure beats blackheads and acne.
But the side effects are making this a living hell, I came across this list of common side effects.
Chapped lips (90%), Yes, mangable
Dry skin and itching (80%) Yes, I moisturize like 5 times a day but only on my cheeks, weird, i actually only use soap on my face at night and in the morning only on my nose and under my eyes otherwise there is hell to pay.
Dryness of nose, mild nosebleed (80%), No, like its bloody up there but no bleed, no dry nose
Irritation of the eyelids and eyes (40%), Yes I just blink and twitch out
Joint and muscle pains (15%), YES, I deliver furniture=no fun back hurts 12 hours later
Temporary hair thinning (10%), So thick who knows
Rash (7%), Had it on my face but now on my arms, it sucks bad
Intestinal symptoms (5%), Urinary symptoms (5%), Headache (5%), Increased sensitivity to sun (5%), Decreased night vision (<1%), Depression, thoughts of suicide (<1%) And none of these thank God
So this body rash is really bad on my arms I hope it wont scar but everywhere it was is really red still so if anyone has had similar experience I'd appreciate it if you let me know, thanks
\So this body rash is really bad on my arms I hope it wont scar but everywhere it was is really red still so if anyone has had similar experience I'd appreciate it if you let me know, thanks
i got a mosquito bite on my arm and since i was so dry it never really healed, just skin flaked off everyday. now its a big white rash and im tan so it looks really wierd.
Day 57? i lost count...but just had month two check up
Weel the subject of this thread was about blackheads and they are history now.
However my acne is worse (not good) but my scarring is red and visable which is good. But my derm was not impressed with my improvement so far so i am now taking 120mg a day. Yeah these next few months are goona suck. Anyways my arms and neck are broke out terribly with exema. Like horribly, all my derm suggested was to use vaseline to moisturize at night, but unknown to him my brother has a perscription cream for exema so i will be using that too. Right now my rating is that accutane is a living hell, and i better look hella good after this lol.
Day 57? i lost count...but just had month two check up
Weel the subject of this thread was about blackheads and they are history now.
However my acne is worse (not good) but my scarring is red and visable which is good. But my derm was not impressed with my improvement so far so i am now taking 120mg a day. Yeah these next few months are goona suck. Anyways my arms and neck are broke out terribly with exema. Like horribly, all my derm suggested was to use vaseline to moisturize at night, but unknown to him my brother has a perscription cream for exema so i will be using that too. Right now my rating is that accutane is a living hell, and i better look hella good after this lol.
yeah, my skin looks like crap now. i'm like...in the 3rd week though. accutane stinks ass right now... 
Well im too dumb to count days but i just had my 3 month check up:
my face is bad, im on 120mg a day and im still breakin out, like just a lot of white heads and a few pimples but right on my cheeks, of all places. So Im now using a stronger moisturizer, eh aveeno or somethin like that and my skin isnt more visably moist but it is less red now. So my doctor just upped my dose to 160mg a day, has anybody else ever taken this high of a dose? Oh and at my 2 month check up my triglicerids were 285 on 80mg a day, so my dose went up to 120mg a day and i gave up all fast food and now my triglicerides are 137. Wow i guess supersize me was for real, mcds and jack in the box are sooo bad for u.
Well here is the last post I may ever make in this forum.
Because I am acne free
after four months of accutane, one of 80, one of 120, and two of 160mg a day
It has now been four months or so since I began my treatment and I have no acne and have had one pimple since I stopped treatment. And it was by my lips most likely caused by chapstick. Accutane has made me acne free. As for the black heads. I am now able to let my girlfriend(thanks accutane!) be as close to me as she wants with out me being self concious. I get comments all the time on how amazing my complexion is, and i began as a pretty bad looking guy. When I began I had the worst blackheads I've ever seen. Huge and deep across my nose, under my eyes, on my forehead, and my chin. And I know most guys have blackheads but mine were nearly unbelievable. I feel funny typing about them as they are history and I barely remember them. If I wasn't such a sweaty oily man I am sure I would have no blackheads. But even with the massive amounts of oil my face produces I have only 8 or so. They are in the part of my nose where the nostril meets up with the bone where almost everyone has them. But they are so small that you must pull the skin to even see them. They are minature!!! My face is amazing now, accutane also greatly helped with scarring and shrunk the size of my pores.
Final word=accutane is the ultimate blackhead and acne killer, I am completely clear and it really has changed my life by giving me more self confidence and bringing me out of depression. While you are on it it is a living hell. Worst ever my face was red and my lips were so chapped I laugh thinking back on it. Treatment sucks but the permanent effects are worth it. There is hope out there. Tough out the side effects because you will be thankful you did.
Goodbye acne.org I don't need this place anymore!
I've been on Accutane for about 3 weeks now and it seems like my blackheads are slowly pushing themselves out. Is that how it happened to you? I'm tempted to go buy some of those Biore pore strips and just yank all of them out at once. But since we're not supposed to wax while on tane I'm sure that would be a bad idea...