Accutane (isotretinoin) - Reviews

I have always had terrible cystic acne growing up that started when I was around 9-10 years old. Over the years I tried every damn treatment you could think of but nothing would get rid of it, or even get it under control. The products I tried would all just clear it up a little bit, but not enough to really notice much of a difference. I had an extreme morning and evening regimen of vigorously washing my face and putting acne creams on. If I ever once forgot to wash my face or put the creams on, I would wake up with the worst breakouts of my life the next day. I absolutely could not forget or skip a day, ever. I took birth control for my acne, but it only helped a small amount. I always thought once I got out of highschool the acne would just go away eventually, but it never did. Finally at age 23 with a face full of zits, I thought, “This is it. This acne is never going away.” And I started looking into more drastic treatments. This is where the accutane came in. Let me tell you this was no walk in the park. I went through the hardest 6 months of my life while taking this stuff. It made my lips and skin soo unbearably dry. Describing it as uncomfortable would be an understatement. If I ever left my house without vasoline, I was absolutely screwed. My lips would get so dry that they would stick together and I couldn’t even get my mouth open. One time when they got stuck together, I forced them apart, and the skin from my bottom lip got pulled off and was stuck to my upper lip. It was bad, and nasty to be quite honest. I felt sooo tired all the time. I would sleep for 12 hours and wake up still feeling exhausted. I felt so fatigued. I am a full time college student, and school got extremely difficult while I was on this stuff. I just could not for the life me concentrate, and was always falling asleep in class. I couldn’t find time to get homework done and study because I was always so exhausted. I ended up failing TWO classes while I was taking this stuff. And I had never failed a class before in my life! I was also experiencing memory loss, which honestly freaked me out a bit. I was constantly forgetting things, leaving things at people’s houses, forgetting to do things, which is very unlike me. It also caused me to gain a ton of weight! Which was terribleeee. The weight gain was probably the worst part for me. I would literally go days without eating and STILL gain weight. I was always starving, but was always afraid to eat because I was blowing up like a balloon. I probably gained over 30 pounds during the 6 months I took this stuff. And then as soon as I stopped taking it, the weight fell off without me even having to try. 

However, despite all the terrible side effects, I still have to say I feel it was worth it. My acne was controlling my life, and I finally feel free now. I think what I like most is not having to do a full face of make up every time I leave the house. It feels like a true gift, because I always hated wearing make up. I no longer have to wash my face or put acne products on at all. It’s been about six months now since I stopped taking accutane, and all the side effects are gone. I’m back at my normal weight, and my skin is still completely clear. As others have mentioned, please be very aware of the side effects. If you can, try to take it during a time when you don’t have too much going on in your life. Also, you can pretty much expect to have no dating life whatsoever while taking this stuff, so be prepared to spend some time alone. 

This drug was amazing and cleared my skin on both occasions rapidly. Side effects are not fun but you do it because its only for 6 months and then its 'cured' (sigh). Not the case for me at all. On both occasions the acne came back after 6 months. I am now 26 and I now and my acne is as bad as it ever was and is clustering on completely new parts of my face. How much I wished that this was my cure and this nightmare would be something of the past.

This was the only acne product that worked for me. I was scared about all the supposed side-effects before taking it and especially stunted growth and depression. I ended up taking it for a year and my only side-effects were dry skin and lips that weren't really even that bad. I was on a low dose but took it for a longer time as my dermatologist had prescribed. Now afterwards I still have a pimple or two once in a while but by my standards I consider my skin clear :). For me getting rid of acne with accutane was one of the best things that has happened in my life and for me it was a miracle drug.  

I am so sad I waited so long to do this. It is life. Changing!  I had a pretty gnarly cystic acne going on. Not a single pimple now. Not. A. Single. Freaking. Pimple. Scars and redness is still there, but just started Retin a for that! 

I was on accutane for 2 months when I was supposed to be on it for five - totally stopped cause the pills rose my liver levels and I got scared, nonetheless, it cured my awful, thick, painful cystic acne. Heres photos along with a details on my journey 

ANYWAY,

Don't have insurance? You're screwed. ESPECIALLY if you're a female. Let me explain:

Woman, once a month we must have blood tests done. Before you can get the pills, you must have a blood test. Each blood test (at QUEST) is $580 without insurance, the pills themselves range in price depending on the pharmacy, I picked mine up at COSTCO and paid $450 for them. Now, both the$450 and $580 are needed once a month. Its very, very costly.

As for Accutane itself, the process is insane and VERY much full of headaches. You CANNOT get the pill right then in there, you cant get them next week, in the next two weeks and so on. You must take a very stupid online assessment, pray to a god that your doctor did the steps right in calling Accutane and adding you into the system (otherwise, you would need to wait 2 months to get the meds) and after a month, if everything is done well and you visit your doc ON THE EXACT date planned, you can get the meds. Do no travel if you are on accutane. If you miss an appointment, they will need to reschedule everything and you could have to wait 2 months for the meds.

Everything with accutane is a damn process, a long, expensive one, due to law suits or something.

Ive had appointments on a monday, rescheduled for a friday and was told accutane removed me from the system therefore i had to take a blood test on a specific date, wait certain days, take another blood test, wait a few days, go to the doctor, after 30 days go to the doctor again and if, again, the doctor did everything well on their part (ive been to several and many times they could add your name wrong ((slight mispell can affect everything)) your birth date wrong, etc - youre screwed and gotta wait another 30 days) i could then get the prescription. 

I took a generic called Amnesteem, and it is the only thing that worked for me.  For some background, I had acne starting at a very early age at about 10.   I think I was probably one of the only kids in my school at that age that had acne and everyone made sure to remind me of it.  For the next several years my acne got progressively worst although there were periods were it got better.   Then by 15, my acne became uncontrollable.  I still remember the very first cyst I had on the left side of my cheek.   For the next 11 years, well into adulthood, I struggled with cystic acne that took a toll on my life. While everyone else dated, I hid myself and every facet of my life took a hit.

By about 26, I had enough and finally started Accutane.  I hate to FIGHT my dermatologist in order to get on it.   Even though I had deep scarring, this dermatologist was resistant for god knows what reason.   My suggestion is that if your dermatologist is not receptive to your needs, drop them immediately.  DO NOT waste your time and let your skin get scarred.   I was on accutane for 5 months.  The first few months I took a moderate dose of 40 mg and I went through a pretty severe purging period where all the lesions came to the surface.   It seemed like it was failing.  By the 3rd month I upped it to 80mg and finally it started to work.  My cystic acne cleared and has remained mostly clear to this day.   

The fear mongering around this drug is ridiculous, and highly overblown.  I was scared for so long because of the all the horror stories online.  It's a serious drug, but do not let the overly dramatic accounts scare you.   This drug saved my life in many ways.  My only regret is that I took it way too late and I had the scars to show it.    Please, if you are starting to scar, do not wait.   

Hello, 

When I was 14 years old (slightly over a year ago) I was prescribed a six month course of isotretinoin by my dermo. It worked great while on it but I had EXTREME back pain to the point that I went to my General Practitioner to check if I had scoliosis. My Dermatologist was hesitant to prescribe so it took me about a year and a half to even start. Now a year later my acne is back and still considered moderate but VERY stubborn and nothing seems to work, so in my case I had clear skin for about a year and now my skin is horrid and my Dermo told me that my 'standards are just too high." I don't think it was worth the back pain and chapped lips. 

All I can say is, if you are on the fence about going on this medication, just try it. You never know how it might affect you until you try it for yourself. 

Don't let all the side effects scare you - trust me I was so scared when I first read about all the horrible things this medication can do to your body. 

I was an acne sufferer for roughly 8 years with no cure or resolution. I tried random creams from the store, antibiotics, retin-a/differin, cindamycin, aczone, weird antioxidant drinks, chemical peels, going dairy and gluten free, light therapy...literally everything you can think of, I tried it at some point with little to no success. I was so frustrated that I finally said, screw it, and went on accutane. Now, I told my doctor that I wanted a LOW dose of the medication (at least to start) just because I wanted to ease into it, and I didn't know how my body would react. 

I'm currently taking 20 mg a day, and I haven't been this proud of my skin since I was literally 10 years old. I can finally wash my face and not feel dozens of painful lumps...and I can finally go out in public without crying that people will make fun of me or judge me for my acne. In terms of side effects, I have had a relatively benign experience with the drug in all honesty, and I'm sure that a lot of it is because I'm on a low dose. All that I've noticed is that my lips get chapped easily, I have dry skin on my hands and arms, and I am ALWAYS thirsty. That's about it. I realize that because I'm on a lower dose that means I will have to take the drug for a longer amount of time in order to completely cure myself of acne, but honestly I am 100% fine with that if it means I don't get the horrible side effects. Literally the ONLY downside to this drug for me personally is the monthly blood draws, as I am TERRIFIED of needles and blood and all things related to needles and blood. But I told myself I would suck it up and do it, if it means I could finally have clear skin. 

Again, if you are on the fence about this drug, please just give it a try. If it ends up not agreeing with you, you can go off of it and then you can say that you tried it. It has changed my life (literally) and I am so glad I gave it a shot. I've only been on accutane for roughly 2 months, and I have already seen a massive difference in my skin. My friends and family compliment me all the time and say that my skin looks like it has made a complete 180. 

Do yourself a favor and just try it!!! More likely than not, it will help you tremendously and you will be glad you tried it. 

First off: I never imagined I would be writing a review on this forum, clear skinned. Over the past year or so I have spent a CouNTLess number of hours browsing through many different acne related blog posts and reviews. I don't want to make this too long but here goes.

I have had mild acne since I was 11 or 12. It started out as small bumps on my forehead, to large, cystic pimples that would scar my skin by the time I was 14/15. Over these years I have tried many, many different products because my mum, a long time acne sufferer, was extremely adamant. 

To date I have tries: Zineryt, Dalacin, Epiduo, Doxycyline, tretinion 0.05 and most importantly... accutane.

I live in Australia  so the process of acquiring this drug was unlike many reviews on this forum. My dermatologist prescribed me a 20mg dose every day, that i would take for a year! from what I've researched this is called a long term low dose?? Anyways.. this dose kept any side effects to a minimum. 

I am still on accutane, with around 3 months to go, but all my side effects have been extremely mild. I have gotten the ineveitbale dry lips and skin which is easily alleviated with Vaseline and cetaphil moisturiser. In addition to this, I have gotten the occasional nose bleed and have noticed a bit og back tenderness. I also never really had an 'initila breakut' per se. 

Over my course so far, the improvements in my skin occurred quite slowly so I can't quite say when, which month, I was completely clear. 

I just had my last appointment with my derm and he told me that there is a significant chance that my acne will come back over the duration of the next two years and this is what I am now anxious about. 

But even if it were to come back, I would still be extremely, extremely thankful for this drug. It has completely boosted my confidence and self esteem, so, yes, I will highly reccommned it- just be aware of the side effects and take preventative measures( using moisturizer and lip balm etc.) before you notice the full swing of the side effetcts. 

There is so much more information that I have and would love to share if anyone has questions. I would also love to hear if anyone else has been on a similar dose to mine, or, took accutane at this age. 

Take Care

18 year old male. Accutane start date 12/17/17  end date 8/17/17.

Okay so i'd like to tell my story here since when i was going through my rough times i had always looked on this page for advice and it really helped me a lot. Now that my acne has disappeared id like to give some insight to anyone else that may be struggling with extreme acne and is considering taking Accutane.

From about the age of 14 years old I had always had regular teenage acne that wasn't extreme or even much noticeable, but even at that time I wanted to get rid of it completely so my mother took me to my regular doctor, and she prescribed me some benzoyl peroxide and erythromycin. They worked at first but after a short while they slowly destroyed my skin after about 2 years of use. It was at this time where I started to try and look for my own treatments for my mild acne. I tried eating healthier and using silicic acid washes to try to keep it under control while spot treating with over the counter benzoyl peroxide. By 2018 I was not able to control it at all and it was getting out of hand. I had acne all over my shoulder’s arms face and back. As a person who is very confident in everything that I do, I felt as though this was holding me back and causing me to be way too self-conscious. That's when I listened to my Doctor and was put on minocycline antibiotics. I stayed on those antibiotics for a while knowing that as soon as I stopped using them my acne would come back way worse than it already was. Seeing that the antibiotics had only slowed my acne down the doctor also prescribed me some Retin- A cream. From all the reviews i believed that retin-a would somehow be the answer to my problems but instead of it getting better before it got worse it literally just ruined my skin and caused it to break out 10X harder for about 3 months. Thats when i said enough is enough because My acne had become extreme and was to the point where the sides of my face were purple from all the zits and the rest of my face was covered in small pimples. Even my back arms and shoulders were extremely bad too. This had a huge toll on my life and held me back from simply feeling good about myself. Sometimes i would even look in the mirror and be somewhat disgusted with myself, but one thing i did not do was give up.I had then learned from searching endlessly online that Accutane was a "cure" for acne. Hearing about all the side effects I was a little worried to use it, but I had no other choice because at this point my acne had become cystic and I was getting about 2 new huge zits every single day.   So, It took me about 4 months but i was able to hang on and finally  get an appointment with a dermatologist, and in our first meeting he recommended that I take Accutane right off the bat considering i had already tried everything possible. But my insurance would not cover it unless I had taken antibiotics for at least 6 months without stopping. I did not want to wait 6 months, so I decided to pay out of pocket for it. That right there was one of the best decisions of my life. Dealing with all the verifications and the tight regulations on Accutane was a hassle but I was finally prescribed 40mg twice a day of Myorisan.

In the first month I noticed that all the small acne on my face and body had disappeared, and I was happy that I didn't go through the breakout phase just yet despite all the back pain I was having and the extreme dryness all over my body and lips, also my eyes were very dry and my whole body was feeling rusty. What I did to combat those side effects was just drink a lot of water and make sure I always had a tube of Aquaphor (you will go through hell if you do not get a good ointment or cream for your lips) on me.

During my second and third month I just kept breaking out nonstop (this is what you would call the initial breakout), but even though it was hard and disheartening I knew that this phase would stop and that is what kept me going. During this time i got the hang of what i was supposed to do to make sure things didnt get worse. Whenever i would shower i would dry myself off then immediately put on lotion so that i do not feel like my skin was going to rip. For my body i used the regular aveeno daily body lotion. But, for my face i carefully chose a light non comedogenic lotion which was neutrogena hydro boost cream. These two lotions literally are what pulled me through my course (along with aquaphor for my lips of course). While on the course you need to make sure your face and body stay moisturized because accutane will completely stop your body from secreting oil.

During my fourth month is when I seen a big improvement, I noticed that the breakouts were slowing down, and my skin was looking the best it had looked since back when I was a kid. I was still breaking out and my derm had told me that the best way to make sure it does not come back was to keep taking it until I did not breakout at all for a good 3 weeks- 1 month. I had a couple breakouts a month up until my 7-8 month where i did not have any at all.

I continued up until my eighth month, and I was finally done with my treatment. My skin was great! finally after such a long time I found something that had helped me. After I stopped, my skin only started to get better, aside from the scarring left by the huge breakouts in the 2-4 months, my skin was healing. Now about 7 months post Accutane I could not be happier. Thankfully my scars have all faded and it’s a huge blessing. I do not breakout anymore aside from few tiny pimples here and there, and over all my skin looks even better than some friends of mine that have not had any acne before! =) Another quick thing that I hope does not discourage anyone that is seriously suffering from acne, is that some side effects of the medication still have not gone away. Such as having to put on lotion to prevent dryness after showers, my skin cannot handle the cold anymore (feels as though my bones and skin are freezing), and my face turns bright red whenever I feel the slightest bit of embarrassment, anger, or surprise, even though I am tan skinned, and I never had that problem before treatment. Other than that, if you are truly looking for a cure for your acne I 100% recommend Accutane because the side effects are worth it especially when you can finally get your confidence and self-esteem back! 10/10 PS: Whoever is reading this stay hopeful and try your best to also stay positive, I know that it can be hard but where there is a will there is also a way!!! btw Neutrogena hydro boost (cream) is a life saver use it in the morning and night on your face and you'll be good for the day. Alright that’s enough typing I’m out...... GOOD LUCKKK!!!

After reading these reviews, I am compelled to share some good/bad experience with Accutane.

Just like most people, my acne made me insecure for almost my whole childhood. I began to have acne when I was in 3rd grade until my sophomore year of high school. It got so bad my sophomore year I would cry almost every morning and put on loads of makeup. I was depressed by it and gained a lot of weight as well, which didn't help my skin. When my dermatologist said that Accutane was my last option, I said I wanted to take it. I know the side effects can be serious but all I experienced were bloody noses, dry lips, and some mood swings. As I was taking it, I was working out to loose the weight I had gained. So I sweat a lot, but my Accutane made me as dry as a cracker so after I worked out I never smelled or even sweated that much! I felt like I never needed to shower either! I did though, don't worry. I was on isotretinoin for about 8 months (the average time people take Accutane is 6 months) and I was on a very high dose (I don't remember how high because it was so long ago).  I believe I took cleravis (an off brand) because my insurance was being stupid. Then after a month I started taking Absorica, a really good brand of isotretinoin. Its been about 3 years now and my skin is still crystal clear. If you are struggling with acne, DO THIS. Be prepared to do a lot of work with IPledge and getting tested every month but it is a true gift from God. 10/10 recommend forever.