I have been taking Roaccutane for 3 months now and it has certainly helped my acne significantly - mine is hormonally related (started in my 30's after coming off the pill) and can give nasty cysts on my neck and jaw area but I have had none since starting. I am in my mid 40's (female) and also have low progesterone - handled with non-synthetic progesterone and hypothyroidism treated with Novothyral . Each work brilliantly in their own right. However, I have, since starting Roaccutane. gained 4 - 5 kilos (already) - this is probably down to the fact that my digestive system does not seem to be working very well (pellet like stool and not very regular). However, this frustrates me. I am doing as much exercise (and the same type) as before I started. I follow a pretty strict food regime because of my slow metabolism (5/2 or 4/3 - more the latter) although on my days off, i do enjoya little wine (is this the culprit?). Can someone please advise whether this is normal? I don't want to hear that I am 'eating more', 'eating the wrong things', doing less exercise - as this is not the case. Nothing in my diet or regime has changed and I was happily around 65 kgs for years (I am 1.75) Weight gain is not stipulated anywhere as a side-effect.....but it certainly is and should be. I just hope when I've finished my 5 month course that I will not be 10 kgs heavier!! - then I'm really not sure it's worth taking the Roaccutane, as my skin was only moderately bad when I started. Any tips on what to do?

I have just finished my 5 months of Accutane and feel I owe it to acne sufferers everywhere and Acne.org to say that please, just give Accutane a go. I have never been more confident in myself as Accutane has drastically cleared up my skin to the point it is absolutely unnoticeable i even had acne. I am back to being me again, and i know you can feel the same. The worst that could happen would be that you don't like the side effects enough to stop taking the medication. For me it's a life changing medication with only positive results. Please don't listen to people talking badly of the drug as if your acne has you feeling low, it is a miracle cure. And remember no one looks at you the way you do. People see the bigger picture - not just your skin. Sure they will notice you have acne, but anyone who has not suffered themselves would not see it as disgusting, they will see a bit of redness. And the people who have suffered will only sympathize with your situation. And i mean this in the nicest possible way but no one cares about your apperance - they care about theirs much like you only care about your own. So smile, live through it, and trust me. Try accutane. All the best, Ben

I went on Accutane about a year ago and I had moderate to severe acne before starting my treatment. I also had moderate acne on my back chest and shoulders. I took a generic isotretinoin capsule once a day of I think 400 mg (maybe I can't really remember) for 6 months. It was quite a pain to start, I'm female and my doctor required I take birth control during the entire course of treatment even though I was abstinent the entire time. I had to get a hormone implant called nexplanon a month before I could start the treatment and since I might have to have my wisdom teeth out while I was taking it I had to do that too before I could start. But after all that it did work really well, my acne was completely gone by the time I finished the 6 months. My skin was very dry and I did have a few side effects, I had dry skin, nose and eyes for almost the entire 6 months plus a few months after I stopped taking it. I did not have any severe side effects and had no complications. Now almost a year after taking the drug, I still get pimples occationally but it's very mild, I still have some minimal scarring from before I took the drug but to my knowledge it was not supposed to fix that at all just prevent any further scarring. The acne on my shoulders, chest and back is completely gone and has not come back at all. I would recommend this drug, even though it was a bit of a hassle to start and had some scary possible side effects, my acne is almost completely gone and I'm very happy with my skin. I wish you luck if you have acne!

I was so excited to try this after 30 years with acne. I've never had any side effect to any medication and never been on antidepressants or had mental health issues. From the reviews I read I got the impression most people were fine on it, that the main problem was that it might not work, and that a few people who had bad effects had caused it to be prescribed more carefully than was maybe helpful for acne sufferers. I was started on only 20mg and told that would be put up to 40 and 60. By about day 2 I noticed my thoughts were harder to stop than normal, eg I would find it hard to switch off at night, and I woke up from vivid dreams (thoughts still persistently going on in the background) and found it hard to get back to sleep. I had read about this from other reviews who just persisted with treatment so thought that was to be expected and carried on. After about a week I had hardly any dryness on that dose but could tell that my skin was becoming less acne prone - it just felt un-itchy and after suffering from acne for as long as I have I can generally feel when my skin is in a state where I'm liable to break out or not, and the isotretinoin was obviously doing its job, but I kept bursting into tears. By day 9, my skin was clear, but I was in hell. I could only see the bad things about my life, which were blown out of all proportion to a psychotic degree, I was constantly crying, there was no hope, I didn't see anything positive in life or feel the same about my family, and the back of my brain felt like it was coated with tar. I was missing sleep and had lost my appetite. The thought of raising the dose even higher and being on it for months more was unthinkable. There seemed to be no guarantees that this mental change would not be permanent to some degree (I could find studies that showed depression and brain changes after taking it, but none that showed the depression and brain changes as having then gone away after say a few months of stopping treatment, which I would have expected the drug companies might do if it was possible) and the two people I know who have taken accutane don't get spots but are miserable - one is constantly having headaches and is just generally unhealthy and the other is depressed. So I stopped and thankfully the stuff is out of my system (6 weeks ago). I guess we're all different and you can't tell what your response will be.

I hope my review will be helpful to anyone. So I have been on 30 mg per day dose, which is the minimal dose for my weight, I am 58 kg, it makes about 0.5mg/kg. I have stubborn acne on my jaw that would never leave no matter what I tried. I have been on isotretinoin for 1 months- I have lots of break outs, since the begining of treatment, the whole month, it is very depressing. I am trying to stay positive and patient, but I didnt have a break from increased zits since I started the drug. If it is an IB, how long does it usually lasts?

Took it for 6months left with indented scarrings. I never get scars before accutane no matter how big my zit was wether i pop it or not, it never left a scar. But every pimple i got during my course left dents. I don't know if i'm gonna keep getting them but accutane is my biggest regret. I should've tried other options. If you're planning to go on accutane, pls don't risk it. You may or may not get the results you want. You can't be sure. I'm having a lot of gas and constipation as well.

There is a higher ratio of people leaving negative reviews on accutane than positive reviews because many people who reaped the benefits don't come back to write " it worked for me" , but here I am to say " IT WORKED". My dermatologist had been encouraging me to take accutane for years now but I was scared from reading all the negative reviews ,so I resorted to natural methods ( which did not work to the magnitude I desired). After finally giving up, I gave it a shot and luckily for me I experienced the common side-effects which go away after discontinuing the drug. I was 19 years old when I took the drug, female, 5'4, weighed around 120 ( for the people who care about stats). Did not take birth control because I didn't want any extra drugs circulating my system especially when accutane is a strong drug on its own. Avoiding pregnancy was not an issue for me so my doctor was lenient about this. I took Accutane - 30 mg for the first two month. Epuris- 40 mg for the other 4 months. I started in May 2015 and ended in November 2015. The type of acne I had was related to unbalanced hormones, stress, poor diet- all factors which I had a hard time fixing due to being a full time university student. Stress and poor diet was unavoidable in my case no matter how hard I tried. Problematic areas for me were my cheeks and sometimes forehead, it was not flaming red acne all over my face. I was still able to cover it up with makeup but vanity was not my reason to take it. It was very painful, I would get cysts on my cheeks and back ( had been suffering from bacne for 6 years now). During the first month, I felt the common side effects of dry lips, dry skin, aching back. The most problematic side effect for me was the back aches and the knees cracking so I asked my doctor to switch me to another brand Epuris which alleviated some of the back pain. For the remainder of the treatment, the dryness was my pressing issue. No matter how much lip balm I used , they always felt chapped and dry. My skin was very dry so I constantly moisturized with Ponds. I also had a very dry scalp causing me to have dandruff but that quickly went away when I started using mustard oil before shampooing almost 3 times a week. The mustard oil REALLY HELPED keep the scalp dryness at bay. Most days I wouldnt have aches but few days I would experience bach aches. I was also very keen on applying sunscreen twice a day, your skin becomes very sensitive. In terms of grooming, I stopped waxing my face, eyebrows, stopped laser and electrolysis treatments for a year total. Threading was the best way to go. If you opt for this, please let your person know so they can be slow and careful with your skin. My acne started disappearing right away when I started taking away with a flare up during the 4 month. It wasn't a severe flare up , a few pimple on the lower right side of my cheek but at that point it felt like alot because I had gotten used to my new skin. The flare up cleared in a week and a half. Ever since I have been clear and only get a few small pimples here and there, those are usually related to poor skin care, like leaving my makeup on overnight. After discontinuing the treatment, my dryness subsided in about 2 months. 2 months post-accutane my lips were back to normal. My skin and scalp were not too dry but wasn't oily either, I'd like to say normal. The back aches still occurred after stopping the treatments but completely stopped after about 6 months. I am clear and pain-free now. For me it worked really well with side effects that were tolerable and went away after stopping the treatment. I would do it again if I had to ( hopefully I don't have to). If you are able to stick through the side effects, then it will be worth it. At the same time, I want everyone to understand your body chemistry will be different than mine so the severity and types of side effects may be different. I had a positive experience which is why I wanted to share mine with you accutane hopefuls out there. Good luck !

Well where can I start? I had acne since I was about 14 and it lasted me all through high school (fun). I am now 20. I was so embarrassed because it was getting so bad it got to the point where I started getting some cystic pimples!. Finally, I visited my dermatologist in 2014, who helped clear my acne with topicals but the acne returned, and she immediately suggested Accutane because she knew how long I struggled and how much the antibiotics and topicals weren't working. All I can say is that 6 months on Accutane was soo worth it because my skin was soooooo clear I got so many compliments and people were asking me what I been using!. I could eat what I wanted and not worry about getting terrible pimples. I did have to stop after one month because my liver couldn't take the drug I guess it was too strong at first, but after going on a healthy high-fat diet of eating salmon, avocado, etc. My liver was fine and I got back on Accutane. Also, I did notice my hair was falling out a lot more and got thinner :( but having clear skin is totally worth it Lol. These were the only bad side effects I experienced tbh. 2 years later and my skin is stillll clear and going strong! I am so happy! I have this confidence now that I never had before tbh. I realized that I shouldn't care what people think even if my acne does return. Now I only get like tiny pimples once a month if I eat too unhealthy or because of my period, which I don't mind. If you are scared of going on Accutane and are reading through reviews and watching videos before you take the plunge please take my advice and go for it!! I survived and so will you!. You have nothing to lose even if it does not work for you. THANK YOU ACCUTANE, I LOVE YOU! <3 LOL Btw, I was on 40mg once a day for 6 months

I have just finished my first month on accutane. The symptoms I have had include: fatigue (like seriously exhausted ALL the time!!), some nausea, a little grouchy (due to fatigue I think), dry lips, dry nose, dry skin, random rashes that pop up and go away overnight after moisturising, sensitivity to the sun, dry scalp, little head aches here and there, a bit of an achy body and if I don't drink enough water my chest hurts due to dehydration. But all of these effects are so small. I travelled to London from Australia on this drug and got a blood nose, not sure if from the plane or the drug, probably the drug lol. But my skin is amazing!!!!!!!! I had an initial break out that was 2 giant pimples and after that my skin just got clearer and clearer. I've only been on the drug a month and I've gone from 30 pimples to 2. I still have redness and scarring but I am feeling positive in time they will go also. If you are unsure whether or not to go on this drug, just do it! I didn't want to take it because I was scared off from everyone's negativity towards it, but really the positives outweigh the negatives. It is a very strong drug-yes, but you are only on it for 3-6 months and then you are free from acne!! 3-6 months of dry skin and feeling weird with an end result of clear skin is much better then never ending depression because of acne. Take the risk, take accutane, but listen to your body, if the drug is too strong for you-stop. but give it a go I'm telling you it works! xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi, I've just started on Accutane in April I started my first month on 20mg and now I've got up too 40mg not really seen much of a difference if anything my skin has more spots and bumps under my skin :( and I'm suffering from dry lips and inside of my nose is dry too. I hope I see an improvement in my skin after these 6 months and the spots that have came out now will they stay till the end because I can't take any more bumps on my skin? I've been using clinque anti blemish moisturiser it's brill for the dry patches and cetaphil cleanser as its gentle on my face and so my skin doesn't flake too much and blistex for my lips it really does help.. If there is anymore tips to help me along this Accutane journey please let me know. And another question I take my tablets at ten clock every night but sometimes I'm ten or 15 minutes late taking them but I read you have to take them on time will it affect my treatment if I'm late by 15 minutes. Many thanks Melissa