When I first decided to go see a dermatologist, my problem area was only around my jawline and neck. My derm put me on mino, BP and retin-a. It worked wonders, I was cleared within 4 months. Maybe 7-8 month later my acne returned a bit, so I was put on mino again. I was clear within a month. Last year my acne started to return, this time it wasn't on the jawline and neck, it was on my cheek. It was horrible. It was a clustered of semi-big pimple on my cheeks and there was so many. I couldn't bare looking in the mirror. I was so depress, I couldn't look at people without feeling embarrass. But the thing is I started breaking out like crazy when I started to diet and exercise, before my diet, I was super clear, barely broke out. So I'm no sure if it got anything to do with my weight loss. So right now, I'm on my third month, and I'm pretty much clear, except for 1 or 2 pimple here and there once in a blue moon. My acne cleared up during the first 2 weeks. It was amazing, I couldn't believe it. Right now my only problem is the red marks and scars. I have tons of it on my cheeks. The only problem I have with accutane is the flushing. I turn red so easily, it's insane and it drives me nuts when it happens. Even when thinking turning red, I turn red!! Overall, accutane saved my skin!!

If you have been struggling with acne for months even years, i would recommend this product. This product is a life saver and a confidence booster! I love being able to touch my face without touching a zit! I would recommend, after the treatment, that you wash your face twice a day, put moisturizer on at LEAST once a day, and where minimal make up.

I had every skin treatment possible by the time I begun this product in April of my freshman year of high school. I had blue lights, peels, regular facials (all at my dermatologists office) used ProActiv, I even took medication given to me by my dermatologist! Nothing had a lasting effect, and I was desperate to be able to not leave the house with my face slathered in makeup. The treatment was not a cakewalk, and because my acne was hormonal, it took me two five month cycles to keep it from coming back, multiple cycles may be necessary but it is so very much worth it! This medication will change your life!!!!

Ive just finished my 5th month on accutane, 1 more month to go. Ive been optimistic since the day i started. I had severe acne for most of my adult life. I was on several antibiotics, topical medications, exercise, diet and topical medications. The affects of these were only minimal, it never went away. Finally i was able to obtain accutane from my Dermatologist. He started me at one a day for a month and that didnt do much for me. Followed by 2 40mg a day. Thats when it got worse. He told me it would get worse before it became better so i stuck through it. The extra acne diminished and was left with a smaller amount than when i started. After the 4th month my dosage was upped to 3 40mg a day. Reading forums i havent seen many who have had to do 120mgs a day. Ive still got clusters on my cheek area and under my jaw. My optimism is diminishing. Most of the other reviews reported that most of it was gone in the first few months and then a small amount towards the end, but mine seems to be a stalemate. The side effects are annoying but bearable. I started in the winter so the sun exposure wasnt apparent until spring. i was driving around with my arm out the window and after an hour i had a sunburn. Needless to say I purchased some sunscreen after that. The chapped lips can be solved with CONSTANT chapstick applications, and the dry skin needs to be moisturized several times a day. Also cortisone cream was a life saver. All in all im better of than i was 5 months ago. A lot can happen in the next month so im going to stick out the duration of the medication. I would def try this if you have the insurance seeing as blood tests and generics are costly.

I would definitely recommend this product. Side effects aside, it works wonders getting rid of your acne and helps you get more self-esteem!

Would recommend it to anyone. It works quickly and effectively

I'm going to do this review in sections to try to make it more helpful! BACKGROUND/MY TYPE OF ACNE I am a 22 year old female who has had acne for probably 10 years. My acne is not severe, in the aspect that my face was not full of severe cysts. Normally I would have 2-3 spots at a time, sometimes more, maybe up to 10 at a time. The type of acne I would get, however, was pretty severe--not just little, poppable whiteheads, but huge, painful cysts. Cysts that are not covetable with makeup and make your face hurt and make you style your hair to try to cover them or hide them with your hand while talking to someone. THESE SUCK. I KNOW :(. They last at least for weeks, sometimes months (I had one the size of a quarter at thanksgiving that is still not fully gone and its July..). These kind of bumps leave red marks if I'm lucky, but I do have a few scars. WHAT I'VE TRIED Just about everything. Antibiotics in highschool, did nothing. Differin, Retin A, Epiduo, Proactiv, every drugstore face wash, cream, salicylic acid. I tried spironolactone for about 9 months--it helped for a little bit and then I got some more huge cysts and was fed up so I stopped and decided to ask my derm about accutane. IF YOU TAKE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE FROM THIS REVIEW PLEASE LET IT BE TO TAKE YOURSELF AND YOUR ACNE SERIOUSLY! I ignored my acne for years and downplayed it, tried new face washes, new "home remedies", blah blah blah. IF YOUR ACNE IS BOTHERING YOU SEVERELY NOTHING FROM THE DRUGSTORE OR DEPARTMENT STORE IS REALLY GOING TO HELP YOU! It took me a lot of time and a lot of money spent to realize that! Please get yourself to a dermatologist. Another piece of advice--not all derms are created equally. Find someone who will LISTEN TO YOU! My first derm looked at my acne when I was about 15 and said "eh, I've seen worse" and then prescribed something I told her I had already tried. Find someone who will listen to you when you say whatever you're trying isn't working! Please! Save yourself from wasted money and scarring. ACCUTANE EXPERIENCE I finally resorted to accutane after I failed at spironolactone and the monster cyst ruined my thanksgiving. I broke out pretty bad the first month, but nothing more than I was used to really. I started with 40mg and worked my way up to 80 mg over a course of 5.5 months. I did break out and get cysts pretty much the entire treatment. Just when I thought I was cured another big one would show up. It was soooo frustrating. However, I finished a little over a month ago and I haven't had a breakout since! Not even a tiny little pimple. (After stopping isotret I just started using a topical 12% AHA at night). This is like a new record for me, ITS AWESOME! My redness and scars are fading and I'm happy as can be! The treatment was long and NOT easy, but so worth it and I hope it lasts! SIDE EFFECTS The lips,man, the lips. Until actually starting I thought people might be exaggerating about the dry lips. "I'll just stay on top of it", "put on a lot of Vaseline and I'll be fine", I thought. NOOOPPEEEEE. Within 2 weeks of starting my lips were red, swollen, burning, and cracked at both corners. Vaseline was not enough and neither was the aquaphor "lip therapy" stuff that everyone says to use--in fact it made my lips burn more. The only thing that helped me was the aquaphor extremely dry skin therapy stuff (which comes in a big jar and isn't specifically for lips. It's sort of like Vaseline but thicker, so it helped more. I had to apply this every 3/4 hours throughout my treatment and even now I apply it a few times a day. Dr. Dans cortibalm (Chapstick with hydrocortisone, an anti inflammatory agent) also helped. I had a few bloody noses and the inside of my nose was always dry and crusty. I got some eczema like rashes around my body, nothing too bad. Towards the end with higher doses I got really bad dry, red eyes which I started using moisture drops for. No hair loss, no mood swings or depression. My first month on this was spent backpacking around Europe in the winter so I was by no means "taking it easy". A month after finishing my lips are still a little dry, but all the other side effects are gone. My skin is a lot less oily, my pores are a little smaller, and I can go MUCH longer without washing my hair. Like a week. It rocks! Keep in mind this medication is different for everyone, some people may experience severe side effects. It just depends on the person! But don't let scary stories stop you from talking to your dermatologist about this medication, because like it helped me, it might be able to help you! Don't give up guys :)

I never write reviews for anything but I cannot praise this drug enough! I am 23 years old and I have suffered from acne for most of my teenage/adult years, admittedly it isn't the worst of the worst but it was enough to really knock my self confidence. I had a variety of under the skin spots, some cystic ones on my chin and some ones with huge whiteheads. My cheeks were the worst part of my face and I also started to get back acne, not what you want when you want to wear cute going out outfits. Things were at there worst at around May this year and I wouldn't even go to the beach without foundation on and I felt whenever people would look at me they would be thinking what terrible skin I have. At first I thought acne is something I would grow out of but it just didn't get any better no matter what product I used and the scaring was just dreadful. So I did a bit of research and was amazed at how costly places like the Skin clinic were and after reading reviews it seemed the treatments they were selling didn't even work!! So I went to my Doctors, I got prescribed Lymocycline (2 courses) & Duac, then Minocycline and Differin but to no avail. Then I came across Accutane, I can't even tell you how many Youtube videos I watched or how many reviews I read, particularly on acne.org. I put it of for a bit because i was so scared of the side effects, because lets face it they are pretty scary but then I guessed it bothered me enough to take the risk. So I waited paitently for my referral to the hospital, luckily I got my treatment on the NHS so I only had to pay the 8 pound a month for the prescription, I got one of those NHS 3 month cards at first and stocked up on prescription moisturisers as well. Started on 20mg a week for the first month and within the first week I just stopped getting any spots. It was amazing, no more looking in the mirror with dread! Then I was on 40mg for the rest of my treatment, and my scars started to diminish as well to the point where I know have pretty much flawless skin for the first time in so so long. I was lucky I didn't really get many side effects, I had the occasional headache and like most people super dry skin but that was fine with me as long as I didn't have spots! The Dermatologist gave me Dermol 500 & Double base which I really recommend as a moisturiser as they come in huge tubs with a super handy pump! At home i would mix my Demol 500 with a bit of Bio Oil as it made my skin feel so much nicer and I felt I had to moisturise less. I was forever putting stuff on my lips, the main thing I used was Vaseline! As you can buy super large tubs and then I would fill my empty Carmex pot up with it, cheap and did the trick! Never got cracked or bleeding lips. There are also amazing benefits of having super dry skin such as my foundation / tinted moisturiser lasted literally all day, before I would put a super heavy layer of foundation and a few hours later it had vanished of my face. Now I was able to get away with a tinted moisturiser that would last all day! I also had to wash my hair far less, went from washing it every other day to once a week! I have super long hair so this was a major benefit to me. I know this is a long review but I just cannot praise Accutane enough despite all the bad press it gets!! It changed my life and reading reviews on pages such as this is really what persuaded me to bite the bullet and go for it! So please really do consider it an option, I know the side effects are scary but they are very rare! There is nothing as effective as this in such a short space of time on the market and especially if you live in the UK and can go on the NHS it is very inexpensive. If you can I would also recommend starting Accutane in the winter months, it is just a lot more reassuring not having to worry about sun exposure!

I've had sever cystic acne for over 15 years. My face would hurt and throb in pain just sitting there. Believe me when I say I have tried everything from Proactive, Retin A, Doxycycline , a whole bunch of very painful yet ineffective zit zapping facial treatments, just to name a few. Not to mention, I probably went through about 10 different dermatologists just trying to find something that would work. Accutane was my absolute last resort. It took me 15 years to talk myself into it and it was a pain in the butt while I was on it (super dry skin, eyes, and lips that felt like they would fall off). Seriously, I would forget my keys or phone different places, but I learned very quickly not to forget my chapstick. But after about the third month, my face was almost completely clear. After 15 years of hell, and it only took 3 months on Accutane for my face to clear up. I couldn't believe it! I understand Accutane is not for everyone. I am just so thankful that it worked for me.

I wavered for a long time about whether to use this drug. The horror stories of a nasty initial breakout and creaky joints kept me away for a long time. I am on 80 mg/day for 5 months. I have one more month to go. I realize I'm not done with the drug, but I wanted to encourage others to ignore the naysayers on this board. Everyone wants to complain about horrid initial breakouts and whatnot, but I experienced none of this. Besides pinkened skin, my face has improved nearly every day since beginning treatment. Make the decision for yourself. Don't shy away because some internet goon swears the drug ruined him/her for life. I'm glad I went on the drug. I also recommend Dr. Dan's hydrocortisone balm for lips. I tried Aquaphor but it didn't work that well for me.