I'm a 26 year old female who has struggled with acne for 10 years. I suffered from grade 4 acne on my face and back. It had been 2 years with my dermo trialing every topical acne cream out there, only to result in a bright red flaming peeling face that felt like I had shards of glass in my face every time I used one of these creams. Finally, she recommended Accutane. I did a lot of my research, and although hesitant, it was my last resort. I am just 2 weeks away from finishing a 6 month course of Accutane for the first time... and I must say, it was the best decision I've ever made. I started at 30mg for a month, then moved to 40mg x 2 weeks, 60mg x 2 weeks and 80mg for the rest of the treatment. The side effects are pretty awful, but tolerable. - Chapstick is your best friend. As well as Vaseline. That stuff is ideal for shoving up your nose when it's dry and bleeding. Never be without Chapstick or you'll regret it for days to come. - My joints suffered a lot - knees, wrists, ankles, hips. As someone who loves high intensity work outs, I had to slow it down around months 4-5 as my joints and muscles were suffering too much. - I fatigued very easily - naps were my best friend, and on my days off, it would be easy for me to sleep 12-14hrs. - Lots of headaches and back pain, which resolved with Advil as my dermo didn't recommend Tylenol. - My appetite decreased substantially (however I gained 15lbs... this is most likely due to the fact that I was drinking 4+ litres of water a day, not working out as much and eating sweets/dairy since I hadn't had them in ages). I'm fairly certain the weight will fall off when I'm off the meds. - Never be without a water bottle. You will always be thirsty. Avoid saunas, hot tubs and hot yoga (I learned that one the hard way) - I still drank as much beer as I normally would and my liver enzymes never suffered (although I've always been an incredibly healthy person so I'm sure that helped) but the hangovers were an absolute nightmare. - Make sure to throw on the SPF when out in the sun - even if it's for a short while. I burnt after an hour of being outside which never happens to me. - If you wear contacts, I strongly advise investing in a pair of glasses you'll be comfortable in for the duration of treatment. I only wear contacts for special events and that's about it, since the dryness is too much after about 6 hours. - I never had any mood issues - other then being grumpy due to being in pain or too tired. My stomach was never an issue outside of the decreased appetite. Overall, I definitely recommend this! I no longer wear foundation or make up EVER other then mascara. My back is scarred, but cleared up nicely. My make up routine went from 30 minutes to 3 minutes. I wash with charcoal soap or oatmeal soap twice a day, and in the morning put on Andalou Naturals Brightening Renewal Cream (it has a tint to it, as well as SPF 30) and in the evening, after cleansing, I throw shea butter on my face and call it a night. Other then mascara, these are the only things to go on my face now! A huge change from the mountains of cover up, foundation and creams I would put on my face (and back) to try and hide my acne. The best moment was my most recent check up at my dermos when the nurse looked at me, looked at my history, and looked at me again and said "Uh... it says here you're in for grade 4 acne on your face. I think they got it wrong...You have amazing skin" Nope. That's just what 6 months of Accutane does :) Her jaw hit the floor. The side effects are well worth it - especially if you were as depressed as I was, crying over your acne and dreading waking up and looking in the mirror every day.

I am writing this review 2 years after going through Accutane treatment. I suffered medium acne with deep cysts that left me nasty scars. Pimple would take ages to disappear, instead I was having red swellings full of pus for month and month. It got always worse. By age of 25 my face was full of scars and acne would not go away. The strangest thing is that only after I got rid of acne, I actually realised how bad my face looked. It seems I was tottaly used to having pipmles, and it is fantastic to not have them any more! I started to have acne as teenager. I was treating it in all possible ways (also antibiotics, that did nothing). When I was approx 17 yo my dermatologists suggested to try Accutane, but I got scared by all the side effect and tried all the other non effective methods. Acne never disappeared. I finally got fed up with acne at age of 27 and went through Accutane treatment for 6 month on 30mg. I did not use the contraception, as I knew because of my living situation I will not have "an accident". Side effects: dry skin, lips, nose and eyes. Couple of times severe head ache. Then of course, there was a month when all the pimples started to go out of skin, it was ugly. On a positive side, hair stayed fresh and clean for almost a week (I usually wash every day) and in a couple of month time my skin got very clean, all pimples disappeared and never came back! I did not notice any of those terrible side effects (like depression). Already 2 years passed and I still have good skin, acne did not come back. I have a small pimple once in a while before periods. Once I had something like looked like an acne come back, but I used a cream with isotretinoin given by dermatologist, and everything immediately disappeared. I am very happy I did Accutane treatment. I wish I did it when I was teen, I'd have less scars, and so many sad moments would be saved. People judge you on your looks, it is very hard to stay careless to other judgements. In any case I feel much better now without acne. Now trying to heal the scars.

I started breaking out when I was 12 I am now 49. By late teens my face looked like Mt. Rushmore. I tried all the antibiotics that was out there and nothing worked then my dr prescribed Accutane and my back, arms and face cleared up and my pores was reduced. For 37 yrs my face has been cystic acne free. I don't wear makeup to cover up those nasty ugly nodules like I use to I just let my beautiful skin speak!! I thx my dr for allowing me to go through whatever I had to to have a lifelong cure. The side affects sounds horrific I know but if u follow directions and do what your dr tells u u will be very very happy FOREVER!!!!!

I was on 60/mg a day for 7 months... I had horrific cystic acne on my face, and an even more severe amount of disease on my back. I wish I had done Accutane years ago, so that I could have prevented the scarring. I did have mild side effects while on the drug, as you should expect, but nothing too serious, and everything has cleared since I stopped. I am 99.9% acne free now, I would call that cured. Basically, I have healthy, normal skin. I do not use any anti-acne treatments, just gentle cetaphil cleanser on my face and back, and will get the occasional tiny zit, but they are infrequent and I think nothing of them... they are just as any normal person might get. I did have hair thinning while on the drug, but my hair has come back strong and seems as thick as before.

Last week I began Accutane ... Something I was hoping it would never come down to but unfortunately after 11 years of suffering with constant breakouts I think it is time to do something a little more drastic. I first started getting breakouts when I was 12. I had just hit puberty and a majority of the kids in my class had a few spots here and there so I didn't make a huge deal out of it (at first anyway). It wasn't until I turned 14 that I really noticed that their was a problem with my skin. My forehead was covered in tiny little red nodules that it eventually made its way to my cheeks and back. I still remember boys in my class asking what was wrong with my face and it making me feel like complete and utter sh**! At this point I started Pro Activ which to be honest helped clear up a few spots here and there but overall burnt the absolute crap out of my face. I have used other products before that contained benzoyl peroxide of the same dosage and never did that happen to my face. I am going to put it down to the harsh beads along with the chemicals in this product that basically turned my skin into a big red inflamed mess. I am not a dermatologist and maybe that product works for some but I feel to avoid further damage to your skin you need to be gentle when it comes to acne. (topical treatments anyway) By the time I was 15 up until now, I am 23, the breakouts have been pretty inconsistent. They are always there but the nature of the breakouts I find is constantly changing which makes it difficult on my part to combat. I go from crazy hormonal breakouts to chest pimples, back pimples, crazy hairline acne, oily skin etc etc etc, I have used minocycline and others cycline's along with duac, benzac, differin, the contraceptive pill (of all sorts), natural supplements from the chinese doctor, dermalogica (different ranges), ella bache, supermarket brands, exposed skincare, skin doctors t-zone and the list goes on. I see results but I can honestly say my skin never looks that good. It wasn't until the past year when my acne turned from scattered blackheads and whiteheads, which as ugly as they were they were coverable to an extent, to large painful cystic lumps along my jaw line and neck that I realised that this problem was not going to go away on it's own. My self esteem is depleted. I am currently studying to be a personal trainer, slothing handfuls of foundation on my face is a complete waste of time when I will just sweat it all off not to mention my wallet has really taken a beating over the years due to all the product and expensive skin treatments I have forked out for. I am 23 and I still feel like an insecure 16 year old when it comes to my skin. My mother always drilled it into my head that Accutane was a dangerous drug (I asked previously in my teens to go on it) and that it would always cause more harm than good. For me to be on this product was not a decision that I have taken lightly. I understand the side effects completely and I currently take medication for depression. I really feel that no special diet, antibiotic, topical treatment or contraceptive pill will clear my skin. And honestly if you are going to fork out $100's of dollars a year on skincare you would expect your complexion to be flawless? My self esteem and wallet have had enough! So here I am typing this review, sipping my peppermint tea with bleeding chapped lips, extremely dry skin around my nose which hurts every time I move it in the slightest and the biggest most painful cystic pimple on my neck I have ever had. I can only hope this is what people refer to as the initial breakout and that my skin will finally clear. I will be sure to keep you guys updated. Wish me luck!

I was terrified to try Accutane. However, at the age of 21, I realized my acne wasn't going any where and I was so sick of it. I had constant breakouts, some cystic acne, and EXTREMELY oily skin. I would fill up one of those Clean & Clear oil absorbing sheets with oil from my face every 90 minutes. Accutane completely changed my skin. It took me about 5 months into my treatment to get completely clear. About 2 weeks after taking Accutane the oil disappeared which was very weird at first. The first day that the oil was gone I was attempting to blot my face as it was so routine to me and I was confused as to why no oil was coming off my face. Thankfully, three months off Accutane and I have remained acne and oil free. However, I did experience some side effects. Temporary side effects: Dry lips (manageable with Aquaphor during the day and Aveeno medicated daily moisturizer at night) Dry skin (Cetaphil moisturizing cream at night) Flakey, ITCHY scalp (this lasted only about a month and was fixed with Head & Shoulders) Anal fissures (gross I know, but I experienced fissures while on Accutane and it was pretty painful. It took forever for them to heal, likely due to this medication. I never had fissures before taking Accutane so I'm convinced they were caused by Accutane. Thankfully they have healed since finishing treatment.) Side effects that still affect me 3 months post Accutane: Facial redness (my face used to never get red before, now it gets red when I get embarrassed/hot which sucks) Facial sweating (I've noticed that my face gets visibly sweaty very easily when I get too warm, I didn't experience this before Accutane) Aging (I feel that I look more aged since taking Accutane, maybe due to the lack of oil production) Although the side effects are annoying and intimidating, Accutane is definitely worth trying; it changed my life.

I've been on a generic brand of Accutane for 5 months now. It has been a miracle drug for me. I used to have horrible hormonal acne and nothing else helped. I suffered major depression and withdrew from socializing and never left my house. Ever since I've been taking this drug, my skin looks flawless. No more excessive oily skin or hair. I do have very dry lips and that's the only side effect that I've come across so far. My doctor started me out on 5mg and now I'm up to 30mg. I've heard once a Accutane patients finish their course of their Accutane treatment, the acne can come back. So it doesn't sound like a long term solution. This drug also does have many side effect warnings as do most other prescription drugs. I am aware of the lawsuits which breaks my heart. I'm hoping that the generic form of Accutane is not completely eliminated. Accutane has saved me from a deeper depression and low self esteem. Society can be so cruel that people feel pressured to fix their flaws so they can live a peaceful life.

This medication, while I understand is a radical treatment, saved my confidence. I wanted to write this review for anyone who is constantly stressing about their skin, looking for new products, and constantly reading tips for acne, as I did. I didn't really have an initial breakout either, so that was a plus but it did take about 2-3 months to completely clear me up. If you have back or face acne that destroys your self confidence, ask your derm about this medication!!!!! Its a life saver!

Use it, a few months of dry skin is SO much better than a childhood (or adulthood) of acne.

First question I have to ask my self is why I waited so long to use Accutane? I have been on it for 2 months now and am extremely happy with the results. Black heads that even anti bios (which I have taken for years ) that wouldn't clear on my forehead are gone. I am taking it mostly to clear my backne which is now %80 better then it was before I started taking the Accutane. I first started at 40mg for the first month and am almost finished my second at 80mg. I have all the usual side effects like dry skin, chapped lips, daily nose bleeds, dry eyes and very dry hands. But I expected them after reading some reviews. It is manageable but for the first month this whole using moisturizer thing was pretty new to me. I had never bought a bottle of it in my life till Accutane. Either than that I get a touch lethargic from time to time but dont know if its Accutane related. I have not experienced any other side effects and still have the occasional beer from time to time. Ill list a few products that have really helped along the way. Aquaphor for lips.. amazing. Taro-Mupirocin ointment to jam up my nose for nose bleeds... pretty good. Natural tears 2 for dry eyes... amazing. Nivea ( in the jar only ) for dry skin.. amazing. Spectro eczema care... its ok.. not that it doesn't work, it actually works extremely well. But to well as it makes my skin ... soggy??.. and I can scratch it off the next day very easily. Last . for day use, Aveda chap stick ( $14 a stick : O ) But it works very well and doesn't give me that wet lip feeling I get from the Aquaphor. The next question I have to ask is, why are people paying so much for Accutane in the states? I have read people saying they had to pay up to $5000 a treatment??? Good greef, name brand Accutane in Canada is $60 a month. I have insurance but have seen the pricing if I didn't. Good luck with your treatment and we will see you pruned on the other side as thats what I feel like right now.. l