So im 16 and i struggled all through the last year of primary school and all throughout high school with severe acne. Some times were better, others not. My 'good' days were when my spots weren't red and inflamed they never seemed to go but when one did another 2 would replace that. i tried changing my daily routine, from what i was eating to exercising, home made 'remedies' all i can say for that is dont believe everything you read on the internet. It eventually got to the point where all the doctors and nurses at my doctors knew me, thats how regularly id been going to either get a new prescription or because the stuff i had wasn't working for me. This went on for about a year until my doctor finally told me about a dermatologist and booked me an appointment. i went had the blood test and weighing procedures, if im honest i was terrified about going on this, all the side effects potentially life threatening ones nearly stopped me from going on accutane. I went back saying i didnt want to risk it but my dermo insisted i should as they don't open this up to many people and turn away most that are asking for it. so i gave in, the first month i was on 20mg because i was a baby and panicked about what it could do internally, i saw slight changes, just slightly dry lips. 2nd month i was upped onto 30mg my skin got much better but as my dosage upped i broke out,making me think this was all useless, side effect: slightly drier lips, bit of cracking in the corners, dandruff (but i seemed to have sorted that) im on my third month now, 40mg one day, 30mg the other, my skin has cleared up so well im left with maybe 2-3 but spots, these are really unnoticeable and i feel so much more confident going out, i have some red scars left but nothing concealer doesn't cover up. im looking to eventually get rid of my scars completely but im in no rush. overall my experience has been so good so far, the only side effects ive had is dry lips and i went a couple of weeks not eating properly so lost alot of weight but thats all sorted now and im eating well again. One positive is i can go for 3-5 days without having to wash my hair now!

I promised myself that if I find the product that would help my acne I would share my experience cause I know how painfully depressing is to have acne and not knowing what will actually help you or just make it worse. So here is my story I had acne since I was like 12. They were on my face, chest, arms, legs, practically everywhere. Before taking accutane I tried all kinds of cosmetic products and nothing worked as a matter of fact it usually got a lot worse or my skin got completly dried out but acne always came back.I also tried changing my diet and started homeopathic treatments but that didn't help either. My family has a really healthy lifestyle so I was avoiding any medications and was looking for other options. I went to like 5 different dermatologist and most of them suggested tetracycline antibiotics but as I was against antibiotic at that time they said chemical peeling could also help. Well they didnt, I just throw a bunch of money out of the window. Then I started to use some antibiotic cremes that made my skin red and my acne worse. I hated myself because of my skin, it affected every aspect of my life and I was miserable and depressed beacuse of it. After crying all days, not wanting to show myself in public and having no will to live I had enough and at the age of 19 I decided to go on medication after all. Dermatologist suggested accutane or tetracycline. Cause I read a lot of bad comments on tetracycline- how more than 70% of people got their acne back after taking it and cause I heard a lot of good ones about accutane and also knew some people accutane helped I decided for accutane - rouaccutane.I know there are a lot of terrible side effects but my hatred for acne outweighted all of them. Cause I am really really impatient I was expecting results to come right away but at the beginning it actually got worse. It didn't improve even after 3 months when you supposed to see improvements. I was devestated as accutane was my last solution in acne war. Dermatologist comforted me and said that when does it comes to improvement varies from pacient to pacient. I was impatiently waiting and at the end of the month five my acne actually started to got better! I still got occasional pimple or two but that was nothing to compare as it was before. I was so happy and could actually start wearing open back shirts and look people in the eyes when I talked to them cause my skin finally wasn't an obstacle anymore. Right now I'm on month 7 with last box of accutane and my skin is acne free with occasional small pimples before period still faaar from skin I once had. I was on 10mg at the begining than on 20 mg from second month till month 6 when I got back to 10mg. Regarding the side effects I only had a dry skin and lips nothing else! It is really importent that they don't scare you and that you don't focuse on them because I think they got a lot to do with your mind. My whole treatment I was just thinking about when it will get better never of side effects and maybe that's why I didn't get any (apart from dry skin and lips which really isn't a big deal). :) I hope I didn't write too much and that my experience helped you in any way! I really suggest accutane especially to people who have been suffering from acne a long time and no other treatment worked out for them. I know how horrible is to have acne so just have faith and try to think positive(even though it's hard at times) and believe me it will get better!

My experience with accutane was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm 17y.o. and suffered from acne since I was 10. At forst it was mild but then it started getting worse. My problem area was mostly around the mouth and every month when i was in ovulation i got lots of cysts on the chin. I've tried everything and when i lost hope my dermatologist decided to put me on accutane. I took the pill in February March April May and June(30/30/30/20/10mg).This was honestly the best decision i have ever done because besides the side effects i saw my skin getting better with each dose and guys there is nothing better then gaining more and more confidence each day and recieving compliments on an area which was the thing you tried to make perfect 7 years out of 17. The feeling is just magical! I hope that it wont come back so wish me luck. If you are struggling with acne try it, it makes wonders and the side effects are even not that bad. Hope I helped!

During Accutane- Dry Lips: one of the worst symptoms. Not a day goes by without dry lips, therefore not a day goes by without exfoliating your lips (I used various gentle and natural lip scrubs) and right after that I would apply aquaphor. I'd buy big bottles! Nothing tops this stuff. I would apply it all day long & for sure before bed. Dry face- this can be painful. But it only means it is doing what it should be! To help this, I would apply a little bit of moisturizer after washing my face in the a.m.& would repeat before bed. Make sure your moisturizer is good tho. You might have to spend some money on it but clearly if your skin needs accutane, it doesn't need any yucky oils to take you back to where you started. I used the normal/oily dermologica skin set. It inludes toner, exfoliator, face wash, moisturizer, and even eye cream. I used it all! It made my skin glowwwww. It was pricey stuff! But worth it. Otherwise my face was dry, red, scaly,etc. SIDENOTE ON MAKEUP: ladies....accutane = no makeup.... it's harddd to snatch your face with makeup while on accutane. I even used nice products on my face to hydrate & when I would apply makeup the texture would just not be right....if I knew that there was a day I HAD to wear makeup, I would prep first. Heavy hydration masks. Heavy moisturization. And shhh. I would even skip a few pills a couple days before. And even then, my face just wasn't that amazing texture. But it gets better for you makeup lovers I promise! A month after accutane makeup looks sooo stunning! The medication is no longer intensely affecting your outer skin.P.S this is about foundation etc like glam......mascaras and some blush/highlighter/ a little bronzer can look just fine while on Accutane! Dry arms: this was a huge thing for me. I would get these dry red scab like things on my arms. this is really only in the winter though. When they healed, they would scar and I had like tons of white spots (scars) on my arms. Ew. To prevent this my doctor prescribed me a cream...I believe some type of cortizone.....but yeah I would definitely hydrate those arms if you are taking it during the winter. Inside of nose dryness: I started to get dried boogers and scabs in my nose that hurt sooo bad. Definitely search for a product that can hydrate your inner noses they exist. Hair:(- a sad side effect for me:(:( lots of hair loss. I noticed this the first round of accutane. And before I could see if it would grow back I was being put on round #2 because my acne is just that bad and genetic. So this second round I am using absolutely NO heat, NO color, and NO hot water in the shower. NO harsh pony tails only scrunchies! NO messy buns, your hair will break! Sleep in braids and wear braids often! Wear hair down natural as much as possible ladies.do not wash your hair a lot. Use a gentle brush! And a wet brand brush to brush after showers. Use leave in conditioner & conditioning treatments! Trim dead ends if necessary! Trust me on this. Use a very very VERY moisturizing, protein rich, healthy shampoo and conditioner. After accutane: always use sunscreen! The sun will bring acne back! Always cleanse your face and use great facial products on your face! Take vitamins!

I've never written a review on anything before but during my Accutane journey, reading the positive reviews were one of the major reasons I kept pushing through. I thought I better add to this collection in hopes it helps someone someday too! Background: I am a 24 year old female with a greasy complexion. I have battled acne since I have been about 15 years old. I have tried it all: birth control, antibiotics, every cream, lotion, and wash imaginable for little to no effect. I began to get progressively worse hormonal acne (I noticed I would heavily breakout around that time of the month). Just when I was getting these multiple breakouts under control, it would be that time again and the vicious cycle would repeat. I have always been a confident woman, and while this acne didn't utterly destroy me, I understood the hurt of looking into the mirror and seeing an inflamed, sore, bumpy face staring back at me. I knew it was time to bring in the big guns. First Steps: I knew quite a bit about Accutane already, as I'm sure anyone who is a chronic acne sufferer has endlessly searched Google for remedies and has come across this controversial drug as well. I am also a nurse so I have heard and seen this drug in my workplace. I knew I had to suggest it to my doctor. DO YOUR RESEARCH PEOPLE! Read the ins and outs of the drug, read positive and negative reviews, read about timelines, side effects, precautions, dosing, etc and just get educated! Try to form an opinion about Accutane for yourself without being too bias one way or the other. When you go see your doctor with confidence of starting the drug, they will be more willing to make a plan with you. My family doctor (who does not specialize in dermatology but has the capabilities of prescribing Accutane) was extremely receptive in prescribing me it after I talked to her about it and proved I was educated on the matter. She sent me for baseline bloodwork and a pregnancy test, and then I booked a follow-up appointment with her for the following week. Dosing: After reading multiple peer-reviewed articles and journals, I discovered the cumulative goal dose of Accutane to prevent relapse is 120-150 mg/kg. I am approximately 75 kg, therefore I required 9000-11250 mg total Accutane over my treatment course. The recommended daily dose is 0.5-1.0 mg/kg. Typically you start low, then increase dosage monthly as your body becomes more tolerant. My 6 month Accutane dosing was as follows: Month 1 - 30 mg/day (900 mg total) Month 2 - 40 mg/day (1200 mg total) Month 3 - 60 mg/day (1800 mg total) Month 4 - 60 mg/day (1800 mg total) Month 5 - 60 mg/day (1800 mg total) Month 6 - 60 mg/day (1800 mg total) For a cumulative dose of 9300 mg total. Journey: After 1 month, there was absolutely NO change to my acne. The only noticeable changes were the dry lips. This wasn't a surprise to me, so onward we go! Month 2, still hardly no change. Just more of the negative side effects - dryer lips, eyes, and skin. Keep going, keep going. Month 3 and 4 were the toughest months in this journey by far, and from reading tons of other reviews, it sounds like this is the common trend. Anyone who knows anything about Accutane has read about "the purge". Basically, the drug is healing your skin from the inside out so all the breakouts that begin to happen during this time were already going to happen eventually anyway, but the Accutane makes them all happen and heal at the same time. This was a tough time for me. I felt others were noticing my nasty breakouts more than even before I had started the drug. Not to mention, my skin was so dry that attempting to cover up with makeup almost made it look more awful. One of the only things that made me continuing taking my pills was reading review after review to KEEP GOING BECAUSE IT WILL GET BETTER! I thought over and over that I must be in that small group of people that Accutane doesn't work for. But I kept going and am I ever happy I did! By the end of month 4 I started noticing big changes (and GOOD changes!) My face was clearing and the remaining pimples seemed quite superficial, no more deep cysts! Month 5 and 6 were amazing! Day by day, my face was clearer! Washing your face and not feeling any bumps is one of the best feelings in the entire world for an acne sufferer. Not to mention, as the acne healed, the dryness let up a bit. I have finally wrapped up my journey just a couple weeks ago and I am fully comfortable heading out makeup free. I am happy, confident, and so proud of myself that I pushed through. Side Effects: The only side effects I had were dryness/flakiness/redness. My face, lips, eyes, and back of hands got hit the hardest. I changed my face wash to Cetaphil and moisturizer to CeraVe. I used Aquaphor on my lips and hands. And I used Systane eye drops. If you have taken anything from this review, it's to push through your Accutane journey. You're going to want to give up, you're going to think it's not going to work, you're likely going to get worse acne temporarily before it gets better. KEEP GOING!!!! I did and am so grateful for reviews such as these for telling me to do so.

I was recommended Accutane for my skin years ago as a teenager after suffering moderate acne throughout high school that became cystic by the time I was about 17. Now (at 23) I have it mostly on my jawline and forehead but I get flareups on my back and upper arms randomly, possibly due to stress. I put it off for years because of some of the horrific side effects, and I didn't want cracked bloody lips or flakey skin when I was going to school or while I had a job, Im a very self conscious person and hiding dryness with makeup is impossible. But after my father passed away the stress it put me through started up the worst flare up of my life and I needed to do something about it. I was in a deep horrible depression and I was graduated from college and in between jobs so I decided to finally start treatment. By the time I jumped through all the hoops to get the medication my skin was a little bit healed from a bad breakout, so I think that helped avoid the "initial breakout" a lot of people complain about. I had about the same amount of zits that I would usually have for the first two weeks. It wasn't until I started experiencing the drugs side effects that I noticed my skin clear up at the 2-3 week mark. My eyes got dry, the inside of my nose got dry and bloody, and my lips got dry too but not nearly as bad as I expected. I just needed to upgrade my chapstick from Burt's Bees to Aquaphor at the three week mark and they healed up. My skin got smoother and smoother, and aside from some flakiness around my nose it wasn't too dry at all (I thank my Nivea soft moisturizer with jojoba and vitamin E, it saved me from eczema as well). Another side effect that I LOVE is that my hair isn't greasy anymore and I can go days without washing it. It's actually growing now because I used to wash and dry and heat treat it so much it would just break off and stay the same length. I'm so happy. I wear foundation and I don't have to blot the oil off my skin every hour as well, it looks fresh and matte all day. I know some people experience a lot worse side effects, and Im lucky its working so well for me, but even If I was a flaky bloody mess for four months It would still be worth it for the clear skin. I'm feeling more confident than i've ever felt and my anxiety and depression has been slowly improving. I went camping at a two day rave and didn't have to stress about makeup or how my skin would be and it felt SO GOOD. I felt free and alive. Im excited for the months to come because my skin continues to improve and my hair is growing longer and I don't have to put as much effort into my morning routine which helps me get up and leave the house more often. Five stars, I would give it 100 stars if I could.

I'm just about to start Accutane, however I am a male and I'm 17 years old, I've been told I have moderate/severe acne but in other cases some people tell me I have hormonal acne just like my brother did who was the same as me, however cleared up when he was 19-20 and he's now 22 and never gets a pimple. I get my acne along my jawline, neck, around the lower mouth, chin... let's say the lower parts of my face mainly but also on my chest and back! I weigh 73kg and my dermo is putting me on 20mg to start with, the reason being is because I have a wedding to go to in 6 weeks and I was scared I would face the initial break out just before the wedding and I didn't want to have dry flaky skin also. He told me because of my weight i'd be fine on 20mg and I should not break out for the wedding, he asked me to get back to him in 6 weeks for results. I want to know whether I should listen and go ahead or is it best to wait, will I most likely break out because I'm not going to lie I am so scared and sonscience about what's going to happen!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

Going to start with 5 stars and retract once I've actually experienced treatment. I haven't personally started isotretinoin yet. I was primed to start back in August 2017 before finding out I was pregnant and my treatment plan put on delay. After reading all the reviews (which have been extremely helpful), I've decided the benefits out weight the risks. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and I will check back here once I start my treatment (within about six months) and give my honest review. P.S. Moderate/Severe itchy cystic (keloid-type) acne in jawline area.

I live in the UK and went on Roaccutane 30mg for 5 months in early 2016. Did LOTS of research and convinced my doctor that i wanted to try it. Now February 2018 and i don't know why I spent 10 years of my life dealing with acne when I could have changed my life so much earlier.. Best decision I ever made and I pray that the effects last. In terms of health, I am quite sensitive and was worried about the side effects, but after watching lots of youtube videos I decided the risks were worth it for me. The only side effects I got were: 2 nosebleeds and dry lips (to the extent that i couldn't wear lipstick for 5 months) - these are side effects I was grateful for as I know it could have been a lot worse. All I have to say is, don't let everyone's reviews below discourage you from trying it, because lets be honest no one has the exact same experience. if after a few weeks you aren't feeling it you can always stop and tell your doctor. I say it's worth a shot, especially if you end up feeling as happy as i do now.

Male 34 Roaccutane 20mg x 2 months, 30 mg x 2 months, 40mg x 4 months. Ok, just the facts. Had very oily and skin and custic acne. I tried benzoyl peroxide 10%, differin, treclin, isoxtrein, tetralysal, epiduo, and most of the over the counter medicines Side effects. 2nd day very bad headache, though it went away and never had one agiain I cried at work once when my tablets went up to 30mg on the beginning of month 3, I wasn't sad at all. Just stared crying, I was totally fine after about 5 minutes... and I never got that again. I got slight eczema on my forearms but that went away instantly with moisturizer. That's it. Nothing else happened, my cholesterol went up a bit, but not a problem. My skin started to get better straight away no real initial breakout. My skin got dry and looked not very good for about 10 days on week 2 but then it just got better and better. At the end of the course I look almost perfect and havent had any spots for like half a year, I have been on it for 8 months. No hair loss, no depression, no suicidal thoughts, no blood in toilet, no bowel problems All this is purely my experience. Please make your decision carefully. I am happy to answer any and all questions X