I'm a 20 yr old dude. Always had both oily and acne prone skin. Month 1 was brutal with a bad IB lasting a few days. Now have oiless moisturized skin in week 6 already. No other product can compare to accutane (I used epiduo for several years). Worrying about my skin is completely obsolete now. Safe and effective when taken with a fatty meal, although I do binge drink occasionally on it (hangovers possibly a little worse). Take this with a large fatty meal and your dose will be more absorbed with faster results (almonds, avacado, eggs). A lot of things are bad for you such as accutane but atleast this one counts for something. Cheers

Extremely harsh drug, experienced side effects during the whole course ( hair loss body wide, back pain, jaw lock, bloody nose, eyes dryness) but the outcome was excellent. Works phenomenal with Comedonal acne (had +200 closed comedones on my face, i'm not counting the ones on my back/chest) and obviously also with inflammatory acne. Unfortunately after 5 months of finishing the course i'm still experiencing back pain (not serious at all, but scary) and dry lips.

I took a full course of Accutane over the course of 8 months. I got my dream come true because I got gorgeous skin!!....at a price. I have developed chronic dry eye syndrome that they directly relate to Accutane. My eyes hurt pretty much 99% of the time and I can no longer wear contacts. I have been off Accutane for one year, and my acne has returned right back to where it was prior to the tane. It's not worth it.

For anyone who is experiencing moderate to severe acne, do not let anyone convince you that it is unreasonable to suffer extensively from this disease. Acne is a real problem; and anyone who doesn't understand this concept, needs to experience uncontrollable bacteria erupting from their face or other body parts for several years. I empathize with acne sufferers because I experienced the agony and disruption my cystic acne caused when I was 14 years old. Life as as a teenage female was hard enough and I am sure it's much harder now. Even as a 46 year old after all of these years, I continue to believe Accutane prevented a much worse outcome. Having stated my opinion, it important to respect Accutane. As with any drug, adverse effects exist. One must fully understand the detailed information that accompanies Accutane. Dangerous side effects may result in some patients taking this medication. Therefore, specified rules have to be followed. I never missed scheduled labs or dermatology appointments for triglyceride, pregnancy, mood monitoring, etc. There are other side effects such as dry lips, dry forearms, and extreme sun sensitivity. Although these effects were minimal for me compared to the agony during the days of my cystic acne; I still treated this medication delicately. If considering this medication, please consider risks vs benefits. Make sure other acne treatments have been tried & failed, and maintain an open & trusting relationship with your dermatologist. Looking back I would never change my decision to take Accutane. Fortunately, I had a very open relationship with my mother & dermatologist. I also was not sexually active during treatment-Accutane is teratogenic; meaning it WILL cause severe birth defects if pregnancy occurs during or around treatment. This medication changed my life. My face would be permanently scarred without Accutane. I hope it remains available to change another person's life for the better.

I am 39 years old will be 40 this year, I am writing this to share my experience with other people who have or are struggling like me. I have tried everything nothing has worked, I started having acne at the age of 12, it was bad in my teens got even worst in my twenties tried diannette which worked really well after 10 years on it I started having gross angioedema of the face lips tongue hands and feet after a few trips to accident and emergency I got off it. My Gp still insists theres no relation. had my children in my thirties, suffered unbelievably severe acne, by this time I was an expert at covering up. not even husband could see me without make up. I would go to bed with make up, when he fell asleep would go wash it off, wake up before h im to apply make up so he did not have to see the mess called my face. I have been on antidepressants not because I am really depressed but because I am fed up and down about the acne. after many battles with my GP I finally got him to refer me to a dermatologist, I was after Accutane. I know all the risks but the possibility of the next two decades of my life in this state is unthinkable. I have started Accutane I am in my first week. my lips are a bit dry, my acne is getting worse as the moment but I am covering up and hanging in there. hoping for the best. I am on 20 mg for two weeks then 40 for two weeks bloods then 60 mg for the remainder of the treatment. the plan is to have bloods every 4 weeks. to anyone out there with persistent acne, do not wait as long as me to get help, feeling horrid about acne is not frivolous, acne can really make one unhappy, insecure, and depressed. I will keep you updated about my experience.

I stopped my treatment early due to hair loss. It started in ths last couple weeks of the treatment. My dermatologist did not seem phased and wanted me to finish the treatment. I refused to continue. I have been off the treatment for about 2 months and my hair is still falling out. Currently have lost about half of my total volume. The only thing my derm has suggested is hair vitamins and rogain which I have been doing for about 3weeks with no improvement. My skin is clear but my hair is very thin now. I would never do this treatment again

I was put on Accutane by a dermatologist at the age of 13 after a struggle with severe acne for 3 years. I started getting acne in 5th grade, and it continuously got worse up until 7th grade, where I started to get cystic acne *sigh*. Acne was making me depressed, and my self esteem was absolutely nonexistent. I was made fun of all the time, and if you've never been "the kid with acne", I can assure you it's the worst feeling in the world. When I was put on Accutane I followed normal protocol, which meant taking the pregnancy test, waiting a month, and then getting my prescription. Every month I had to get my blood tested, take a pregnancy test, and then answer the iPledge questions to get my prescription cleared. When I first started taking Accutane, the first thing I noticed were the extremely dry lips. These came in on even my second day, and even to this day my lips are never as moist as they used to be, but I use carmex. I also got lower back pain in my first two weeks, but that went away. And about a month in, I started to develop eczema patches on my arms and legs which I treated with Cetaphil. Also.. my face became extremely flaky and dry, especially up at my temples, but I covered the dry skin in bag balm each night. As far as results go, I didn't see any positive signs until my fourth (out of 5) month. In the first month, nothing really happened. Second month, I developed the worst acne of my life. I broke out in 8 cystic pimples on my chin, along with countless other around my face. I still have the scars for those today. Also, my skin became so thin that simply running a fingernail across it would tear the skin and it would bleed, which happened to me on the very tip of my nose, fun! Anyways, The acne kept coming until the end of the third month, and then it began to subside. Instead of developing acne constantly, I was only getting one pimple about every 3 weeks, which actually seemed much worse than it was because I still had a full face of scarring. Fourth month, like I said, I broke out about 2 times, and fifth month the same. My skin looked 10000000x times better though, and i only break out once a month now. It has made a world of a difference in my life, and my skin has NEVER been this good. Here's some other weird things, in the first 3 weeks it cleansed my skin of blackheads, by literally shoving them out. I could run my finger over my nose and feel a hundred little bumps, and after that my blackheads diminished dramatically. Also, in the 3rd month when some of my acne was healing, once the pimples were dead they flaked off in weird sheets. If you are going for Accutane, it will probably not be the flawless product they tell you, but DO NOT LOSE HOPE, even after what feels like forever. Going on Accutane was one of the best decision I ever made and I wouldn't change a thing. Oh and by the way, when I was on accutane I had flawless hair because I could go 7 days without washing it and it would still look fresh out of the shower.

Prior to starting the medication I had extremely oily skin - I was blotting/reapplying powder all the time and it was very frustrating and gross! I did not have horrible acne, but i had issues with the deep painful nodules that would build up under my skin and never break the surface. These would popup and last for several weeks, and once they would finally go back down they'd leave a dark scar. I took accutance for a little over 5 months, I first started off with 30mg, increased to 60mg, then finished off at 80mg. After about 12 days, I started to notice the chapped lips and sadly the chapping just got worse from there. But as many others have mentioned, Aquaphor is a lifesaver!! After about a month, the oil on my face started to diminish and my face was matte all the time! I no longer needed to blot or reapply makeup several times throughout the day. My breakouts remained at bay for about 2 months, and I bumped up to 60mg but soon after I started getting blemishes in my usual trouble spots. Although they were much smaller, it was still a bit discouraging. Around this time I also experienced my worst side effect which was muscle pain! Throughout my treatment, I was playing volleyball and softball 3-4 days per week and it was absolutely brutal! My body hurt everywhere! During this time I started taking pain meds prior to my games so that I wouldn't feed the effects as much. I also started to notice my skin becoming extremely fragile - like paper thin! If i bumped into anything or even scratched myself too hard I would immediately get a cut or a bruise. When these wounds healed, they healed much lighter than my normal skin tone. I also started to develop a rash on my arms. I had several round, itchy patches on my upper arms. I used aquaphor cream on them as well as ointment prescribed by the doctor. These also healed much lighter than my skin tone. Around 3.5-4 months, my doctor upped my dosage to 80 mg. By this time, my skin was consistently clear and I had no active breakouts. With just a few weeks to go, I did experience a few more blemishes, but again they were very small and went away without leaving any dark marks! I've been off accutane for 1.5 months now and I'm excited to say my skin is still clear and not at all oily. My pores are so tiny, I have no blackheads, and I feel confident that I can go out in public without makeup! My chapped lips are returning to normal and I don't need to use aquaphor very much! My muscle pain is completely gone and I am back to my normal self! I can workout and play sports without the additional pain or the need for medication! Unfortunately I still have the light colored patches on my arm from the rash, but I'm hoping these will start to clear up in the summer once they get some sun! Overall, my experience on accutane was worth it, but the side effects were a pain! The costs weren't too outrageous either - I only paid $10/month for my medication, plus an additional $50 per month for the required blood tests. I would recommend accutane to others, but would definitely advise them to think long and hard about it due to the side effects.

i am 21 year old girl and have been suffering from acne since i was 13. by the time i was 17 cystic acne had covered most of my face. those of you who suffer from cystic acne know how painful and upsetting this can be. i tried everything, doxycycline, solodyn, azithromycin, monocycline, clindamycin, epiduo, tazorac, aczone, benzaclin you name it. nothing seemed to work for me at all. my dermatologist had always encouraged me to try accutane, saying it would work wonders for me, but because of all the negative things i had heard about accutane i was too afraid to try it. finally last spring in my junior year of college i lost all hope. when i came home for summer i decided accutane was my only option. I started accutane this august and am almost 5 months in ( i will be done in February). I take 50 mg per day and weigh about 115 lbs. this was the BEST choice i have ever made. my skin is clear of cystic bumps for the first time in my life!! i do have a little scarring left over but nothing too serious (i was afraid i would have terrible scarring). i have never been happier! i suffered some side effects, like chapped lips and dry skin and hair but these were all easily fixable with lotion, lots of aquaphor (for my lips) and deep conditioning treatments for my hair. if you suffer acne like i did CONSIDER ACCUTANE. don't let the negative things push you away from this amazing cure, i seriously wish i took this years ago!

I am an 18 year old girl who has had acne since the fourth grade. I have been on countless medications to try and help my skin; Tetracycline, Minocycline, Doxycycline, and Ortho Tri cycline (birth control). None of these helped. I have used Proactive (twice) that didn't help in the least bit, so my last resort was Accutane. I was very nervous about it, having done my research on it, I wasn't sure if I wanted to. Well, let me tell you, I am so glad I did. I am only on my second month, and my skin is so smooth. Before, I had cysts and nodules all along my jaw, my neck, my chest, my upper back, and my cheeks. Now, they're flat and fading. I don't have any on my face, my chest is now drying out, and my neck looks better. The first month, I experienced breaking out on my neck, the cysts were huge! They hurt, and it was just embarrassing. I wore scarves for 2 weeks straight to hide them. The area around my lips broke out as well, they were not large and it only lasted about a week (short compared to my other break outs). I am drying out, not as bad as I thought. I was on 40mg for the first month, now I am on 60mg for my second. side effects I am having include dry skin and lips, not bad at all, cured by moisturizer and Vaseline chap stick. I am thirsty and hungry (more than usual) but thirst isn't severe, I don't notice it unless I think about it. I take my medicine with food, yet it makes me hungry and once I eat, the smallest bite will fill me up. I wake up with bloody noses, not ones to bother me, they're just like scabs or clots, which sounds disgusting but that's the only way I can put it. muscle spasms. this one is actually funny to me, because I have never had these. my legs twitch sometimes or my thumb as well. small, quick movements that feel funny. my contacts are starting to stick to my eyes, making things blurry, so I wear glasses more. my skin isn't oily AT ALL. I would normally use my oil blotting sheets about 3+ times a day and now I never need them. saying this, my hair isn't oily either. I would have to wash it EVERY NIGHT..and now I can go a week or so without doing so (I wash my body don't worry) but I don't have to worry about waking up the next day with greasy hair. I itch too, since my skin is drying out. mostly around my elbows and the top of my hands. when my cysts were drying out, they itched as well, it was uncomfortable. I haven't experienced any thoughts of suicide, depression, or severe side effects like some people do, or what the major concerns are. I get blood work done every month, as well as a pregnancy test, you have to answer questions from the iPledge website before filling the medicine, it's easy, but annoying. I feel pretty lucky with what I'm experiencing, slight dryness. this is definitely going to be something that will change my life. I am able to go out in public feeling confident about my skin. I used to always look down or not look people in the eye, but now I can. I am 100% happy with my skin now, and I still have 4 months to go! :) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and I really, really wish I had started sooner.