Fabulous stuff...don't hesitate to take it out of fear of the side effects. I was suprised by the number of friends who had taken it but had never mentionned it. If it were such a dangerous drug, I doubt so many would have taken it and experienced little to no issues.

I was hit with moderate to severe acne late in my teens. I went for the most radical approach first: Laser Skin Resurfacing and Microderm. Dropped 2-grand and underwent a lot of pain but ended up with a beautifully matte face with refined pores and soft youthful looking skin. That didn't last because the oil-production sped up because of m hormones and I began having more acne outbreaks. With my face worse than before, I turned to PROACTIV. Don't ever use that crap-- it made my skin worse by making my skin dependent on the benzoyl peroxide in all the creams. It cleared by simple and uncomplicated acne for the first month or so, but then when things looked better my acne turned out just to better my acne was pushed lower into my skin and my face became common ground for painful cystic and nodular acne. Went to the dermo and she put me on Accutane. Was very hesitant at first but to be honest, I'm kind of regretting not asking for that in the first place. It's worth it.

This is a medical tip to everyone reading: please have your doctor check you out for underlying hormonal causes of acne. For the girls who have severe acne, are overweight, and may even have a little excessive hair growth, ask your doctor to check your hormone levels and maybe do an ultrasound of your ovaries - the syndrome called polycystic ovarian syndrome affects 5% of women (yes, 1 in 20). It is a common cause of acne, hair growth, and possibly later diabetes, infertility, and heart disease and strokes. This type of acne will not respond to over the counter treatments and although it may respond to accutane, it is likely to bounce back if the cause is not treated. this disorder can be treated - please check it out before you start on hard-core drugs like accutane.

Don't listen to all the side effect garbage. If you know yourself and body, you will realize something is wrong. This stuff is great. I had acne from the time I was 16, it got much worse by the time I was 22. So I finally went on Accutane, and it cleared my skin 95%, I only did a 5 month twice a day treatment. It kept my skin 95% clear for about 10 years, but the last 3 I have had acne consistanly only never as bad as before. I am now going on it again, hoping for the same results. I never had any side effects except for dryness. There is a generic called CLARAVIS, its the same as ACCUTANE but half the cost.. Good luck all

This is the second time I've been on Accutane, with the last session about 9 years ago. My skin stayed fairly clear until last year, when severe cystic acne hit me at age 25. Antibiotics did not help. I have extremely sensitive skin, with acne meds causing more irritation and breakouts (the regimen destroyed my skin too :( ) So, Accutane was my final hope. I started on 30 mg a day, but progress was slow. About 3 months into it, my dosage was upped to 40. The only side effects I've had are dry lips and occasional nosebleeds. With good cleansers and moisturizers, my skin looks less dry than when I was using topical stuff. Aquaphor makes my dry lips no problem. I have not had depression or mood swings, and at 4 months, my skin is really clearing up. For some people, this could be a very harmful drug. For me, though, it's been nothing but positive. My side-effects have been a non-issue so far. Considering I used to cry myself to sleep every night, I'm feeling great.

IT IS THE ONLY MEDICATION THAT REALLY WORKS FOR PIMPLES and well worth the money. If you have a lot of acne and do not have a problem with depression you need to try it. It'll work and is a sure thing. I just wish I would have taken it earlier. Now I have some scars from the previous pimples.

it has done so much for my confidence, i rarely ever wear make up and yet still feel confident. apart from dry lips and a bit of flaky skin i have had no other side effects. i havnt yet finished my treatment but hopefully my skin will continue to be clear!

180lb male age 23 duration: 214 days (~7months) dose: 40mg for 2 months, 60mg for 1 month then 80mg for the remaining months, respectively. I paid about $20 a month after bcbs insurance covered most of it. before isotretinoin: applied chapstick 2-3 times daily applied lotions only to elbows and feet during the winter eyes almost never dry easily complete an hour weight lifting workout with energy to spare during isotretinoin: -apply lip moisturizer up to 10 times a day, and even waking up in the middle of the night to do so -apply lotion at least once a day or get rashes -dry eyes in the evening sometimes made it difficult to read -nose was very dry, almost never had any moisture -my face flaked dead skin -any minor cut seemed to be redder than normal and take longer to heal -lifting weights became a little more difficult due to some joint pain, and feeling fatigued more easily; cut workouts to 30-40 min -**i got probably 50% more acne than i originally had during the first 4 months of my treatment** When it finally got into the summer time all the dryness related side effects reduced and made me significantly more comfortable I never got any sunburn, but only because i put on LOADS of sunscreen and avoided the sun whenever possible. i stopped treatment 8 months ago and i've had maybe a dozen pimples since. i still have some light acne scarring but i am treating it successfully with hydroquinone. all the side effects are back to normal. Thankfully nothing has been permanent. Overall I'd say it was worth it

I'm going to write a very detailed review, but I'll summarize quickly: Accutane worked for me, but there were lasting side effects. I would encourage anyone considering the medication to do their research and really weigh out whether their acne is bad enough that risking long term side effects would be worth it. For me, I was 32 and my cystic acne had been ruining my confidence for over a decade. It was so worth it. The first month or so on Accutane, I experienced "flushing," i.e. redness and heat of my face, and a rough texture. Everything started to get dry, especially my lips. My acne began to clear almost immediately, which is NOT typical, and in fact I've read that some people don't see results until well AFTER they've completed their treatment! The second month, these side effects continued, as well as new ones: I'm really active in strength training and mountain biking, and I noticed a lot of pain in my lower body joints, especially my right hip. My hips were popping a lot. This was really discouraging, I didn't want to stop working out, but I really had to tone it down. When I had minor crashes on my mountain bike, they HURT and I bruised badly. My lips peeled constantly, I sweat more than usual and had hot flashes. Third month, I had blood with a bowel movement. Bright red, horrifying blood. I saw a doctor immediately, as is indicated by the warnings on this medication, because intestinal diseases are a potential side effect. Luckily, it turned out to be an internal hemorrhoid, and the tissue thinning that happens with Accutane just exacerbated the condition, so I was able to continue my course safely with no recurrence after I finished my course. I finished about five and a half months of the treatment, and here's the end result: I rarely break out, and when I do it's nothing compared to my old acne. My skin and hair are less oily. It's wonderful. The downside is that the flushing I experienced early in my treatment turned out to be a long term effect of Accutane; I now have mild rosacea that needs to be treated with a topical to keep my skin clear and smooth. No big deal. The worst of my lasting problems is my hip: Both hips still pop frequently and I think I caused a chronic hip injury by continuing to stay active through the discomfort while I was on the drug, though it's not anything that keeps me from physical activity. BUT it's important to note that I have had issues with my lower body joints for years, so I do not believe this would have happened if I weren't prone to such problems to begin with. I have read lots of reviews from people blaming Accutane for conditions as severe as fibromyalgia, and I'm not buying it; based on my personal experience, I believe that Accutane can exacerbate pre-existing conditions, but I don't think it's likely to cause new ones. Most of the complaints about Accutane "causing" new conditions that I have read are from people who began Accutane as a teenager, so I think it just seemed like the drug "caused" their condition, but in reality they were probably just asymptomatic at that time because of their age. Which brings me to my second disclaimer: I would personally not recommend this drug for anyone who isn't fully grown. I'm frankly shocked that a drug with such severe potential side effects is prescribed to kids who may very well grow out of their acne in a few years! So again: I urge you to find a doctor who isn't willing to used Accutane until you've exhausted all other options, and who seems knowledgeable about potential side effects. Even then, do your own research and decide if it's worth the risk. If you do start Accutane, STICK WITH IT even if you don't see immediate results! It was worth every miserable second for me to be rid of my embarrassing acne for good.

Don't get me wrong, when I tried this 5 years it worked wonders, it was my fault for stopping a bit early and not going back as advised. I couldn't cope with my mood swings at the time. Looking back I regret it. I now have acne a lot worse and only after 10 weeks after starting accutane again I'm not seeing any improvement, dry lips again and the last 24hrs I've had a some scary heart palpitations, it's obviously due to the pills and is accompanied with a very slight niggling headache. I'm gonna see how it goes but I fear I may not get the chance to really give this a second chance. This medication worked last time and I hope it works again, however it would have been unrealistic to give it 5 stars as the dry lips is pure hell and heart palpitations is not good for anyone's standards. Anyone else had this problem?