The choice I made to start taking Accutane was not one of my best. I used to have very severe acne, to the point where I was the second most acne riddled person in middle school. but since then, while I still have it and get breakouts from time to time, I haven't considered it a problem since. However, when I heard that Accutane was pretty much the cure for acne, I decided it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Ohh but it did. I knew it had risks when I started, but those risks and side effects are very rare. I figured what were the chances they would happen to me? I was only on it for a little over a month, and the problems only became apparent to me when I stopped. It caused severe anxiety, a massive change in personality, and I felt like I was losing touch with who I am. When I made the choice to stop, some of the more serious problems showed up for a little bit. I started hearing things that weren't real, I lost my appetite, and I became one of the most irritable people you could ever meet. After talking to my doctor about these symptoms I was experiencing, I was told that it was causing a condition called psychosis. If I had continued to take these pills, I would have had to live with that for the rest of my life. Taking Accutane is like a Russian roulette and I got the bullet. Now that I've been able to clear my head, I noticed the memories I made while taking Accutane just don't feel real to me anymore. It was like I was watching a movie; I remember, but I know it wasn't real. While my head was under this spell, I managed to make some of the worst mistakes in my life. My friends had stopped wanting to be around me because they didn't like how I was acting. There was a girl who I really liked who stopped wanting to be around me because I started acting weird and creepy. I put a couple people in prison because I was in a bad mood. I was so filled with emotion, I cried more on Accutane than I had since I was six years old. I probably scared the shit out of this girl too, because she wants me to stay out of her life now. I had so much anxiety about it and I kept on bothering her about how she doesn't want to hang out anymore. Nothing felt worse than to have someone who once enjoyed your company start avoiding you at all costs. Once I realized how much I've been scaring her, my anxiety got worse and I had the first anxiety attack that I've ever had in my life. I felt like the worst person in the world and thought they should lock me up. After stopping the pills, I had to go to therapy for the first time ever, and I was put on a new medication to fix the problems that the old one caused. The thing is, for most people Accutane really works! But after experiencing the worst of the side effects first hand, I just can't recommend it. I don't wish to have my experience shared by even the worst of my enemies. It was the strangest point in my life and I regret the decision to take it more than any choice I've ever made. Even with my head cleared, I'm still going to have to deal with the consequences of my actions while I was on it. My college room mate switched on me, and now I'm going to have this girl hating me forever. I'm just glad I stopped taking it in time. I got a taste of what living with psychosis can be like and I swear if I had to live like that forever then I would have ended myself.

My doctor prescribe me accutane 20mg a day as i am having severe acne, its an end of 2nd week and i am experiencing initial breakouts dnt know why my doctor prescribe me this for 20 days and call me again for checkup, Is really accutane works?? coz m still having breakouts every new fay with a new pimple on face

I'm on my 45th day of accutane treatment of 30mg a day. My acne has been breaking out worse than it ever was before, but otherwise I am experiencing basically negligible side effects. Slightly dry lips, but that's it. Is my dosage too low? Is that why my breakout is so prolonged? I'm 19, 60kgs.

I'm giving Acctuane two stars because it was a total cure for both of my brothers. Unfortunately for my sister and I, we both relapsed a few months after stopping. The dermatologist recommended taking a second round, but at the end of my first round my hair was falling out. I still have bald patches on my hairline. Not cool.

(I am 15 years old, female, living in the UK, had acne for 4 years, severe acne for over a year, mild eczema, originally prescribed 15mg- moved after 1 month to 30mg- was taken down to 20, then to 10- and then brought off with in about 2 weeks of originally reducing my dose) For me Accutane ruined my skin, and my life for a short while- yes, it may be effective but I believe isn't for everyone, and should be carefully considered as it is so incredibly subjective. I had previously been on multiple different prescription and topical treatments for my acne with little to no effect on my skin. I was offered hospital treatment and presented with the idea of Accutane as a short term powerful drug that would make my skin temporally worse, but eventually cure my acne. After around 1 week of taking the drug, my lips were destroyed and peeling and my nose was constantly filled with blood. After 3 weeks of Accutane, my skin developed cystic acne and became hugely inflamed and painful even to gently touch. I was then told that my treatment would last at least 9 months. Around 2 months into the treatment, my skin was still horrendous and painful and I was still experiencing side effects such as aching joints, dry scalp, nosebleeds, worsened eczema hugely, dry lips and large cystic spots. I then came to the realisation that I was constantly crying upset and down, and that this wasn't because of anything notable. Some days I struggled to get up out of bed, I wanted to curl up and stay still all day, I found no pleasure in ordinary things that I would usually enjoy, I didn't want to go places. I told the hospital, they reduced my dose and told me to see how I feel. As my mood and attitude didn't change, they brought me down to 10mg. As I still remained in the same state, they took me off the drug completely. After just a few days Accutane free, I felt better and could really reflect in just how bad I felt. Accutane made me feel awful and only worsened my skin. I have now been off Accutane for 3 weeks, and my skin has actually started to improve on its own, I have little inflammation and redness, I don't regularly even get new spots and if I do they are very small and leave quickly- my skin has never looked so good! I have just begun treatment with the contraceptive pill and antibiotics to further improve my skin. For me- Accutane wasn't worth ruining my skin further for, it never helped me it just caused me issues.

I must be the 1% accutane didn't work for :( I'm a girl, and this is more common to happen with girls due to hormonal acne. I think another issue is I picked the ENTIRE time while on accutane, and maybe if I had never picked my skin would have healed. Now here's why I'm giving accutane 2 stars. Before accutane, I never really broke out on my cheeks. But during accutane, I started breaking out a ton on my cheeks (which scars the worst on my face), and it never ended. It's subsided, but I still break out on my cheeks. Accutane worked wonders on my 2 older brothers, so if you have severe acne I say give it a go. My acne honestly wasn't bad at all, to be completely honest I think my picking caused my acne. Unfortunately, nothing can really fix that. The only reason I went on accutane is because I was allergic to all antibiotics for acne and nothing topical worked. I'm now on Retin-A and it seems to be working well :)

I want to begin this by saying that i was in your position. I had bad acne. I'm writing this to provide some insight to what it's been like the last 3 years after my course of accutane (some information that i would have eaten right up before i started treatment). Let me start off by saying - this drug works. For most, if not all of middle/high school, I had very bad acne that was resistant to doxycycline, minocycline, proactiv, Murad products, benzoyl peroxide, sailicylic acid, and all the wipes i could get my hands on. You more than likely will be free from acne at least for a few years after treatment, and it's absolutely wonderful! Being able to walk around without having to check mirrors for a new red/white bump on your face is as great as you think it would be. Looking back it seems like i was a completely different person. You're probably thinking: if it works so well, why the lackluster rating then?! This drug works wonders but there is absolutely a reason as to why they're so serious about prescribing it. They are very cautious because this stuff is freaking legit - it alters your body in a permanent way. Once you've finished your course there is no going back. In fact, at the time of writing they still do not understand exactly how it works - but it affects acne. This was originally made to be a drug for cancer patients (yeah, people that had nothing left to lose and were willing to try something that could potentially debilitate them if it meant surviving! crazy right?) So I went on the medication and throughout the course felt nothing but the normal side effects of dry lips, skin, nosebleeds, dry eyes and easily scarring (just a scratch on accutane can turn into a permanent scar hah, i have a few reminders). Things went through without a hitch and i was acne free! I would notice people staring at me, and if i could guess what they were thinking it would be "How in the hell did that pizza face get porcelain clear skin?!" Strangely, the side effects of this medication slowly ease their way into your life after treatment (the effects are permanent after all). Expect something along the lines of joint pain, gastrointestinal issues, and mental health dips. These tend to be the most serious. When people get these issues they disregard it as natural, how in the world could they be associated with something they took 3, 5, even 10 years ago? Long story short in convincing you this are legit, the original manufacturers of accutane (Roche) went out of business due to lawsuits and had huge payouts of millions upon millions of dollars to peoples lives they had negatively changed (mostly focusing on permanent gastrointestinal issues). I could talk about this for hours but to avoid making it THAT lengthy, here's the summary: I can't stress enough how EXTREMELY important it is for you to consider these potentially permanent side effects. When i took it i couldn't care less about side effects, all i wanted was my acne to be gone! But there are people who used to play sports, ran, and workout - now experience severe pain by simply walking due to joint issues (and it's seemingly permanent unfortunately). If your acne isn't really that bad, or could go away within a couple of years normally, it is up to YOU to consider taking this drug. There are dermatologists out there who will prescribe this to people with just a few pimples, which is unecessary given how serious the side effects could be. Read up on peoples experiences years after their treatment and make an informed decision!!! God bless :)

I went through an accutane treatment when I was 16. I am 28 now. I recall being extremely dry, and no moisturizer would help. I also remember being so depressed that I asked for help and went on antidepressants shortly after my accutane round (about a yearish). My skin cleared up while I was taking it, but the drawbacks were not worth it. My acne returned as soon as the treatment was over. I know now I have hormonal acne and rosacea so perhaps Accutane wasn't the best choice. I personally think it's too severe of a treatment for anyone under 18 - heck, for any age really - and if you are considering it, please go through all other possibilities first, like getting a blood test done for hormonal imbalances and attack the acne that route. I also suggest seeing an esthetician as they can do some amazing, cleansing facials. It won't solve the problem permanently but it's a far more enjoyable experience than Accutane - you are pampering yourself and won't be poisoning yourself with vitamin A. Plus de-stressing can help with acne ;) My acne is exactly the same as it was before I took it. I don't mean to sound doom and gloom - this is simply my perspective on it. It could work beautifully for you if you have severe cystic acne that is unresponsive to hormonal treatments. Just be wise and perhaps see it as a last resort.