I'm baaack to tell you... accutane has saved my life and skin.. please read
Hey yall!
I am an old user of this board. It actually used to be my best friend, meaning i was constantly on it. I am almost 19 years old and have ALWAYs struggled with acne my entire life. I never had it servere but it was constant and quite often made me feel awful about myself.
I had tried every medication you can think of. Spent hundreds of dollars on things that worked at first but then i became immune to and stopped working. Until last year a day after my birthday i thought it was hopeless. I had heard from a friend that he had used accutane for his acne. I immediately asked my doctor and started researching. He said he would approve and gave me the pamplet to look over. I was a little worried about the side effects but at this time i felt as if i would go as far as being bald than having 1 more painful pimple. As i started acctuane i had some idea that everything would start clearing within 2 weeks. O no no i was WRONG! I went through the worst 5 months of my entire life. Every single pimple came out on my face and they hurt. This went on for about 4 months. I looked hideous and was so embarassed =( But i kept the hope up high and everything slowly cleared up beautifully. Its been about 6 months since ive ended acctuane and i have never been more confident and had such great skin.
Let me tell u a little about the mental abuse acne has done to me. I never had any confidence of myself. I avoided sunlight and all mirrors. I became a quiet and nonsocial person because i didnt want anyone to look at me. I was 18 years old and had never even had a bf. Finally what really drove me to take accutane was because i had just been asked out and i hated making excuses not to see him because of my acne. I am not one to brag about myself but i have been told i am an extremely attractive girl. I just never beleived anyone and i only saw the pimples. You know i could go on forever. But i just wanted to write this if anyone is struggling with acne please please consider acctuane. It saved my life and i beleive its a miracle drug. Dont listen to other people complaining about it because thats the only people u hear is the ones that had problems. It is very unlikely that u will find someone like me to tell you how great it is because i have gone on with my life and acne is thankfully no longer part of all i think about. I could write allll day about this but please if you have any questions i would love to answer them. I know the drug like i know myself and i would love to help! Thanks for reading
The Following User Says Thank You to BaByGrL21 For This Useful Post: LAxbros16 (12-09-2011)
It's so nice to read a positive story! I am new to accutane...9 days to date...but I wish I would have done this years ago.
Glad to hear your skin cleared up and that it worked for you!
Thanks for sharing!
Oh wow uve just started =)... It seems like its a lifetime but its all worth it in the end. Your welcome for my post. I know that when i would read others posts its what gave me hope and helped me through the process
Hey Babygrl, i'm also on this drug and so far it's had a few effects on me some good some bad. it's day 51 for me now, which is a reasonable way through the process I feel.
I can totally relate to your story, i'm 17 years old and have only ever had 1 g/f thanks to my acne, this has plagued me for so long now I can't remember the last time I wasn't worrying about my skin/appearance.
I have also been told i'm attractive under this crappy skin of mine but because my self confidence is so low, any girl who has ever approached me I have shrugged off because I thought they were taking the pi*s out of me.
In the last few months though my skin has been slowly coming around and it makes me so much happier knowing that by the end of this treatment I should be cleared up.
Ok here's a little history: i've tried BP, B5, Isotrex, Minocin, quite a few home remedies such as egg yolk and stuff like that, face masks. st ives apricot scrub, moisturisers all these things had mixed success.
Accutane has given me quite a few side effects though, i've had headaches, nosebleeds, depression. lethargy (tiredness), pus filled blisters on my legs (only a couple thank god), dry lips and v.dry skin. what kind've effects did you get??
OK when I started after about 3-4 days I noticed my lips were getting v.dry, about a week after that my skin started breaking out in quite a few small spots, this lasted for about a week and then didn't really get anymore. my forehead and hairline kept getting largish painful spots though, and it's weird because my forehead is usually completely clear. so for the next month or so my skin was clearing up beautifully up until a point when I could count the number of spots I had on one hand, I was exstatic!
In the last week or so I've been getting some more breakouts but these tend to be of the large under the skin type spots. So far it's kind've gone Initial breakout ---> Clearing phase ---> another breakout. I'm hoping it'll start to clear up again after this, only time will tell.
My skin being very flakey is getting very annoying that's the worst of it!
So babygrl how did accutane work with you? what affects did you get?
Ok well first of all what dosage are you on? I was on only 40 mg a day. My doctor said it was because i was skinny. Now since my dosage was rather small, It made the clearing process slower and also the side effects more minimal. The effects i got was... headaches, dry skin, lips, hair, my eyesight worsened, i was always tired, and the biggest was my intial breakout.
I never really got nosebleed or hairloss at all. But u know i loved the dryness because i was always so oily before accutane. The side effects were nothing big. The thing that killed me was the inital breakout that lasted for my whole entire course of acctuane.
It didnt all breakout at once, frst my left cheek was covered and then as those were healing the right cheek brokeout, then my chin and last my forehead. They werent small either, always cyst like very painful pimples. I was so upset and cursed accutane at the time. But i realized that those were the pimples that i would have had eventually anyway. Accutane ust speeded up the process of them coming out all at once. And like u said chris, i got pimples in places i had never gotten before also.
The pimples hurt so bad that i couldnt even talk or smile. I became so quiet, not only because i didnt want anyone to see me like that, but because it HURT to talk. I would lay down at night to go to sleep.. and i could actually feel a pimple under my skin coming out.And sure enough, the next morning it would be there. Acne ruined my entire youth years, wheni should have been out having fun with friends, dating.. and when i was on accutane was at the end of my senior year, which was horrible.
As for my boyfriend, well we actually started going out last january, just a month before i started accutane. I felt horrible because i never wanted to see him. I constantly made excuses y i was busy. In school i would think of plans on how i could avoid him the entire day. I know that he didnt care on how i looked but the fact was i cared and i felt so hideous with acne i couldnt bear for him to see me. Whe i would see him it would always be at night only. Thank god his lighting in his room was very dim. His mother used to call me the vampire because i only came out at night. Well this wenton for about 5 months and i kept thinking to myself. Why isnt this boy dumping me? But he never did, he tried to understand and stood by my side the entire time. Well im glad to say that next tuesday will be our 1 year anniversary =)
Anyways although i did strugle through the process of acctuane. It was worth it to me. I still do get a small pimple here or there. But it goes away by the next day. My face is still a little red from the scars left over but my doctor said they would definitely heal. Makeup covers the redness great though. See the thing with accutane is that you are going to go through hell while on it, but once you get through it, it will be over for good. I know id rather go through hell with a lot of acne for 5 months and then have the rest of my life to enjoy than to have to deal with a little bit of acne each day. I think moderate acne is just as bad looking as servere. Because even one pimple bothers me on my face. Okay well i have to get going to work but ill be glad to answer anymore questions... sorry this is so long =)
Beware...accutane is not a permanent solution....i have been on it twice. it cleared up my skin 100% and i was on cloud nine. but after 7 months or so my skin was staging a revenge attack. i got so depressed, i gradually became obsessed with my skin. i went on it again and have had great results....lets just hope i dont have another relapse.
Babygrl, you mentioned you've been off Accutane for 6 months and previously had oily skin. Has the oil returned in full for you since you've stopped accutane? Is your hair/skin really oily again? Thanks in advance.
It would be good to know what percentage of the people that use Accutance clear their face totally and have clear skin. Is it 50percent or 80 percent does anyone have facts from a dermatologist.?
Okay well before accutane my face was extremely oily. I mean i could feel it dripping.. it was gross. I would use those clean and clear oil sheets but it would help much. Now after accutane my skin has oil but its not even clse to how bad it used to be. My hair was the same way. Id wash it and then by the next day it was oily and greasy looking. Now i can go a couple days and then it gets a little oily. But u know i think that oil is good foryour skin because it protects bacteria from getting on it. I learned it in science this year lol. But anywaz the oil is 75 percent better =)... and and as the acctuane cost question. I paid 7 dollars a month because i had insurance on the medication. was not expensive at all.
My case was a sad case. I did a 5 month accutane course 80 mg a day and in less than 4 months after I finished the course my oil and acne came in full revenge. I have a new derm now. I really love her. She put me on a second course and said she is going all the way up to 160 mg a day and for 6 months. For the first month we are doing 80 mg a day. She says this time she will clear me up. She also said something that I was very happy with and I liked. She said after I finish the course she might put me on Accutane 40 mg 3 times a week to keep the oil from coming back, which I though was a good idea! Anyway. Like everyone in this board said, Accutane is not a cure. I am on my second course. I am 21 yo and I hope this is my last course for good. As far as what percentage of people remain clear after the first cycle....I dunno. I have excessive oily skin, almost like seborrea (spelling?) and weight 200 pounds ( built, not fat), so maybe that is why 80 mg did not work for me! Some people react different from others. What I know is 3 facts:
1. The higher the dosage the higher is the chance to remain clear
2.The longer the course the higher is the chance to remain clear
3.The more courses you do, the percentage to remain clear increases
Just my 2 cents!
[This message has been edited by cutetexan (edited 01-20-2003).]
I was put on Acutane a few months after the birth of my son in 1989. I became covered in acne in places (like my back) that I'd never had before. Not only acne but severe boils too. My acutane use began 4 Apr 89 and ended on 4 Aug 89. During the entire time I just knew it was a waste of time. Luckily my doc told me that I would feel that way so I believed in him and just kept taking the stuff. My lips got horribly dry and I broke out with boils like you wouldn't believe!! Even in my EARS!! Talk about PAIN! Anyway, the last month of my Acutane regiment was the most severe. Dry lips and skin was almost unbearable... the breakouts worse than ever and I just counted the days until my last pill. In hardly less than a week after my last pill, I had PERFECT skin. No breakouts... the softest skin since I was a baby and no more dryness. It's been quite a few years since my last pill and I have had some "relapses" with minor acne...but nothing major.
If you are considering Acutane, I highly recommend... but it does come with a cost.
GinaLee, From the sounnds of your post it almost seems like your skin was a complete disaster while on Accutane and that it was only after you stopped taking the Accutane that your face cleared up. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/confused.gif
Anyway, I'm happy for you and hope everything will continue to stay calm for you .
My skin was a complete disaster before I started taking it. And, due to the nature of how this drug works... It was a complete disaster WHILE taking it. That is an expected "side-effect"
The thing is, once I was finished taking the 4-months worth, my skin was "cured" of whatever had been causing the disaster!
Im really tinking about accutane becaue all these creams, lotions potions bullsh!!t is just annoying I want something permanent I hate having to secretly powder my face yes im a guy and my face gets so freakin oily and the worst thing is I wear sunblock so you know how that looks but the powder does help with oil man im just so fed up my forehead always breaksout its a mess my cheeks are never a big problem although there is hyperpgmentation from past whiteheads I have a picture thats on my wall where my skin is airbrushed NO ACNE and I always say look how good you can look without this bullsh!!t Im sorry for the vent and no periods im just very depressed/angry.
I just thank god I have no scars like pited.........that leaves me with a question if I take acutane and never got a "pit" and this accutane is supposdly gonna make you breakout big time will it cause indets since theres so much acne in just a matter of 5 months if thats the case the NO i wont take this stuff! *sobs some more* http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif
[This message has been edited by SomethingCreative (edited 03-08-2003).]
Accutane MIGHT make your skin worse it might not, MINE did break out a little but these were only smallish pimples that usually went away by themselves or if I popped em.
My face is so MUCH better now it's amazing, but i'm still more or less a social hermit lol, I like to go out but I practically never drink so I don't go out that much anyways.
Still at college and stuff nice to not have to worry about it.
Although I do get a small number of spots sometimes still, but they seem really terrible to me, y'know like one spot is as bad as a faceful, really kills me confidence still.
Oh yeah that's also a good point, does your sight get better after accutane because mine has worsened a little I think. I still have at leas 3 weeks of my course left though so all should be well
My eyesight has always been 20/40 since my first testing at age 6. I had them checked again over the years and they always stayed the same. Then last November I had an eye exam and I am now 20/30... it didn't have anything to do with the accutane tho.
I'm baaack to tell you... accutane has saved my life and skin.. please read 
yes im a guy and my face gets so freakin oily and the worst thing is I wear sunblock so you know how that looks but the powder does help with oil man im just so fed up my forehead always breaksout its a mess my cheeks are never a big problem although there is hyperpgmentation from past whiteheads I have a picture thats on my wall where my skin is airbrushed NO ACNE and I always say look how good you can look without this bullsh!!t Im sorry for the vent and no periods 
im just very depressed/angry. 
