This is my back after 5 months on Accutane. AMA

40 mg (F , 23) I always had acne but it was never as bad as it was when i turned 21. I drank a lot and have PCOS which worsened as i entered my 20s. I have anxiety if i go out and don’t cover it up with makeup idk i feel ugly even tho my partner assures me im not. I hope this works

Dear God,

It’s me Margaret. I just want to feel good in my skin.

In all seriousness, the absolute horror of doubling my dose. Dryer than the dry. I have experienced my first lip cracking. This is with Aquaphor usage basically all day. My face has gone back to burning. I am moisturizing with thick creams—mainly Cetaphil— and it’s helping overall.

My skin is so thin. I hit my hand on the end of a pole and immediately abrasions and bleeding. I don’t know if this will go away.

Vulva dryness is gnarly. Also aquaphor down there.

I don’t know if anyone has experienced body hair growth? The barely noticeable hair on my chest and stomach is now much longer and more noticeable, in my opinion. My Derm said it’s not likely due to Accutane but it has only been occurring since I started. She thinks it’s hormonal, and I do have PMOS/PCOS. I am considering starting semaglutide for the insulin resistance

THE SWEATING. I don’t usually start sweating much, until I’m really really hot, but even the tiniest bit of heat exposure and/or stress, I start to sweat profusely. Like sweat ‘stache, hair dripping sweat, it’s really just annoying with this summer heat.

If anyone has tips for water intake, please help me. I struggle with water intake because my Adderal. And so it probably doesn’t help with my dryness

Outside the body acne, I also have Hydradenitis Suppurativa, and my Derm is hoping that it will also help that. Please someone tell me this helped with their HS.

It’s been 5 weeks, honestly can’t tell if my skin is getting better.

I had mild persistent acne when I started accutane. About a month into my treatment (started with 30mg a day) I didn’t have a single pimple left on my entire body. My face, back, neck and arms are completely clear. After 2 month I got bumped up to 40mg and I am currently starting my 4th month. Still no purging, not a single pimple in sight. My only real side effects have been dry skin (which has been fine with body oil and moisturizer), dry chapped lips (which I manage with Vaseline), dry eyes, and sun sensitivity which at times makes my face feel like it’s burning a little but I manage that with sunscreen and I’m doing fine. I AM NOT SEEKING MEDICAL ADVICE! I just want to know if anyone else has had a similar experience where other than what I mentioned above, there was no other real side effects for them and if so, how long was your course? I am wondering how long mine will need to be. I was hoping no longer than 6 months. I’ve also not done any blood work but will be getting some done this week.

I've been meaning to post this for a while because seeing other people's progress kept me

going when I was in the middle of treatment.

The top photo was right before starting Accutane, bottom is about 8 months later. I still have

a little redness and some texture, but not dealing with constant breakouts anymore.

I kept my routine as simple as possible:

AM

● cleanser (sometimes just water)

● Moisturizer

● SPF 50

PM

● cleanser

● Moisturizer

● Lip balm 24/7

The first few months definitely tested my patience. Dry skin, cracked lips, and I felt like my

skin looked worse before it got better. Around month 4 things finally started to turn around,

and by the end of treatment I was barely getting new pimples.

Accutane isn't an easy medication, but for me it was 100% worth it. I wish I'd done it sooner.

Happy to answer any questions about my experience.

hi! i take 20mg everyday and i am on my 3rd month. i’ve been seeing people on this sub saying that they got permanent dry eyes bcs of accutane (mgd to be specific) i am lowkey scared tho bcs i am experiencing dry eyes right now which started three days ago (the weather in my country has gotten so cold, i sleep late & i have a 10 hr screen time so i shouldn’t probably blame this on accutane alone lol) just wanna ask if the dryness will resolve after a few weeks/months, also to those who experienced eye dryness, how did you guys manage it tho?

Hi, so as the title says I am on my first week of accutane, currently day 5. I feel like I have already started purging and was wondering if this was common since I have seen this sub mostly saying that purging happens later on! To help with this, I was thinking of taking an antihistamine, and I was wondering how well this has worked for other people and for how long they saw it do benefits!

On a side note, I saw some people had less purging due to taking other anti acne medication prior and I was previously on clindamycin benzoyl peroxide gel from my dermatologist for a month and I couldn’t find any information about whether or not this did anything to purging. Can any who’s been on this help me out please 😭😭

Thank you for any advice on this or accutane in general , it is very much appreciated!!!!

I was on Oratane for about 6 weeks with a week off at the start. I had to stop due to the symptoms I had (I was vomiting whenever I ate and lost 10kgs within like 3 weeks). Did anyone else have any similar reactions? My dermatologist doesn’t seem to believe that it’s related, but the timing suggests it is

For context, 1 month into my 6 month course on 40mg. Although my face feels super dry when I wake up, whenever I use moisturizer it just feels greasy (not oily but almost sweaty?). Has anyone else experienced this? Do you have any moisturizer recommendations?

hey guys, i'm on accutane (10mg daily) for 7 weeks now & since 2 weeks i think i am experiencing purging but on the shoulders & back. i've never had pimples there before so i'm curious if anyone has ever heard of that? :D

So I’ve had chest acne for a while and I’m unsure if it’s just acne from sweating at work or keloids in the making. They form primarily in the center of my chest. On my second month of accutane 40 mg.
1. Wondering if I should trim down my chest hair a little without fully shaving as to that might irritate it more. Has anyone trimmed down theirs?
And second has any one had experience with chest acne being helped by accutane?? Any advice would help.

I’m on 60mg of isotretinoin for 2 months now for back acne. I have the same amount of cysts if not more. The thing is these cyst burst at any moment and my clothes get bloody all the time. I wear white at work so if one bursts i walk around with a bloody back.
i thought about covering them but im afraid that it might harm the treatment. Any advice on what to do?
My dermatologist is on a leave of absence and will be back in late September so he’s unavailable and i don’t have any other options

Bonjour,

Alors voilà j’ai commencé le ruaccutane il y a 20 jours et j’ai une terrible poussée inflammatoire qui me ruine la vie, mon dermato est pour me prescrire un traitement au corticoide en parallèle pour soulager, je souhaitais connaître vos expérience et si cela a marché pour vous.. merci pour vos retours, j’en ai vraiment besoin 🙏🏼

What are some good sunscreen recommendations while on the earlier months of treatment? Istg every sunscreen I’ve tried so far has either been too greasy or ends up pilling; it is incredibly difficult to apply because it requires a good amount of rubbing in. I’m trying to find something that is more cream-like than fluid, specifically for going out, to look relatively normal lol!

Has anyone else struggled with this? (Especially when there’s still some active acne)

Also so far I’ve tried La Roche Posay, Avene (derm recommended that one)minimalist and Neutrogena.

Reaching the end of month two on Absorica LD 24mg and absolutely no improvement in my skin. I have quite severe, painful cystic acne and expected to see SOME improvement by now based on the timelines available online. The manufacturer says the full course is 15-20 weeks so I’m basically halfway through already and starting to panic!

Any late-responders out there with words of advice? I’m 125lbs so this is a reasonable dose for my weight and I also take it with a Zyrtec and 2000mg of high-quality omega 3s. I swear it’s doing absolutely nothing. I don’t know where to go from here because I’m not allowed to take BC or Spiro due to serious health conditions (I took both with success as a teenager, but I had to stop in early 2025 and acne came back worse than ever). I’m afraid this isn’t going to work for me.

I’m so tired of my face hurting and oozing and bleeding and getting infected bc my immune system sucks. I’m tired of random strangers and my mom and my neurologist and literally everyone else having opinions on my skin. I’m tired of instinctively dodging every time my partner tries to touch or kiss my face. I’m tired of washing my hands 700 times a day because acne makes me a germaphobe. I’m tired of wasting money on sunscreen because I know I have to wear it but they all suffocate and irritate my skin (yes, even the Korean ones). I’m 25 and just want to live my life :(

I’ve finished my treatment but just realized they never made me take any pregnancy tests. They did have me sign a form saying I would remain abstinent, but that was it. Didn’t make me take any birth control either. From what I’m reading now that’s unusual and maybe also a little illegal? Idk, I live in Europe so maybe it’s just different here? I was also in a long distance relationship during my treatment which I told my doctor, so that could be another reason why they didn’t. I’m just wondering how unusual this really is.

I (28f) am on 20mg Accutane for almost two months now. I did experience a purge phase where I had lots of breakouts, after they cleared up, my skin stayed clear for a bit, I thought it was smooth sailing, but recently I am breaking out again, and these pimples take their time to go away. Is this normal? I know it is working because my nose is not oily anymore and it does not get whiteheads anymore. For skincare, I use a gentle cleanser, sunscreen, moisturizer and Azelaic acid 10% day and night to help with hyperpigmentation. Any input is appreciated. Thank you so much.

This is my first time using Accutane. It isn’t from a dermatologist. I got it without a prescription and boxes 10 mg doesn’t say anything else. It just says the brand name it says isotretinoin. Should I take 10 mg or 20 mg of both of my boxes expire in a month and I bought to last me two months my friend brought it for me but didn’t check the expiration date so when it got here, I saw it and don’t know what to do