I'm a mom of 3 girls and when my preteen and her girlfriends had less acne than me in my mid thirties, I decided it was time to get serious. I'd been suffering with cystic acne since my teen and since I was finished having kids I spoke with my dermatologist about the Accutane possibility. I'd tried everything imaginable prior to going this route; antibiotics, facials, peels, 3 step systems, etc. You name it, I tried it. Nothing truly worked until Accutane. Granted, the first few months were a bit grueling with all the dryness and flaking. But the pay off was so worth it. I was prepared to take another round, but so far I remain acne free. It's truly an amazing thing that I'm so thankful for!

sharelove

Brighton, MI

Having suffered from serious acne for years on end, my doctor finally reccomended that I try out Accutane. Given the typical side effects, getting a prescription for Accutane is a bit of a difficult process but well worth the effort.  If you are female, you will have to take a pregnancy test and go on birth control. After being on Accutane for about a month, it was obvious how effective the medication was. My acne was hardly there and my confidence shot up several levels, I had never seen my skin look so clear. Accutane does REALLY dry your skin up though, so make sure you drink a lot of water, have chapstick, and mositurize frequently. Accutane doesn't work for everyone but is definitely worth trying out.

MySte

South Lebanon, OH

After traveling back and forth from the dermatologist for almost a year with mild acne, my dermatologist decided Accutane was right for me. I swear the I tried every acne wash, cream, gel and even pill before I finally got to experience Accutane for myself. I had to do a ton a paperwork to get on it and since I took it, they require much more. At this point it is almost impossible for women to get on because there are life treating birth defects as a direct result of Accutane. When I was on it I just had to vow that I was abstinent, and at 14 that is believable. At first, my acne seemed to get worse but after the first pack of pills it turned around just as quickly. My face seemed to clear up  over night! It was amazing.. then came all of the dry skin. I seemed to go through moisturizer once a week. On the other hand, that drying was great for my oily hair. Besides the drying, I experienced no other foul side effects and my experience with Accutane was WONDERFUL! If you do chose to take Accutane, try to take it over the winter because you can get terrible sun burns if you are taking it during the summer months.

kasey41791

Lock Haven, PA

I never had horrible acne, but it was enough to make me feel self-conscious. I tended to get large, red bumps on my forehead, chin, and along my hairline. My main problem though, was getting pimples on my chest and back - I was embarrassed to wear swimsuits or tank tops. I went to see my dermatologist, and she tried me on a different acne medication, which did nothing. Then she suggested Accutane, which worked miraculously. Within a few months, my acne had cleared up completely, with only the occasional spot popping up on my face. Accutane is basically a form of vitamin A, which reduces the oil your skin produces. It is meant to treat severe cases of acne. According to my dermatologist, it works for everyone, although the length of time needed varies from person to person. The drug appears in the form of a yellow pill that you swallow (usually once a day). The most common side effect is dry skin and lips, and sensitivity to sun. I definitely got the dry skin part, but a hypoallergenic, non-pore-clogging lotion once a day fixed that. As for the lips, they were bad! My dermatologist gave me samples of Aquaphor, a healing ointment for skin and lips, that I had to use every few hours. However, it was definitely worth it! There are two other things about Accutane: First, it doesn't work forever. I took it around age 13 and went for a over two years before acne started coming back on my chest and I had to revisit my dermatologist and begin another round. Second, they have recently gotten very stringent about giving it out, especially to girls, since it causes severe birth defects if you become pregnant. They make you take two forms of birth control (but abstinence can count) to make sure you don't get pregnant. You have to do a urine sample about once a month when you go to the dermatologist to renew the prescription. Also, you have to get on a website called iPledge and verify your birth control and answer some simple questions (like "True or false? Accutane causes birth defects") before you can get your prescription filled each time. This can get kind of annoying. No matter what the side effects or hassles are though, the bottom line is that this drug works and the changes it makes in your appearance and your confidence are worth it.

meggiemoomoo

Saint Louis, MO

I suffered from acne and will forever bear the scars from acne.  I wish my mom had fought a bit harder to get accutane for me.  My son started getting acne at 11 which is very young and a precursor to rather serious acne.  We went through several years of retinA concoctions, antibiotics and even manual extractions which are very painful. One round of accutane cleared up my son's acne, blackheads and oily skin.  Today he has beautiful scar free skin.  Please do this for yourself or your child if you have tried everything else.  There is no need to suffer.  Dr.'s do not want to prescribe accutane due to the difficulties and tracking of the drug.  It is worth the effort to find a Dr. and/or practice that does.  Yes you have to register and take monthly liver function tests, and yes if you are a female you MUST have at least two forms of birth control.  This drug will cause birth defects.  However I think we all know where babies come from and how to prevent this.Do NOT take no for an answer. 

SkyVanMom

Oklahoma City, OK

I took Accutane but it didn't work for me. I really don't think I was on it long enough. I moved to another city and didn't go back to the same dermatologist and I think they took me off of it to soon. I never had the side effects they talk about like wanting to kill my self. I know a guy that also took it and it worked great for him. I found Skin Organics by Ann Webb and this is the only think I have ever found that stops the cystic acne. It is healthy for your skin and works great. I love this stuff and am so happy with all her products.

Landree

Katy, TX

**I was on this for 1 1/2 years, when the recommended dose was 15-20 weeks.  Aside from the fact that I still have acne, so it obviously didn't help me, The 1 1/2 years I was on it was MISERABLE. I had sever dry skin.  the tops of my hand would crack and bleed by just making a fist.  I could smile without my lips cracking and bleeding and that was WITH Plastibase on then 24/7.  To this day, 15 years later, I have trouble seeing at night, which is one of the side effects.  I have to take a pregnancy every month, even though I was 17, due to the risk of SEVERE birth defects on a fetus.  It's not been proven to be linked, but I have had cancer on my kidney, I currently suffer from IBS and hypersensitve colon, and I have gotten severe migraines ever since I took it.  There are several class action lawsuits against the makers of Accutane for damage caused to the kidneys, and to Crohn's Disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease.  I do NOT recommend this monster of a drug. **

residae

Florence, OR

I know this is terrible and it's either being pulled finally oor there are just a bunch of lawsuits. If it's not being pulled and it's just gettinga lot of law suits, I would almost say "shame on you." EVERYONE, who is prescribed Accutane (usually in it's generic form - I think there are 2-3 different ones), practically has to get down on their knees and beg. And THAT'S ONLY AFTER THEY PASS ALL THE TESTS, SIGN ALL THE CONSENT FORMS, AND GO THROUGH SPECIAL EDUCATION ABOUT THE MEDICATION, and it's possible effects, etc.This is almost equal in my book to saying (now-a-days that you didn't know that smoking is bad for you because you never were told by a doctor, friend, check out clerk at the local corner store. Well, I used it as a teen because cystic acne runs on my dad's side of the family. It never really worked. With the first time, I think all it did was calm things with my face down. Maybe just keep things even keeled. Meaning my acne didn't seem to get much better, but fortunately (even though I didn't se it that way then) it didn't get much worse either. So, after all my new meds over the last 5 yrs, after the surgery, the auto-immune disease, and all this other stuff all mixed all together (and yes my face had cleared up except for the occasional hormonal break-up), I mean with all of this craziness going on, all the chenicals, etc., my face went berserk. I broke out in these huge zits. But, they cameand went so fast it all happened before I could even get into see my dermotolgist. It was more like blisters and they popped and left instant scars. The only thing that would work after trying every dermo "thing," all over again. My Dermotoligist said something about Accutane, and I got excited and said "WHAT? I thought it onlyworked for teens/adolescents!!!). It turns out, after many studies, and many people using that had used it once before, finally as adults (young, middle, or old, it didn't matter what age as long as you were NOWHERE NEAR puberty)it seemed like patients were finally gaining full success after a second treatment in adulthood. Six plus months as needed. I went through the "class" the education of all the possible side effects, how serious they are and how if I notice the teensiest bit of one coming on, to haul my rear back there and she would take me off it right away.  But, that didn't happen. Despite my body doing what it wants to and rebelling against how much pain and illness I have, and all the medications and various treatments for them, something let the accutane do it's job and now, I have slightly scarred and aged skin (as I sunbathed a lot as a teen), but I don't wake up crying about how awful and scary my face looks now. And, that is 100% due to the use and treatment of Accutane.

MichelleGold

Colorado Springs, CO

I had pretty bad cystic acne for a very long time. I tried just about everything that there was to try and nothing would even come close to working. After my dermatologist prescribed me several medications that I ended up being allergic to, she finally decided to have me try Accutane. We were both a little hesitant at first, as I have intestinal issues that have required surgery in the past. We decided to give it a go anyway since the acne was causing me pain, not just mentally but physically as well. Within a few weeks of being on the medication, my acne was completely gone. I was very shocked with how quickly I got results. My skin became very dry which was to be expected but that was easily dealt with by using lotion on a more regular basis. I did have major issues with my eyes and my lips drying out really bad. I invested in some really good eye drops from Blink and Cover Girl Lipslick which seemed to take care of those issues. I was only on the medication for 3 months and my skin has never been happier!!!

madamealaina

Phoenix, AZ

Accutane is a miralce drug for acne sufferers! I have tried everything from creams to special soaps to get rid of my acne. Nothing seemed to be working. The acne was fairly severely. It was all on my face and spreading down to my neck, back and chest. It was disgusting and I hated how I looked. Accutane is a powerful form of vitamin A which helps to dry out the oils of the skin.Ater taking accutane for just a couple of weeks I could notice a major difference. My skin began to clear up immensely. One of the problems with accutane is that you must undergo monthly blood tests to ensure your liver is still functioning properly. Also if you are a female you ABSOLUTELY may not get pregnant on this drug. It is extremely dangerous for a fetus. Women must be on at least two forms of birth control on this drug or risk serious birth defects. The other negative is that it can severely dry out your lips. Mine got so dry that they would crack and bleed when I smiled. Overall if the product is used responsibly and you keep moistureizer on your lips and skin it is an excellent product. It clears up even bad cases of acne.

tmyoung84

Lexington, KY