I just started a second round of accutane a few days ago. I've had acne since age 13, and now at age 22, I'm sick of it! I've been on everything, tetracycline, erythromyacin, Retin-A. At age 16, I went on accutane, and my skin cleared up almost completely. I felt so much better about myself, and had much more confidence. I contribute my shyness in high school to a bad self body image caused by my bad acne. Once I used accutane, my shyness disappeared and you would have never known I had bad skin. I got to college, and my skin stayed relatively clear for the first 3 years. In my senior year, it started to get worse. I went on ortho tri-cyclen, and it cleared up my skin a little bit, but I didn't feel it was worth it. I gained weight from the birth control pill and decided to stop using it. Now, in Feb 99, at age 22, I live in New York, and maybe it is the stress of a new job, long hours, but my face was just as bad as it was in high school. I went to the dermatologist the other day and started a second treatment of accutane. I really hope this works. When does it go away? I feel like i will be cursed with acne for my whole life. It really makes me depressed. I am usually a happy person, but when my face breaks out so badly, i just feel gross! I'm scared of the side effects of accutane. I remember 6 years ago, i had a lot of hair loss, lucky for me I have very thick hair, so it wasn't visibly noticable. And I had nosebleeds alot, and had like 500 chapsticks in my bag at one time. I was addicted to chapstick, and still am...Let me know if anyone has this weird side effect: my breasts got larger. I don't know if this was because of accutane, or just changing hormones at that age.

Week 1: This is my second week, and i have noticed that my face is a lot less oily. my dermatologist said i could only wash my face once a day, gross, with cetaphil, but it hasn't been all that oily where this would bother me. my lips are pretty dry and my contacts are irritating me a little bit. my skin looks a little better, but still have acne break outs. go away already!

Week 3 and Week 4: sorry i missed week 2, but so far my skin is looking better. My lips are sooooo dry, and my nose is really drying out too. Aquaphor really helps. i glob it on constantly. My contacts have started to bother me, and so today I'm wearing my glasses. I'm only supposed to wash my face once a day and at first i thought that my face would be so oily, but it's dry so it doesn't bother me at all. My back is pretty much all cleared up already. THe derm upped my dosage from 20 mg a day, to 40 mg for 3rd and 4th week, then it will be 60mg, she said that lowers the side effects. My hair has gotten really really dry, has anyone else noticed that?

Week 5: This week i have a cyst on my cheek, my face got a little worse this week. Very dry, it's so windy outside and it hurts my facE! my eyes are so dry, and i can hardly wear my contacts anymore. aaaah! i hope these side effects don't get too much worse...

Week 8: I'm getting kinda annoyed because my hair keeps falling out and is so dry all the time. and my lips and eyes too. i can hardly wear my contacts, i look like a freak when i do because my eyes get all bloodshot. i guess that's a side effect, really dry eyes. I've been kind of down lately also, but at least my face is dry! i don't have any new breakouts really, but just red marks where they used to be. i hope those go away sometime soon! can't wait til this is over!

Week 11: it has been awhile since i've written, but since reading week 8 over again, it has been pretty much the same since then, same side effects. i get one major breakout every 2 weeks, i think it's so strange, but hopefully they will go away soon! aaah! i read blossom's entry and i too, just want to cut my lips off. they are so dry. it's ridiculous! i look like a freak because i glob on aquaphor or vaseline on them all day! ok, that's about all. i can't WAIT to be done with this! i hope my skin is nice for the summertime. but i know that i won't be able to be in the sun for awhile, but that's a minor sacrifice for a nice complexion!

Week 13: The corners of my lips are so dry! aaah! i can hardly open my mouth wide! and i have a weird rash on my neck. they kinda look like hickeys, embarassing! other than that, no new breakouts, but the red blotches just won't go away, and now with the weather getting nice, and me working out outside, and walking to the subway, etc. i have been getting alot of sun. i think that might bring out the red marks even more. it sucks that i can't be tan this summer. i feel so pale!!! my upper back/shoulders have been sooo tense lately, i don't know if this is from sitting in front of my computer alot at work, or accutane related. has anyone else noticed more tense muscles during treatment??? i also wanted to thank everyone for emailing me. i will try to write back. so many have written it's hard to keep up! but it's very helpful, you motivate me to keep writing about my experiences!

Week 18: Ok, sorry guys i haven't written in SUCH a long time. i actually had to go onto my calendar and check how many weeks i've been on it. everything is going really well. my skin is pretty clear, there are still red marks from previous acne, but only like 1 zit every few weeks, so i'm not complaining. my side effects are almost nothing, not like last time. maybe because i am on a smaller dose (60 g a day now, until august) i hope my skin stays nice and dry like it is now. i went to miami for vacation and got some sun, i was very careful with sunscreen. my face with like spf 50, so no problems, i actually got tanned on the rest of me, so i was very relieved. i went home for a weekend, and one of my best friends from college said my skin looked really good! i'm so glad someone noticed a change! =) thanks for everyone's emails, they really are encouraging, and make me feel like i'm not alone out there! i still have a little rash on my neck, that looks like hickeys (how embarassing!) and my eyes are always dry, but i think they were before this anyways...hope to hear from some of you!

Week 21: So i only have 1 month to go, and i'm SO HAPPY with the results! everyone has been telling me how great my skin looks, and so that makes me feel very good and very confident that accutane has done its miracle cure on me. i will try and write back to everyone, i have received so many emails and i want to write you all back, when i get a free moment! i'm TRYING to stay out of the sun, has anyone else found this so hard to do? i have. being at the beach a lot on the weekends, and when all of your friends are sun worshipers, this is hard to do. the rash on my neck has gone away, thanks to some cortisone the derm. gave me. i just will get random patches of dry skin. last week was my chin! the red marks are still there, but the doctor said they'd go away even more once i stopped the treatment. thanks for the responses. i know i'm not alone out there...

Week 24: This is my last week, yeah! i am doing great. my eyes are still pretty dry and my lips are again also (i think this is because i went to woodstock last weekend, and it was really hard to avoid the sun so i got burned lips!) anyways, the derm. said my skin looks great, i just want some of the scars to keep fading. i think it takes a while. but i seriously would suggest to anyone who has bad acne to go on this drug, it has been the only thing that has helped me to be "cured" of acne for a long period of time. i'll write back in a few weeks, when i have been off of it for awhile, and let you know if my skin keeps getting better! thanks for listening!

You can email Cindy at cindylou100@hotmail.com.

The materials and links provided at this site are for informational purposes only and are not intended for use as diagnosis or treatment of a health problem or as a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional. IN NO WAY SHOULD OUR WEB SITE AND ONLINE GUIDES BE CONSIDERED AS OFFERING, SUGGESTING OR PROVIDING MEDICAL ADVICE! NEVER DISREGARD MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY IN SEEKING IT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ ON THE SITE. Also note that medical information changes rapidly. Therefore, some information presented here may be out of date or even possibly inaccurate and erroneous. If you find information on our site that you believe is in error, please let us know. We make no representations or warranties with respect to any information offered or provided on or through our website regarding treatment, action, or application of medication.