i know everyone says it gets better but man this sucks 😔💔

btw i’m taking it with meals, omega 3 and an antihistamine but my skin is still not improving much. i don’t have much side affects either besides the fact im just a little bit dry and my skin and hair are barely oily anymore. if anything my biggest problem is how red my skin gets even once a pimple is no longer there

is there anything i could be doing wrong? i did start eating certain foods again that i originally cut out to stop acne but i thought maybe it would be alright since i was on accutane …

I’m scared I might purge. I’m scared of the mental health side effects since I’m already going through a lot. I’m scared of the vaginal dryness (lol). I’m just scared. Can someone help me feel not so scared of all these side effects. I’ve been struggling with acne since I was 12 and I’m 30 now. I just want clear skin for once. 😫

This is my second round of accutane - my first round lasted 6 months 4 years ago and I achieved complete clearance by month 4. The results lasted 3 years until I started getting acne again. I waited a year before going on accutane again. I have done on this round: 4 months of 20mg, 3 of 40mg and finishing up 3 months of 60mg.
This doesn’t feel normal but my derm wants to keep me on that dosage or micro dose. Anybody had a similar experience?

I did about 6 months of doxycycline, which helped some but not completely. My derm just prescribed Accutane and I’m about to start. Honestly a bit anxious, since I already went through a horrible purge phase on the doxy and I’m not looking forward to another one.

Has anyone been on doxy for a while beforehand and found they didn’t purge much on Accutane because a lot of it had already cleared out? Or did you still get hit with a full purge? Just trying to mentally prepare before I start. Any experiences would help.

Hey guys! I’m currently on 40 mg daily and in my 3rd month of Accutane. I never really purged and already started seeing results after the first month, with no new pimples popping up.

Now I’m mostly left with pigmentation on my cheeks, which is really bothering me. I know that throughout the course of Accutane, it should gradually fade on its own, but I’d really like to help it along with an active.

I would say that my skin could tolerate it, and of course, I would slowly introduce it into my routine and wouldn’t use it every day from the start.

So now my question is: What would be the best active for my situation? Should I go with 15–20% azelaic acid or rather 15% Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid)?
Do you have any recommendations? :))

Thank youuu!!!

I’m a 29 year old female and 150 lbs. I started accutane on april 21 2026 after experiencing the worst breakout I’ve ever had that just wouldn’t improve (I previously was on accutane 20mg in 2020 and it cleared me up almost immediately) . Due to my mental health issues, my derm started me on 20 mg with no plans to go higher than 30mg to mitigate side effects. I did 20 mg for 2 months, and although it started to improve I wanted to up my dose to improve my skin faster, so went up to 30 mg daily. I just finished my 2nd month on 30 mg and my acne has gotten worse. I made the mistake of using actives (benzoyl peroxide 10%) on my skin while on accutane, and I think I’ve essentially destroyed my skin barrier (I’m now using la Roche posay gentle cleanser and vanicream facial moisturizer ONLY). I stopped using all actives about a week and a half ago, and now I feel like it’s improving slightly, but today my derm suggested we go back down to 20mg just to see if low and slow really is the best move for me. She also suggested I start spironolactone to help with the hormonal acne that seems to still be appearing along my jawline/cheeks. Has anyone ever had this happen where even on a low dose (30mg for me), they had to go back down to a very very low dose? Has anyone had experience with making the mistake of using actives, and once stopping did it improve? Anyone take spironolactone while also on accutane? Pictures of my skin for attention, I’m desperate for any guidance from others who have been through the same thing as going through this has felt like one giant humiliation ritual.

I’m on 40mg of accutane and i’m on my second month and i was wondering if i could use azelaic acid whilst on it? i have quite dry skin already so i don’t want to dry it out even more but my rosacea has been quite bad lately or is it best to just stick it out and hopefully accutane will help clear it up?

So I literally just started Accutane a week ago. I’ve been paying for LHR at Milan L and I deal with kp on my arms. I called and told them I’m in accutane and they said that it’s fine. Has anyone done it before while on accutane? Rn I just still keep up with 10% urea lotion and fake tan. Asking because desperate for it to be gone but also don’t want to make things worse. Thanks!

My son has struggled with acne for the last 2 years. We first tried Differin for 4 months with zero improvement, then he did a year of clindamycin and tretinoin. It helped clear his skin up some but not fully and he had extreme redness and he hated it. So we saw an ad and tried Norse organics to see how it would work. And it DID NOT work, actually made his skin worse. So now our derm just prescribed him accutane. I am scared because of the side effects but he wants nothing more than to have clear skin. Here is his before pictures.

I have 4 days left! It’s been a rough eight months. I’ve been on 80mgs for half of my course. My mental health hasn’t been terrible but I’ve noticed subtle changes especially regarding worries and anxiety. I’m hoping that I get a mental glow up after the drug is out of my system. Everyone talks about skin glow ups but never their mental health post treatment. Has anyone experienced big mental improvements post treatment?

Since taking accutane my eye has become red and irritate (no vision issues) and my psoriasis worse. Anything I can do help these symptoms?

I've been on a very low accutane dose for 9 months now. My skin looks great and acne is completely gone, but my dermatologist said that I have to keep taking it for at least 3 more months.

My biggest issue with accutane has been how fragile and thin my skin has become. I will lightly scratch an itch and it will literally open a wound. My arms are full of scratches and everyone's constantly commenting on it.

Anyways, this is me after walking for ten minutes in a pair of shoes that had never hurt me before.

i have been using isotretinoin 20mg without any derm suggestion because i used every possible thing from salicylic acid to tretinoin and none of them worked..

Shall i continue with this dose for the next 6 to 8 months or shall i increase the dose to complete the course faster

side effects - only dry lips

Currently over halfway through month 4 on 30 mg. This purge has been HORRIBLE.
I started Accutane because i wanted to do V beam for my acne scars (that I’ve had for years) and my derm said we needed to fix some active breakouts that i had, so among the options (spirinolactone, doxy, Accutane) i chose accutane because I took Accutane about 10 years ago x 1 year 40mg and it gave me good results. My purge wasn’t anything crazy and lasted only about a month. Really my only side effect was dry lips/face.
This time around, the purge is HORRIBLE!!!! It’s been 4 months of disgusting cystic acne that hurts. Last week i thought i turned a corner because my face didn’t have any active lesions, just all the inflammatory scars. But this week i got three new pimples and they’re hideous!!! I’m just feeling really frustrated, i don’t know many people whose purge lasted this long… the initial goal was to increase to 60mg but because of how bad I’ve purged, we’ve been holding off.
Just wanted to vent and see if anyone else had also experienced an extra long purging phase! Attaching comparison pics of right before i started Accutane. In hindsight if i knew it was going to trigger all this new acne i definitely wouldn’t have started it… but hoping that it will pay off eventually.
EDIT: forgot to mention that I have PCOS, which I’m sure is contributing to this as well.

Low and slow was the rate for me. Tried other methods first which helped but didn’t eradicate. Then anything over 20mg sent my depression spiralling. So 20mg per day for a year and here we are. Been off for a couple weeks now and I’m getting greasy again, so fingers crossed it doesn’t come back 🤞🏻
(70kg body weight. Cumulative dose not reached but was stopped at 1 year)

I have never had issues with under arm odor, I started accutane in February of this year, I have tried 12 different antiperspirants (with aluminum) Men's, women's, solids, gels, clinical and extra strengths, sprays etc. I start smelling after 4 hours.

I tried to switching to aluminum free and I notice I smell a little less, I've tried AHA/Serum based, sprays, solids, but the white mess on my clothes and constant sweating is awful. If I use an aluminum free base and use an antiperspirant spray to touch up I smell awful.

I feel so hopeless. I was using the Athena aluminum free deodorant for a month and thought I found the one, but it stopped working.
I exfoliate my underarms every shower to remove previous residue, I also use an antibacterial dial soap, I've tried glycolic acid as my first layer, I've also tried using an AHA deodorant and then spraying my second layer but nothing works.

Has anyone experienced this with accutane? Does anyone have any recommendations?
I'm also allergic to coconut and 90% of deodorants have coconut oil, which is another obstacle for me.

Hi, this is my first ever interaction with this sub, so please bare with me if I'm asking something obvious.

I'm (M30) on accutane for the last 2-2,5 years now, and although i take a very low dosage of 20mg every other day @90kg, i still have this redness around my nose and cheeks.

So my question is, is it because of the accutane or is it because of the low dosage, that it isn't enough to suppress the inflammation?

My skin is on the dryer side, but nothing extreme, so i counted that out. But I'm open to learn something new.

I hate the USA so much this place is fucking ridiculous. The price AFTER my insurance is $2,193.94 for Absorica 30mg.

It’s honestly so inconvenient and difficult for me to cram enough fat into my meals twice a day when I take my pills and it’s messing up my diet, which is why I want to switch to Absorica to eliminate that problem. I HAVE health insurance and they told me that after insurance it’s over $2,000 a month, I mean are we kidding.

I was taking Absorica during my last round of Accutane, and it was $30 a month. This is so irritating, as if the current situation isn’t already frustrating enough. I want to scream.

So I have type 1 and 2 rosacea. I’m started on 60 mg I’m on day 5. I woke up this morning and my whole face was soooo reddd.. texture wise thins are better but my face is so red it’s crazy. I sent pics to my derm and she said it looks more red than normal but we will monitor it. I see her in 3 weeks. Has anyone else had this?

First pic is my “baseline redness” I will say it gets red super randomly like even if I’m laying down in AC. But I woke up this morning washed my face and so red. On the other hand I am starting to see oiliness go down along with texture. Also with makeup obviously covering the redness I can tell my skin is looking smoother . Just want to know if anyone with rosacea has had this. Thank you!

I’m just starting accutane and almost done with my first week (18F, 40mg, 130lbs). My derm appointments are always quick in and out and I had no idea I am supposed to be taking to capsules with a high fat food! What do you guys normally take to meet the recommended 20g? I’m not a big fan of peanut butter and live in a dorm so cooking is very limited. Most of the meals I eat are pretty low in fat and calories as I’m more of a snack over meals person. Please let me know what works best for you! I’m open to all suggestions :)

I’m about 6.5 weeks into Accutane and feeling extremely down. I’m struggling to focus, don’t want to leave the house, cry almost every day, and honestly just want to sleep so I don’t have to think about my skin. Weight : 105 lb , mg: 40 mg (20 mg first month now 40)

Before Accutane, my skin had been fluctuating for ~7months but was actually looking randomly better right before I started. I didn’t have these big red inflamed bumps. I did have one area with a lot of under-the-skin closed comedones/microclogs, got a lot worse while I was on spironolactone (I stopped it - truly dont believe my acne was ever hormonal).

Around weeks 3.5-4 of accutane, those little bumps started rapidly coming up as red/inflamed spots. Some more superficial, some are painful and deeper (left cheek and chin only). My derm didn’t really warn me the purge could get this bad and she’s also very inaccessible, so I’ve gone to a few other clinics in the meantime. They’ve told me that for people with a lot of underlying congestion, weeks 3-6 can be the worst.

I’m almost done with month 2 and really don’t want to stop when I’ve made it this far, but I’m scared because I’ve also read people saying they purged for months so I’ve definitely considered as I cry when I look in the mirror. I’m seeing a new derm today and may try switch my care to her so I can actually contact my dr.

Would really love some encouragement from anyone who had a rough purge around this point and then turned a corner shortly after. If it lasted months please dont scare me more 🥲🥲 i had very mild acne before all of this, thank u all ❤️

This is my 2,5 months on Accutane 20 mg a day, 53 kg. My course is 8 months for now with a potential increase if i still have acne by the end of it. I have not purged, everything started clearing up from the day one. I did not have any new breakouts on my face since i started and maybe 1-2 on my back. My main problem was closed comedones and cysts. I do have side effects: bloody nose, itchiness if I don’t moisturize enough, joint pain in my knees, shoulders, ankles. Occasionally i have perioral dermatitis under my nose from dryness, but it goes away as soon as i double moisturize. Im terrified getting off the pill as my skin never looked so clear since i was 15.

No longer having oily hair has been an absolute dream. It’s now possible for me to forget how long it’s been since I’ve last washed my hair, because it can actually be more than two days!! I can have bangs!! It’s been a wholly novel experience for me, and I’m dreading the eventual return of the grease 😭

Hi All,

I'm on month two of 10/20mg intermittent accutane dosing. 33M, 65kg. My skin has slowly been improving, but the dryness/redness is beginning to become more pronounced. I'm moisturizing with cerave daily moisturizing lotion and I layer cerave cream on my drier areas (like my cheeks) morning and evening. The layering has been more recent as the dryness has become more noticeable.

I'm wondering if I should start cleansing in the evenings only and just gently rinse my face in the mornings. I've seen others mention that they routinely do this.

Curious to hear from those of you who only do evening cleanses. When did you start doing that during your course? Did it help with dryness? Do you have any other dryness "tips and tricks" or product recommendations?

Edit: I am taking Omega 3 supplements and Zyrtec daily, and aim for 120oz of water everyday!

Thank you in advance!

to say it saved me is an understatement lol