Accutane, has anyone done it?

Yo boys, so I'm going on accutane after my dermatologist recommended it. I don't get any big blemishes but my skin is oily and therefore I'm very acne prone. If I go 10 hours without washing my face I get too oily and can expect a whitehead or clogged pore to appear. Apart from that, I get blackheads on my nose.

With that being said, I would like to know if anyone here has gone on the drug? And if so, what are your experiences with it?

 

Did it years ago...worked great

 

I'll give you a full breakdown on accutane and my personal experience:

First of all, the bottom line is it works, it's just strong. Thus it's not usually recommended unless absolutely necessary, that being said it seems like your acne is strong (just as mine was) and it WILL get the job done.

Things to note:

1. Don't drink while you're on accutane, at all. They'll tell you that you can't drink, and assuming you're in high school you'll want to, but DON'T. That shit is strong, it really fucks with your liver and you could end up in the hospital if you're taking the drug correctly and also drinking.

2. Stay on the regiment, don't skip pills and follow the dosage they give you to a tee.

3. Initially, you will break out more than you start with - that's just how it works. It severely dries out your body and it will cause you to slightly break out first. After that you'll see the acne slowly begin to clear up. While you're on the drug, do NOT pop any pimples, the scars are a bitch (and I have a few of them still unfortunately).

4. Dryness will be a bitch. You'll need to carry lotion and chapstick around with you all the time. Chapstick I recommend is accutane, it's glossy and looks sort of like a lip gloss but that shit works like a miracle and will really be your best friend. Also any type of lotion works, but get face and body lotion cause you'll feel like a dried fruit throughout the majority of the process.

5. As your dosage gets higher, the dryness does as well. At one point my dryness was so bad that I'd wake up with "burn marks" for lack of a better way of describing it because sometimes my skin would get so dry that the skin on my arms would crack and I'd have burns on my skin.

6. There's a stigma that it affects your mood and people get "depressed" - I think that's bullshit, I didn't feel any of that while I was on it

7. My acne was bad when I was in high school, I was on it for 9 months and it cleared my face up REALLY nicely. I get a pimple now and again every like 3-5 months (stress pimples, I'm currently 23) but they're not too bad. Comparatively my skin looks great - just don't fuck around with it and follow the rules.

 

cant stress this enough

 

Hey Dave I appreciate the advice.

Yeah I was instructed not to drink and I'm totally fine with that as I don't enjoy alcohol anyway. How did accutane affect your joints/muscles though? I read online that it causes joint/muscle pain and I'm pretty worried that it'll affect my workout regimen. I'm in the gym 6 days a week and the last thing I want is for accutane to affect my training schedule. Personally I don't think ill mind the dryness as it seems like a small price to pay for clear skin.

Do you remember how strong of a dose you were on? My dermatologist is starting me off at a low dose of 20mg and I hear side effects are dose dependent.

Thanks again

 

I'm pretty positive that that's the exact shit I went on when I was in early high school. My skin wasn't that bad but I wanted what I had gone just cuz preference so I went on it even tho they advised against it. Anywase yeah it dries you the fuck out badly. I remember skiping a couple soccer games cuz just too dried out to play lol. Anywase all I can say is it works wonders. After 3 months of that shit I never got another pimple again that wasn't purely my own fault from either stress or not washing my face after a soccer game or something lol.

Edit: i still played alot of soccer and basketball so I'm sure you can still work out.

 

I never once had an issue with muscle/joint pain, I haven't even heard of that as a side-effect. You'll be fine, don't worry about that.

I believe my path was 10 (first month) -> 20 (2-3 months) -> 40 (3-4 months) -> 80 (completion)

Again, in my personal opinion/experience the only side effect is dryness and yes it without question gets more severe with dosage. The 80 MG + heavy sunlight = the worst fucking burns and dryness ever.

 

Although I was never prone to acne, I know my share bit about hormones and I cannot garantue 100% sucess without prescription drugs such as accutane but how is your lifestyle? Diet? Sleep? Stress? Are you overweight?

 

I live a very active lifestyle, constantly in the gym 6 days a week. My diet is on point, I don't eat fast food however I am constantly in a calorie surplus as I am bulking at the moment. Roughly get 6-8 hours of sleep, only get stressed when I have exams. I'm not overweight.

 

Yes but what exactly do you eat? Do you eat dairy? Refined carbs? saturated fat?

If I was prone to acne, I would definitely stop consuming dairy and pay attention to PUFAs:MUFAs:Saturated Fats ratio.

 

In regards to the people saying these side effects like joint/muscle pain don't exist/don't worry about that don't listen to them, there's a reason it's on there as a side effect. Accutane affects everybody differently. I took it and it worked great, i had bad acne and it all cleared up, only get a pimple once in awhile. The main issue I had on it was just the dehydration/dryness.

However, I have quite a bit of friends that have taken it as well and for a couple of them it did cause the joint/muscle pain for them. One of my lacrosse teammates was on it and actually had to sit out for the majority of the time he was on due to joint issues, which he still sees a physical therapist to this day for. Keep in mind, he had no issues of the sort until right when he began taking it and basically had to stop playing lacrosse/sports altogether it got so bad.

I had another friend that had issues with joint pain when he started taking it but his got better once he was done taking the Accutane. You'll more than likely be fine and it worked so well for me I'd say it was worth it personally but just keep in mind there is a chance you'll experience some of the harsher side effects.

 

A vast majority of side effects listed in any drug are just for mere precaution. Some might not ever happen to anyone but it's known such compound present in the drug can have a certain effect(even if the compound present is very minimal).
However, yes, it makes sense accutane affects the joints but the key is most likely dosage!

 

This is interesting. The first derma I went to prescribed me with 10mg twice a day (20 mg), I wasn't ready yet and I wanted to get a second opinion. My sister jumped in and went to another well known derma that's the head of one of the best hospitals here, and she prescribed her with 30mg and me with 40 mg. Apparently the minimum dosage she said was suggested was about half your weight in KG. How was the first 3 months if you remember?

I'm currently on it and im about 3-4 months in, 40mg all the way, only side effect I've noticed is the lips. Gets really dry and gets cuts. I use vaseline on it because ordinary lip balm did nothing. I was given another tablet for the first month or 2 to prevent the breakout people normally talked about, I still broke out but I don't think it was too bad. I was given a facewash, toner, and exfoliating gel. I've switched all 3 as I progressed and breakouts were in control. The only pimple I got in probably the last 30 or so days was this massive one that appeared out of no where on my cheek, I have no idea how that happened.

 

I'm not 100% sure about what the dosage was for my first 3 months but I believe it's the pathway described above. I was always under the assumption that the dosage for accutane was given as a way to build up so your body doesn't go into dryness shock.

My first 2 months I broke out pretty badly, but I wasn't washing my face or anything, I was literally only using the pills. I followed the regiment as far as # of pills per day, never skipped/missed any - and the only thing I experienced was dryness. Used aquaphor instead of Vaseline but that's really the only differnece

 

fwiw i had horrible joint pain with accutane, to the point that i stopped taking it and never went back to it

@OP, really surprised you would get prescribed the drug without serious acne. it's not a light drug, so to prescribe it for essentially oily teenager skin is a bit overkill imo

 

I had to go through about 8 months of Retin-A topical with my dermatologist just to realize it wasn't doing crap and I was still getting new acne whenever I'd get oily. Accutane is prescribed for persistent acne as well man

I'm starting it with 20mg/day on tuesday, hopefully no joint pain :/

 

good luck

if you start to feel side effects (and there are MANY), consult your doctor immediately. it's not worth screwing up your joints etc pointlessly

 

Just picked up my first batch of pills. 20mg/month for the first month, wish me luck guys!