Accutane 2nd Time Around Makes a Difference?

Many dermatologists, including myself, are "guilty" of underdosing our Accutane patients. This is done for the patient's comfort and as a means of obviating Accutane's troublesome side effects such as dryness, rashes, nosebleeds etc. However, this is at a cost of total eradication of acne. The story of your acne recurring after ten months off Accutane is fairly common. Few of the patients with the more moderate, severe acne need a second course. But I do share, Dr. Chen's... more

Although you would likely benefit (in the long run) from a second course of accutane, I would suggest trying a maintenance regimen of topical agents including a retinoid (retin-a, differin, tazorac), and/or combination benzoyl peroxide/antibiotic product (e.g. duac, benzaclin) if you are not already using one or consider a hormone-based prescription medications if your acne clearly gets worse around the time of your periods. In practice, I find that about 1/3 of patients with severe,... more

It's hard to say without examining you: you may have only a slight flare which responds to topical and/or oral anitbiotics.  There are some new topical medications, such as dapsone gel (Aczone), which take away  a lot of the redness and inflammation from your recurring acne lesions.  But if topical medications don't control it, and it appearshat you'll need another long-term committment to oral antibiotics, then a second 5-month course of Accutane may be just what... more