Accutane Messed my Face Up, Horrible Choice for Me - Lincolnshire, IL

Basically after showing my dermatologist my list of different cleansers and other topical creams I've used he offered me to do a course of accutane. I had moderate acne and since topical treams and antibiotics didn't seem to be doing too much to it he gave me the choice to get on isotretinoin. I've heard of the drug and heard about its potentially serious side affects, but I figured I'd try it since other cleansers didn't work. Worst mistake of my life.

First week, the initial breakout started in my chin and above my lip, it was pretty bad but then that area began to clear. But it just got worse from there, other parts of my face began breaking out bad. I knew about the initial outbreak and that if you get over the hump things will get better from there. Well they didn't, my outbreak continued to worsen. I went from moderate to severe acne and had a lot of big pimples all over my face.

My dermatologist gave me a round of prednisone and a light antibiotic to calm it down. Which it did for a week, after the prednisone ran out the initial outbreak came back and it was worse than ever. I had zits and terrible cysts everywhere. Going to school was torture, i was embarrassed everywhere I went. I had to quit track and I avoided people. My life was completely miserable.

Today, during the second checkup two months in (In which i was still experiencing the horrible outbreak), my parents and my dermatologist ultimately decided this drug was not for me. He even said he only knew of one other case where the accutane actually made the patient's face worse. Lucky me...

He prescribed me another round of prednisone which I started today to bring down the outbreak. I am also still taking the antibiotics and I'm using a light cleanser and a moisturizer. Just waiting for this outbreak to fade away then see what other options I may have in the future. All in all, this experience was the worst two months of my life. Period.

I'm not going to go on a rant and say "don't get on this drug" just because I had a bad experience. There is plenty of proof that accutane works with most people. I just wasn't lucky. However, I will add that it's best to get on accutane only if you've exhausted all other options since it is a very powerful drug.

My summary:
Pros: None

Cons: Dry lips, dry skin, joint pain, muscle fatigue, nosebleeds, made my acne 5 times worse