“Did 1.5 Rounds, Wish I Could Have Finished the 2nd Round - Seattle, WA”

I took Accutane when I was in my very early 20's. I have always battled light to moderate acne & figured since I was out of my teen years I wanted to get a bit more aggressive in fighting it. We did all the tests and my doctor put me on it. After the first round my skin hadn't changed much, so my doctor suggested we try a second round. I only made it half way through the second round before I had to stop taking it. I started having really severe & sharp chest pains completely out of the blue.

The day I decided to stop taking it I was at work and I stood up to get something & the pain was so sharp & sudden it really freaked me out. I decided I could live with acne, but it would be a bit more difficult to live without my heart. I was really bummed that I didn't get the results others do. My sister did it and it totally cleared her skin up, and I've known other friends who it was basically a miracle worker for them.

Another sort of funny (now) thing that happened while I was on it was I had an allergic reaction to some lip balm I was using to soothe the exceedingly dry lips it gave me. The allergic reaction made my lips hugely swollen & red - it literally looked like I had blotted my lip stick with a hot curling iron. To make it worse I was working in the dental field at the time, so I was worried all my patients would think I had some horrid contagious infection or something. I kept a mask on at all times. Occasionally the mask would shift in & touch my lips & it would hurt soooo bad, but that happening on occasion was better than freaking all the patients out. One of my co-workers nicknamed me "Hot Lips"...funny guys, real funny. ;)

Overall, I think it is a great medicine for those whose bodies will tolerate it so I will still mark it as "Worth It", but that just wasn't the case for me unfortunately.