Edward Seaton, MBBCh

I had Roacutane on my mind for years as several of my friends used it and I was so jealous of the results. I also knew about all the potential side effects so I always had question marks. I am 26 years old and had mild to moderate acne since the age of 16. Prior Roacutane I have tried everything off the counter to visiting dermatologist for topical retinoids, gel, creams that only gave me minimal results and the acne always came back. I also had very greasy skin with large pores especially on my nose where I also suffered from redness. I decided to down the final route which was Roacutane. I started off with 20mg daily for a month to get my system ready, during this month I only noticed very minimum drying on my lips, month 2 I was 30mg daily and my skin was getting a little dryer but no major difference, month 3 I moved up to 40mg and my lips were getting very dry at this point I had to use Carmex every second to avoid the chappy crusty look, I didn't go thru the phase where all the spots come out and I could notice my skin looking better already, month 4 I moved to 50mg and this was when my hair started getting really dry which i loved as it was really greasy before I didn't have to wash it for a week and it would still look good. My skin was nearly all cleared and the redness was also going. The black heads on my nose had all come out and I was left with large empty pores on my nose which I was freaked out about, don't worry about this because after you stop using Roacutane the pores close up! I didn't get any of the aches and pains on my body so I can't mention anything about that. Month 5 I carried on with 50mg the dermatologist said this the maximum dose I can use for my body weight. This was a very stressful month for me as my mood changed completely! Even though my skin looked perfect at this point I was very sad and emotional all the time. I started feeling anxious and I didn't know why I was feeling like this my hair started shedding and I lost about 50% of my hair! My dermatologist said I could stop using it now even thougt I had a couple of weeks left. After this stage I was depressed for about 6 months and my hair loss carried on, my skin looked flawless but the oil started coming back in about 3 months and my hair was getting greasy quickly again. The redness also came back on the nose along with the black heads after about 7-8 months. Is been a year since I have stopped using roaccutane and I ggt the few odd spots now before my period, I stilm have greasy skin and large pores. My hair eventually started growing back and it's slowly getting back to normal now. Sometimes I'm not sure if this was worth it. I also developed a cyst in my ovary after roaccutane in which I am not sure if it had anything to do with the medicine. My honest opinion is if you have mild acne I wouldn't really recommend Roacutane. I went privately and paid about £2000 in total including monthly check ups, blood tests and medicine. I think with this medicine you are bound to get atleast one of the side effects, I don't think there is an escape mine was depression and hair loss. For those who have really bad acne I guess you can give it a go because you will be amazed with the results! Everyone who thinks Roacutane gets rid of acne for life this is not true. Couple of my friends have done 2 rounds with 2-3 years space in between. You may be one of those lucky people who clears for life but it's very rare!