Reza S. Jacob, MD, MS, FAAD

I'm a 26 year old female and I've had pretty severe acne since I was in middle school. I've tried everything. Antibiotics, pills, face washes, acne facials, pore extractions, diets, & topical gels. To name just a few. Accutane has always been in the back of my mind but I've always been wary of it because of all the side effects. I almost started it in my early 20s but my dermatologist at the time talked me out of it.
Not only has it been hard just living with the acne on my face, it's hard talking with other people about it. Especially when most don't understand what I'm going through. I'm own dad routinely tells me that I'll "grow out of it" or that I just have to wash my face more. My mother says that it would go away if I had a healthier diet. Well, I've tried the diet and I've tried every face wash conceivable to man, and I'm obviously not growing out of it at this point. In fact, it has actually gotten worse as I get older.
I'm a new attorney and I've begun to make court appearance for my firm. Nothing makes me feel more self-conscious then standing in front of a judge with huge pimples all over my face. A few months ago, I left work early because I had a pimple on my upper lip that had swollen my lip to twice it's size. That was when it really hit me that something needed to change. The acne has begun to control my life. So, while Accutane sometimes seems drastic, I think drastic measures are needed. Today I took my first dose of Accutane, and here's hoping I guess.

Updated on 8 May 2015:
My dermatologist started me on 20 mg once a day. I took it for 30 days and then the side effects were so minor for me that my dermatologist bumped me up to 40 mg once a day. So far everything is going swimmingly. I've had fairly minor side effects and my face is clearer than it's been in 13 years. So far I'm extremely happy with how things are going and can't believe I didn't do this sooner.

The only side effect I've really experienced is the dryness. Oh man, the dryness. Before Acutane I had the most oily skin imaginable. On a scale of 1 to 10 it was an 11. Nothing dried me out not even heavy duty prescription medications. I had to wash my hair every night or else it would be hopelessly greasy the next morning. After a little over a month taking Acutane my skin is as dry as a bone. I've never used so much lotion in all my life. My scalp is so dry that it peels. I want to jump into a tub of Vaseline and stay there.

Speaking of Vaseline, I should have bought stock in the stuff before starting Acutane. A little tub of it was considerately sent to me with my Acutane prescription. I never thought I would need it. But I was wrong. I live in the stuff now. My lips peel so badly that lipstick is out of the question. I've had to change my whole beauty routine. Everything I owned was no oil or light moisture. Now I've had to buy all new products. I've had to get extremely moisturizing shampoo and conditioner as well as all the Vaseline I use.
One month down. Hopefully it stays as well as its been.