20 Year Old W/ Moderate Acne. Centreville, VA

I've always had minor acne and breakouts since about 6th grade but over the counter benzoil peroxide topical face washes have always kept it under control. Then, in the September of 2015 (my sophomore year of college) I tried a new product (Seacret) that a friend recommended to me. I used it for about a month before coning home for Fall Break (October 2015). My mom said something about my skin because it was the most broken out it had ever been. She made me a Dermotologist appointment and she prescribed me an anti-rosacea cream and an antibiotic to take. We (me, my mom, and the dermo) all thought my skin would clear up pretty soon after I stopped using the Seacret. One month later and my skin was actually worse than it had been. I went back to the dermo one month later and she prescribed BeznaClin and Adapalene, as well as upping my antibiotic dosage. My dermo also mentioned Accutane but I was dead set against it b/c I had already read about it and was really worried about the side effects. I'm a dance major and cardio junky so joint pain and headaches aren't really an option for me. I also wanted to stay away from birth control pills bc the last time I took them I gained 10lbs, another no-no for dance majors. Feeling confident that the topical creams would do the trick my mom sent me back to school. Another month later (December 2015) my skin STILL wasn't looking any better so my mom and I went back to the dermo. This is when she (and my mom) really started pusning accutane. I was very against it but they did bring up some good points. My brother, a year younger than me, had used accutane in the past and his skin is clear almost all the time; but he's also a guy and there are a lot of complications that come w/ accutane and being a girl. Finally, after a lot of thought and tears, I decided to give it a try b/c clearly the topical creams weren't working. I'm hoping that after this I won't really have to worry about acne much, that's pretty much the only reason I'm doing this b/c I'm really nervous about how it's going to impact my body. Planning on posting every month (hopefully of progress!)

Just wanted to include a pic of my skin before using Seacret and this whole mess started. I'm not wearing any foundation in these pics btw

I'm actually very pleasantly surprised with how much improvement I've seen in the first month! The only real side effects I've seen so far is VERY dry lips, skin, and hair, and some minor headaches. So far so good! Unfortunately, my liver enzyme levels were a little higher than expected so my dermatologist decided to take me off for 2 weeks. After those 2 weeks I'll get more blood work done and we'll go from there. I'm disappointed because I was just starting to see some real results. My skin is FAR from being where I want it to be but it's also the best it's been in months.