I Consider my Life to Have Two Parts: The One Before Accutane, and the One AFTER! :) - Eden, NC

When I was about 17, I was fed up. I had tried everything for my acne. My zits were beginning to get their own zits! I had tried everything over the counter and some of it seemed to make my skin get worse! Sea Breeze, Oxy Pads, Clearasil, ProActive...None of it worked. So, I went to the dermatologist and he let me try a couple of topical creams (Retin-A and some other one I forgot the name). They helped a little, but nothing to ride home about.... I had greasy teenage boy skin. When I went back to the dermatologist again, and he saw the lack of progress he suggested Accutane. At this point, I was willing to give up my first born for clear skin. (When you're 17, you don't have much else to think about).... My doctor took some blood, and warned me about the side effects of Accutane. I got a prescription shortly thereafter. He told me to take two per day (I forgot what the exact doseage was). Within 2 days, my skin was 75% better! My skin was very dry, but a lot less acne! My skin started to get scaly, and my lips were chapping like nothing I'd ever seen. I was going through a tube of chapstick every couple days! When I went back to the doctor a couple of weeks later, he lowered the doseage to one pill every other day. Within 2 months, my acne was completely gone! I continued the treatment for another 3-4 months, and when I got done, my acne never came back! Occassionally, I'll get a pimple here and there, but not the golf ball size ones I got in High School! People compliment me on my skin all the time and they are suprised to hear that I ever even had an acne problem. I would highly reccomend Accutane to anyone that has tried a lot of other stufff with no success. I think it works best with my type of acne. (Lots of random oily zits). I had some friends who had the other type of acne (a bunch of really small pimples), and it didn't work as well for them. PROS: 1. Works fast! The only thing I could find that actually WORKS! 2. After I stopped using it, the Acne stayed away! CONS: 1. Pricey if not covered by insurance. 2. Side Effects: For Me: Dry Skin, Moodiness, and a Nosebleed! :)