23 Year Old, Been on This Battle Since Age 12. - Marlton, NJ

Ok so i have been battling acne since age 12 as the title suggests. I've been through at least 4 dermatologists with little success. Until my recent one, she put me on antibiotics which worked great however, after 3 months of being off of it, the acne came back with full force so she decided to put me on 40 mg accutane. I've been on it right now for about 2 weeks. So far the side effects i have noticed are just as everyone has suggested extremely dry lips. The first week was pretty bad with regards to the dry lips. It was very swollen and painful but it's actually getting better. I apply Vaseline with every chance i get, do not give your lips the chance to dry. I also have constant headache, i actually got one the other day that felt like my head will explode but i didn't have anything to eat that morning till about 2 so i don't know if i will contribute it to that. I'm also under some stress so i don't know if i will contribute it to that also. I will definitely watch it. My nose and feet are peeling. So far that's all i have noticed. It's only been 2 weeks and i have noticed some improvement so i don't know if i will still get that major breakout that everyone talks about. Hopefully not. I will keep this updated.

Ok so i'm on week 3 now. I see a big improvement. A few things happened within the past 3 days. I started to get insane headaches so i panicked since i'd read about head pressure and all of those so i stopped for a few days (of which i have noticed a few pimples here and there). I realized however that it was due to caffeine. Whenever i don't have caffeine i have insane headaches so i'm def watching that. So far i haven't had any such headache in 2 days. Also it started to feel like my liver was a bit swollen, i felt very bloated not towards the abdominal section where the stomach is but rather the section where the liver resides, so that also scared the life out of me ( I don't know if it is all paranoia). So for the past three days i stopped taking the medication and i have fully recovered. I will be seeing my doc soon so i will let her know about all of these and update back. I have started taking the medication again.

Ok so where do i begin. I've had a couple of problems since my last update. 2 months ago I ended up in the ER with very painful swallowing although i was diagnosed with viral tonsillitis. I thought it could be related because painful swallowing is listed as a possible side effect however my doctor said it's probably not the case. But so far cross my fingers that hasn't happened again. Another side effect is the basic dryness of lips. That has been pretty tough but i'm not complaining at this point. My job requires standing and bending so I've been experiencing joint pain. But again that's a common side effect. Last major side effect is i'm unfortunately experiencing hair thinning although i'm under a lot of stress right now so i'm not sure if that's the reason. My dermatologist said that was rare side effect. But all in all, i can't believe i'm in my fourth month and just one more month to go i believe. My results have been amazing and that's what is keeping me strong. My dosage increased to 60 mg for the past 2 months so my body is getting used to it. I know i should be drinking a lot of water but it's so difficult since i'm not used to drinking a lot of water. However I've heard it's very helpful. Anyway i will keep you all updated on my progress and if anything else pops up.