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POSTED UNDER Accutane REVIEWS

My Accutane Story - Monterey, CA

ORIGINAL POST

I was very reluctant to try Accutane due to all of...

DevinMDunn
WORTH IT$1,000
I was very reluctant to try Accutane due to all of the horror stories of side effects and problems caused by this medication. For a couple of years prior to Accutane, I was on different pills & topical creams and none of them worked. I tried everything you can think of, including proactive! I was very disappointed that nothing could be done. My acne was severe and extremely detrimental to my self esteem! One day I was desperate and called the dermatologist office to set up an appointment to get more info about Accutane. My Dr. Told me that much of the bad effects I heard about are quite rare and that they will moniter my vitals, perform blood work, and watch for other internal things along the way. I agreed to try Accutane & he started me off with the highest dose there was. I took this huge pill once a day at night. The first couple of weeks nothing is really happening because your body is getting used to the medication. I had moderately dry lips & maybe a couple of different breakouts that's about it. The one month mark is when things get "bad." You WILL breakout much worse and your lips will be extremely dry to the point were they bleed and crack. You will be blowing the dry skin and blood from your nose every 15 minutes because the inside is so dry/raw. For my lips & the inside of my nose I used the Aquaphor samples my Dr gave me. The crease of your nose where it meets your face will crack( hurts pretty bad) also used aquaphor for this. I experienced lower back pain which I took Tylenol for (which I believe was okay to take with the Accutane,just not ibuprofen. Check with your Dr. First though.) I would get occasional headaches & muscle cramps. You need to drink an incredible amount of water. Even if you arent thristy DRINK WATER! This medicine dries you up from head to toe! Around the month 1/2 to 2 month mark your skin will gradually get worse. I wanted to stop the pills some days because its a horrible feeling when you already had bad acne and it gets worse! I had to consult with my Dr every month with the "green book" which basically gives you all of the info about the medication, the risks , and the benefits. I also had to have some blood work done at key points in the course of the 6 month treatment to watch for anything that might be of concern, internally. Alot of times these monthly consults would consist of me asking my Dr to take me off these pills because they were making me worse! He told me I WILL get better I just have to have patience and trust it will work. I thought, I came this far I might as well just see what happens (since every other medication failed me.) I stuck with it and around the 3 month mark you FINALLY start FEELING results. You FEEL better , you FEEL less "ache-y" , you FEEL less stressed since youve been "used" to living with the horrible breakout for a month or so. The 3 1/2 to 4 months you WILL start SEEING results!! :) Very gradually , but promising! Your lips won't be as dried / cracked anymore. Your cysts and under the skin acne will begin to go down. Your white heads will also go down on their own. DO NOT TOUCH THEM. 4 1/2 to 5 months you will have less breakouts then when you first started Accutane, but you will ask yourself " are these my final results? " the answer is NO! The best is always saved for last. Finally the 5 1/2 to the end of the 6 month mark your whole is COMPLETELY clear! I had a FEW black heads on my nose but that's it! Your face might have scarring, including ice pick & rolling (or shallow/ "crater") scars. Make sure you take pictures the day of your very first pill. Take PLENTY of pictures every week or so! Do not be afraid of "bad angles" and do not try to hide the acne! Selfies will be the last thing on your mind ,but when you are finally off the treatment and look back you be shocked how far you have come. I cried when I saw my " before & after." It's a TRAUMATIC experience to have severe acne and it really hurts your self confidence & self esteem, whether you know it or not. I knew my acne was bad ,but I didn't realize HOW bad until I was completely clear. The 1st set of pictures I have below show my face about a month into Accutane ( before) and the day of my last pill February 2014 (after) the 2nd set is my face ONE year later! My pigmentation is ,almost, completely gone and I am now left with ice pick and shallow scarring. I am looking into getting a series fractional resurfacing laser treatments to help improve my scars. Although the laser is a bit expensive, it's totally worth it! Accutane saved my life figuratively and almost literally. I did a ton of research on the side effects and risks before I decided to take this Medication and I encourage you to as well. I hope that my story will help at least one person see that there IS hope and to help them find the courage to change their acne condition for good and ultimately their life.

DevinMDunn's provider

James Rheim, MD

James Rheim, MD

Dermatologic Surgeon, Board Certified in Dermatology

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Replies (14)

February 13, 2015
Your story cheered me up!
February 13, 2015
Im glad!(: @Erincherry
February 20, 2015
Wow your skin looks amazing! My son had great skin and all of a sudden it got really bad. I took him to a derm and right away she recommended accutane. am so scared to give him this but also worry about his self esteem and scarring. He is a junior in high school and should be enjoying his school years but I can see it has hurt his confidence.
February 20, 2015
Depending on how bad his acne is already,there's high chance for scarring and pigmentation issues. The key is to nip it in the bud ASAP to prevent further damage underneath the skin. Put him on Accutane as soon as you can! It's totally worth it.
February 20, 2015
Thanks for your quick reply, He started with bad acne this past December. How bad were your side effects? Did you get any at all? He wants to get on it but after I read all the possible side effects on the large booklet & had a change of heart. I guess am hesitant because back in 8th grade he got a little down with school because he was in a high academic school & he felt the pressure. I notice that there is none to very minimum scarring on you skin, right?
February 20, 2015
I do have some left over scarring. I have some ice pick scars, but the majority are rolling or "crater" or "shallow" scars. Fortunately, crater scarring is easier to treat with laser than the deeper ice pick ones. Now mind you, I had severe acne for over 5 YEARS so this was more than enough time for my skin to scar. If you put him on Accutane NOW chances are little to no scarring afterwards, and certainly nothing a laser treatment could fix or improve. I did not have any of the severe side effects when on Accutane. There are fairly rare cases of serious side effects including internal bleeding and depression. The thing is, if even ONE(1) person "experienced" a severe side effect caused by Accutane (even if in reality its unrelated) it must be documented and part of the warning disclaimer. IE, its not likely he'll experience anything out of the ordinary ESPECIALLY if you take him to the monthly appointments and just be honest and ask questions to your DR. I experienced extremely dry/ cracked skin around my nose & cheeks. My nose would bleed from the inside being so dry/raw. My lips would bleed & crack. I had lower back muscle aches pretty early on, these went away after a couple of weeks. The acne WILL get worse & that could cause what feels like depression, but it will get better you have to stick it out.
February 20, 2015
I meant to say whatever scarring would be leftover on him is nothing a laser could NOT fix. & I would also say that in the large range of possible symptoms mine were minor to moderate at best.
February 20, 2015
Thank you so much for your honesty and help. It is something to really consider. he is on Tetracycline now and we will see the doctor in mid March again. In fact, just today he was seen. I hope my son can get through this. It's hard to see a loved one going through this. Glad to see you you overcame it! (:
February 24, 2015
Your skin looks great! :) My son is 14 and has had acne for over a year now. He has tried everything and nothing has helped. We saw his dermatologist at the end of January and he prescribed accutane. After reading about the possible side effects such as gastrointestinal problems/colitis I felt very worried and stressed out. My son then read about the initial breakouts and that discouraged him and said he would like to hold off on the accutane. He talked to me and stated that he was afraid to take accutane due to the initial breakouts and asked if we could try other natural skin regimens. I try to stay positive when I help him treat the breakouts, but on the inside I feel very bad to see my son go through this. Last week he was sad to see that he is not getting better, I talked to him about accutane again and he said that he would hold off on it until May, closer to the end of the school year. Like any other mother I am worried about the intestinal problems, but I don't want to see his self esteem go down either. How bad was your initial break out. Did it get bad? Thank you for hearing me out.
February 27, 2015
Congratulations on your successful treatment Devin - you look awesome!
November 3, 2015
WOW
UPDATED FROM DevinMDunn
1 year post

Dr. Joseph Rheim

DevinMDunn
Dr. Joseph Rheim is the dermatologist I am speaking of. He and his father , james rheim, share the same office for both of their practices.

Replies (3)

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February 13, 2015

Wow, your skin looks amazing! I am so happy for you :) Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with us.

February 24, 2015
Does the medicine help with scarring too? Or just clearing up acne?
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February 24, 2015

Hey there rmenchaca98, here is an FAQ that answer your question: 

CAN ACCUTANE REDUCE ACNE SCARS?