24 Year Old, Finished Accutane Journey

Hi guys,

So I've just come back from my first visit with a doctor in Canada about obtaining accutane. The previous time I did it (last year for 4.5 months) was through a dermatologist in the states. This time I went to a clinic in Canada who referred me to a doctor that was not a dermatologist but apparently really focused on skin care. I was shocked by how easy it was to get the prescription! I talked with her for about five minutes, she asked me a few questions about my medical history, and gave me the run down of common side effects. There was no pregnancy test, only a verbal confirmation that I'm on birth control, and she wrote the script for two months of pills before even seeing the blood work I had done through the clinic. The big difference was dosing- she put me on 40 mg once a day and said she intends to keep me on that dose for 7 months, and then maybe drop me down to 10 mg continuos if need be at the end of the 7 months. Last time I did accutane, I started off at 30 mg twice a day (60 mg) and was at 120mg a day by the time I finished. So the dosage is a huge difference. I will likely ask to be upped to at least 60 mg when I go see her again in two months, though she said longer periods on a lower dose are effective with less symptoms, but I have heard that can be less effective. Anyways, just crazy to me how easy it was. No forms to fill out. No tests to be done. I have the pills within ten minutes of seeing her, two months total. No questions at the pharmacy. And the doctor confirmed that if I am gone back to the states for a few months over the summer, she can give me multiple months at once. Not happy to have to do accutane again, but at least the process will be a lot easier this time.

Hi guys,
So I finished accutane about a year ago. About 8 months after finishing, I started to get some acne again. I had gotten a few zits around my hairline sooner than 8 months post, but they didn't concern me much. Once I started getting cystic ones around my mouth and jawline, I knew my acne was back full force. At about 10 months post accutane, it got really bad again, so now I always have at least four or five big cystic pimples around the bottom of my face. I know accutane doesn't always work permanently for everyone the first time around, but because it worked well for about a year, I do think another round will hopefully get me more long term results. I also was inconsistent with taken my pills the last month I was on them (took one months worth of pills and spread them out over 2 months-mostly because I was backpacking through Europe and drinking a lot). Maybe my inconsistent use of it lessen the effectiveness, though I think this would have happened regardless. Anyways, I'm in Canada now, not the states like I was last time, so I'm not sure how the process differs. I have had my blood work done from a clinic, and am seeing a new dermatologist tomorrow where I will request to start it right away. I don't think they have the month waiting period here, like they do in the states. I'll continue to update on my journey, if they allow me to go on it again. Hopefully round two is the charm.

I finished Accutane back at the end of March. I was on it for 5 months, though technically just under 5 months, as I stopped when I had about a week of pills left. I was about to go backpacking around Europe and the dose I was on (80 mg twice a day) had my nose and lips so raw and bloody that I couldn't handle that while abroad. My skin cleared up totally in the midst of month 3, I'd say. I was pretty inconsistent with taking my pills in the last month, which I really regret (I'd miss doses and then take more all at once). I've been fortunate enough that it hasn't seemed to have caused problems with acne coming back, but I'm forever paranoid my breakouts will return. The biggest issues I dealt with while on Accutane were the constantly chapped lips, bloody nose and painfully chapped nose, big painful blood blister-esque acne in the first month or two (left scarring), and it really killed my eyesight. It is a known side effect that it can damage your night vision temporarily, but my vision (night and day) significantly worsened, and never returned to normal. Even if I had known that would happen, I still would have gone on Accutane. The experience really wasn't that bad, the roughest bits being in the first two months. Since I've finished, my skin has been consistently clear, aside from the very occasional zit that I feel was caused by traveling or skin care issues (never cystic or big ones). The one downside, aside from the issue with my vision, is it did give me some crazy zits at the start that left bad scars. I also feel my skin is uneven/has bad texture now, though maybe it was always that way, but covered by zits so I didn't notice. I also have rosacea quite badly, so it's a bummer to still not have perfect skin, but that's unrelated to accutane. Now I'm working on getting rid of the scars. All in all, I'm SO happy I did it, and if need be, I'd do another round. If you have any questions about it, just let me know!