I read so many of these reviews before I started, had to follow up with my experience. Currently 4.5 months in, 45 days to go to complete my 6 months target.
Me: 27, male, very fit, acne was mild (compared to others probably reading this) but very relentless, small white heads on face/mouth (would always pop during day... nightmare stuff) and big cysts on the back. Tried every cream, gel and pill in my teens and hoped it would disappear in 20s. At 27 I had enough of having acne on dates, in the work environment, and hiding it while outside in summer.
My stages
- Week 1 - Noticed behavior changes, became somewhat irritable. Recognized it and dealt with it and seemed to adjust once used to the medicine. (In the long term well worth it)
- Week 2-4 - Acne still hasn't really changed. (was still on half dose at this time)
- Month 2 - Up to full dose. Noticed all my pores were starting to dry up and like beads of sebum would come up when rubbing skim. (gross but I guess it has to go somewhere right?) Skin and lips became very dry but moisturizer and lip balm did the trick.
- Month 3 - Started seeing improvements but things were very inconsistent. Still had a few bad breakouts but some periods were should strong signs. Also got a bit of minor depression at this point, I fell off workouts a bit and just got a bit lazy as the medicine for sure tired me out. (It really becomes a mental game at this point, tired, not great results, and no end insight) I gave myself a few weeks to relax (focus on mental health) and do nothing then got back into my workouts.
- Month 4 - Things cleared up very well, only a handful of pimples in total (used to be like +5 a day in an endless cycle).
- Now - Haven't had a pimple (face or back) in like 3+ weeks. Finish up my 45 days and I should be done. Doc did mention on occasion it can come back, in that cause you need to jump back on for 2-3 months later.
Recommendations for others:
- If you're not already healthy, maybe think twice. I am in probably the best shape of my life (ran a marathon 2nd week of accutane), I don't take any other medicines, and I still had to deal with some mental irritability, depression, and skin dryness.
- Be cautious about starting if you have dry skin (or if its winter and you live somewhere cold). I had neither, and I don't think I would handle much more dryness than I have. Very easy to like itch your skin off on this stuff, it just becomes very fragile.
- If you have any joint pain, get on a quality turmeric supplement (high curcuminoids/absorption). Might find some relief there.
- Drinking - obviously not a good idea, wouldn't recommend it, but do it at your own risk. If you do have an event or something and "have" to have one or two, I was told just don't have your meds that day/morning after. (Again, this was advice given to someone who was very healthy). At first it seems weird telling people your not drinking, but just push through it, actually is very nice after a while waking up feeling great on weekends (lol).
Overall Reco
- If you can handle the side effects, soooooo worth it! I was always super self conscious of my skin. It's such a mental relief now having things cleared up. No more checking the mirror, no endless night time routine, no insecurities, and it should (fingers crossed) be permanent.
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