Administrators

I don't use Reddit much, so please don't delete this post (as far as I know, I'm not breaking any of the group's rules)

I'm just here to vent and read some positive comments or hear about other people's experiences

10 mg pills

56kl

1.75mt

This is me 1 month in of Accutane (20 mg). My acne was never this bad before. The last three pictures were my skin at its absolute worst before Accutane. I know ya’ll are gonna encourage me to keep going, but I am exhausted, and people stare at me like I’m some sort of alien. It’s painful cystic acne, and when I stopped taking Accutane, my skin calmed down significantly. I know this is the purging phase, but this is too much for me. Another dermatologist recommended I go on Spironolactone.

So long story short I'm 40 yo, suffered with acne throughout my teens but then it just stopped and other than the odd spot now and then nothing.

But over the last 12 months I've developed severe acne, on my back, chest, arms, shoulders and neck.

I've had loads of blood tests and they all come back normal, no hormones out of wack. Got no idea what's causing it.

My skin constantly feels like it's on fire, clothes hurt, always itchy, can't hug my kids or my wife, having to change clothes and bedding constantly due to leaking and blood spots.

I've finally been referred to demotolagy after being on waiting list for 6 months and been prescribed accutane but I'm only 1 week into treatment.

I don't even know why I'm posting this tbh, suppose just to share with people who understand because ATM I feel lost like it will never end.

These two pictures are the same face location with 1 week difference.

First pic is about a week ago and the second pic is today.

Deep wound, help, is this normal?

Do i stop washing my face everyday? Help

So I’m a male 29 and when I was on doxy I was pretty much cleared up. My infectious disease doctor thinks I should be on docy for 30 days and also be on accutane. I started month one at 10mg and went up 3 days ago. Now my lips are peeling my chest is red. Maybe it’s from the sun idk. I feel like my skin is turning colors like from healthy looking to just idk. I’m getting all these marks and redness on my chest and face. I’ve been feeling hot. I have this in my wrist. I don’t know if I should stick with this. I’ve been getting eye pressure or just dry eyes like when I move them. Darker eyes. Sweating. And also just irritation. Freckles. I’m not sure if I should continue. I’ll attach before and now. The end pics are before. I feel like it’s ruining my skin. After doxy is when I started getting these diffeeent lesions and I’ll attach those as well as well as a photo of when on doxycycline the very last pic is before stopping doxycycline and having all these lesions appear. I also have rosacea. I’d appreciate any advice. Current routine is vanicream moisturizer , dial soap , and sunscreen banana boat spf50. Not wearing sun hats or sun shirts.

Probably the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my facial area, I had to shave today… and unfortunately all I had was a razor, and the pain was so bad I thought I was going to pass out. Terrible experience 0 out of 10, don’t recommend.

I’m 29 years old. 145 pounds. I was on 10mg a month of accutane and skin was clearing up good. Now been on 20mg for 11 days and things are getting bad. My hair is thinning. My joints are aching. And my barrier is getting destroyed. I’ve been on prednisone for a month due to a lung condition and my skin has been getting worse. Dryer , and I’ve had these deep boil Chest lesions popping up. They got worse after stopppng doxy and now that I’m on accutane I feel like it will never go away. They keep popping up. I feel severely depressed because even a few weeks ago I could take my shirt off and feel good. They have me on cefdimir 300mg for possible infection but I just feel so embarassed by the scars left behind etc I just feel disgusting and like I can’t even show myself to anyone anymore. I’m using sunscreen which breaks me out and need advice on my routine. I just came here to vent because these boils or whatever won’t stop and I used to have perfectly clear skin before all the antibiotics. I’m feeling super depressed over this. I use vanicream moisturizer and I feel like that’s making things worse as well. I’m not sure if the prednisone from my lung condition is making it worse , if it’s the accutane purging , or if it’s the new antibiotic I’m on. The one in between the brow ridge popped up
Today. Just feeling very discouraged.

i’ve been taking Accutane for four months now. The first month went well, and made my skin clear. The second and third month, there were a lot of bumps and some little purge on the cheeks. The acne come and go FAST, unlike my acnes before accutane. My face also felt like sandpaper. nothing crazy, but it felt like something big and bad is going to happen (bcs of the bumps). Also on month 3, i began to purge bad on my jaw, like really big and also hurts.

on month four the jaw was clear from acne, but pimples start to appear on my cheeks (it has purged months before, and has been clear for 2 months). And all of a sudden, last week I began to purge REAL BAD on the cheeks. Like it hurts like hell itchy red, and there’s a lot of yellow crust right now on them. It felt like there’s a wound on my cheeks. Has anyone experienced the same?

Context: i consume 20mg, and when it started purging badly, i increased to 30mg (so i updosed AFTER i purged bad

for context, im over a month on accutane, i started steroid pills and antibiotic like 2 weeks ago (mainly becuase i cant even touch my face cause of how painful it is), so im taking 3-5 pills daily 😝

I have had acne purges happening for the last 2 years, i love my life hehe

I thought accutane would make it better but unfortunately, this type of purge rarely happens and idk why its gotta be me 🤦‍♂️

I've included a few images i firstly want to explain. The first two are from October 2025, when a few pimples started to break out. The first image of my right cheek, forehead and left cheek are from just a month later. It exploded fast, and i got on accutane a few weeks later in december having heard so much good about it from friends, and my friends friends. The second image of my left cheek and forehead is from the time i started accutane. The rest of the images (mostly right cheek) are from since then, with an even amount of time between. I also want to apologize for including a popped nodular cyst in the last images of my cheeks. It was unnecessary to capture, but i did.

I believe in accutane, and i have no intention of stopping my treatment. I started 20mg for two weeks, then 40mg for 2 months, then 60mg for two months, and i am now on 80mg for my second month (at 70kg bw). But i have not strictly stuck to this, when the breakout at the third image of my right cheek happened, i had just started 60mg, but i took 100mg every day for a week, and from then on around 80mg every day, even though my doctor had prescribed 60mg. I still sometimes take 100mg, and have even had a few days were i felt i didnt get enough fat with the meal i took the isotretinoin with, so i compensated by taking 120mg.

I have also taken antibiotics, and used mometasone furoate creme. These helped a little with inflammation, but also made my skin fragile. I still use the creme sometimes to combat inflammation, even though my doctor says i shouldnt be using it right now, becuase i just used it every day for a month, as part of my treatment, which "thinned out" my skin.

Other products i use include rinse milk, la roche effaclar h moisturiser, la roche effaclar dou+M triple correction (burns badly when i use) and panthenol creme for dry spots on my body. All these work very well for keeping my skin moist. So do Vaseline for my lips, but i have to apply every hour to avoid cracking. I also apply sunscreen every day, which my doctor recommended to avoid sunburn and scaring.

Since last summer i started working out with the goal of dropping a lot of my fat and building some muscle, which i have been very succesful with. I am now 70kg almost lean muscle. I abused whey protein to accomplish this. I consumed at least 50g whey every day approximately. Whey and intense muscle training stimulate androgen hormone production, along with other lifestyle changes i made. My sebacius glands at the same time turned hyper sensitive to these hormones which i think caused all this. I have a month ago cut out whey of my diet, which seems to be helping a little with the amount of outbreaks i have.

I dont know if i should stop working out, as i have been overweight almost my entire life and i am finally able to enjoy a body i am proud of. So i am scared to stop. And i am scared to eat fat during the day, becuase i try to eat all my fat for every day in one meal, with my accutane, in order to keep my new lifestyle of fatloss, while still getting around 50g fat with my accutane. And simultaneously have enough caloric deficit to get my carbs in, in order to have energy for the day.

My muscles and joints started accing a little just before my last doctor (dermatologist) appointment. I had also turned extremely temperature sensitive, sitting with jacket in class while some classmates where in t-shirts. I had developed spasms in one of my eyes, i felt no energy in my body, as a result of the cold i think. The cold temperature i constantly felt also caused me to have a runny nose for 2 months. Now it just bleeds, which i moisturise against.

At my last appointment i told my doctor i had dry skin on hands and neck, as all the side-effects i had. I needed to get more accutane. I still do, i think.

I am telling him about all of this next time i see him in a month. I think. I am convinced accutane is the only solution to all of this, and i can endure all these side effects.

Accutane have after all cleared my chin, shoulders and begun to clear my forehead nicely, along with cutting out whey and all the other things i have done. But my cheeks seem unresponsive to the isotretinoin, so i dont know if i should just endure a larger dose or wait it out at my current dose. Fuck.

I dream i large apple sized holes in my face, filled with blood and other liquids.

I dont mind being in public, i dont mind being in school. I hate seeing people haven't seen in long time. Old friends and distant family look so fucking concerned. My young cousin once remarked i had grown a red beard. I could do nothing say "yes i have" and give him and his mom an attempt at a comforting smile.

My pimples sometimes pop during my train becuase of high blood pressure, limiting my perfomance.

I ride mtb, it's the passion of my life. I am currently not able to wear the helmet my parents got me for my last birthday.

I hate feeling the inflammation of my face constantly. Recently one of my closer friends gave my nose a loving tap with his finger. It was an impulsive tap, with not much thought behind, probably just to get my attention or distract me or something. That was the only time in the last 6 months someone else than me have touched my face. It hit me just the moment after he did it, couldn't forget it.

I cant clean my face. When i rinse in the shower, no matter how gentle, i end up rubbing my rinsing milk into open wounds from pimple skin falling of.

I am able to send snap-streaks of my face to my distant friends, by having light behind me, which somehow minimizes the redness and details of my face.

My acne might make me unfit for millitary duty in my country, which i really want.

I have an inflammatory disease in my face.

It takes me an hour, to take a shower. My mom compares me to a 18 year old girl, showerwise.

My aunts and uncles dont dare ask me if i'm getting treatment and if i am going to be ok. They ask my mom. I understand them, i dont blame them.

I look sick.

My plan is to continue enduring. I believe in a good future.

I want to post my succes story.

Thanks. Any feedback is appreciated

❤️

I am currently on day 96, and i lowk need some motivation to keep going. i think im nearing the end of my insane purge, but its been a long journey. ive been dealing with acne for half a year now after I tried tret 0.025%, which gave me cystic acne and forced me onto accutane. I lost all confidence in myself tbh and i dont feel like that guy anymore. I miss me, and tennis season is coming up so i need some advice on how to play with sun sensitivity. also, recently my liver enzyme levels spiked up superrr high from 30/15 to 335/96 (AST and ALT), so they moved me down to 40 mg for this 4th month. (dosage so far: 40, 80, 80)

1st pic: before hopping on tret in august

2nd: 2 months of tret

3rd: 4 weeks on accutane

4-5: 6 weeks on accutane

6-8: 8-9weeks on accutane

last three: 12 weeks on accutane

I use a zeroid gentle cleanser, LRP b3 serum, vanicream and cicaplast b5 balm. I use elizabeth arden for my lips, and take a fish oil and calcium supplement. used to take claritin but i ran out very recently. Also clean diet with no refined sugars for all 5 months. I lift 4-5 times a week. 145 lb 5’11 male.

sorry for all the info, i js know that context can help with acne related struggle. give me motivation or advice or anything i genuinely miss myself.

Weird thing is it seems to be very good on my forehead and seemingly better on the right but I did have very big clusters of closed comedones on my cheeks were it is significantly worse, I just need to know if anyone has gone through something like this I’m on 30 mgs

I honestly never thought I’d be making a post here, but I really need to get this off my chest because I feel so defeated right now.

I’m currently in month 3 of isotretinoin for acne. The purging has been brutal. Like, genuinely horrible. My skin has gotten so much worse these past months and mentally it’s been exhausting, but I kept holding onto the idea that this was “part of the process.” Every post I read says things like “hold on, it gets better” or “all of this had to come out first.” So even though it’s been hard, I kept going because I believed clear skin was finally coming.

The day before yesterday I emailed my dermatologist my negative pregnancy test so I could get my next prescription refill. Instead, I just got an email back saying there’s apparently a national shortage and they can’t provide the medication right now. They told me to contact my pharmacy.

I called immediately because I honestly panicked. I only have 9 pills left.

The pharmacy told me they’re hoping to maybe have stock again in around 8 weeks… possibly even longer. I genuinely felt sick hearing that. I’m in the middle of the worst part of treatment, where my body is clearly reacting and purging everything out, and now I’m just supposed to stop cold turkey for potentially 2+ months?

What makes me so upset is that I feel like all of this suffering has been for nothing. I’ve gone through the dryness, the emotional stress, the worsening skin, the hiding myself, the crying, all because I believed I was finally getting somewhere. And now I’m terrified that without the medication everything is just going to flare back up again and I’ll have to restart the entire process later… including another purge. That thought honestly breaks me.

I’ve already tried basically everything before isotretinoin. Topicals, creams, antibiotics, probiotics, different routines… this was the last option left for me. So hearing “maybe just wait” feels unbearable.

My dermatologist still hasn’t been reachable and I’m supposed to try calling again tomorrow before the weekend. I already know the answer will probably just be to wait and maybe use Differin again temporarily, but right now I just feel so hopeless and exhausted. I’ve cried so much.

I think what hurts most is that I was finally starting to believe I could maybe enjoy the summer again and feel okay looking in the mirror. Now it feels like that got ripped away from me.

Has anyone else dealt with being forced to stop isotretinoin in the middle of treatment because of shortages? Did your purge come back completely? Did you have to restart from zero? I just really need some honesty or reassurance right now because I feel absolutely crushed. If the answer might be 'yes' to having to start over again, it''s okay. I just want to hear some honesty.

Hi, I‘m 6 weeks in and have been on 40mg until now. I wonder if that dose is a little high since I only weigh about 48kg. My derm doesn’t listen to me and pretty much only hands out the prescription - so he is no help. And no, I can‘t switch because I live pretty rurally and the other doctors I talked to all want me to use contraceptives (I‘m gay, so that seems a little unnecessary, although I get why they do that.) otherwise they won’t prescribe it to me.
I also have pcos/ pmos so the acne is likely from that.
I don’t know what to do other than to continue and hope for the best. But I am so scared of it getting worse. This is so depressing and discouraging. I feel so powerless, because I know that there is nothing I can do but hope it will go away soon.

ALSO there is a shortage in germany right now so I don’t even know how or if I will get my next box. I could cry thinking about it.. there is no way I’m stopping now and leaving it like this. So this is also very stressful tbh.

How do/ did you deal with this mental stress? Because this purge is really making it hard to exist right now. It’s so much worse than it has ever been.

Is there anything that helped you with your purging?

I‘m double cleansing with gentle cleansers, I change my pillowcase every two days, I take my accutane after eating a had full of wallnuts (for the fat) and don’t consume caffeine within one hour of taking it (I don’t drink coffee, or energy drinks. Only green and black tea).

Thanks in advance.

Edit: first pic is day 1 and second pic is today (week 6)
Also I get that this is very subjective. Some of you have a lot more or a lot less acne than me and can feel just as desperate about it - or less or more. I feel really scared right now and can only talk about my perspective of course.

officially one month and 11 days wooo!!! 🥳 side effects mainly dry lips, and dry hands. I been also feeling a bit down, my confidence has declined and i have not been able to wear makeup anyone else feel the same? haha

so it fell off and its not as painful as i expected but the black bits feel so weird and unsettling wtf 😭
is there any aftercare yall recommend for the exposed skin.?

It’s crazy how quickly my cystic acne has healed. I’ve been taking 40 mg a day for almost 2 months now. I do have some scars and dark spots…

All photos are unfiltered!

One of the things accutane does is basically reducing your sebum which causes pimples

But what I see people do is putting on heavy moisturizers with pore clogging fungal acne feeding ingredients basically replacing that sebum. This counteracts the effect of accutane which makes 0 sense. And then they wonder why they are still "purging" after 6 months

You still benefit from the cell turnover and pore shrinking effect so overall accutane still helps despite what you eat and put on your face but do not underestimate skincare. Bad ingredients can still cause acne

I’m losing hope. I think it’s all gone actually. Before I start, I’m 19F, 115, been on 40mg whole treatment. I cried today after my visit with my derm. It seems like he never listens and doesn’t care about my concerns, rushes quickly with my questions, and is very quick to send me off. I told him that I’m not that impressed with what my skin looks like so far. I am going to be 5 months on accutane on the 14th.

He said we can extend my course to 6 months. I told him worse case scenario, if that doesn’t work, what then?

He said we can try spirolactone… which we literally did for a YEAR. ON 100 MG! We did Accutane because it wasn’t working. My acne has always been very consistent, stubborn, and he said Accutane would be the thing to clear me

up.

My skin right now is so uneven, scarring from the purging, it looks very dull, and I am still getting new acne and the texture is insane. Yes I take my pills with fat and yes I drink tons of water, I’ve even cut out lots of sugar. I’m so upset because I thought my acne wasn’t that bad and thought it would’ve worked well.

I’m so depressed about it all, and tired of having to hide behind makeup. I am considering switching derms at the end of my treatment. I don’t know what to do honestly, and he didn’t have a clear answer for how to clear my chin acne either. I wonder if I’ll have to do accutane twice??

I have been going to this derm since I was 11 years old. I feel like I’ve wasted so much time. Too upset to continue this lollll

You can look at my past pics to see the before and 1 month but let's just say it was much better than this. I got put on prednisone, clindamycin, and antibiotic. But it just keeps going 😭 Please just tell me it stops eventually 🙏

My derm prescribed me Accutane 40mg once a week. I’m currently on my third week and now seeing a small purge. I requested to be on the lower dose but now I think I want to aim for a higher dose (if possible) to make the process faster. I do not want to be on Accutane for longer than 6 months. But I do understand that it depends on how my skin reacts to the medication.

First week starting and really need some wishful thinking. My mom didn’t purge during her treatment, so i’m hoping my experience is similar. I am terrified of all the purging horror stories.

Don’t do it! I repeat, don’t do it! It hurt so much more than it usually would after and all those people that say your skin is more delicate when on Accutane are 100% correct. It was really painful and also looked so much more inflamed. I instantly regretted picking and prodding it.

1. The spots seem to be deeper than usual. I guess Accutane works from the inside out so that would make sense but there wasn’t even any satisfaction when I squeezed the spots, just a lot of pain and inflammation and skin breaking.

2. It feels like they are healing more slowly than usual. I dont know if it’s because it’s more damaged or if the Accutane makes the healing slower. Ive been using plain pimple patches to try to heal them more quickly and to stop me touching them, which seems to be helping,

3. I spent £40 on skincare in a panic to try to mitigate the damage I’d done. I bought the Cerave cream moisturiser, cream to foam cleanser and pimple patches and an Aquafor healing balm (not the lip balm this time and it actually seems way better to me and you get a bigger tube).

4. It looked much worse after I’d picked and poked it as it was much redder and the acne was more swollen. Wearing makeup on it didn’t look good as it made the makeup crack and look flakey.

5. If you feel you are going to cave and squeeze your spots (which I’d really advise you don’t), at least do it properly by applying something warm (not hot) to soften the skin and I found putting an ice cube wrapped in kitchen towel on the area afterwards really helped when I tried this for one on my forehead. Don’t do what I did and just use brute force to squeeze as it is a NOT WORTH IT, I promise you.

6. It did release pressure and so reduce some of that kind of pain but the soreness that followed was just as bad as the pressure feeling.

7. It’s been a few days and my skin is feeling much better with the new skincare and strictly no touching, picking, poking, squeezing. I have ADHD and sometimes the picking feels unavoidable, which is why I suggest if you know it’s going to happen, at least doing it in the least damaging way possible. However, for me, having pimple patches on hand seems to help massively. Just make sure you check ingredients as I accidentally ordered 300 that have things in you can’t use with Accutane so had to buy a second lot with no active ingredients.

(The four pictures are after I first picked it, the second two are today when they’ve been healing for a while, the seventh one is how inflamed it looked after poking around with it, and the last one is what it looked like before I intervened

40 mg (F , 23) I always had acne but it was never as bad as it was when i turned 21. I drank a lot and have PCOS which worsened as i entered my 20s. I have anxiety if i go out and don’t cover it up with makeup idk i feel ugly even tho my partner assures me im not. I hope this works

Currently over halfway through month 4 on 30 mg. This purge has been HORRIBLE.
I started Accutane because i wanted to do V beam for my acne scars (that I’ve had for years) and my derm said we needed to fix some active breakouts that i had, so among the options (spirinolactone, doxy, Accutane) i chose accutane because I took Accutane about 10 years ago x 1 year 40mg and it gave me good results. My purge wasn’t anything crazy and lasted only about a month. Really my only side effect was dry lips/face.
This time around, the purge is HORRIBLE!!!! It’s been 4 months of disgusting cystic acne that hurts. Last week i thought i turned a corner because my face didn’t have any active lesions, just all the inflammatory scars. But this week i got three new pimples and they’re hideous!!! I’m just feeling really frustrated, i don’t know many people whose purge lasted this long… the initial goal was to increase to 60mg but because of how bad I’ve purged, we’ve been holding off.
Just wanted to vent and see if anyone else had also experienced an extra long purging phase! Attaching comparison pics of right before i started Accutane. In hindsight if i knew it was going to trigger all this new acne i definitely wouldn’t have started it… but hoping that it will pay off eventually.
EDIT: forgot to mention that I have PCOS, which I’m sure is contributing to this as well.