Quote:
Originally Posted by aggieAXO
I don't really have a regimen but I have to give thumbs up to accutane. I had terrible break outs/cystic acne and finally could afford accutane when I gradutaed from college-it worked very very well. I did have relapse about 3 years later (no cystic acne-that cleared up permanently, just general acne) and again it worked well for about 4 years. i went on it one more time about 2 years ago-again worked well but I noticed being in my mid 30's it accentuated some wrinkles. My brother also used it and it cleared up his acne as well. I had no problems and was (and still am) very pleased with the results. I was required to be on the pill and had to have my liver values checked every 4 weeks.
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I also took Accutane and am extremely split on it. I was only on it for about four months in high school. My skin is now absolutely perfect -- I haven't had a single breakout in ten years and I get comments all the time on what nice skin I have. But I suffered some pretty harsh side effects while I was on it (hence why I only took it for four months). I lost about half of my hair and had big bald spots. I had major nosebleeds on a daily basis and my ears would often bleed as well. My skin and lips were so dry that I frequently had deep cracks across my face that would bleed. It got so terrible that there were rumors flying around my school that I was dying of cancer.
I'm certain that my situation was exacerbated by the fact that I was a swimmer and spent about 5 hours a day in chlorine, which is very drying. I'm also extremely grateful that it worked so well in such a short time and had such long lasting effects. But I still have very dry skin and lips and get nosebleeds very frequently, and a lot of my hair never grew back. I just feel it's necessary to warn people to do LOTS of research and talk through concerns with a dermatologist before starting to take Accutane.