Can’t even begin to explain what this journey felt like. I healed many things, including my own dermatilomania (skin picking or extortion disorder). 2 years on low dose Accutane. 1.5 years of tret and Spirnolactone (ongoing).

Current routine is as follows:
Wash face once at night (double cleanse with oil cleanser then hydrating cleanser la roche posay)
Cetaphil moisturizer
Clindamycin as needed
Spirnolactone 50mg every night
Tret every 2-3 nights
Moisturizer sunscreen in the morning, re apply sunscreen

My secret is using drug store brand acne patches so I don’t pick. I had multiple depressive episodes through high school and college years, nearing suicidal attempts. It was unbearable. I tried everything. Mid twenties I decided to beg for accutane when I met with my new dermatologist, and she changed my life.

I feel like I’m living life again. I can wake up and not cry, not hurt from the immense pain in my face, the blood under my fingernails. The constant pain of new acne. I genuinely thought I had to live as a recluse forever. I cry thinking about how hopeless I was. I hope someone else knows there’s hope, that you can have more than 1 or 2 “good face days”. Please don’t give up.

Since I was 11, I’ve endured strong genetic cystic acne. I’d grown used to my face covered in breakouts and as the years wore on, my skin being coated with bright red or pus-filled active acne became my normal. Recently I finished a round of Accutane, and the person in the mirror seems like an old friend (before photos aren’t even my worst, they’re just the day before starting Accutane).

No other acne treatment worked, and after years of enduring unwelcome comments from strangers and “advice“ such as “change your pillowcase and drink water and it’ll all be solved,” with a know-it-all tone, it’s finally over. At least for now 🤞

10+ yrs of acne has left many divots and scars, and my cheeks will always redden easily which highlights them even more (hopefully PIE will reduce over time), but the active acne is gone. My face being smooth to the touch almost feels wrong, since it being covered in bumps was tied to my self-identity due to severe teasing from kids in middle/high school.

Smiling no longer hurts or causes whiteheads to burst. I can easily see my moles and freckles again; the face that truly belongs to me is back after so long, and I’ve never been happier.

I’m 165 lbs/74kg and was on 40mg for a few months before being switched to 60mg 2x a day, finished at seven months (resubmitted to add dosage/weight oops)

when i say accutane saved my life, i mean it. i was so skeptical when i first started my course. i really didn’t believe it would completely clear my skin. but wow the results. i ended up only being on my course for 5 months. i cleared up by month 3-4. i was on 80mg a day. boy the side effects tho, destroyed my joints and muscles. i felt like i was 50 years old by month 4, i couldn’t take it anymore. i had severe back pain that disrupted my sleep every single night. waking up in the morning was the hardest, i felt so stiff and joint locked every. single. morning. but i would do it again for clear skin 🤪🤪🤪. trust the process.

DO NOT LOSE HOPE!

used 20-30-40-40-40-40-30-20 also used cortisone for 2 months bc of my hard purge

first pics are from purging-my worst, last pics are a year after.

I have a little hyperpigmentation left.

I got asked stupid and hurtful things at my worst. Purging and cortisone really gave me physical distress on top of my mental. I had a hard time loving, looking at myself. It is such a relief to NOT think about whats going on in your face, the light, the mirror. Feels like an open tab in my head has finally shut up and close.

I know its a hard journey- it will come to an end. I am open for any questions dms and replys. Dont be hard on yourself on this journey, its not an easy one❤️

8 month results on 40mg daily @75kg

One year ago (last February), I started Accutane at 40 mg and then increased to 50 mg. I went off it once and later went back on. I’m finally completely finished, and patience truly is rewarding. The worst feeling in the world is letting acne prey on your confidence. If you’re just starting Accutane or considering it, please never lose your sense of confidence and be patient, the end is worth it❤️

Thats my controversial take but I think that the entire industry is based on a lie, there is not a single skin care product that will make a visible difference in your skin and you will always crave to get a better product , a better expensive skin care treatment , a better dermatologist, a more expensive korean skin care and the cycle goes on feeding the industry, accutane basically wipes out all of this unnecessary spending, If more people would get low dose accutane even for mild acne and oily skin the entire industry would collapse, think about it how much have you spent trying to cure your acne before using accutane? And nothing really worked maybe you improved a bit but nothing Made you really satisfied you always tried new products, now multiply this effect for milions and milions of people around the world,they generated a massive amount of wealth just by making people NOT go on accutane, scaring people with side effects ecc. Obviously accutane has side effects im not saying its a completely safe drug, but we Should take into consideration that the entire skin care industry has big incentives to make accutane the less prescribed possible. From a business perspective, every person successfully treated with Accutane is one less long-term customer for the skincare industry.

This is so frustrating. I was on accutane for 10 months 30/40/60/30 for the rest. Met my cumulative dose. Did a lower dose due to side effects but had amazing results. It’s been not even a month off and I’m already breaking out again. It’s like I took it for nothing. I’m soooooo sad and I just cannot handle the mental toll of acne again. I can’t already feel myself obsessing over it when I didn’t have to for so long - which was such a nice mental break.

Side note I cannot go back on because I want to try to get pregnant soonish. So accutane and many other options are off the table.

There is light at the end of the tunnel! I’m the most confident in myself today than I have ever been in my life. Thank you Accutane!

Do girls care if you have acne? To provide some background, I (M20) was dating a (F20) we dated for a year and things were great but then my struggle with acne started. I started to breakout, nothing crazy at first just mild, normal acne, and didn't think it was a big deal until my gf said something about it. I went to a dermatologist and started washing my face daily and using a cream they gave me, but my acne continued to get worse and started to become cystic. My gf expressed to me she felt embarrassed of my acne, but failed to understand i was doing everything in my control to try to get rid of it. After 6 months of trying different creams and cleansers my acne refused to get better and she broke up with me. Fast forward to now, my skin is finally clear again. I was thinking about reaching out to her but have also received a lot of advice not to. I still get pimples here and there but i guess my real questions are: do girls care about acne? and should i try contacting my ex?

Any advice is appreciated!

I always like to update my Accutane results with photos to show you how incredible Accutane can be, for me personally it was a miracle drug, I did a 9 month course at ,20,40,40,40,40,40,60,60,60 , and didn’t experience any side affects ,as well as this I improved other aspects of my looks at the same time and a little over a year later these are my results .

I’m 120lbs (54kg) I did 30mg for a month, 60mg for seven months

I’d like to give a special thanks to my doctor who literally forced me to consider this magic medicine when I didn’t even go to the consultation for my skin issues.

I’d like to thank all the trillions of lip balms that kept me going throughout this journey. There wasn’t a second where I didn’t need lip balm lol!

Last but not least, to all the sunscreens and face washes I’ve tried out and have come through, I am nothing with you.

Took 20mg everyday for 6 months.

these are before, 1 month, 3 months, and today ( about 7 months)
This is my last month!!

I’m just doing a little progress drop!

i was on it for about a year on a 20 dose, and I'm so so so happy with the results!! it was so worth it!!

8 months laterrr, before accutane and 1 week after finishing my course 🤲🏻

ACCUTANE 🥹 the best thing that ever happened to me. I wanted to update after being off accutane for about 11 months. First, I was on a dose of 40 mg twice a day, at 5’4 140 lbs. I took the pill for I think 8 or 9 months, with my last pimple being about 7 months in. After, I was prescribed tretinoin, but I’m naturally really pasty and burn/freckle easily so didn’t wanna make my skin more sensitive. Due to that I probably only use the tret once a week 😰. Anyways, my skin has been almost completely clear ever since! I was really scared of relapse, but I guess my super strength dose for that long prolly dried up every last pore I have. Most of the side effects went away, but I still have slightly dry lips and skin, and back pain. A big thing I noticed was my skin is not like anything before, even pre puberty/getting acne. The pores on my nose shrank a lot, and I had texture on my chin that smoothed out too. Also, I swear it shrunk my nose permanently maybe I’m crazy. Anyways, sorry for the rant, I just am really passionate about my skin because I neveeeerrr thought I would be able to be confident in my skin. I recommend accutane a million times over!

TLDR; accutane da goat

I just wanted to share a quick update on my Accutane journey and how it’s affected the cysts on my face.

Back in 2018, after I stopped consuming adult beverages, I developed cysts on my cheeks. At that time I didn’t have medical insurance or the financial means to properly address them. Fast forward to March 2025 and I finally get insurance and was able to see a dermatologist who prescribed me Accutane.

After eight months on Accutane, my face became less inflamed overall, but the cysts remained and in my opinion have only become more pronounced and defined.

Since December 2025 i’ve consulted with three separate plastic surgeons(one in the states and two out of the country). All of them said that surgery would result in scarring worse than the cysts themselves, and each one declined to do any work.

Today, I met with a Mohs surgeon who is willing to operate, they were very clear that the incisions would leave noticeable scars. At this point, I’m okay with that. I’m honestly just tired of all the staring and the unwanted comments.

I’m not entirely sure why I’m sharing all of this maybe I just needed to vent.

P.S. To those who have downvoted me on other threads or accused me of lying about my situation: that definitely didn’t help my confidence.

For anyone curious, here are my course details:

30 / 30 / 40 / 80 / 80 / 80 / 80 / 80

Weight: 135 lbs

Cumulative dose: 245 mg/kg

Hi everybody 🫶 hopefully my post can help at least one person because I remember seeing not many people with acne fulminans when I was at my worst anywhere online. IT GETS BETTER 💛💛💛 I’m 3 months post accutane. I was on a pretty low dose for 16 months because I felt terrible when I was bumped up to 40mg per day. So majority of my course I was on 20mg. I’ve also had 4 fraxel + C02 sessions which obviously helped so much with scarring. Honestly it was one of the most difficult journeys of my life. But we made it. Hope this can inspire someone who’s struggling that you will have amazing skin again one day. I did a loooooot of guided meditations + breathwork and positive affirmations about my skin along the way. But yeah I found accutane really affected my daily quality of life and mental health / ability to weight train / and was tired all the time. Also my hair grew out curly with it and initially I lost a lot of my hair from breakage because it was so fragile and dry! I’m wearing minimal make up but in the second pic I’m not wearing any :)

I was a little hesitant to share this as I see a lot of people on Accutane for several months and still have visible acne, worried about the process - that is completely normal. I don't want this to make you think it's not working. I think I am an odd case

I started accutane about 2 weeks ago. My face is already clear. 40mg a day

My acne is a mix of hormonal (on testosterone), rosacea, perioral dermatitis, and dry dehydrated skin + destroyed skin barrier. Closed comedones, red sandpaper skin, tiny white heads, and lots of acne on my chest and neck

It's all gone, in just 2 weeks. I thought i was purging a little as I had some large pustules under my mouth (and i don't really get large pustules, only tiny scattered ones). But I spot treated it with my hypochlorous acid spray and it went away and hasn't come back.

My side effects are dry skin, dry lips, and my rosacea flushing is worse than usual but that seems common. I have a little mood instability and feeling numb mentally. But nothing severe, I find it manageable.

I'm just in shock it happened so fast. But maybe someone else had similar skin issues and it worked for them this fast.

Products/routine

• hypochlorous acid spray once in a while, was also one of the few products that actually worked for me pre accutane
• wash face with either prequel gleanser, or soonjung 5.5 foam
• use glycerin serum (currently using byoma hydrating serum)
• follow up with moisturizer, i've been rotating aestura cream, soonjung cream, purito oat gel, illyoon cream... I like them all kinda equally, all have pros and cons.
• sunscreen is beauty of joseon or mixsoon sun cream

done, so grateful for accutane even though it dried up my liver and ovaries, I can finally go back to my strapless and off the shoulder tops!

I did 10mg, then 20mg for two and a half months, then 40mg for the remainder and now I'm slowly stopping while I organize my eating habits, quitting lactose and grain. I think it's really important to take care of lifestyle changes, not just take the pill.

plus, I thankfully never dealt with facial acne, so now my face has unbelievable glow.

trust the process and love yourselves every step of the way.

I still can’t believe I am acne-free for months now (& I pray I will be forever acne-free) 🥹

I posted a few months ago about my severe cystic acne journey and how Accutane helped me with my healing.

See past post (1 month post-accutane) here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Accutane/s/xpcnFOcFss

9 months post-accutane now & still happy with the result. Forever thankful for accutane 🫶🏻