I'm somewhere around 25 days into my accutane treatment. I wouldn't say I had a bad initial breakout from accutane as my skin was quite bad from a skincare regime I had tried before starting accutane so the only place it really got worse after starting accutane was under my jawline but everywhere else on my face just consistently improved. Now I only have a couple active spots on my face (excluding under my jawline) but lots of flat red marks.

I haven't experienced any bad side effects yet, just the normal dry everything haha. Maybe some minor back pain and also a few spots of eczema on my hands/arms but thats it.

Good luck to you and keep us updated on your progress!

Hello, I am day 8 today and have seen no improvement so far. In fact my face has been breaking out more similarly to your experience. The weird thing is that since starting accutane my problem areas before (cheeks) have been totally inactive and seem to be slowly clearing and fading whereas my clear area (chin) and around my mouth has seen constant new breakouts since about day 3. New pimples are also coming in slightly larger and definitely more red than usual, but they feel dry and usually don't last long. I wouldn't say this is the initial breakout yet, just my body getting aquatinted with a foreign substance. Good luck with your journey. We will be done at about the same time. Stick with it!

HeftyMug

That is really good to hear that the is working for you, i kind of expected my intial breakout but hopefully in a few months time things will be looking better!

Are you using any particular moisturisers or lip balms that you would recommend?

Yeah i exercised today and realised i am going to have to tone it down a little as i was slightly achy after it haha.

Good luck on your treatment

surfish

Is your skin also quite painful? My skin and spots are really inflammed, managed to get an appointment with the dermatologist on Friday so im hoping they put me back on steroids which i must say work absolute wonders! Thats odd that it is not your usual breakout places mines has always been my t-zone and it is where i am breaking out.

Good luck also hope it works out for you!

Extremely painful. I'm guessing because the tane is trying to purge more crap out which is why pimples are larger than normal. I got a facial from a special dermatologist which helped clear out all my pores but a day later I'm still noticing more breakouts than usual. Accutane

Kimbea24,

I've just been using this cetaphil moisturizer...

http://www.cetaphil.com/products/dermacontrol-oil-control-moisturizer-spf30

It seems to do the trick, it's what I've used for some time now and it works for me.

When I'm at home I use vaseline on my lips and when I go out I use Burts Bees chap stick.

Hey! Check out my post! I'm farther along than you but the initial breakout is BAD trust me. It goes away, and it starts to all get better!

Hey guys just an update - went to dermatologist yesterday and they have prescribed me 20mg of prednislone and 300mg of erthromycin. They were going to stop the accutane to give my skin time to settle down but i said what is the point may aswell continue with it cause it will just happen when i go on it again. They did then see my point and said just reduce my dose to 20mg. The prednislone has already helped the inflammation i can finally eat without pain (as most of my spots are around my mouth). If your breakout is really bad like mines i would recommend it especially if its really painful. Steroids arent good for you but short tem use is usually hassle free and 20mg is not a very high dose.

Oh and the erthtomycin i might not take cause i don't think i will need it and it makes me feel really sick which i can't be bothered with.

07/08/2013- Thought i would give a quick update of my progress so far. As of this saturday i have officaly been on roaccutane for a month and it has flown in thankfully! I am still on the 20mg but that will be getting bumped back up to 40mg on the 16th of this month. I am still on steroids which really helped my horrific breakout, still have another 3 weeks of them so they used calm down any inflammation caused by going up to the 40 mg. Side effects so far have not been bad at all, the worst part has been the dry lips which im sure everyone on roaccutane can relate to ahaha. The dry skin has not been too bad though i am used to mosturising reguraly anyways so i haven't really changed my skincare routine too much. I would really recommend the Aveeno mosturisers they feel like silk on your skin when you put them on, very soothing for inflammed and irritated skin as well! Other than that maybe a little bit more achey after long walks and busy days but nothing terrible. I havent broke out in about a week now but this could be because of the steroids. My skin does feel a lot less oily and im going to have a new foundation as the one im using is far too drying on my skin. My hair is also a lot dryer so trying not to wash it as often. I am going to start a photo blog on this as wells so will link onto this to show my photographic progress. It also helps me to judge how well it is working.

Hope anyone else on roaccutane/ accutane journey is going well too.

Really glad to hear the Roaccutane is going well for you at the moment kimbea24! Hope it continues

Thank you @moonlitriver. Its went better than i expected to be honest looking forward to getting my dose increased though so i can start seeing more improvements. Hope your acne has settled down a little. Hows your medication regime coming on?

Thank you @moonlitriver. Its went better than i expected to be honest looking forward to getting my dose increased though so i can start seeing more improvements. Hope your acne has settled down a little. Hows your medication regime coming on?

Glad to hear that! Hopefully you're over the initial breakout now and will get some good results with the dose increase.

Mine is settling down a bit now, thanks for asking! I'm still breaking out but my skin is definitely showing signs of improvement it's just a very very slow process! Not sure if this will actually succeed in clearing it completely but I guess for the moment I just have to wait and hope for the best.

Thank you @moonlitriver. Its went better than i expected to be honest looking forward to getting my dose increased though so i can start seeing more improvements. Hope your acne has settled down a little. Hows your medication regime coming on?

07/08/2013- Thought i would give a quick update of my progress so far. As of this saturday i have officaly been on roaccutane for a month and it has flown in thankfully! I am still on the 20mg but that will be getting bumped back up to 40mg on the 16th of this month. I am still on steroids which really helped my horrific breakout, still have another 3 weeks of them so they used calm down any inflammation caused by going up to the 40 mg. Side effects so far have not been bad at all, the worst part has been the dry lips which im sure everyone on roaccutane can relate to ahaha. The dry skin has not been too bad though i am used to mosturising reguraly anyways so i haven't really changed my skincare routine too much. I would really recommend the Aveeno mosturisers they feel like silk on your skin when you put them on, very soothing for inflammed and irritated skin as well! Other than that maybe a little bit more achey after long walks and busy days but nothing terrible. I havent broke out in about a week now but this could be because of the steroids. My skin does feel a lot less oily and im going to have a new foundation as the one im using is far too drying on my skin. My hair is also a lot dryer so trying not to wash it as often. I am going to start a photo blog on this as wells so will link onto this to show my photographic progress. It also helps me to judge how well it is working.

Hope anyone else on roaccutane/ accutane journey is going well too.

I'm going to try Aveeno. I'm not on Roaccutane anymore but still get VERY dry skin because of it

As for dry lips... I know you'll use Vaseline anyway but I used to absolutely pile it on before bed and I meant pile it on and it helps massively

kimbea have you tapered off the steriods yet?

You should really avoid using steroids for any prolonged period of time.

@Chrissy Campbell I think if your a young healthy female who is on a very low dose of steroids for five weeks the risks are minimal. Was only on 20mg for two weeks and had them reduced gradually after that they have been amazing in.reducing the severe inflammation i had (my dermatologist said it was one of the worst cases of inflamed acne she had seen). I understand there is risks but you take them everyday i personally think they were worth it especially cause i could not even smile due to the tightness around my mouth and eating was challenging too, very painful.

@Mrs Robinson. Got one dose of 5mg left for tomorrow then thats me for good.

31/08/13- So guys thought i would give another quick update on my progress so far. I have been on 40 mg again for about two weeks after being reduced to 20 mg for a month after a bad initial breakout. I was also on steroids as well which i have now stopped . So far my skin has not broken out a lot, i am still getting the occasional spot but nothing severe. My skin is quite dry im using both aveeno and nivea cream. I feel the nivea cream works well under my make up cause it seems to blend really well with it and gives my face a bit of moisture. I use the aveeno at night times on my face and body which does help. My lips have to be the worst part though im getting dry cracked sores on the side of my lips which i have been using Vaseline very heavy handed on.

Other Side effects- i have noticed a bit of joint/muscle pain but i feel this is though i have been extremely active ( i was on holiday, in pool, walking all the time etc). I have been feel a bit more tired than usual but i think it could be exhaustion from the holiday also! My skin is gradually getting better, i know it will be worth just have to grin and bear it for the amazing results i have seen it give other, overall still feeling pretty optimistic and the side effects will be worth the confidence i hope it will give me.

Hey, I'm on day 66 of accutane and I only have about 2 or 3 pimples right now. But my cheeks are covered in red marks. I had pretty bad acne and because of the red marks my cheeks still look like they're covered in acne. I've been using carmex on my lips and it seems to be working well. I haven't had any side effects apart from dry lips and slightly dry hair. Hope we both get completely clear soon! good luck with the rest of your treatment

27/09/13- so my treatment is going okay. Starting to see very good improvements, getting less and less spots and dryness of face under control now! Currently I would say I have moderate muscle/joint pain this could be after a very heavy shift at work a day ago which I was doing a lot of manual handling. Its only on the left side of my body which suggests I was using it at lot. Hopefully it goes away soon cause its a bit of a pain haha. Anyone recommend anything which might help? Went for a long bath last night didnt really help that much.

12.11.13-

So i only have a month and three weeks to on Roaccutane. So far so good! All of the side effects have calmed down since and my face is the clearest it has been in years, However i do have scarring which i will hope will fade over time. Definitely been worthwhile taking this treatment!