Acne.org Products
Oral Retinoid
Efficacy
87%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
Note: Use with EXTREME CAUTION: Causes severe birth defects and fetal death.
Oral Retinoid
Acne.org’s Real World Take
The nuclear option. It works reliably and provides long-term remission of acne, and even severe acne, in about ⅔ of people who properly take an adequate dosage. However, it permanently and irreversibly changes the skin and the body forever and users may experience long-term side effects for the rest of their lives. It’ll nuke it, but there is no going back.
Oral Retinoid
How to Get It
Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this medication. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one.
Used Isotretinoin (Accutane®)? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
February 10, 2008
Cons:
Chapped lips all the time, tight feeling in skin. And another major thing: I took it for about 5 months and it was great. But come month 9 or so my acne started again. My oil was out of control. Took another course. Same thing happened =(
When you're using it, it's amazing. But I dunno so much about AFTER you're done with it. And I've talked amongst friends, I'm not the only one it started up again. I'm gonna look into some other treatments.
February 8, 2008
Pros:
Completely clear skin after 2 months, less oily hair
Cons:
Chapped lips, dry eyes, nosebleeds
I've been on this for 4 months-- my skin is completely clear! My side effects are manageable with lip balm, eye drops, and vaseline in my nose before bedtime. Make sure you drink plenty of water or you will get sick.
January 24, 2008
Pros:
It cleared my face, I had severe acne in the area of shaving, those were big acne under my skin, it's totally cleared now and I only need to remove the scars.
Cons:
Dry Lips, skin and nose, Depression.
I used 20mg a day for 2 months, And then the doctor told me to use it for 45 other days and make it 10mg a day. will be on it until March 2008.
It totally cleared my face, but I still get a "few" acne on my chest and back somedays.
I hope by the time my course ends, I will not have acne anymore.
January 18, 2008
Pros:
Cleared my skin of spots, i used to always have spots on my chin, and could sometimes get huge huge spots on my cheeks next to my nose, these ARE GONE!! i get the odd small spot these days after being off the treatment for bout 7months.
Cons:
No cons really, i was aware of the side effects so nothing unexpected occurred, skin really dried out and required constant moisturising, this is all part of the process of reducing excess oil in the skin. it can also leave you feeling tired at times
I researched the product/treatment and knew the possible side effects before i started, so know what your doing beforehand. I no longer have to panic looking into the mirror every morning to see what new spot i have to cope with, well i get the odd small one but nothing i care about. all in all the treatment was sucessfull, however the surface of my skin has become slightly uneven again, i was thinking about nlite but i think ill avoid it reading the reviews, bio oil is something that i have begun using so ill see how that goes, perhaps a second treatment of roaccutane to re-achieve the smooth skin could be my next move...but all in all id recommend roaccutane it helped me big time... by the way im 25...
January 14, 2008
Pros:
No oil,eventually clears you up of acne.
Cons:
Joint pains (in my case, lifting weights seems to help), dry bleeding lips, eyes get dry and irritated easily.
I've been on it for 2 months. First month on 40mg a day and for the rest of the course 60mg a day. Just on the 2 month mark I've started to break out. Must be the IB. Nothing serious yet though.
January 14, 2008
Pros:
SKIN CLEAR!!!! No giant painful cysts! I have tried everything for the past 8 years and this actually works! (I am 30)Thank goodness I can get ready in the morning without spending 45 min on concealer.
Cons:
Chapped lips to the extreme (I am coated in vaseline 24/7 and lips still cracking. The joint pains sucks and I feeel more lethargic and my vision is a touch blurry at times. Mood Ok but I am very on top of that. No weight change.
This is truly the bottomline. I fought acne for the majority of my twenties. I wish I had done this earlier. The medicine is not a cakewalk but neither is spending hours in front of the mirror trying to cover a giant cyst so that you can go to work and not have people look away from your face. I had tried everything and this is far easier than most of what I tried. The treatments, oinments, procedures. thousands of dollars thrown away when I should have just pushed my DR. for an RX. If you have bad acne or large cysts call you DR. and push. If that Dr will not do it, call another one. I wish I had 8 years ago.
January 14, 2008
Pros:
Clears skin..eventually! :p
Cons:
A bit of joint pain, usually when I get out of bed, I feel it in my ankles mostly, but not noticed too long after.
Everything else seems fine though.
Wanted to give an update. I have been on it for 1 and 1/2 months. After 1 month of new, painful breakouts, it started to calm down, and seemed to be healing up. However after a few days of that, I broke out again. Usually large, deep ones, quite painful. I am still however hopeful that it will take it all away with time. I am on 60mg a day now. (First month was 40mg a day)
The Doctor did say that it can take 3 months to stop breaking out. I'll keep you posted!
January 5, 2008
Pros:
No oil! I could literally put a napkin on my face and see it through a light. Is starting to clear crap up.
Cons:
dry lips, joint pain. Would recommend pain killers and lots. Funny because I'm an athlete. Depression-none, thats just a mental thing. You should probably be stable and in good health.
I've had moderate/sever acne for a couple years now. Endless times looking in the mirror to see if those smudges and spots ever went away. I'm glad to see my face drying up and changing. I don't care about side affects at all as long as it removes this stuff off my face. Acne may not be a big deal, but really it is. I think this drug has given people there self confidence back and I will soon get there.
December 21, 2007
Pros:
I have no oil on my skin which has NEVER been the case for me...therefore i am not havin to pull out a tissue to pat my face every half hour now.
Cons:
i miss some of the oil..before it gets overly oily skin tended to have a slight glow and now when put foundation on i look grey. I am on my 5th week and my skin is way worse! My jaw is covered,i have acne on my neck, never had there before.wrinkles.
Well i am 19 and have had moderate to severe acne for 6 years now...I had tried everything ...my first 4 weeks on rocuatane were anightmare...my skin was so bad i felt sick. I was told it would start gettin better now that my dosage had increased to 60mg but it is end of 5th week and i am worse with spots in places (neck) that i have never had before. My chin is covered and dryed out and my whole jaw is breakin' out. I am prayin it gets better next week cause now that its becoming increasingly worse that people are commenting on it i feel terrible. It is horrible because i was asked to do modeling recently but i felt like i couldnt cause the sight of my face without my foundation on would be so embarsin. But i thought after roacutane i could maybe do it but thats a no no, even if it clears i believe roacutane makes acne scarring worse. I will post a review in a few weeks but at the moment i wouldnt recommend it.
December 10, 2007
Pros:
Clears skin. Period.
Cons:
Dry lips. This is a big deal! I also had really severe nose bleeds.
I used it for a while when I was younger. I had stubborn acne and this cleared it up right away. I didn't even have any initial breakouts. I still have acne, but it's never come back as badly and I use much milder medication to control it. The dry lips were very very bad. You won't be kissable while you're on it! :)
Pros:
When I was taking it, it was like a dream come true. Acne went away, no spots, no oil, nothing. People say it causes depression, but I'd never been happier in my life, with my appearance.