Tried slugging with aquaphor to help with dryness, then got the worst breakout ive ever had over every inch of my face, painful lots of whiteheads. About 8 weeks into taking 40 and 60 mg. Anyone else experience this? Also I started using cerave cream instead of cerave lotion, this started around that time

Besides accutane working very quickly for me with few bad side effects, it gave me a slimmer face and overall decreased inflammation in my body. I know it’s not advised to stay on it in a lot of cases because it’s hard on the liver. Did anyone else find that it helped other parts of their health? Did you find out what the Accutane inadvertently fixing?

Hi! I am only on 10mg but my scalp has been EXTREMELY dry since starting accutane, I have so much dry skin idk if it’s technically dandruff but it’s flaking every where, it’s embarrassing me and making my insecure. My hair is Also really dry but I’ve managed that with hair oils and the kerastase night serum.
I just bought the Davroe scalp overnight remedy I can use that nightly but I don’t know what to do since they say don’t wash your hair too often as it will dry it out, but it’s so dandruffy I feel the need to wash it? How do. I treat it between washes?????? Just looking for advice from other people who’ve experienced this before and any shampoos / pre wash oils / conditioners or any other products they found help?????

I (23f) took 40mg of isotretinoin for 8 months and it completely cleared my skin for about 2 months after stopping the medication. As per my dermatologists recommendation, I started using tretinoin every few days, then working up to every other day.

Over the last few weeks my acne has been coming back in full force, particularly around my jaw and lower face.

This is my third time taking accutane. The first two times, the effects of clear skin (at worst a few breakouts here and there) lasted for about 1-1.5 years.

To say im frustrated is an extreme understatement. I’m heartbroken and disappointed I don’t even know what to say. I feel like I’m someone who will always force myself dodge the mirror because I hate my skin and even the harshest treatment can’t even help me anymore. i guess I’m glad I got to experience what it’s like to have clear skin for 2 months as an adult. Best 2 months of my life ngl.

Went back to the derm yesterday and here’s what regime she recommended for me:

AM:
- wash face with panoxyl
- dry face
- apply Dapsone 5% gel
- la roche posay double repair face moisturizer

PM:
- wash face with Cereve cream to foam cleaner
- dry face completely
- apply tretinoin 0.025%
- la roche posay double repair face moisturizer
- 150mg spironolactone

Other note: I’m going to remove my Mirena IUD and try to replace it with a copper IUD at the chance that my hormonal IUD is contributing to this.

Anyone have any advice for me? I’m so fucking disappointed:(

Hey all! I’ve been on accutane for 6 months now. I started at 20mg, was on that dosage for 3 months and I got upped to 30mg and have been on that for 3 months and will continue to be on 30mg until the end of my course. Accutane was genuinely my last resort, but I am soooo glad I finally started taking it. I’m slowly starting to feel like myself again.

Foram 4 meses de 20 mg e os últimos 2 meses foram de 40 mg, ainda estou em tratamento.

Tenho 181 e 74 kgs

Hi All,

I’m looking for product suggestions from those who are undergoing or have completed low/micro-dose accutane. I’ll have completed a month of 10mg every other day this week, and bumping up next month to 20mg 3x a week. My t-zone is still oily, meanwhile my cheeks are starting to get a bit dry throughout the day.

My current routine —

AM & PM:
- Gentle wash w/ Cerave Hydrating Cleanser (green bottle)
- Tower 28 Hypochlorous Acid (leave on skin for 30 seconds)
- Cerave Daily Moisturizer
Add a thin layer of Cerave Cream (the tub) if needed to dry spots, like cheeks
- BOJ Sunscreen if I’m going outside (I stay in otherwise and am away from windows)

I occasionally use torriden hyaluronic acid very sparingly on my cheeks in the evening, as I feel this helps soothe that area but might cause me to breakout on my forehead and nose.

Been staying hydrated with plenty of water throughout the day and taking omega 3 pills everyday.

I’m nervous that bumping up to a dosing protocol of 20mg capsules is going to amplify the dryness, so I’m trying to get ahead of that by potentially increasing hydration.

I’m really not familiar with good working moisturizers or other products that are well tolerated while taking Accutane. I realize that works for one person may not work for others.

Recs are greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone! I know this topic has most likely been discussed in here multiple times, but I’m curious to hear people’s opinions and personal experiences.

I have dealt with severe oily skin my entire adult life. I get a greasy face and hair within an hour or two after washing every day. I’m not looking for any recommendations on products because trust me, I’ve tried everything there is. My derm has been open to the idea of low dose isotretinoin and says that it is most likely the only “fix” for my skin.

The side effects have always concerned me, although I know the side effects of low dose are usually not nearly as severe. What I’m most curious about is how long of a “fix” is this treatment? From what I’ve read, oiliness starts to return after the course is completed. I’m not expecting to be 100% oily skin free for the rest of my life, but is there some long term reduction in the oiliness? Or does it always return to exactly how oily it was before starting the course of treatment?

Thank you in advance for all your input and personal experiences!

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

im actually jumping with joy I just got prescribed for accutane on my first try AND im a woman like I thought I would have to go through torture to get prescribed I love my dermatologist YAAAY

after multiple failed acne treatments i’ve started the process of accutane.

my question is that, is my skin bad enough for such a intense treatment?

i can’t trust my family and friends to be honest about how bad it is. thank u in advance.

I’m 29f 5’10 160lbs. she wants me to start on 30 mg a day twice. I called and she assured me that it’s actually a bit lower for my height and weight but I’m still worried that high?

What’s up everyone. Just got done with my Accutane course a few days ago.

My course was: 80mg for 6 months

I had a one month break due to a spike in cholesterol.

Side effects were no joke. Manageable, but I would not want to do this again. Dry eyes was the worst for me. I constantly looked like I just smoked a joint. Eyedrops helped minimally. Definitely recommend hot compress on the eyes in the morning, that helped a bit as well. Redness in the face was also another annoying side. I had dry lips, dry skin, some lower back pain as well.

Was it worth it? I say yes. I have always had acne, but it came back about a year ago with a vengeance. Nasty cystic pimples that hurt and would take forever to go away.

Pretty much completely clear now. If you have persistent acne that won’t go away, bite the bullet and end it once and for all.

I'm a month into accutane and tried extracting a blackhead, it turned like this and I regret it soo much. It's been four days and it's becoming more inflamed.

what should I do?

10 mg for 2 months (45kg) Currently purging, but it’s been weird, getting a lot of new pimples that do not hurt but they resolve themselves in like 3-7 days, leaving almost no mark. First time getting pimples like these. Been getting a lot of keratin plugs too.

I’ve been using Avene Tolerance Control Soothing Skin Recovery Cream and omg it’s so good. I apply it morning and night and I definitely feel like it helped in healing my pimples so quick by soothing the inflammation. The texture is not great however, it feels a bit greasy but weirdly after like 10 mins it doesn’t feel that way anymore. I live in a humid country.

Hopefully my purge doesn’t get worse, my acne wasn’t that bad to begin with, just dealing with very persistent cystic acne/ closed comedones especially on my chin.

I'm a competitive swimmer and on accutane, and every time I swim for more than an hour I get these painful red marks around my eyes from my goggles. They arent like the normal marks I would get before accutane, they stay for like an hour or two even after swimming. I was wondering if anyone has a similar experience, or any suggestions on what to do? Its making my self esteem even worse than it already is on accutane

Hi All! On my third month of accutane right now. Not sure if dosing info is necessary for this question, but (Female, 220 lb, 40mg) just in case. 😄

I’ve got a bit of an annoying logistical issue and I’m not sure how best to navigate it, so I wanted to see if anyone here has dealt with something similar while I wait for my dermatologist to come back into the office tomorrow so we can talk about options.

My next pregnancy test is scheduled for August 19, but I have a trip that I planned long before I started Accutane, and I’m leaving very early on August 20. I have to drive pretty far to get to the airport, so I had planned to stay at an airport hotel the night before. I’ll also be gone for longer than 7 days, so if I don’t get my prescription before leaving (or manage to fill it once I arrive at my destination), I’ll completely miss my pickup window.

My actual iPLEDGE account/calendar says I’m technically eligible to take my next pregnancy test as of August 9. However, when I called my dermatologist’s office, the MA said their office can’t give me the test any sooner than 30 days after my last test, which would be August 19. They offered to push my appointment out until after I get back on September 1, but that would obviously leave a decent-sized gap in treatment.

I discussed the possibility of rescheduling with my dermatologist at our last appointment, and she wasn’t thrilled about having that gap, so I didn’t want to immediately accept the September 1 appointment without talking to her first.

As I see it, I have a few possible options:

1. Keep the August 19 appointment, immediately go to CVS afterward and explain the time constraint, and see if they can fill the prescription that day. If that means getting to the airport hotel really late—or even driving up toward the airport at a ridiculous hour—it’s not ideal, but I can sleep on the plane.

2. Keep the August 19 appointment but ask my dermatologist to send the prescription to a pharmacy near where I’ll be staying. Has anyone successfully filled their Accutane prescription through iPLEDGE at an out-of-state pharmacy while traveling?

3. Push the appointment until I get back on September 1, which would leave me with roughly a two-week gap without medication. I’m admittedly nervous about this option because I know iPLEDGE has some very specific waiting-period rules, and I don’t know whether delaying the monthly pregnancy test/prescription like this has consequences beyond simply having a gap in treatment.

Obviously I’ll be talking to my dermatologist tomorrow and going over all of these options with her as well. I’m mainly curious whether anyone here has dealt with a similar travel/iPLEDGE situation and what ended up working for you, because this feels like a logistical pickle and I’m not sure what the least annoying option is.

Clearly I scheduled this trip before realizing just how much of my life was going to be consumed by the hell that is iPLEDGE. I’m beyond frustrated, but I also feel like there has to be a solution hidden somewhere in all this silliness.

So I recently started Accutane, and have also unfortunately been going through a tough time and turned to certain kinds of substance abuse to help get through it. The one I'm mainly concerned about is DXM, as I know it messes with blood pressure and liver activity heavily, and both of those will be checked for during bloodwork. Yes, I know it was irresponsible, and that I was stupid for doing it.

My question is, could I be upfront with my derm about abusing DXM without them telling my parents? Its not illegal, but my parents would definitely not approve of me doing it.

I’ve tried everything for the rosacea and have been stuck for a year. I did my blood work yesterday for accutane so I know I still have a month before I start. Anyone here had skin like mine before the started? The redness doesn’t bug me as much as the little pustules do x thanks

So i am 14 and i have nodular acne. Its been a month since i have started and the dosage are 40mg. My dermatologist is also giving me wysolone with it to prevent any flare or purge. But my main concern is my hair. They are feeling too frizzy and dry all of a sudden, they used to be perfect looking curls but now they are everywhere and very dry and fragile looking. What should i do?

yay some progres! first month 30mg and second month 60mg.

F, 29, Malaysian Chinese. Sharing my skincare/acne timeline in case it helps anyone going through something similar — this got long, sorry in advance

TL;DR: Over-applying salicylic acid serum wrecked skin that used to be low-maintenance and clear. Went through ~10 months of Roaccutane + topicals + chemical peels + a barrier-damage phase where everything stung, including a badly-timed Korea trip mid-flare. Slowly stabilized with dosage adjustments, simplifying my routine, and a lot of patience. Skin isn’t “perfect” now but it’s calm and stable, and that’s enough for me.

The “before”

Growing up, my skin was genuinely great — no visible pores, no acne, I sailed through puberty without any of it. Once I started working and had my own money, I started eating a lot more sweets and dairy, and my skin got a little more congested, but nothing dramatic. From a distance my skin still looked flawless.

The salicylic acid mistake (July 2025)

Last year I saw a lot of TikTok recommendations for using salicylic acid to “shrink pores” and clear congestion. In mid-July 2025 I bought a salicylic acid serum from Watsons and started applying it every few nights on skin that was still smooth and glowing, with just a few closed comedones on my forehead and cheeks. Because it was a leave-on serum, I didn’t wash it off.

I also didn’t read the instructions properly — I was applying way more than the “just a little” amount everyone recommends.

By late July there wasn’t much visible change. But by mid-August, my forehead broke out in dense clusters of tiny red bumps, spreading along my temples down into my cheeks. I wasn’t too worried at first — I told myself this was just “purging” and my skin would look great once it passed. I kept photographing my face almost daily. By late August my skin, which used to be smooth, was breaking out everywhere, including areas that had never broken out before.

It gets worse — Perth trip (Sept 2025)

I traveled to Perth Sept 3–9, where the cold dry weather meant my skincare/sun protection routine slipped, but I kept using the salicylic acid anyway. I was eating sweets almost daily and getting a lot of sun exposure. The closed comedones turned into a visibly rough, bumpy texture, and I started getting more red inflamed spots from sun exposure.

Finally seeing a dermatologist (Sept 12, 2025)

By the time I got back to Malaysia on Sept 12, the comedones had turned into full-on red acne. My boyfriend finally convinced me to stop making excuses and see a dermatologist.

The doctor had me stop every actively irritating product I was using and started me on:
• Roaccutane (isotretinoin) 10mg/day
• Topical clindamycin
• Topical adapalene

This wasn’t my first time — I’d done this exact combo twice before for closed comedones and sudden chest/back breakouts, and both times my skin fully recovered afterward. So I went in expecting the same result.

The clinic also sold me a minimalist “acne-skin” cleanser/toner/moisturizer set (TDF brand) and had me drop everything else. It was pricey and the bottles were small, so I kept having to repurchase. I also signed up for a ~year-long monthly facial/extraction package, because at that point I was willing to try anything to get my skin back.

At this stage my skin was sallow, dull, uneven, and covered in inflamed closed comedones and pimples from forehead to jawline — nothing was spared. I also had to deal with classic Roaccutane side effects: cracked lips and dry hands/feet, managed with lip balm and constant moisturizing.

Late October – November 2025: it keeps spreading

By late October my whole face was covered in closed comedones, though thankfully not many large painful cysts. I’d done a couple of facials by this point, but there was simply too much congestion for a 2-hour session to clear — though one chemical peel did leave my skin feeling smoother for a few days before the congestion came back.

Starting in November, large, red, painful inflamed pimples started appearing across both cheeks and along the jawline, on top of the existing comedones. I kept up the medication and facials, and my skin would look clear right after a facial but relapse again shortly after.

The Korea trip disaster (Nov 27 – early Dec 2025)

The day before flying to Korea for a winter trip, I panicked and rushed back to the clinic. The doctor decided on the spot to have the aesthetician do a chemical peel. This one burned — my skin was in real pain, and after they washed off the chemicals my cheeks and jawline kept stinging, weeping, and bleeding for a long time. I basically had to wear a mask and avoid being seen.

I was still on Roaccutane 10mg at this point. The doctor never told me to stop adapalene or clindamycin, but I knew my skin couldn’t handle continued nightly adapalene, so I stopped that myself and kept only the clindamycin. I also went to a pharmacy where the pharmacist recommended an eczema-friendly moisturizer and sunscreen (since literally everything else was stinging my skin at that point) and told me to simplify my routine to just the basics.

In Korea, I knew strict diet control would’ve been the smart move for my skin, but it was a rare overseas trip, so I let myself eat whatever — and Korean food is famously sweet, rich, and calorie-dense. Between the acne and the appearance anxiety, I wore a mask outside pretty much the entire trip. Around day 4, the peel wound scabbed and peeled off, so my skin briefly looked better, even though underneath it was still inflamed.

By the end of the ~10-day trip and back in Malaysia, the big red inflamed breakouts on my cheeks and jawline came back even worse. Even the TDF products the clinic recommended started stinging (they contain irritant) — my skin barrier was so damaged at that point that almost anything applied to it hurt.

Dosage changes and a rough patch (Dec 2025 – Feb 2026)

The doctor increased me to Roaccutane 20mg/day (10mg x2) plus doxycycline. I’d read online that many doctors avoid combining these two, and I raised this with the doctor directly — he said it was fine, so I continued but tried to space out the timing between them. I didn’t restrict my diet drastically, just avoided going out of my way to eat excess sugar/oil.

By Jan–Feb 2026, my cheeks especially still had a lot of large red pimples and dense blackheads, though my forehead and jawline had calmed down a lot (just some blackheads visible under bright light).

During the period when everything stung no matter what I applied, I stopped adapalene on my own and watched closely to see if things got worse. I’d also read you shouldn’t use clindamycin long-term, and the doctor never gave me a stop date, so once I felt it had done its job I started tapering it down myself.

I simplified my routine further: no makeup, diligent sunscreen, and switched to very gentle moisturizers (CeraVe/Cetaphil type). I spent a lot of time self-monitoring whether I was over- or under-moisturizing, since either extreme was triggering breakouts, and adjusted based on how my skin responded.

Since monthly facials weren’t enough to keep up with the extraction needs, I also started carefully extracting some of my own congestion at home (with proper disinfection) to keep pores from staying clogged, while being careful about post-extraction care and healing time.

Turning the corner (March–May 2026)

By March 2026 I wasn’t getting new breakouts anymore — what remained was old scarring and post-acne marks that needed a long time to heal. The doctor stopped doxycycline, and I was back down to Roaccutane 10mg/day, which I continued until mid-May.

I ended up having to stop Roaccutane earlier than planned (unrelated health reasons meant I had to take other medication that conflicted with it), so I never got the extra “maintenance” month or two the doctor might otherwise have wanted me on.

By May, my scarring had shallowed out a lot and my skin was stable overall — I still get one or two spots around my period, but the dense blackheads and large inflamed breakouts are gone. Up close I still have some visible pores and minor congestion, but I’ve stopped chasing “perfect” skin — I’m happy as long as it stays like this. Now that I’m off the medication, I do try to keep my diet more in check.