My Experience With Accutane

Hi friends! I was trying to decide what to talk about today and I figured I would share a pretty huge part of my life that I have been dealing with for the past 6 months. I decided after years of struggling with acne to go on a short-term medication called Isotretinoin (better known as Accutane or Roaccutane). I am going to explain what the medication is and how it has worked wonders for me as you can see in these photos. 

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Accutane month 4 (Zero makeup)

Accutane Month 5 (Zero makeup)

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I know Accutane has very mixed reviews and opinions in the acne-struggling community. I assume most people have heard of this medication but for those who have not, I will explain in the words of my dermatologist just what it is. Isotretinoin or Accutane is a retinoid, which is basically a concentrated from of vitamin A. It works to dramatically reduce the size of the skin's oil glands by 35-58% and therefore lessens the amount of oil that your body is producing by up to 80%. Since acne bacteria lives in skin oil this reduction of oil also reduces the amount of acne that your body produces. Sorry for the boring medical talk but that is, in a nutshell, how Accutane gets rid of pretty much all of your acne and reduces the chance of it ever coming back as severely as it once was. 

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I have struggled with mild to severe acne since I was about 15 years old (I am now 20). I told myself that I would NEVER try Accutane because it is known to have so many horrible and possible long-lasting side effects. These possibly include; dry lips (DRY EVERYTHING lol), dizziness, hair loss, headaches, back pain, depression, loss of child if you become pregnant and much more! Sounds pretty scary right? After trying basically every other option to help my acne, nothing was working. So this last October I decided I was OVER IT and wanted to do anything to get rid of my acne. I got on Accutane (which let me say is a long hard process) and saw positive results in about 3 weeks of treatment. The entire treatment for me personally has been 6 months. I have not had a single pimple/zit/whatever you want to call it in about 3 months. 

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I am now on month 6 and last of my treatment and could not be happier! I did experience hair loss, back pain, nose bleeds, dizziness and dry everything lol, but I would not change a thing because I can now feel confident in my own skin for the first time in years. For anyone else struggling with acne and thinking about trying Accutane I would suggest to do your research and make sure you are ready for the side effects, blood work and constant doctor visits. BUT I would also say that I am a firm believer in this medication now and would recommend it to anyone who wants to be able to feel comfortable in their own skin because that is something that everyone deserves. 

Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Leave a comment for any other topics I could touch on in my next post! XOXO