My journey with Accutane

On October 2, 2022 I made the final decision to start on accutane after having struggled with adult acne since I well ... became an adult. This blog describes my journey on Accutane.

The decision

The decision to go on Accutane was definitely a hard one. The side effects are many. With planning a wedding I was definitely concerned about not being able to laser my body hair. However, I felt like shaving or epilating could help me get through till the wedding.

The process is also tedious, you have to go in every month to get a pregnancy test to ensure that you don't get pregnant on Accutane. You also have to use two forms of birth control and fill in federal attestations and paperwork due to the nature of the drug. My prescription box looked had warnings against trying to get pregnant all over the box!

First 2 weeks

My observations so far:

• Pros:
  • My skin is definitely clearer already and we are only 2 weeks in. However, I am still having adult acne show up - while it might be too soon for them to dissipate, they are coming in with the same ferocity.
  • My ability to work out or my appetite hasn't changed.
• Cons:
  • The EXCESSIVE hair loss - I am genuinely fearful for the amount of hair I have left on my head - specially with a wedding coming up!
  • My lips have never been this dry - I am having to apply lip balm every few minutes!
  • The random spells of nausea and migration. While these don't last long they definitely do make me feel poorly for a bit.