Accutane Made My Acne Go Away

by Joshua
(Bloomfield, NJ, USA)

When I was in middle school, I had awful acne, both on my face and on my body. Adolescence and puberty hit me like a pack of bricks. I was an awkward kid as it was, growing into a body that was growing taller faster than out. I was so embarrassed to go to school, to do my normal activities. The worst part of it was that I was such an active kid. Everyday I played a sport that made me sweat, that made the acne worse.

I tried everything at home. I bought those alcohol wipes and used them multiple times a day. I bought face and body washes hoping that they would help. I bought creams that you applied to the individual pimples. None of those things made it go away. Finally I went to a dermatologist. After a short discussion, we decided to put me on accutane. I don't know how much people know about accutane, but on one hand it is a miracle drug, and on the other hand it is torture.

If you can imagine a human being a sponge, accutane essentially squeezes you dry 24/7. Your lips crack and bleed, your nose hurts. If I didn't use aquaphor on my lips every hour, they would just start to bleed. I had to get blood tests every week to make sure that it wasn't harming my liver. And yet my acne went away, and stayed away. I knew going in all the effects (they weren't even side effects, they were guarantees), and knew that for a few months I would just have to deal with it.

You know what, after I stopped taking accutane, my acne was essentially gone. It didn't come back either. With daily washing, my acne was gone. Those awful 3 months felt like a lifetime away. So for any kid who has had it up to here, tried everything, and can deal with the torture for 3 months or so, it is totally worth it.