How I Cleared My Acne: My Roaccutane Experience

For a long time I suffered with quite bad acne, it pretty much covered the entire lower half of my face, with only my forehead and nose clear from spots give or take the odd couple every now and again. It really affected my self-confidence, and every time I managed to get rid of one spot, another one appeared to replace it meaning I continuously had a very large amount of very noticeable spots.

About a year ago now I got so fed up of trying to clear my skin on my own that I made an appointment with my GP, I was prescribed some form of tablets, however they were absolutely useless and did nothing for my skin, which just made me feel even worse because it seemed like nothing would ever work for my skin.

After this, throughout the next few months my skin gradually got worse and worse, possibly due to university related stress, to a point where it constantly made me feel down, so my dad booked me an appointment with a private dermatologist. The dermatologist suggested roaccutane and told me all about it, I was a little apprehensive hearing all the side effects but decided to try it.

Before I could be given my first prescription I was required to have both a blood test and a pregnancy test. I was also required to sign a form stating that I was aware of any risks that could occur to a baby conceived during my treatment and for a month afterwards, and this made it essential to use at least one, but preferably two, methods of contraception. 

When I went to pick up my first prescription my dermatologist took my height and weight and calculated my recommended dose. I started off on 30mg per day, and after the first 4 weeks I went up to 40mg per day. Every 8 weeks I was required to have a blood test and every 4 weeks I was required to have a pregnancy test.

In the first 4 weeks I experienced extremely dry skin and lips, and a couple of nosebleeds. I also had dry eyes for a while which was a very strange feeling. When I went back to my dermatologist he asked me about my side effects and based on this suggested that I stay at the same dose or up it to no more than 40mg for the time being. I decided to up it to 40 and this is where I felt comfortable staying for the rest of my course.

My lips remained very dry for a few months of the treatment but slowly started to regain some moisture, and my face was only dry for a month or two before being back to normal with only a dry patch or two every now and then.

There are so many stories out there about people who have had terrible side effects to this medication but for me my side effects were only minor and lasted a very short period of time, I'm so happy that I decided to try roaccutane because my skin has never been better. I do still have a few scars from my acne because roaccutane doesn't completely get rid of scarring but that will fade in time and I'm very happy to finally have acne free skin!

Love, Charlotte