My Story with Acutane

By age 13 or 14, most of us start to get into puberty. The cool parts; getting taller, voice changes, cognitive development, increased athletic ability, are all welcomed. We know there's some less than fun parts too; body odor, mod swings, hormone influxes, you knowing everything and your parents knowing nothing. The major one for myself was always the acne. Face washes, masks, antibiotics and anything else I ever tried didn't do a whole lot. It would clear up the acne for a short time, but it always came back. I'm 19 years old now and still have a decent amount of acne, which is not cool with me.

I went to the dermatologist recently and they suggested acutane, which is a prescription medicine that is a curative method rather than a preventative or reactive medicine. The prescription is a 6-month long one, and it's taken daily. Supposedly, it has a 100% success rate, which is a hard thing to believe, but why not give it a shot? So far I'm about two weeks into it, and I already have some results, surprisingly. My acne is certainly lighter than what it was and none of it is stupidly sensitive like it used to be. With this though, has come some side effects.

Without even looking at the packaging with the full list, here's some of the side effects: change in appetite, change in sleep habits, dryness/tightness of skin, mood swings, increased aggression, depression, suicidal thoughts, psychosis; if female, do not get pregnant because it WILL cause serious birth defects in the child. The list goes on more than that, but as you can see, this is some serious stuff. I had to sign several documents saying I read and understood the risks I'm taking, because people have been known to kill themselves while taking this medicine. There's monthly check-ups as well, which I must go to in order to get my prescription for the next 30 days.

All of this taken into consideration, I'm still taking acutane, but keeping an eye out for any of the more serious side effects, because if they become too much, I won't hesitate to stop taking the medicine. The only side effects I've noticed so far is the tightness of skin and changed sleep habits, because I'm tired way more than I used to be. With all this said, if anyone has any questions about what I think of acutane or if you should take it, message me. Keep in mind though that nothing I say here in this post or through messages is to be taken as professional advice, only as anecdote.

Thank you,

Conar Smith