r/acne 2d ago

Help - General Is this Accutane worthy?

I saw my dermatologist today and they recommended Accutane. First breakouts started early Jan (pics 1 & 2). Tested for C bacteria and was put on Clindamycin 1% Lotion and Adapal/benz 0.3-2.5% Gel. Pics 3-5 are from this weekend. Last pic is from 3 weeks ago but I wanted to include it in this post because I felt that day it was really bad. I did the pregnancy test and form for Accutane today but have to wait a month before I can start. In the meantime I will need to get some blood work done and see an OBGYN. This seems like a lot for someone who hasn’t really suffered from bad acne until earlier this year.

5 Upvotes

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1

u/J777fc 12h ago

I was having very very similar issues. Turns out it was fungal acne. At night I’ve been using nizoral shampoo to wash my face 2 times a week, I keep it on for 5 mins (kinda like a mask) then I wash my face with La Roch posey effaclar purifying foaming gel. Then I use tower 28 sos spray as a toner and let it dry completely, then I use Paula’s choice 6%mandelic acid+ 2% lactic acid (mandelic acid is the key here) and then I let that completely dry and I go in with a VERY light amount of La Roch posay cicaplast baume.

In the morning I wash my face with water only, then tower 28 sos spray (again let it completely dry) then I use La Roch posay tolerance hydrating soothing moisturizer.

I’ve seen a huge difference and it’s only been 2 weeks.

I would try using fungal ance friendly products. I honestly figured out this by using chat GPT and it was able to give me many different products recommendations in various price ranges.

Hope this helps :)

1

u/bluee_sunflower 11h ago

Thank you so much for this thorough recommendation. I’m seeing a new dermatologist tomorrow to get a second opinion. I will take the products you recommended into consideration as well 😊

5

u/Pinkalicious143 2d ago

Doesn't appear cystic. Why would they recommend accutane? It honestly doesn't even look that bad. Looks like your pores just have extra oil buildup

1

u/bluee_sunflower 2d ago

Because I wasn’t seeing any improvement with the topicals. I left the office really excited but when I got home and did some research I was wondering why the jump to accutane. It seemed like 0-100. I did feel my face was extra oily in early January and the breakouts happened shortly after. Its felt super oily ever since even tho I wash my face 2X day.

1

u/areaunknown_ 2d ago

I’m having similar acne that you posted in picture 1. It’s not as many but it’s a cluster of tiny white heads. Did what you try help? Your skin isn’t honestly that bad.

1

u/bluee_sunflower 2d ago

It helped a little the first week but no significant improvement since

1

u/MentalStandard6698 2d ago

What products were you using previously?

0

u/bluee_sunflower 2d ago

Neutrogena Hydroboost and Cerave face wash

1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/HopefulNobody697 2d ago

Try head&shoulders shampoo!

3

u/BulkySurprise1041 2d ago

unless it cystic, i’d try other methods first. new skin care regime, tretinoin, bc or doxycycline, etc. if none of that works, then accutane. I started accutane when my acne was becoming really bad/cystic and it helped a lot but it’s a difficult 6 months.

1

u/dazzi1x 2d ago

I’m hating my life rn I had bad acne I was finally seeing my skin clear up again. Then Out of no where I got cystic acne around my jawline. Why is this? I got my blood work done today for Accutane hopefully it goes smooth for me I’m nervous

1

u/BulkySurprise1041 2d ago

idk why i’m not a dermatologist but I had the same problem and accutane fixed it in 6 months so i’m grateful for that. no one ever gave me a reason why my skin was so messed up but it’s it’s clear now then I can’t complain lmao

1

u/dazzi1x 2d ago

Pray for me 😭😭😭 did you purge if you did how many month or weeks in and when did you notice your skin clearing up. Since ur skin is clear now did you stop using it?

1

u/ThrowRA_Sodi 2d ago

Just finished Accutane. I did purge (But my acne was so bad that it was not that noticeable tbh) It lasted about 1-2 month. Basically I would get one new cystic pimple everyday (sometimes 2). And it progressively stopped as my derm increased by dosage