Accutane

[jenna44]

Hi,
Ive been on Accutane several times during the years. It has worked just fine for me.
Im now wondering after reading about it on the internet, it says on many places that it takes 2-3 months for it to have effect. I don´t understand this. It has started to have effect on me after just a few days. The skin gets dry almost immediately. So, if the medication stops the glands from producing too much oil and you see the effect of that in just days, then how can it even be logical that the medicine wouldn´t have effect on acne until 2-3 months later? I also wonder about another thing, many people say they get breakouts initially and the experts say its because the medicine "push the acne out"...That doesn´t seem very logical to me either. Id like to know HOW the medicine could possibly do that.
I would find it very interesting to get an answer to these questions! Thanks!

[loiloi]

Some patients experience an "initial outbreak" a temporary worsening of acne as unseen pimples come to the surface. In most cases this is mild but occasionally a severe acne flare occurs. Like all side effects, this does not everyone -about one in ten patients report this.
How long it takes for a patient's skin to respond to Accutane depends on the size of their sebaceous glands prior to treatment, and the dose that they take. Some people take a lower dose to reduce side effects and consequently have a longer treatment time.
On average, we would expect to see excellent or complete clearing of the skin after 12 weeks. However patients should continue to take their medicine for 16-24 weeks to minimise the chance of remission.
Eloise.