I am having the exact same problem, but I'm only 16. I just got done with my second round of accutane, and I just got my first small breakout, but I'm freaking out because it came back once, and it might again. Is proactiv effective? What else can I Do? My skin is very oily once again... But could it be because I just started my soccer season?
Sean:
Your question highlights a feature of Accutane which I often bring up to patients before they start taking it: Accutane is a wonderful drug, but it does not guarantee permanent cure. Oil glands "go to sleep" during treatment, but come back to life a couple fo months later, so people are nearly as oily as they were before. Oiliness does not, however, necessarily mean acne.
On the other hand, after Accutane mild treatments which never helped before may be of benefit. Your dermatologist may want you to try any number of topical or oral medications, and you don't have to rule them out even if you found them unhelpful in the past. Another course of Accutane is probably not going to work.
I think you are going to have to be satisfied with less than perfect skin for some time. On the positive side, treatments can help, and you WILL grow out of acne, implausible as that may seem at this point.
Treatments to look into include facials and superficial exfoliations, oil-control treatments, or chemical peels (like glycolic acid peels) performed by Estheticians on some regular basis. I don't think so-called microdermabrasion is more thn an expensive exfoliation.
There's no quick fix, Sean, but keep plugging away, and you'll get past this.
best.
Dr. R