The dermatologist has offered it for my son. His acne is 90% on his back and easy to keep hidden most of the time. His face is clear from using prescribed topicals. We decided not to do accutane since it is really only on his back. He hit puberty late in 9th grade and seems to be growing still (rising 12th grader). The potential for growth plates closing is an issue for him. At 5’11” now and really wants to grow a few more inches. My other 2 kids took accutane with great results, but they are girls and were pretty much done growing at 15 when they took it.

Accutane works wonders!
I did three rounds - one before kids & twice after.

Dry lips & backaches were my only side effects

Anonymous wrote:Yes, and for girls you have to do a pregnancy test every month as well.

Which means you can go to prison in a red state if you get pregnant and there are complications.

My daughter took it from February to September 2024. She required monthly pregnancy tests at the lab plus bloodwork every couple months to check liver. Yes to iPledge and monthly virtual appointments with a dermatologist. Side effects were very dry skin, so she carried around Aquaphor everywhere. Stayed out of the sun as much as possible in the summer. She became anemic, but that also could have been because she’s a long distance runner. Her skin is perfect since finishing. She now just uses Retin-A 2-3 times per week.

My son had to register with Ipledge. He was very sun sensitive even with sun screen and had peeling lips. He also had bad knee pain at first. The side effects resolved in maybe 6 weeks. His skin cleared up over the course of the treatment. He occasionally gets breakouts now, maybe triggered by junk food.

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how much lip balm went thru the wash cycle? Oh, and my kid was a swimmer so dry skin is a given in winter,

Three of my son's took it.
I wish I had started it sooner with my oldest--his skin was a mess with acne, and unfortunately he does have some scarring. Accutane made it so much better!
I did not hestitate to get my younger sons on it as well when they started getting acne.

And yes, all 3 of them had to register with Ipledge.

Anonymous wrote:Yes…you have to register with IPledge and get blood work for the first like 3 months…seems like blood work is isn’t needed (on month 4) now until like month 6 when should be done with treatment.

Same comment as above. Dry lips but nothing else. Works much better than any other acne treatment.

Same as two previous posters. I'd add dry face too.... but she is soooooo happy with the results.

I’m feeling optimistic for my dd after reading your experiences!

My about to be 15 yr old son started two months ago on 10 mg daily. Might bump to 20mg after bloodwork tests liver at month three.

Chapped lips, of course, and a little purging. He did an extraction facial at 4 and 8 weeks. After the second one, his skin is smooth and the aesthetician said she sees significant reduction in below surface pimples. He should not need another extraction as the Accutane is preventing formation of new below surface pimples.

Wish he had done it sooner. But glad he is clearing in a low dose. He had resisted initially due to reports of early closing of growth plates at high doses. So he waited until he hit 6’3” and will only agree to lowest dose. He hopes for another 1 to 2” in height as he is a rower. The doctor did not have any concerns about growth plates closing if he keeps to low dose.

Anonymous wrote:I’m starting a new thread specifically to hear about experiences with Accutane. My dd was just prescribed accutane since the minocyline did not work.

My questions are, did everyone have to register with iPledge, need blood work for liver function? How fast did you see results from using accutane?

I would like to hear about your teen’s experiences.

I took it in the 1800's when I was 19 or 20 and when the doctor asked if there was any chance I was pregnant I laughed and said "who would want to have sex with someone who looks like this?*" and he he made a face that clearly said "Good point!" and I never had any blood work. Healthcare is awesome! I saw results within like 2 months. I'm prone to depression and that didn't change on Accutane, but I did need to use Chapstick after each meal when I used to just use it once a day.

*My skin was so bad that twice strangers asked if I'd been in a fire.

Acutane worked great for my son also. I tried to avoid it and was worried about side effects but like others, it works when nothing else does. I read somewhere that taking a daily claritin helps avoid the initial flare up so we did this for about 6 weeks and he did not have any issues with acne getting worse before better. So maybe it helped, who knows.

Wondering how much lip balm went thru the wash cycle? Oh, and my kid was a swimmer so dry skin is a given in winter,

DS had dry lips and body aches (but still played soccer/swam.)It was a game changer. I am only sad we dragged out feet so long trying 102812 different things (every OTC before the derm to start with those regimes.)

My daughter did it last year - I held off for so long and finally caved and it was LIFE CHANGING. She had the dry lips and I made her wear a hat as she was a lifeguard, a little make susceptible to heat/headache, but no other side effects.
We did the blood draw once a month, the pregnancy test, the ipledge and the monthly visits. I told them that she was taking birth control, but I did not actually put her on birth control as she is not having sex yet and I know that for a fact. I didn’t want to add extra hormones to the process.
It took a few months to see any results, and it did get a little bit worse at first, which was very annoying to her. But a year later, we both say it was the best thing we ever did for her. She has not had one pimple in eight months, she has no scars, she has the most clear and beautiful skin. It also changed her hair for the better. She had greasy hair before and now she can go days between washes if needed with no problem at all- not greasy in the least.

I am a bit of an almond mom, so I swore I would never do this, but you live and you learn and it honestly was the best thing for her.