Stopped early and still having issues months later
I want to start by saying that according to my dermatologist the side effects I got are not common. This is just my experience but I’m posting to see if anyone else has dealt with them lasting this long and what the eventual outcome/timeline was.
I started Accutane about 8 months ago. I was originally supposed to be on a 5 month course (60 mg a day) but unfortunately my side effects got so severe that I stopped 2 months early because it was doing way more harm than potential good and my derm agreed. So I’ve been off of it for about 6 months. My skin is now worse than before I started.
The side effects I still have currently- I feel like I lost elasticity and my skin is SO dry that I still flake all over my body even with tons of lotion, hydration, water intake etc. My eyelids and under eyes are SO dry I feel like it has aged me years. My stomach peeled and flaked off so bad while on it that it almost looks like leopard print. It’s not as bad now but I’m still worried it won’t completely even back out. I was super tan when I started.. is it at all possible that’s why there’s still discoloration??
I also had a breakout while on it that went straight down my entire smile line that would not heal for months (still a super sensitive area for clogged pores now) and has caused my smile line to be SO prominent. My acne was bad (not extreme) but my skin was pretty youthful. Now I still have acne but my skin is even worse in multiple other ways so I basically only took it to create more problems and was left with scarring on areas of my body I never even had acne before starting Accutane.
My dermatologist said it can take awhile to return to normal but I’m not very optimistic at this point. Is there any hope for my skin to fully recover? :(