u/Vegetable-Estate-800

I’m about 6.5 weeks into Accutane and feeling extremely down. I’m struggling to focus, don’t want to leave the house, cry almost every day, and honestly just want to sleep so I don’t have to think about my skin. Weight : 105 lb , mg: 40 mg (20 mg first month now 40)

Before Accutane, my skin had been fluctuating for ~7months but was actually looking randomly better right before I started. I didn’t have these big red inflamed bumps. I did have one area with a lot of under-the-skin closed comedones/microclogs, got a lot worse while I was on spironolactone (I stopped it - truly dont believe my acne was ever hormonal).

Around weeks 3.5-4 of accutane, those little bumps started rapidly coming up as red/inflamed spots. Some more superficial, some are painful and deeper (left cheek and chin only). My derm didn’t really warn me the purge could get this bad and she’s also very inaccessible, so I’ve gone to a few other clinics in the meantime. They’ve told me that for people with a lot of underlying congestion, weeks 3-6 can be the worst.

I’m almost done with month 2 and really don’t want to stop when I’ve made it this far, but I’m scared because I’ve also read people saying they purged for months so I’ve definitely considered as I cry when I look in the mirror. I’m seeing a new derm today and may try switch my care to her so I can actually contact my dr.

Would really love some encouragement from anyone who had a rough purge around this point and then turned a corner shortly after. If it lasted months please dont scare me more 🥲🥲 i had very mild acne before all of this, thank u all ❤️

I’m about 3 weeks away from starting Accutane, which I honestly never thought I’d have to do. I’ve heard a lot of people have good results with it for stubborn forehead acne, so I’m trying to stay hopeful.

I’m currently tapering off spironolactone before I start. I’ve been on 100 mg and today I’m dropping to 75 mg, then 50 mg next week, and so on until I start Accutane.

I’m pretty nervous my skin is going to freak out during the taper. I know spironolactone helps a lot of people, but I don’t think it was the right medication for me. Since starting it, I’ve gotten cysts for the first time in my life, along with a lot more redness, texture, and inflammation. I really wanted it to work, but it’s been a rough few months.

Has anyone tapered off by 25 mg a week before starting Accutane? Did your skin flare from lowering the dose, or was it manageable?

Would love to hear any positive experiences or advice. These past few months have been really hard between the painful cysts, lack of sleep, and not wanting to leave the house because of how my skin looked.

I’ve honestly almost hit my breaking point with spironolactone and really just need support from anyone who’s been through this. I cried harder than I have in a long time last night and feel like my mental health is being destroyed by my skin right now.

I’m 10 weeks in on spiro (8 weeks on 100mg, 2 on 50mg). I started it for persistent inflamed forehead acne/texture, but now my skin feels completely unrecognizable. I’m getting lower face/jaw breakouts and huge painful cystic pimples I NEVER got before spiro. I’ve already needed 2 cortisone shots this month alone, including one on my nose that hurt so badly I couldn’t sleep last night. My forehead honestly still looks basically the same too.

I know I also made things worse by panicking and overusing acids/products trying to fix it. My derm told me to stop all actives for 7-10 days and just focus on hydration/barrier repair before restarting tret slowly. She wants me to give spiro 6 more weeks before considering Accutane. I don’t really want to increase my dose again since I’m small and also take anxiety/ADHD meds.

Has anyone had a similar experience around the 2-2.5 month mark and still cleared later? Especially getting cysts you never had before? I just feel really hopeless and alone right now.

I’m 9 weeks into spironolactone for acne (2 weeks on 50mg, 7 weeks on 100mg) and really need some encouragement :(

I started mostly for stubborn forehead acne/congestion. Around weeks 6-7 I had a bad purge with deep under-the-skin clustered breakouts around my chin/jaw. That seems to be fading now, but I suddenly have a lot of texture/closed comedones on my lower cheeks near my mouth and chin, which I NEVER had before spiro.

I honestly thought I’d be further along by now and my mental health has become consumed by my skin lately.

Did anyone experience this around the 2 month mark and still end up clearing later? Especially the texture/closed comedones? I can’t tell if this is part of the adjustment period or a sign it’s not working for me.

Current routine is very simple:

• AM: water rinse + Dermalogica mist
• PM: gentle cleanser, toriden dive in hydration serum, 345 moisturizer, tretinoin 0.025%

I’m also adding salicylic acid ONLY on my forehead because my esthetician said it would really help the congestion/pustules there. I also own azelaic acid but I’m scared to introduce another active and overwhelm my skin more. Accutane would probably be my next step if this fails, but I’d rather wait until fall.

Really just looking for honest experiences or encouragement because I feel so defeated :(

I’m 9 weeks into spironolactone for acne (2 weeks on 50mg, 7 weeks on 100mg) and really need some encouragement :(

I started mostly for stubborn forehead acne/congestion. Around weeks 6-7 I had a bad purge with deep under-the-skin clustered breakouts around my chin/jaw. That seems to be fading now, but I suddenly have a lot of texture/closed comedones on my lower cheeks near my mouth and chin, which I NEVER had before spiro.

I honestly thought I’d be further along by now and my mental health has become consumed by my skin lately.

Did anyone experience this around the 2 month mark and still end up clearing later? Especially the texture/closed comedones? I can’t tell if this is part of the adjustment period or a sign it’s not working for me.

Current routine is very simple:

• AM: water rinse + Dermalogica mist
• PM: gentle cleanser, toriden dive in hydration serum, 345 moisturizer, tretinoin 0.025%

I’m also adding salicylic acid ONLY on my forehead because my esthetician said it would really help the congestion/pustules there. I also own azelaic acid but I’m scared to introduce another active and overwhelm my skin more. Accutane would probably be my next step if this fails, but I’d rather wait until fall.

Really just looking for honest experiences or encouragement because I feel so defeated :(

hi! would really appreciate any advice or if anyone’s been through something similar

i’ve always had pretty clear skin (just the occasional whitehead) until a few months ago. started spiro in december for forehead acne + have been using tret for years with no real problems other than occasional flaking.

my forehead cleared, but then i got weird texture on my cheeks/chin so i freaked out and stopped spiro after ~5 weeks. a couple months later my acne came back (forehead + lower face), so my derm told me to restart in march.

now i’ve been back on it ~6 weeks and my skin honestly feels worse:

• more closed comedones + under the skin bumps (never had these before)
• forehead acne gets really inflamed, sometimes deeper and painful
• texture on cheeks/chin

stripped routine to be super simple now:

• AM: just water
• PM: torriden dive in serum, vanicream cleanser + moisturizer, tret every other night

i def think i messed things up switching products and stopping/starting tret (345 cream, tatcha moisturizer), i also tried the la roche posay salicylic acid wash once and my skin got irritated so i stopped (super sensitive skin)

please help!:

• is spiro supposed to make things worse before better?
• is 6 weeks too early?
• could this just be irritation vs purging?
• has anyone gotten new texture/closed comedones from spiro?

this is starting to affect my mental health so any advice helps 🙏