Gabriella. Accutane is the best thing that ever could have happened to me.

Hi Everyone.
I'm 21 and have had acne since I was 9. Even my 3rd grade school photos are tainted with pimples. I was extremely scared to take Accutane. I heard stories of people killing themselves and debated on taking it for 2 years. I finally made the plunge into Accutane 5 months ago. Accutane is the best thing that ever could have happened to me.
Like everyone else, nothing helped my acne. I was afraid Accutane would be another false promise of clear skin, but it is more than I could have ever imagined. I still can't get over how perfect my skin is. No blemishes what so ever. So enough bragging, lol, I'll continue.
I was on Accutane for 5 months at 40 mg twice a day. While the results of Accutane were great, for the first 3 months, the side effects sucked hard core. I had constant nosebleeds (2-4 times a day) which lead to 3 sinus infections from clotted blood in my sinuses. Then there were 2 outbreaks of coldsores. I never had coldsores before, but when I had my outbreaks I literally had at least 60 on my lips at the same time in various stages. My lips swelled up like 5 times thier normal size, no joke. This was miserable. Then I had 3 outbreaks of eye styes, again never had this before. In my 3rd month I had achey joints, especially in my hips and lower back. And of course I had chapped lips the entire time. Besides the chapped lips and nosebleeds, all my side effects went away by the 4th and 5th months. As for dry skin, I really didn't get dry. It just made my skin normal. I still had to use proactive occassionally. I've had eczema my whole life, and I think the Accutane may have made it slightly better actually.*shrug* Accutane also made my cholesterol really high, so I just watched what I ate a bit. The worst part of Accutane for me was the monthly blood tests. I hate needles. My first blood test took 3 hours because I kept freaking out. Now I'm in and out in a matter of minutes. So I've almost overcome a fear I've had since I was little.=) Another plus!
So yeah, I had some pretty bad side effects, but it was all worth it and I would do it again it a heart beat.