First of all, you need to trust your doctor as Accutane is a long and hard journey. You'll not have the time and energy to second guess your doctor, so you better find a good one. For someone who's slightly hypocondriac as I am, I think I did quite well during the Accutane treatment.
Accutane has A LOT OF possible side effects, and most of them shouldn't be taken lightly. If you find anything different with your body, you should contact your doctor immediately. But this said, it doesn't mean that everybody will see all the side effects. If you're lucky, you might not see any at all. (Except for sun sensitivity. It happens to everyone and you should use a sun screen during and after the treatment if you don't want to get sunspots.)
The side effects I had:
DRY LIPS
From the beginning, I noticed extreme dryness on my lips. This was NOTHING like I had ever had before. I normally have dry lips, too. But normal chapsticks like Burt's Bees, EOS or Nivea are enough. I told my doctor that I use such chapsticks, but she said that I would be much comfortable with
Decubal. And believe me, this is the BEST lip moisturizing product you'll ever use. Period. Nothing can beat this, and I've been using it since and I've made some of my friends who are not on Accutane hooked as well. I can't say enough about this product. It's not expensive and it can be used on cuticles or other dry spots like elbows as well. This will be something I'll use forever. If you're not on Accutane and you suffer from dry lips, do yourself a favour and buy
Decubal NOW.
DRY BODY
My body is normally dry, so Accutane was a little bit intense, although not as much as it was on my lips. From the beginning I changed my body wash to Babe (Hydra Calm I think). It really doesn't matter what you use for the body wash as long as it's something hydrating and not drying.
*After the treatment I started using Bioderma Atoderm Huile de Douche, and I'd use it back then if I knew about it. Both because it's oily and because it's cheaper.
I used
Bioderma Atoderm Cream
for 1 or 2 months but since it became too expensive for just body creme, and since I wouldn't use anything from the drugstore after
Pityriasis Rosea, another dermatologist prescribed Coresatin Barrier-P Cream. After the treatment I started using Coresatin Barrier Lotion. But as I was looking up for a nice picture, I saw that it had a lot of controversy over containing
Cortisone. I don't think I'll use if from now on and I wish I saw this earlier. Back to Bioderma then.
DRY FACE
With the first pills, I changed my face routine according to my doctor's prescriptions. I started using La Roche Posay Effeclar H Mousse. I liked this a lot as it was not drying and the feeling of it was really nice. Using a normal, regular face wash is a huge no no when you're using Accutane as it will cause dryness.
After washing my face, I applied La Roche Posay Effeclar H Moisturizer, which I loved. I had like 7-10 of this cream during the course of the treatment. One at home, one in my bag, one at the office etc. It is really REALLY moisturizing and believe me, it's what you're looking for when you're on Accutane.
For my under eyes, I used La Roche Posay Toleriane Ultra Fluide. I'm using this as my moisturizer and under eye cream now.
SUN SENSITIVITY
This is not a side effect that you can avoid as I said before. I used
La Roche Posay Anthelios XL 50+, and I didn't get any sun spots on my face. For my body, I bought
La Roche Posay Anthelios XL Comfort but I can't say I used it a lot. My doctor told me that sunspots are really hard to get rid of and it's best not to ever get them. I applied it religiously before I left home for work, before I go to lunch and before I left the office. For days I spent outside I applied more frequently.
DRY NOSTRILS
Yes, your nostrils, too. My doctor recommended
Rinopanthen Barrier Drops (I think this is only available in Turkey). However, after Accutane I started having some dry spots in my nostrils and crusting, too. An ear-nose and throat doctor recommended using
Stérimar, and it really cleared up my nostrils and I don't have any problems since then.
DRY EYES
My eyes started to feel really really dry in the middle of the treatment. My doctor said if it gets worse we would have to stop because, as you know, eyes are important. I was really scared and I saw an ophthalmologist immediately. He recommended
Artelac
eye drops. These are artificial drops and you can use as much as you want. And he said that Accutane might cause blockage in the little holes inside our eyelids (upper and lower) to release a special oil like substance, which keeps our eyes moisturized. They're normally released when you blink, but with Accutane you might need to massage the eyelids and squeeze that substance manually. Apply a hot cloth before and make sure your hands are sanitized. Also, of course, don't drag or squeeze hard as it'll damage your eyelids and the skin next to them.
DRY HANDS
You can use a regular hand cream but you'll see that you'll have to apply more, thus your creams will end up veeery quickly. Especialy since the treatments are always in winter. I used
Bioderma Atoderm Mains
and I still use it. It's nothing magical but it does what it's supposed to do. But it's not irreplaceable.
CONSTIPATION
Yes, of course. Why not. You need to eat lots of vegetables and drink A LOT OF water to keep your intestines happy. I experienced this lightly since I always eat veggies all the time but I know people who don't, and that they suffered miserably.
I think I covered all the side effects and the products I used. As for the psychological side effects, I can't say much as I didn't experience anything extreme. Maybe I got a little bit tenser and more angry than normal during PMS but it was okay. I got happy as my skin got clearer. But I know that some people get reallyy angry over the smallest things when using Accutane or get a lot of mood swings. But I don't recommend anyone to sit and wait for these negative feelings to hit you just because people experience it, it doesn't mean you'll too.
A very close friend of mine started using Accutane almost a month later than me, so we always shared our problems and solutions with each other. I strongly recommend, if you have a close friend with acne, start this journey together and support each other.
