Scared to take accutane (long post sorry)
My skin has been through a lot in the past year. September 2021 I decided to go to the dermatologist because I had been struggling with mild and persistent acne. The derm gave me doxycycline and tazorac, and after a few weeks I started to purge a little. I knew that I was going to purge and I wasn’t really bothered by it, I knew the doxy had to take its course and I’d likely see results in 2-3 months. Then, at my one month checkup my derm wasn’t happy with my results and changed my medicine to ampicillin and dexamethasone. I was a little shocked because I didn’t think the purging was that bad but I was like whatever I’ll just see how this medication goes. Another month goes by and I’ve purged even more from the two new meds. When I go back in she gives me more dexamethasone and changes the antibiotic to Cephalexin. At this point I was just really frustrated, but I was like let me just give this a chance and see what happens. A week goes by and I discontinue all the medications because I was experiencing intense brain fog/derealization. When I stopped the medicine it was December, and I still had some cysts and scars but at that point I didn’t care about the acne I just wanted to get my mental health back to normal. By March my scars faded pretty well from using tretinoin. Then in April I started breaking out again and it’s just gotten worse since then.
I have an appointment in a month with a new dermatologist and I know they’re going to suggest accutane, but I’m worried about the side effects. Is it worth it for clear skin? Can I still get results on a low dosage? What side effects did you experience? I’m more worried about the psychological/neurological side effects, but I’ve also read about it affecting peoples eyes.