What dosage of accutane/isotretinoin did you see permanent improvements to your acne?

[aids]

Title. Going to take isotretinoin for a second time.
From reading, a lot of people say that you need to hit a 'total dosage' e.g., take 10mg for x period or 20mg for x/2 period, etc, can anybody share their experience?

 

[BinPanda]

Im hopping on 30mg. My dermatologist calculated it using my weight

 

[aids]

Im hopping on 30mg. My dermatologist calculated it using my weight

Currently running 30mg/3 days myself since my capsules are 30mg, will up it to 15 and then 20mg/day equivalent.
What's your weight? I'm assuming your Dermatologist will have you on it for a set period if they're trying to get you to hit a mg/kg total dosage.

 

[BinPanda]

Currently running 30mg/3 days myself since my capsules are 30mg, will up it to 15 and then 20mg/day equivalent.
What's your weight? I'm assuming your Dermatologist will have you on it for a set period if they're trying to get you to hit a mg/kg total dosage.

About 74 kg

 

[aids]

About 74 kg

Immediate 30mg with no build-up to that dosage? For a set period?

 

[iblamemilo]

20mg

 

[BinPanda]

Immediate 30mg with no build-up to that dosage? For a set period?

Idk, I don’t take it yet. I get my blood results on Monday so I will only start accutane the following days. That’s why I said „im hopping on…“ but my dermatologist already told me 30mg and if I remember correctly she also said for how long, but I don’t remember the time frame tbh.

 

[aids]

20mg

Total dosage? Or time period?

 

[iblamemilo]

Total dosage? Or time period?

yeah total dose, all I need I responded very well, the lower the dose the better internally

 

[aids]

yeah total dose, all I need I responded very well, the lower the dose the better internally

I mean what was your total dose?

 

[iblamemilo]

I mean what was your total dose?

what tf you mean total dose I never went higher than 20mg

 

[aids]

what tf you mean total dose I never went higher than 20mg

Total dose = amount of times you took the dose * dosage e.g., 200 days * 20mg = 4g.
Explained at beginning of thread

 

[iblamemilo]

Total dose = amount of times you took the dose * dosage e.g., 200 days * 20mg = 4g.
Explained at beginning of thread

idk bro that's a dumb question tbh

 

[aids]

idk bro that's a dumb question tbh

You take a cumulative dose for isotretinoin for it to have a permanent effect.
Not knowing this and taking it is just nuking your sebum production and hormones for no reason

 

[Arkham]

Wish you the best on accutane. How long has it been since your first round and when'd the acne start to come back? I might consider a second round myself but the accutane purge is brutal icl

 

[aids]

Wish you the best on accutane. How long has it been since your first round and when'd the acne start to come back? I might consider a second round myself but the accutane purge is brutal icl

I took isotretinoin/accutane from late 2021 to the beginning of 2023 (maybe around April) consistently, 10mg/day for the first six months, 20mg/day following that to April.
Then I was inconsistent with my dosage throughout April onwards, started using the leftover of my prescription early 2024 about 20mg every 3 days for a few weeks, because it was coming back with a few red dots here and there, nothing cystic, probably a 3/10 in terms of severity. Whereas my acne in 2021 was very present on my skin, lot of inflammation and cystic acne.
My prescription expired like 3 days before I went to get my final refill (didn't realise), so was coping on The Ordinary products for a few months, it was never inherently bad, but I want to have flawless skin.
I'm guessing my total dosage from 2021 to early 2024 was about 6g, I can't remember my prescriptions exactly.
Now on 30mg/3 days and have been for about 2 weeks. Honestly, my purge was not that bad, but that was because I started tretinoin 0.05% about 2-3 weeks prior because I didn't have a source for isotretinoin, and I wasn't going to wait 6 months for a Dermatologist to see me since the wait is crazy in Australia for any specialist.
I had about a week where my purge was brutal, around the 12th of August where I almost broke down because I didn't want to go to uni with how bad the pimples I had were showing, inflammation and dryness was, so stopped tretinoin. I have no inflammation now about 2 weeks into my isotretinoin again. Planning to take a 'Hollywood' dosage until I perfect all the other variables that could contribute to bad skin.
I would honestly recommend to anybody that has taken it before to take it again if you feel your acne is returning. The purge absolutely wasn't as bad the second time, admittedly I don't really remember how bad my purge was initially was, with no photos analysing my face from late 2021 unfortunately.

If you have any concerns about the acute side effects like the purge (although purging isn't really a side effect per say), take a very low dosage and slowly increment your dosage whilst having your bloodwork interpreted. Then up your dosage as you go, planning to increase to 15mg/day about a month from starting, then 20mg/day equivalent a month from then.

What was your initial round like? Dosage, total dosage, how bad was your acne before? Could try and give you more specific advice.

 

[Arkham]

I took isotretinoin late June 2022, finished my course around April 2023. My acne was horrid, cystic bumps all over my cheeks and even nose, so isotretinoin was a life saver for me. I mention the purge because my acne got twice as bad initially before it got better, which I didn't think was possible lol. Thankfully it was summer break so I spent that time indoors and didn't have to go out with a fucking UAV radar on my face.
As for dosing, my derm started me on 20mg for the first 15 days, then 40mg then on afterwards. Didn't realize it then but I guess this was a pretty heavy dose to start off with, which was probably why my purge was so crazy. I was supposed to continue my course going 40mg daily, but I wanted to speedrun the treatment for some reason and I got my derm to bump me up to 60mg daily instead. This was in August 2022, and I continued with 60mg/day till the end of my course in April.
I didn't keep track of how much my cumulative dose was honestly, just checked in with my dermatologist every month and continued my treatment till they told me to. If I do the math it sums up to around 16.5g in total, way higher than what you had. I weighed around 65kg throuhgouht my treatment too.
Side effects were pretty standard, just dry skin/lips, photosensititivy, some lower back pain. Skin cleared up entirely after the course and I felt amazing. Would get the occasional spot here and there but nothing severe and it would only last a few days. Skin remained like this till about the last month or so till I started getting a few more pimples. Similar to what you had I'd say, about a 3/10 in severity. Thinking of hopping on accutane again cause it was the only thing that worked for me. All the topicals and antibiotics were bullshit and even made it worse in some cases. I'll probably run a lower dose/longer treatment this time, if it means reducing the risk of a crazy purge. It's not like I have cystic acne this time either that I'm super eager to treat.

 

[AySab]

Title. Going to take isotretinoin for a second time.
From reading, a lot of people say that you need to hit a 'total dosage' e.g., take 10mg for x period or 20mg for x/2 period, etc, can anybody share their experience?

literally 5mg cured my acne. currently on 10mg once per week tho.

 

[GigaAryenMaxxer]

literally 5mg cured my acne. currently on 10mg once per week tho.

dude do you think 40mg twice a week will nuke my oily skin and blackheads ? Or I should go 20/day

 

[aids]

dude do you think 40mg twice a week will nuke my oily skin and blackheads ? Or I should go 20/day

If you're self-medicating, just slowly increase dosage as necessary.