Accutane on NHS - anyone with expirience?!

Did either of you expirience an initial breakout?

Right so I'm 21, acnes not severe but have had three rounds of antibiotics, BP, some other topicals and nothings worked. GP was still hesitant to write out a referal but did eventually, booked an appointment, seeing a dermatologist later this month. I was just wondering:

1-Will I get the meds on the day of my appointment?
2-Do I take the blood test on the day of my appointment?

Basically just wondering how long before my trip to the derm and me starting my course? Waited five months for this appointment starting to get impatient.

Lol because the NHS are the be all and end all. It's an acne website, devoted to that one problem. I'm more likely to trust a post which evidently has had TONS of research contributed. Many members have been doing intensive research and trial and errors for ages and know their skin better than a service which covers a broad range of illnesses but probably not to the very core. Most of whom who work there aren't acne experts I assume, at least not with an open mind if it doesn't match their criteria... If dermatologists can be inaccurate in even simple cases (the things I've been told when a mere Google search could have told me otherwise just proves not all of them are all that) so who's to say that it's stupid seek information elsewhere? This is just one dietary related post of many, and in every case that I've seen most have noted improvements or a complete clearup... So...

In my case, I could have my skin under control for months, but the moment I go out and have a bit more of a certain food than usual I have a breakout over the next few days. I'm not forcing you to believe it but this information is no more than helpful advice and is factual (there's no golden rule, it's not a simple case of dont' eat sugar, don't eat red meat... you need to find out what your own skin can handle), they're not selling anything... It wouldn't hurt to try it if you're so desperate to get rid of your acne.

Thank you so much for giving a balanced view; I've been told to consider going onto roaccutaine but everyone else just seems to be scaremongering me away from it. It's nice to know that it really can have the desired effects; I'm just really tired of the assumptions that people make about people with acne and at this point would do anything to escape it.
Just a quick question; how long do you usually have to stay on it for for it to really have an impact (at least in your case)? Just curious as I have no experience of it nor do any of my friends.

I was on Roaccutane for, I think, 5-6 months? It wasn't that bad. I did drink while on it, although very rarely and in moderation, and never had any problems. I got the side-effects you'd expect: my face and lips were very dry, my face was flaking for a while although that got better in a few weeks. I was visibly a bit red, but to be honest I don't think most people would notice. One very good side-effect I got was that my hair, which is usually obscenely greasy, was always dry. After I stopped the medication, my face and hair gradually went back to being as greasy as they were before it.

I was worried my acne would return but it didn't really. My face isn't entirely clear: my skin is pretty ****, a bit red and patchy, but much better than before the medication. I still get spots on occasion, but it's just one or two small ones, nothing big. I think at one point some big ones did return, but they didn't last long.

That said, since finishing the medication I've been washing my face every morning and night, making sure it's always dried out, which probably contributed to the acne not returning.

I don't drink at all anyway, but it's nice to know I have the option. Do you think that the dryness decreased the longer you took it/as your body adjusted to the drug? Was sunlight ever a problem (it advises apparently to avoid the sun but I wonder how much of an issue it is aside from not being able to sit out in the sun).
For me; I've forced myself to go as dairy free as possible. I think I have pizza maybe once a month and that's usually the only time I have dairy and I exercise a lot more than I used to (pretty much every day now) so my skin has been helped a bit by that. I just get almost jealous when I see people with perfect skin being able to eat a chocolate bar and not have to worry about what will happen the next day.
I guess the biggest question I have is this; knowing what you know now, would you still take roaccutaine if offered it?

Sorry, thought I'd already replied to this!

I'd definitely take it again. The dryness got better - in the first few weeks my skin was flaking a bit and my face was a bit red, but that cleared up maybe a month in. I don't leave my house often enough for sunlight to be a problem but I could imagine it making sunburn a little bit worse since your face is already dry. I don't think it'd be a problem as long as you put some sun cream on.

No worries Acne does seem to apply more to us introverts than anyone else :' Thanks for the advice; having a testimony from a real human is definitely nicer than just hearing a cold medical opinion Oh and this crossed my mind the other day; in terms of skin being oily even without acne, have you tried taking fish oil tablets? I found it helps.

Hi guys im hoping to start roaccutane soon, my doctor referred me and said ill most likely be put on it and im going to be booking my appointment at the derm in the next few days. Im not on birth control but would it speed up the process if i started taking bc as soon as possible before the appointment? Because i dont want to be waiting another month after ive had the appointment to start accutane, thanks guys