My Dermotalogist(sp?) is really pushing Accutane for my face everytime i have an appointment. My Family doctor doesnt recommand it for me because of the family's history of depression and health factors...but the Dermo is continuing to push it for me.   I was looking through ads in a magizine about ProActiv and heard really great reviews from it, and i asked my dermo about it and he said that it doesnt actually work and wouldnt be good for my skin. I have mild to servere acne... and when im not on my antibiotics, i get cystic ones. What i would like to know is ....have any of you guys tried either Accutane   or Proactiv? if so how did it work and what skin type did you/do you have? Thanks                mAr

This is in response to the question on accutane and proactiv. My daughter had a severe case of acne at a very young age. So bad her face was actually swollen and it looked very painful. We went to dermatologist and doctors (about five to be exact). One of them suggested accutane but after I did some research the side effects seemed much too severe. I finally took her to my gynolcologist and ask for her to be put on the orthotricyclene birth control pill. Alone this did not have much affect. He sent me to a general practictioner who was good at skin related problems. He put he on the topical vitamin A, Retinae (sp) Micro. There are different strengths of Retinae, I found out. I had asked the first doctor we went to  to try that and he had given her the mildest pre_script_ion and it didn't work. She has used the bc pills and the topical retinae now for about four years and her face is in good shape. Accutane is vitamin A taken internally and all the information is that it is pretty dangerous. I would try other things first. Just as a side note we tried the alternative treatment of Noni juice and her face went from bad to worse. I would not recommend that at all.

I used Accutane many years ago and I really liked it. After about a month I had absolutely no blemishes, not even a single blackhead. It made my skin (all over, not just my face) very smooth & almost poreless. Even the bottoms of my feet were as soft & smooth as a baby's skin. My only complaint was that I couldn't wear most makeup. My skin was so weirdly smooth it wouldn't stick. As far as side effects, I had dry eyes, lips & mouth and that got to be annoying after a few weeks.