Accutane Side Effects: What Is Common and What Is Not
Accutane side effects split into two groups, and mixing them up causes most of the worry we hear in clinic. One group turns up in nearly every patient, is genuinely uncomfortable, and stops when the course stops. The other is uncommon, sometimes serious, and wants a phone call rather than patience. Telling them apart makes the months far easier to sit through.
Everything here assumes you are being monitored properly, with appointments kept and blood drawn on schedule. If you have not started yet, the wider picture of accutane treatment covers how we decide whether the medicine belongs in your case at all.
Which Accutane Side Effects Show Up in Almost Everyone?
Dryness, mostly. It begins at the lips and it begins early, often within the first days. Then it spreads outward in a fairly predictable order: the inside of the nose, the eyes, the skin of the face and hands. None of this is a sign that something has gone wrong. It is the medicine doing exactly what it does, which is shrinking oil production everywhere at once, not only where the acne is.
| Effect | What usually helps |
|---|---|
| Dry, cracking lips | Thick ointment balm, reapplied constantly |
| Dry eyes | Preservative free drops, glasses over lenses |
| Fragile, peeling skin | Bland moisturizer, gentle cleanser only |
| Nosebleeds | Petroleum ointment inside the nostril |
| Burning easily in sun | Daily sunscreen, hats, shade at midday |
| Aching after exercise | Ease the load, tell us if it lasts |
Patients often expect the dryness to build steadily and then get worse forever. It does not. It tends to plateau, and most people find their own routine somewhere in the first stretch of the course and then coast on it.
Which Accutane Side Effects Are Rare but Serious?
These are the reason for the monthly visits and the bloodwork. They are not common. They are also not things to sleep on, and none of them announce themselves politely. Your liver and your blood fats are watched precisely because changes there are silent until they are not.
Mood deserves a sentence of its own, because it is the one patients hesitate to raise. Raise it anyway. We would far rather hear about a flat, joyless fortnight and find it was something else entirely than have you sit on it until the next appointment.
What Can You Do About the Dryness?
More than most people are told. The habits below are unglamorous and they work, and starting them in week one rather than week five saves a lot of misery. Almost every patient who describes the course as unbearable turns out to have been treating the dryness casually.
When Should You Call the Clinic?
Whenever something feels wrong and you are not sure. That is a real answer, not a polite one. The list above covers what we consider urgent, and beyond it the rule is simple enough: if a symptom is new, worsening, or frightening you, it belongs in a phone call rather than a search engine.
Contact the clinic promptly if you develop severe headache with vision changes or persistent vomiting, severe abdominal pain, unusual bruising or yellowing of skin or eyes, a rash with blistering, chest pain, or a marked change in mood. If you can become pregnant and think you may be, stop the capsules and call us the same day.
Bring your questions to the appointment
If you are weighing this course, or you are on it and something has changed, our dermatology team can look at it properly. Bring a list. Nothing on it is too small to mention.
- accutane dry lips – the first effect to arrive, and how to stay ahead of it
- accutane blood tests – what is measured, and why the schedule is fixed
- accutane and alcohol – where the caution comes from
- accutane and depression – what is known, and what to watch for
- accutane hair loss – how common it is and whether it reverses
- accutane joint pain – aching, exercise, and when it matters
- accutane sun sensitivity – why burns come faster now
Medically reviewed by Dr. Sarah Mitchell, MD, FAAD, Board-Certified Dermatologist. Reviewed Aug 17, 2026.