Acne prone skin occurs when the oil glands over-react to normal stimulli. I advise a few cardinal rules to follow before starting them on isotretinoin.
Your diet can influence how much your acne flares up. Caffeine (in coffee and tea) stimulates your oil glands. The more caffeine you take, the worse your flare-ups will be.
Exposure to extreme hot or cold environments means that blood flow to the skin increases. This will also cause your acne to flare up.
Taking excessively hot or spicy food or drinking alcohol, again, increases blood flow to the skin and can lead to flare ups.
Smoking impairs your healing and prolongs your recovery time post-acne flare-up.
There are guidelines to taking isotretinoin. The idea is to permanently re-programme your oil glands. The cumulative lifetime dose is usually based on your weight. Consult your doctor to see if you have reached that dose. You may still get flare-ups from time to time but they should be few and far between if you take the above precautions.
