My three sons all were on it with no side effects other than dry skin and some redness while using it. #1 so had acne something awful, no diet , antibiotics helped him at all. Accutane was fairly new then, so we tried it and it worked great. He was scarred so badly he even had dermabrasion later on to get rid of the scars. What a difference it made for his personality!! For sons 2 and 3, we just skipped the antibiotics completely and went right to the accutane, didn't want to have them go through the dermabrasion, it was awful. By getting an early start with them, they didn't have the same scarring and skipped the embarrassement. When GS started with problems, Dad started him fast. The dermatologist like to try all the other stuff first, (More money for them) but he did as we wished. Of course, they were checked monthly !! None had any problems during or after and all have clear skin. To me, after seeing how #1 son suffered, and the change in his personality, it was worth any risk .