A woman has gone viral on TikTok sharing the shocking side effects she experienced from acne medication.
Ashlee Crumpton started taking Accutane for her cystic acne in September 2023, with the medicine causing her skin to ‘purge’ itself of impurities.
The 27-year-old, from Bridgend, Wales, was left with “massive” cysts along her jaw.
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She filmed a clip showing the results on TikTok, where it garnered eight million views and left users stunned by the severity of the side effects.
“While purging I will make sure I have a scarf to cover my face and always have plasters to cover – I feel so ugly,” Ashlee, a factory supervisor, told What’s The Jam.
“Especially when I do purge, I’ve had people in public ask me what’s on my face.
“Also online I get a lot of nasty comments – people say they would rather die than have it on their face.
“People also say I look like Sloth from The Goonies, call me ‘pizza face’ and tell me I need to wash my face.
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“Others have asked ‘what happened to your face’ and ‘is that a tumour’.
“But I do my best to not let that get to me.
“I get super dry lips, achy bones, my face is flaking and I have to put Vaseline on 200 times a day, and I’m always drained and tired.”
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But for Ashlee, it’s all worth it, having suffered with acne since the age of 14, and it then getting worse when she hit her early 20s, developing into cystic nodular acne.
She added: “I’m so used to having acne, it’s a part of me, I don’t know any different – my face is full of scars.
“But I’ve learnt to live with it and love myself.”
After years of suffering with acne, Ashlee started Accutane eight months ago, and was placed on a low dose.
By her fourth month, she started the dreaded ‘purge’ – where the breakouts become more intense before they improve.
Ashlee said: “That was when I got the massive cyst on my jawline, a week before Christmas.
“Because of the low dose, I have purged slowly, so I’ll get a cyst every month instead of them coming all together at the same time – that would be so painful.
“It’s painful to wash my face and sleep [now].”
Ashlee has been open about her acne and Accutane experience on TikTok, documenting the journey with followers.
She said: “I’m posting about it because I know it will help others, because me watching other people’s acne and journeys helped me so much.
“I’m still on the medication and still have a long way to go – about four-five months left on medication.
“I’m still not clear – I still have nodules ready to turn into cysts, and a lot of scarring that I’m hoping to get that sorted after the treatment.”
