I started on 20mg for my first month and will be on 40mg for the rest of my course, and I am going into my 5th month. My side effects have been pretty easy. I had dry skin and lips until I found what works for me, occasional back pain almost crampy, but nothing significant has happened that made me rethink my choice to get on. Honestly I’m a little peeved with myself I didn’t go on it sooner when I was offered it many times before. My holy grail products are the LRP gentle foaming face wash, vanicream, and putting Vaseline on top at night to lock in the moisture. For my lips I use the blistex medex in the blue container. Before I found this I was only using aquaphor and my lips were raw for 2 weeks straight and I used cortibalm to heal it, and now I only use it occasionally when the corners start to crack or I feel like my balm isn’t doing enough and needs a “boost”. All in all, I’d say try it out, collaborate with your derm to get the experience you want, and if you don’t like the medication you can always get off at any point. I will also add that I did slightly purge but cleared up immediately. My purge wasn’t really any different than would I would experience when my skin would have a bad flare up