Anyone ever take the acne medicine "Accutane"?
Just wanted to know if you had any of the negative side effects that they warn about, if you don't mind talking about it.
You can send me a personal message if you wish.
A dermatologist suggested this to a family member and I wanted to know how common the side effects are.
Thanks.
You can send me a personal message if you wish.
A dermatologist suggested this to a family member and I wanted to know how common the side effects are.
Thanks.
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Dry mouth, etc are very common. I took it for a few years as a teenager.......a century ago.
Merc0 -
Merc-Thanks-any problems with depression or long term joint pain? 0 -
I have prescribed a bunch of it while working in Derm. Lots of dry skin. use lots of moisturizer. 0 -
I took it when I was a freshman in college. Worked great but the side effects are real. Very dry mouth and lips. I went through a ton of Carmex. Must stay out of the sun or you turn orange. Not that I had to worry but it does cause serious birth defects. I was very pleased with how it worked. I had terrible, deep, painful acne and the accutane reduced it by 99.9%. 0 -
I'm not too concerned about the dryness. The brochure warns of depression and while searching the net one person warned of joint pain that didn't go away when the treatments stopped.
Has anyone experienced these kind of effects. And AHansen-can you estimate about what percentage of people had more serious side effects?
Thanks, folks.0 -
quote:Originally posted by GUNFUNCO
I'm not too concerned about the dryness. The brochure warns of depression and while searching the net one person warned of joint pain that didn't go away when the treatments stopped.
Has anyone experienced these kind of effects. And AHansen-can you estimate about what percentage of people had more serious side effects?
Thanks, folks.
I believe you have to sign something called "The Pledge" while on the medication. One of our docs has a patient on it. I'm not 100% on that part. The most serious side effect is liver failure. Patients on Acutane come in for regular lab work to check it.0 -
Thats what i heard.BADDD on the liver.. 0 -
Your acne better be very bad to use Accutane. I know guys that used it in high school, and there's was really bad. My mom (ARNP) wouldn't allow me on it because mine wasn't bad enough to warrant it, and she didn't care for the side effect. Yes, it works well, but the cost and side effects are both pretty high. (Check into it, but it might contain Carbon-14. If so, that would account for the Pledge. Carbon-14 causes a specific birth-defect. So, you can't have unprotected sex while on it, and women can't be off birthcontrol. 0 -
It is for a male and the dermatologist recommended it. The sex part shouldn't be an issue as yet but I guess we'd better not wait too long.
I already read the brochure that warns about the high rate of birth defects if a female patient gets pregnant.
It is for one of my sons and the dermatologist even recommended it for me also. I still have bad acne and I am in my late 40's and one of my sons has it pretty bad as well.
I can live with it (I already have) but if I had known about it as a teen, I would have wanted to try it. It is awful to have to deal with severe acne it when you are dating and we have talked about it at length since the dermatologist suggested it several months ago.
We aren't rushing into it and my son has been fighting it with all the regular treatments in the meantime but if the other side effects are pretty rare, maybe I will try it for a month or so before he does and if I have any seriously negative effects, I won't let him take it.0 -
I had two friends who were on it, both girls. Both said they suffered depression while on the medication. Also, its almost certain that if a women takes accutane and gets pregnant the baby with will massive birth deffects.
Personally I think this drug is terrible and wouldnt recommend it for anyone.
Drug companies are selling billions of people drugs they dont need and are bad for them.0 -
Try cleocin gel. Its a topical antibiotic that works great and the side effects are minimal. It works great alone and its cheap. If its not effective alone (after a few weeks) use it in combination with Retinol(sp) (retin-A). It will work if given time. Stay away from accutane. Its bad stuff.......... 0 -
I heard that after you wash your face with warm water, you should rinse it again with cold water to help close the pores back up to reduce skin irritations.
that may help a little?0 -
I used it ounce but my face turned powder white and it felt like i was dehydrating. 0 -
Back in my day, all we had was "Zit-X" by Brillo, it would remove the zit right down to it's root. To cover the gaping "3rd eye" size crater left behind, we trowled on "Skin so Smooth" by Bondo. 0 -
My sister used it 20 years ago.
no depression.
she is a dingbat though,0 -
Hi,
I was on this site looking for info about my late father who was a gunsmith, and I saw this post about Accutane. I had really bad acne from about age 13 until about age 19 or so. I had been through 2 skin doctors and the acne was not responsive to meds. Finally I went to my 3rd skin doctor and I was put on prednisone and a strong antibiotic; it helped but I was still breaking out. BTW, my acne when I started seeing him was as bad as it gets - cystic acne all over my face, red and bumpy, very unsightly.
When Accutane was first approved, I think in 1980-81, my doctor gave me the option of trying the Accutane because of my 'resilient' acne. I was warned about how important it was to not get pregnant while on this, it causes severe birth defects. I was on the lowest daily dosage and took it for 3 months. At first my skin got worse. Then it got very dry as I had been told. No big problem, just used good moisterizer. Then it started to clear. For ever. Thank God!
I still get pimples from time to time, but nothing major. No other side effects. That was the end of visits with the dermotologist! I was so pleased with the results, and glad that I took the chance. My face shows no evidence that I ever had acne that badly. (Never pick around your face!!) I would recommend it highly for very severe acne.
Sincerely,
Cathy G.0 -
don't take medicine for acne' eat fruit...really 0 -
quote:Originally posted by tomahawk
don't take medicine for acne' eat fruit...really
For some on us it was not that simple...really0 -
quote:Originally posted by cglodzik
Hi,
I was on this site looking for info about my late father who was a gunsmith, and I saw this post about Accutane. I had really bad acne from about age 13 until about age 19 or so. I had been through 2 skin doctors and the acne was not responsive to meds. Finally I went to my 3rd skin doctor and I was put on prednisone and a strong antibiotic; it helped but I was still breaking out. BTW, my acne when I started seeing him was as bad as it gets - cystic acne all over my face, red and bumpy, very unsightly.
When Accutane was first approved, I think in 1980-81, my doctor gave me the option of trying the Accutane because of my 'resilient' acne. I was warned about how important it was to not get pregnant while on this, it causes severe birth defects. I was on the lowest daily dosage and took it for 3 months. At first my skin got worse. Then it got very dry as I had been told. No big problem, just used good moisterizer. Then it started to clear. For ever. Thank God!
I still get pimples from time to time, but nothing major. No other side effects. That was the end of visits with the dermotologist! I was so pleased with the results, and glad that I took the chance. My face shows no evidence that I ever had acne that badly. (Never pick around your face!!) I would recommend it highly for very severe acne.
Sincerely,
Cathy G.
Welcome to the forum, Cathy, and good luck with your search. Re-post about your search here on General Discussion. Folks here know everything or at least know somebody who does. [:)]0 -
Thanks to all for the comments. I have been discussing it with my son. I have suffered from what I recall the Dermatologist calling cystic pustular acne since my teens. It is pretty severe. I have scars all over my chest and some on back and face as well. I'm almost 50 and still get acne pretty badly, but it gets much worse in winter.
Both me and my son eat our share of fruit. I sometimes eat 3 oranges in a day plus make fresh squeezed grapefruit juice as well as eating the grapefruit. I eat about every kind of fruit in season as well as canned and a lot of veggies as well. And I mean a lot -sometimes 5 or more servings in a day not counting the veggies. If fruit would fix it, I should be acne free.
As a teen, I took antibiotics, had weekly visits to the dermatologist and even got shots directly into the larger lesions without much success. My folks couldn't hardly afford to send me but knew I was suffering so they bit the bullet and paid the money.
I know what my kid is up against. In spite of that, he is willing to try some other stuff before accutane. I may check into the cleocin. My son has already tried retinol-A as well as antibiotics (oral) and several other things. If he decides he wants to try the accutane, I think I will try it first and if it doesn't bother me, I will let him try it.
Does anyone know what accutane costs and if insurance like Blue Cross will cover it?0 -
I took the stuff when it first came out years and years ago for a longer period of time then they suggest you use it now. I'm still kick'n. 0 -
Nope, never had any problems.
quote:Originally posted by GUNFUNCO
Merc-Thanks-any problems with depression or long term joint pain?0 -
Insusrance pays for Accutane. There is no differance between the name brand and the generic. Not only will it "cure" the acne, but it will also help resolve alot of the post acne scars that are present. I have seen Accutane change the low confidence and low self esteem issues of young men and women around in a matter of months with Accutane treatments.
My only advice when starting Accutane is get a lot of moisturizer and a lot of chapstick. Use this stuff liberally!0
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