Please tell me all you know about Accutane...

[HyTekJosh]

One of my friends took it when a kid and he was going bald in high school from it.

 

[Acanthus]

Was on it for 14 months, started with the total pizza face.

Still acne free 6 years later.

Stock up on sunscreen and chap stick mainly.

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Absolute miracle drug. Depression / suicide emotional stuff is not a problem. They list it because a few teens did kill themselves while taking it, but instead of looking at other causes of their depression, their parents decided to bring lawsuits against the manufacturer of the drug-- so as part of a deal, they had to add it.

It is very tightly regulated (dermatologist said it's the most regulated drug on the market), and as evident by the monthly blood tests, they really go to great extents to make sure you're ok. The only thing that happened to me while I was on it was chapped lips and dry skin, but it's nothing a little chapstick can't fix. All in all the benefits completely dominated over the side effects. It's been about 5 years since I completed the 6 month treatment and I rarely ever get a pimple on my face. It's come back a little bit on my back, but all in all, I couldn't be happier with what it did for me.

Just because you didn't have the side effects does not mean they aren't very real.

My friend and I were on it at the same time and while we had different side effects, something we did have in common was some pretty severe mental health issues as a result of the medication. My mental health wasn't great beforehand, but my friend never suffered from any mental health or emotional problems before he started using the medication.

When I went off of it, it was literally like a curtain was being lifted. My mental health was much better after I stopped the medication. Same thing for my friend. Our friends actually commented that after we were off it for a few months, it was like we were our old selves again.

Question is, would you have those mental health side effects if you didn't know they might occur in accutane patients?

And how do you propose I answer that question?

Should I go back and time and stop myself from ever learning that Accutane is listed as having the potential for an increase in suicide and depression?

Don't get me wrong, the medication worked great. I just went through hell for 6 months, and everything got a lot better after I was off of the medication. A lot of people won't have problems with it. But especially for those that already have pre-existing mental health problems (like I had) it's something that you probably want to stay away from and try alternative treatments.

I still have mental health issues and while they've gotten worse over the years, I'm still not even half as bad as when I was on Accutane. Accutane didn't cause the problems, but it definitely amplified them in my case during the treatment.

 

[villageidiot111]

I'll be done with my accutane treatment in two days actually, and I must say that I loved it. I had the usual side effects, dry skin, chapped lips, as well as a little hair loss (not really noticeable). Now my acne is virtually nonexistant, I haven't had a pimple on my face in two months.

I don't know why people are complaining about the blood tests, they take 30 seconds to draw the blood and then you're out of there. I suppose if you're afraid of needles this might be a problem but otherwise its no biggie.

If you're worried about depression, just make sure you tell a close friend that you're going on the medication and to watch out for you.

The drug is amazing, you'll wish you went on it years ago instead of using all those worthless nonprescription treatments.