Today, I start my battle with Accutane

[paulxcook]

I took it in early HS. It worked very well and now almost a decade later I still only get the occasional zit. However, there is a downside.

- My lips are still always dry. I go through those little tubes of Vaseline very quickly.
- I was depressed in HS. Some of it was just the drama of being a teenager, but some of it didn't even make sense to me at the time, yet I still felt that way. I would actually think to myself "Why do I feel this bad? My life is pretty good." One semi-attempted suicide, but I was way too chicken to go far with that.
- My face flaked out regularly, especially the skin surrounding my nose. It was temporary, but zits would've looked better, it was horrible.

Overall I guess it was worth it. Apparently when I took it it was not as regulated as it is now, since my PCP proscribed it and only after suggesting OTC things like Oxy10. It's probably best to take it well after teenagerism, given the depression problems, but unfortunately that's when people need it most.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: BigJ

Originally posted by: HotChic

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
/me googles Accutane

Damn, talk about side effects. Chemo drugs cause fewer problems.

I dunno, I take metholtrexate for my arthritis (though it's also a chemo drug) and sudden death was listed as a side effect on the literature they originally gave me 6 years ago. I don't know about you, but I sorta consider that a MAIN effect...

That sudden death will get ya every time.

Sudden death is a sure cure for whatever ails ya. Where can I get this miracle drug?

 

[TecHNooB]

Zits clear up with age

Duh!

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Hyperlite

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: Amused
Did your doctor ever try minocycline for you?

Jumping right to accutane is rather drastic.

minocycline (along with the kitchen sink) was previously prescribed.

Ah, OK. It worked wonders for me. Bummer it didn't work for you.

I'm on that right now (minocycline) along with Duac and Tretanoin topicals. It was expensive as hell, but has been very effective. Good luck op!

Shop around for the minocycline. Some pharmacies will have it for HALF the price of others. Here, Walgreens was twice as much as Meijers.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Cabages
Im on minocyline right now, doesnt seem to be working that well.

Was going to try Accutane, but if its the one that im thinking, it makes you more depressed, and I guess your chances of suicide goes up. Least thats what I heard.

How long have you been on the minocycline? What dose and what frequency?

It takes 2-4 weeks to start seeing results, and then another few weeks for all the healing. My doctor told me to give it two months. I'm glad I did. The only change we made was to bump it up to 100mg x 1 daily from 50mg x 1 daily initially.

 

[DougK62]

Do you have a before picture? I'd like to see how bad you have it.

 

[jiggahertz]

For those of you that took accutane, how much did it cost? Was it covered by insurance? How bad does the acne have to be to be covered by insurance?

 

[paulxcook]

Originally posted by: jiggahertz
For those of you that took accutane, how much did it cost? Was it covered by insurance? How bad does the acne have to be to be covered by insurance?

Mine was covered by insurance, but at the time my father was some sort of manager working for the state, which at the time gave us uber insurance. I have no idea if it's covered now by most plans. I would assume it is.

 

[ch33zw1z]

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/accutane/medicationguide.htm

good luck.

 

[brandonbull]

I took Accutane in HS and it cleared up my acne. I'm 34 now and still have acne trouble but not like in HS, and I consider Accutane a "miracle" drug. Acne has been a battle for all of my adult life and the only thing that has helped has been prescribed medicines and cleaners.

 

[Sukhoi]

How does Accutane continue to work once you're off it? Does it kill the bacteria, and then it just doesn't come back once the medication is done?

 

[marleymarl]

I took Accutane as a last resort about 10 years ago. I had bad cystic acne. It did work for me. One thing happened to me shortly after starting Accutane - that was hair loss. I don't know if it is connected or not but it coincided with me taking Accutane. If it did cause it, that'd suck but I'd rather be bald then have the acne I had.

anyone else have similar issue with hair?

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
How does Accutane continue to work once you're off it? Does it kill the bacteria, and then it just doesn't come back once the medication is done?

If I recall correctly, Accutane actually lowers the amount of oils your body outputs. It's quite different than other medications in that it doesn't attempt to kill bacteria, but kill the situation in which it thrives, or something to that effect.

 

[Reckoner]

I remember having to go for blood tests every month to check on my liver, while taking this drug. It was very helpful, but it came back when I went off the drug 4-6 months later. I had to stop taking the pills a month early because of a false alarm test result. Even though it was a false alarm, the dermatologist wanted me off of it. Time seems to be the best "cure" for acne.


Edit: Time AND Vitamin B-5. I've had some great results taking B-5

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: marleymarl
I took Accutane as a last resort about 10 years ago. I had bad cystic acne. It did work for me. One thing happened to me shortly after starting Accutane - that was hair loss. I don't know if it is connected or not but it coincided with me taking Accutane. If it did cause it, that'd suck but I'd rather be bald then have the acne I had.

anyone else have similar issue with hair?

I'd say it is probably common to try to blame your hair falling out on something. You are right that it is just better to be rid of acne. You can look good bald, but goodluck trying to look good with acne. It's like a well groomed leper.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Originally posted by: skace

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
How does Accutane continue to work once you're off it? Does it kill the bacteria, and then it just doesn't come back once the medication is done?

If I recall correctly, Accutane actually lowers the amount of oils your body outputs. It's quite different than other medications in that it doesn't attempt to kill bacteria, but kill the situation in which it thrives, or something to that effect.

I was under the impression it alters something at the molecular DNA level. Basically Accutane is a highly concentrated dose of Vitamin A, and something about it binding with certain chemicals in your body to reduce oil output or something of that nature.

The good thing with the blood tests are that they include a lot of interesting things in their tests... cholesterol, diabetes testing, etc. Mine produced some interesting results after the first time-- apparently my biliruben level (it's an enzyme in your liver that breaks up fatty acids) is extremely high and can cause my skin to turn a yellowish tint when fasting. It's completely harmless, but that didn't stop all the doctors from coming in and oogling when my blood test came back...

 

[imported_Cameron]

Good luck with that. I used it about 3-4 years ago and it cleaned my face up very well. The monthly blood tests suck, but that was mainly because the person that did it did not know what they were doing. It took about 5 pokes for her to finally find a vein. Each month.

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: marleymarl
I took Accutane as a last resort about 10 years ago. I had bad cystic acne. It did work for me. One thing happened to me shortly after starting Accutane - that was hair loss. I don't know if it is connected or not but it coincided with me taking Accutane. If it did cause it, that'd suck but I'd rather be bald then have the acne I had.

anyone else have similar issue with hair?

Less common accutane side effects may include:
Bowel inflammation and pain, chest pain, decreased night vision, decreased tolerance to contact lenses, delay in wound healing, depression, fatigue, headache, nausea, peeling palms or soles, rash, skin infections, stomach and intestinal discomfort, sunburn-sensitive skin, thinning hair, urinary discomfort, vision problems, vomiting


I am assuming that could cover the hair loss.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Vortex22
That stuff made my skin so dry. I have chronically dry lips to this day, more than 6 years later.

if you used chapstick constantly while on accutane, your body probably stopped making the stuff itself.

 

[Mrfrog840]

side effects that i had from it were EXTREMLY dry lips and a somewhat dry face. Nothing that daily chapstick and cetaphil didnt help

 

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: Anonemous
wow, sure alotta ppl on ATOT who took Accutane...

ATOT is a collection of pimple farmers, what do you expect?

 

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Hyperlite

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Corporate Thug

Originally posted by: Amused
Did your doctor ever try minocycline for you?

Jumping right to accutane is rather drastic.

minocycline (along with the kitchen sink) was previously prescribed.

Ah, OK. It worked wonders for me. Bummer it didn't work for you.

I'm on that right now (minocycline) along with Duac and Tretanoin topicals. It was expensive as hell, but has been very effective. Good luck op!

Shop around for the minocycline. Some pharmacies will have it for HALF the price of others. Here, Walgreens was twice as much as Meijers.

Costco FTW on price.

 

[Safeway]

Good luck. Proactiv works for all but the particularly unlucky

 

[mooglekit]

Man, I'd steer clear of this one...I took Accutane for 1 month in HS and ended up with severe migraines to the point where I couldn't leave the house for a week. Medicines work differently for everyone, but the very, very serious side effects make me wonder how this drug ever won approval...

 

[Compton]

Originally posted by: Vortex22
That stuff made my skin so dry. I have chronically dry lips to this day, more than 6 years later.

It doesn't get any better. I took Accutane 13 years ago and I still have to use chapstick every couple of hours.