Accutane?

[golfgal]

DS15's dermatologist wants us to consider accutane for DS's acne. He has been on various antibiotics, lotions, etc. and they help some, but haven't cleared him up completely. I know there can be some pretty serious side effects but I also know that you only hear the bad things or the most outrageous experiences. Have you had experience with it and if so, what was your experience?

 

[HeatherH]

Not me, but my friend's teen son took it, and it is the ONLY thing that cleared up his severe acne.

The worst side effect he had was VERY dry lips, he had to moisturize them constantly or they would crack and peel.

But it did work for him. He's like a new kid now, and happy he took it.

Good luck with your son.

 

[SondraC]

Not me, but my friend's teen son took it, and it is the ONLY thing that cleared up his severe acne.

The worst side effect he had was VERY dry lips, he had to moisturize them constantly or they would crack and peel.

But it did work for him. He's like a new kid now, and happy he took it.

Good luck with your son.

This was the same experience for my step dd. We all wish we wouldn't have waited, (she was 15, but she had it BAD from age 12) but her mom was against it.

 

[SC Minnie]

My friend took it (she was in her late 30's at the time) and she fell into a severe depression. I know there are warnings on the label and insert from the pharmacy.

 

[liamsaunt]

I took accutane. It was the only thing that worked, and believe me, I tried everything else. It took three years of failed treatments before my dermatologist prescribed it. It was pretty new to the market at the time. I had to do some follow up surveys and I think I went back for later blood work.

Side effects: extremely dry lips. I had to carry blistex at all times. If I didn't have it on me and my lips started to dry out, it would only be a matter of minutes before the cracked and started to bleed. As long as I had the blistex it was fine.

I lost a lot of my hair. It just sort of thinned out. A lot of it came back, but my hair was always pretty thin after I took the accutane.

Sun sensitivity. I had to be very careful to stay out of the sun. Skin burns easily when you are taking accutane. Also, my eyes grew sensitive, and I had to always wear sunglasses outdoors. This went away after I went off the drug.

I had to submit to monthly bloodwork to prove I was not pregnant before the prescription could be refilled. Also as an FYI you cannot do waxing or tanning while on accutane.

IIRC, six months of accutane cleared up my acne. It did come back a couple of years later, but three more months of accutane cleared it back up and I have not had problems since. I am so glad I took it.

 

[loxie]

Ive never taken it, however I JUST Watched a 48 hrs mystery type of show where the medicine was brought up. This guy who had some depression before taking it , started to take it & had really bad side effects he quit after two days, & blamed the accutane for his severe depression/anger that followed...He actually ended up brutally killing the DR who prescribed it, blaming him for everything. Which is of course ridiculous. Sad sad story.

 

[Disneyglobegirl]

I've taken Accutane and my son has taken it. If my daughter needs it I will allow her to take it in the future also.

Accutane can be scary because of the side effects however your Derm will be monitoring your son and taking blood work every month to make sure everything is ok. The only side effect the either my son or I had were dry lips.

Used as directed and monitored carefully accutane can be used very successfully with wonderful results.

You know that the bad stories are the ones that usually hit the news and make the rounds but for every bad side effect story there are millions of successful stories with no side effects.

Personally I find that bad acne in the teens years can be extremely depressing , the accutane had no depression side effects on either my son or I , infact I believe my son become happier as the accutane started working. He loved that he was finally seeing results and getting clear skin.

 

[DawnCt1]

DS#1 had severe acne and after months of topicals, antibiotics, etc, he opted for Accutane at the age of 17. His only side effects at the time were dry lips and mouth. Within a year he developed bowel symptoms but more or less kept them to himself until it was no longer possible. He was later diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. Most people take Accutane successfully, get rid of their acne, minimize the terrible scarring that comes with it, but on occasion, someone gets Crohn's Disease. We have no history of any inflammatory bowel disease on either side of the family, so it appears to be more than coincidence. We never made the association between the Crohns and the Accutane but one has been made recently. In his words, he was glad to get rid of the acne but if he had to chose between acne and Crohns, he would take the acne any day.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

DD, now 24, took it when she was 16 after years of antibiotics and creams and lotions. We actually had to change dermatologists to get one who would give it to her without making her go on birth control too. She had tried BC for her skin with bad side effects.

Only side effect was dry lips. I think everyone gets them. Her MD recommended Aquaphore for her lips.

It was expensive but a great decision I don't regret.

 

[georgina]

Similar good results with my DD. Dry lips, sun sensitivity, but cleared up the worst of her acne. She still does get some hormonal breakouts on a monthly basis, so is going to try just the BC pills to see if it helps.

 

[anna_chronistic]

My sister took it briefly and stopped because it was causing depression. A few years later, I took it after trying all sorts of other prescriptions -- oral and topical. My only immediate side effect was extremely dry skin, particularly lips. I would literally peel off the top layer of my lips frequently -- TMI? It was pretty gross! However, it did get me into the habit of moisturizing daily, which is a good thing!

A few years ago, I, too was diagnosed with Crohn's. No real family history. Honestly, though, I don't know that I would go back and NOT take Accutane if I could. As horrible -- and I mean horrible as Crohn's can be, it is treatable. My acne, until I took Accutane, was apparently not treatable. It was so severe and painful that it powerfully affected my personality, self-esteem, and I absolutely think it affected how people looked at and treated me. Perhaps if I had adult acne (I haven't really had a recurrence of acne since taking Accutane) I would be able to handle it better than I did in my teens and early twenties, but I simply wasn't the same person then that I am now. Part of that is because of the freedom Accutane gave me to feel normal.

 

[Familyof4lovesDW]

I took it twice. I took it in 6th grade and 9th grade. I was only allowed to take it in the winter, due to the sun.

I had the dry cracked lips. I used carmex, neosporin (sp) and lip gloss every night before I went to bed.

I also had the thinning of the hair and never got the thickness back as another pp had mentioned. In my opinion, thinner hair is better than acne! I also remember the monthly bood work and had to get an xray to make sure my bones were growing right, since I was on it twice for the maximum time allowed which I think is 6 months.

I did not have to be on birth control when I took it, but I have heard it is manadatory now. I never had any of the crazy side effects that you hear about now.

I did not have any more problems with my skin until my late 20's, but I know how expensive it is, so I just deal. I will allow either one of my children to use it if they ever need it, but hopefully they get DH's skin

 

[DawnCt1]

A few years ago, I, too was diagnosed with Crohn's. No real family history. Honestly, though, I don't know that I would go back and NOT take Accutane if I could. As horrible -- and I mean horrible as Crohn's can be, it is treatable. My acne, until I took Accutane, was apparently not treatable. It was so severe and painful that it powerfully affected my personality, self-esteem, and I absolutely think it affected how people looked at and treated me. Perhaps if I had adult acne (I haven't really had a recurrence of acne since taking Accutane) I would be able to handle it better than I did in my teens and early twenties, but I simply wasn't the same person then that I am now. Part of that is because of the freedom Accutane gave me to feel normal.

It is such a dilemma. Everyone has to make their own choice. Severe cystic acne scars for life and the "scars' aren't always visible. He waited to have his senior picture for high school taken....until his skin cleared.

 

[mrsv98]

DNiece took it for severe acne and now has Chron's Disease and a host of other problems. She so regrets taking it, what she is dealing with now and will be for the rest of her life is not worth better skin. She too was monitored by her doc but it all happened so fast and is irreversible.

 

[krcit]

My best friend took it in high school. She is now 40 and has had to have her pancreas removed. They don't know if it's related to the Accutane but pancreatitis is one of the listed possible side effects. I honestly don't know what I would do if one of my kids needed to take it. Tough decision.

 

[golfgal]

My best friend took it in high school. She is now 40 and has had to have her pancreas removed. They don't know if it's related to the Accutane but pancreatitis is one of the listed possible side effects. I honestly don't know what I would do if one of my kids needed to take it. Tough decision.

Exactly!!!!! The dermo said that she doesn't like to keep kids on antibiotics long term, and I agree, but the depression, crone's, etc. I think is worse. It is good to hear REAL experiences with this though!!

 

[The Orchid]

I waited until I was 30 years old to take it and I wish I had done it much sooner. Four months on accutane and a lifetime of problems were gone. The dry lips were terrible and as another poster suggested, Aquaphor is a wonderful solution. I also had a hard time with dry eyes. It's all worth it in the end, but I do know that accutane has been linked to some autoimmune problems. I have lupus, sjogren's syndrome, and RA and can't help but to wonder if accutane caused that. I guess I'll never know. Regardless, I LOVE not having painful, cystic acne.

 

[golfgal]

I waited until I was 30 years old to take it and I wish I had done it much sooner. Four months on accutane and a lifetime of problems were gone. The dry lips were terrible and as another poster suggested, Aquaphor is a wonderful solution. I also had a hard time with dry eyes. It's all worth it in the end, but I do know that accutane has been linked to some autoimmune problems. I have lupus, sjogren's syndrome, and RA and can't help but to wonder if accutane caused that. I guess I'll never know. Regardless, I LOVE not having painful, cystic acne.

Autoimmune diseases run in my family so I am thinking this might not be the best idea.

 

[si-am]

I was on Accutane for 3 months when I was 22. As a teen and into early adulthood, I had chronic acne, and NOTHING would get rid of it. I had been on antibiotics, Retin-A, special diet, etc. since I was 12.

Accutane worked. My skin is clear now except for occasional hormonal breakouts.

I will say that I had irrational mood swings while on it... depression, anger, frustration, etc. I had so many fights with my best friend/roommate at the time that we stopped speaking for a while. It wasn't until later that I realized it was probably the medicine (this was 15 years ago, before all the studies about depression came out).

 

[NotUrsula]

I've been given the choice to put DS13 on it, but so far I (and he) prefer to avoid it. The sulfa drug he is on keeps it down to a normal level at the moment.

He still has breakouts but now he's no worse off than most of his classmates, so he's comfortable with this level of cure. If it stops working we'll consider the Accutane, but he would rather not deal with those side effects if something less pernicious can keep it relatively under control.