Accutane (?)

[fg0d]

Okay, first I'd like to introduce myself, I'm fg0d from the SuFu forums.

I've had acne for 3 years, it wasn't bad at the start, but I have basically tried every combination of topical and oral antiobiotics. Nothing has helped me with my acne. My skin now has red marks and I get nodular acne. I've almost convinced my parents to let me go on Accutane, because I feel its kind of a last resort before just waiting it out. My sister, a Pharmacy D., says that the unknown side effects of accutane are probably not worth running the risk of taking the med. My brother and her have both taken the medicine with no problems, and his face is clear, and she still had light recovering redmarks, and the occasional break out. My question is, at appr. 170lbs and at the age of 15, do you think that it would be smart to go on accutane? I've spoken to pharmacists, my derm., and a general physician, and they all say that I should try it. Can I have some personal opinions, stories about your experience, or your general knowledge? Thanks a lot.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by fg0d

Okay, first I'd like to introduce myself, I'm fg0d from the SuFu forums.

I've had acne for 3 years, it wasn't bad at the start, but I have basically tried every combination of topical and oral antiobiotics. Nothing has helped me with my acne. My skin now has red marks and I get nodular acne. I've almost convinced my parents to let me go on Accutane, because I feel its kind of a last resort before just waiting it out. My sister, a Pharmacy D., says that the unknown side effects of accutane are probably not worth running the risk of taking the med. My brother and her have both taken the medicine with no problems, and his face is clear, and she still had light recovering redmarks, and the occasional break out. My question is, at appr. 170lbs and at the age of 15, do you think that it would be smart to go on accutane? I've spoken to pharmacists, my derm., and a general physician, and they all say that I should try it. Can I have some personal opinions, stories about your experience, or your general knowledge? Thanks a lot.

Accutane can have some horrendous side effects. I've seen some people with patches of dry skin years after they stopped taking it. My brother used it w/o any side effects, but I think they are fairly common.

 

[tiecollector]

If you plan on having a liver transplant, then go for the accutane. seriously, don't do it. try some fish oil supplements, eliminate refined sugars from your diet and use a facial soap with sea buckthorn. BTW, this is your first post. why make it a medical question on a forum dealing with men's clothing? www.acne.org

 

[ninpoo]

My friend takes it, and she says it will seriously **** up your skin the first month. You'll get more acne than you ever had in your life the first month. It'll get better after the first month, but she says it might give you scars. You're only 15, which is a very common age for acne, so I wouldn't suggest it.

I'm a college student and I have fairly clear skin, just the usual pimple now and then. I was greedy and wanted absolutely clear skin, so I bought into the hype of proactiv, and that **** gave me more pimples. I'm going to stick with the usual soap and water from now on.

 

[tiecollector]

Missed the fact that you are only 15. If your acne is worse than normal, then see an endocrinologist about trying to balance your hormone levels, since they can affect your acne. Don't let them put your on meds either, I'd just get the tests done then go see an herbalist or something like that.

 

[fg0d]

What do they use to balance hormone levels? I have heard of prescription hormone medicines that give people living hell through out their whole course. The only reason I asked here was because I thought I would get more experienced posts and less of a push to go on accutane. I just want some opinions.

 

[fg0d]

Well, my acne has been getting progessively worse over the years. At this point I am afraid of further scarring my skin...

What do they use to balance hormone levels? I have heard of prescription hormone medicines that give people living hell through out their whole course. The only reason I asked here was because I thought I would get more experienced posts and less of a push to go on accutane. I just want some opinions.

 

[chanimal]

hey, i took accutane when i was 18, which was about 6 years ago, in my case i didnt have the really bad break out at the begining of the my dosage and my skin cleared up pretty quickly, in terms of side effects i think i may have gained a bit of weight and i went through a bout of depression but it also may have been a result of my current situation from graduating high school and going to uni, hope this helps, personally i would do it again, my skin looks good and i never have break outs and even the odd pimple is rare

 

[StockwellDay]

Also took Accutane, twice actually in my teenage years, probably right around 15. It's a wonder drug.

Now, I've had to carry chap stick around with me ever since (everything dries out when you go on it, skin, lips, etc), But i don't really mind (i think its now just a bad habit). My skin did get very dry, but I had persistent (not terrible) acne that wouldn't go away. The Accutane did well to clear it up, but then it came back. My dermatologist put me back on a lower dosage a second time and from there on out I almost never got another pimple. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I never had any depression and with monthly blood tests they make sure your liver won't be damaged.

YMMV.

 

[persid]

I went on a four month long treatment back when I was 19. I had very oil skin and Accutane worked miracles on it. No depression at all, and all the dryness problems went away a few weeks after getting off of the drug. I've had almost no acne since then.

I wound not go as far as to recommend it at your age, but I will say that I wish I did it a few years sooner than I had. Try other options before Accutane because it really can have side effects. That said, if you do go through with it, drink LOTS of water and avoid mirrors in the first few weeks

 

[fg0d]

Originally Posted by StockwellDay

Also took Accutane, twice actually in my teenage years, probably right around 15. It's a wonder drug. Now, I've had to carry chap stick around with me ever since (everything dries out when you go on it, skin, lips, etc), But i don't really mind (i think its now just a bad habit). My skin did get very dry, but I had persistent (not terrible) acne that wouldn't go away. The Accutane did well to clear it up, but then it came back. My dermatologist put me back on a lower dosage a second time and from there on out I almost never got another pimple. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I never had any depression and with monthly blood tests they make sure your liver won't be damaged. YMMV.
I don't think depression will be a problem, the only depression I would go through is having acne in the first place

At this point, it seems like a last resort before just waiting it out. My acne, while not very bad, is extremely persistant, and over the last 3 or more years, I've tried every topical cream my derm. knows about, and I regret the first time I ever tried them. My face right now is scarred and there are some odd bumps and other unexplainable blemishes, and I feel that if I never started topical medicines, I could have avoided some of that. Some of the posts here are very convincing. I might just try it, especially since my brother and sister went through it without major problems, and I'm probably taller/heavier than my brother, if that effects anything at all.

 

[coachvu]

I went through two full treatments with Accutane, the first around your age. Nothing else was working, and Accutane helped me avoid quite a bit of scarring. It's been on the market for a while, so I wouldn't worry about these "unknown" side effects. Using that theory, none of us should use any medications. In the past, there was some concern about Accutane causing depression, but no studies have found conclusive evidence of this. It sounds like your dermatologist (the one who should be prescribing this, by the way) is using it correctly. You've tried many other treatments, and they aren't working. Your skin will dry out quite a bit, so just make sure you use lots of lotion. I also had extremely chapped lips as a result. I used Vaseline intensive care lip balm every day, and that seemed to do the trick. Hope this helps.

 

[Brian278]

If your doctors are recommending it, do it. I was in the same position as you, I was 15 and had very, very bad skin and nothing else would work. I know how it can make life difficult in general when you look like that, girls have no interest in you, it's tough to look in the mirror every morning. I tried Accutane after having a few of my friends try it with good results, and like someone else said, it was a miracle drug. Withing a few months I had 100% clear skin, and it stayed that way for 2 years (I did a lower dosage 4 month course later). When my acne did come back, it was much, much milder and manageable with antibiotics and some usage of prescription topical stuff. It really changed the course of my high school experience, girls now thought I was cute, I started dressing better and taking more pride in my appearance in general, and my confidence and self esteem changed for good.

I my case, it didn't get worse at first, but it is very drying. You will need to started carrying lip balm at all times, but this is a small price to pay. As soon as I stopped taking taking it the dryness went away instantly. You can also become more sensitive to the sun, but that was mild for me and taken care of with an SPF 15. You do take blood tests every month to monitor the side effects (I had none here). The only other thing I noticed was more sensitivity to muscle soreness, which might effect you more if you're an athlete. I have 6 friends that went on it as well in high school and they all had the same experience I did. I think the risks are overblown, dermatologists wouldn't be prescribing this like they do if this was a regularly unsafe drug. Get on it now and save yourself any more future permanent scarring.

 

[fg0d]

Yeah, as confident as I am, about who I am and what not, acne is still a bummer. I'm sure that if I improved my skin, and maybe lost a few of those lazy summer pounds, I'd be in game (girls dig my style

). Thanks for the info, it's very relieving. I'm going to give this post another day just to see what others think, then I'll be scheduling an appointment with my parents/siblings and my derm. I have a question, how bad was everyones initial breakout, and did you use anything to combat it?

 

[coachvu]

Originally Posted by fg0d

I have a question, how bad was everyones initial breakout, and did you use anything to combat it?

I didn't have an initial breakout with Accutane. Although some apparently did have one, I don't think it's necessarily typical. I'm 24 and still occasionally have some acne. For the last several years, the best thing for me have been presciprtion clindamycin phosphate pads. These work much better for me than Oxy or Stridex pads. You might want to try them after the Accutane.