Anyone considering Accutane....(my experience so far)

[Damian]

Accutane is great for acne, but I have to put a word of caution out there. Accutane is known to have negative psychological effects. One of my friends from my old high school got into a horrible accutane-induced depression and ended up hurting herself.

If you feel in ANY way depressed or if you have any of those kinds of thoughts, don't blow them off as "just thoughts". Accutane has messed up a lot of troubled teens, so if you feel off, see a doctor or a psychiatrist before you do anything drastic.

 

[canadianmetalhead]

i tihnk it might be a placebo affect however, and as someone else said its not as much a depression as it just makes you tired alot of the time, and un-motivated. this is all in your willpower. ive still been practising guitar at least 2 hours a day and doing my school work (university) so it will only affect you as muhc as you let it. most of my friends had no side affects whatsoever. also, i only took 40mg doses and it was enough for me. my skin was REALLY bad too.

and im from canada so its way cheaper for me than it would be for anyone else so i cant really comment on that.

universal health kicks ass

 

[mpimpin]

Bump

I started a 40 mg dose about two months ago and am now on to a 60mg dose with a target dose of 80mg in the future. I don't understand why its so much. I had moderate acne which cleared up with the 40 mg dosage.

My blood tests reported a higher liver count and high cholesterol caused by the drug.

So far I've only had dry cracked lips and slight back pain. It's worth it. I just hope things don't get worse with higher dosages and/or that they take me off it.


It cost me $5 for the first prescription but for some reason went up to $30 for the second prescription, which still isn't bad. I do have great health insurance though.
I've drank a few times while on it and haven't experienced anything different, though I am being cautious and staying away from liquor and drinking moderately

 

[moneybanks24]

Ive been on accutane for 6 months (almost done!). My skin has cleared up tremendously. During the first couple months, I got severely chapped lips and aches in my back. No psychological effects that can be directly correlated with the accutane though. A bit worried because my skin is becomning a bit oily again, I just hope my system isnt becoming numb to the drug.

 

[619joe]

Guys update from my post haha

Well I went to Disneyland few weeks ago and I knew I was gonna be in the sun lots.I asked my derm if i should go off the drug because i WILL be tanning no matter what.I go off it and 3 weeks later i go back to him and he says that im fine without it.

The SUN helped because it made me darker while blending the skin he says and I realised that my acne is better while OFF the drug which is kinda wierd but ya.

Overall side effects arent THAT BAD but get annoying as ****.

Chapped Lips-W.e just carry around a chap stick and put it on regularly during the day no biggie
Dry Skin-Absolute hell to wake up in the morning with white all over your face and everything.Even if I scratched a part of my face for example just to see what happens,massive amounts of white crap because of the dryness start appearing and its just annoying as hell.

 

[joniso]

My acne has been a constant struggle since high school started. I think I may have tried every topical and drug under the sun in attempts to clear up my skin, when finally I decided that I had enough and would go on the 'tane.

I started 40mg doses of January 6th of this year, had my dosage upped to 80mg on February 8th and I'm staying with the 80mg until June 6th.

So far my side effects have been incredibly mild:

1. Initial breakout first week
2. Peeling skin first 2 weeks
3. Dry lips
4. 'Tane burn' (flushed/red face)

To this date (2 months in tmrw :rockon, I can honestly say the side effects of the drug haven't been bad at all. For the first time in years my skin is improving. I've a few people comment about my improving skin (mostly my family), although I feel it is improving at a pretty slow rate.

The hardest thing for me by far has been not drinking. Twice however I have drank 8+ beer and I can say that I haven't felt any different than normal. This is in no way a recommendation to drink on Accutane, listen to your doctor. But in my personal experience, smoking weed or drinking alcohol has been no different on accutane than without.

While on the accutane I have played highly competitive sports, lifted weighs at the gym religiously, added to all my max presses at the gym and put on 5lbs of muscle. My blood tests have actually IMPROVED since starting the Accutane. (Probably due to significantly lower levels of fast food / alcohol consumption)

So my personal experience has been very positive thus far.

Hey dude, sry 4 bringing up old post. Was your flushing severe, and did it fade?

 

[Ice882]

Acutane is beast mode. Acne is just a ***** to deal with - you spend the day thinking about your face. Now I'm admiring my face instead of hiding it. Take acutane. You're gonna like the way you look, I guarantee it (yeah men's wearhouse).

 

[Oxide]

www.acne.org

works if you do it twice a day

 

[faiNt`]

if you are considering taking acutane - F*CKING DO IT

in trying to make this post short, i won't go into much detail, but this sh*t works.

i had it really bad .. all over my face and back .. it was terrible. now i am clean and clear .. it's a f*cking amazing feeling

TAKE ACUTANE .. IT WILL MAKE EVERYTHING EASIER

 

[kevin1198]

I used to have really bad acne that would never go away.
At first, i thought accutane was too risky, but i took the leap anyways, and it was GREAT!!.

I started out 80mg and continued for 12 months, now im taking 40mg pill a day, and im on my 13th month, face never looked better!!

 

[Pdizzzzzzle]

I heard it can cause depression. Is that true?

 

[faiNt`]

I heard it can cause depression. Is that true?

During the studies conducted with medicine, many patients ALREADY have depression and thus false positives occur because of tampered conditions. Personally I feel the depression is a load of BS because depression is completely mental and the medicine only deals with your oil secretions. Believe what you want; I'm speaking from experience.

 

[mpimpin]

I heard it can cause depression. Is that true?

I put it off for years because I was worried about this, but finally got fed up and took it. Had some stomach problems, back aches, and chapped lips, but very worth it!! almost two years after taking it I still keep chap stick on hand but my lips aren't bad and everything else went away after I stopped taking it.

I recommend it. It works quickly and really helps. the side effects are worth it

 

[BuckwildSantos]

What side effects? I seriously never noticed anything but dry lips and skin.

I've used accutane for MONTHS in a row, if not a year and a half total.. and I was already clear after a year, but i wanted to prevent it from comming back (besides, I could freely re-order my medication lol)

Anyway, as of today I - as do many others - have my occaisional zit her or there, but that's it!

As I stated above I suffered from dry lips and skin, but that's easily solvable with some hydrating cream and chapstix or however you americans call that stuff.

I say go for it, it's awesome stuff, but don't overdo it.. you just have to accept there'll be some zits here and there from time to time.

The only real advice i can give you when it comes to "side effects" is that you should evade sunbathing.. last time i tried (3 weeks after i stopped my medication), it still felt like I was burning alive, which hurt ofcourse.

 

[MikeyDJ]

I find it funny that my first post here is in an acne thread. But yeah anyways, my mate from school, probably had the worst acne in the year, his doctor prescribed him some stuff called 'oxytetracycline', and it's already clearing up, it's better than mine now (i've always been the kind of guy who gets a few horrible big spots than just bein covered...i have loads round my mouth and the sides of my mouth at the moment though, horrible). Has anyone had any experience with this stuff? would you recommend it? Cos clearasil, oxy and loads of natural remedies have all failed at fixin my skin =/.

 

[Hikapo]

Accutane is awesome. If you have very bad acne, take it as early as possible.

I had very bad acne when I was in High School, it ruined my self-esteem, confidence and social skills.

Take it if you get big cysts that takes weeks to heal. If you have moderate acne you might wanna consider something else.

Drying of the skin is a common side effect. Those psychological side effects rarely happens if you have a health mind.

I highly recommend it. The earlier you solve your acne problems, the better it is.

 

[Dbr]

You should use accutane only in severe cases of acnea, it's powerful medication, used also in some types of cancer treatment.

For mild/moderate acnee just use topic treatments with antiinflammatory and antibiotic compounds such as SKINOREN (azelaic acid) and ZYNERIT (erythromicyn). These two are also efficient against sebum, so that you'll have a clean, dry face. Guess you cand find those meds in the US, i'm from Europe and these'r made in Germany.

Works fine, but you have to use it constantly.

Trust me, i'm a doctor ;]