On 10/31/2014 Chihuahualuv said: On 10/30/2014 bandmomof3 said: My son took Accutane about 2 years ago when he was 19. His derm told us what some of the side effects were, but also said they were rare and sometimes couldn't be traced to strictly Accutane. After discussions with my son and the derm, we decided to give it a try. The monthly monitoring was helpful; they did all the "medical testing" to be sure the medicine was doing it's job, but my son also spent time with one of the nurse practitioners in the office (he had the same one each time) who talked about life in general, how he was feeling, etc. I think that helped keep somewhat of a track of his emotional state. Of course, I had a very open discussion with my son up front and felt like there was a good understanding of the side effects and how I hoped he would let me know if he was having strange feelings. I also warned him that I may be "watching" him more closely for signs of stress and that I hoped he understood and would humor me! I felt he knew it was out of love for him that I was willing to try the medicine yet watch for bad side effects. The nurse practitioner also gave my son her office phone number that he was to call if he ever had questions or felt like he needed to talk.
I have to tell you that he saw small results very quickly (I can't remember exactly..thinking a little over a week but may be wrong on that) and it was SUCH a moral booster for him! He did have dry lips but I bought Burts Bees as the nurse practitioner suggested and he used it all the time. That was about the only true side effect I noticed. He didn't really have extremely dry skin, and he started in October and went through the winter.
From my experience with my son, Accutane was the best thing that happened to him. It was a quick, thorough solution to an issue that had been plaguing him throughout high school.
Good luck with your decision. Good communication is a key player here, I think...both with derm and patient.
Shari
Thank you for posting this Shari!
My pleasure! I remember feeling very torn when this option was presented to us, so I think I know where you are. At the time, I asked around to my friends and appreciated their stories and experiences, so I am glad my son's experience may help you.
Everyone has to do what they think is best, that is the bottom line. However, my son really got "down" on himself with his acne, and he became very introverted for awhile. He knew some friends who were on Accutane, so really wanted to try it; that in itself helped his morale when I agreed. Then, when he saw such wonderful results (and two years later is still clear), his confidence is back and he just commented last month like he feels like a different person now. Once when he was heading out the door recently, I told him he looked handsome, and he stopped and said to me "you know, I finally think maybe I am". Our family definitely isn't "all about the looks" so we always treated him the same no matter what his skin looked like. But the fact that he feels good about himself means the world to me.
Again, good luck as you decide. It isn't an easy one and there will be many opinions. I do think the fact that there have been some side effects early on have helped more awareness as the patient goes through treatment. More safeguards seem to be in place now than years ago. Plus, I have a son so we didn't have to worry about the whole pregnancy thing.
Have a wonderful weekend...
Shari
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