Beauty

[shoekitty]

I would never want to use this medication! But, I have never needed to, and none of my family has needed it. . But you have to do what you have to do. Not one person on this thread has taken the medication lightly, and are all well informed. More important than that, they informed the kids, The choice must be so difficult.

Living with cystic acne, and the scars must be humiliating, and a real sabotage on self esteem. I have a friend who suffered horribly as a teen and young adult. They didn't have many choices 40 years ago! Her scars are bad, and there is only so much you can do about them. Even in this day and age of fillers, and plastic surgery. We all know that your friend accept you the way you are, but it has to have an effect on the one who id suffering from cystic acne.

[Texasmouse]

I hate to be one to give a negative review of Accutane but you wanted to know about different experiences so here's mine. I took a single six-month course and although it did clear up the acne on my back (didn't have it on my face) it made my hair start to fall out. I had a lot of hair and I have about 40% of the volume I once had. Thank goodness it keeps growing back to some extent, on a continuous basis, or I'd be bald. It's just constantly falling out so I decided to just go super short with it. When it was long, my hairdresser would be alarmed at how CLUMPS of it would come out when she'd come it out after shampooing. Also, my skin is now super sensitive to waxing and I can't have any done on my face without a layer of skin coming off along with the hair. Just thought you should hear a not-such-a success story.

[Summerfun]

My son just finished his last dose of Accutane. It was a miracle for him. He had it on his back, face and arms. They monitored him carefully with monthly blood test and visits. The only way you can get a refill is by going back to actually see the Dr. and he discusses everything possible with him. It was the best thing we could have done for him because he was at the point that nothing was helping. His skin looks awesome and the Dr. said it will still continue to stay in his system and work until around December. My son is very happy with the results. He did experience extremely dry lips...chap stick was his best friend and he used Vaseline for the outer lining of his nose to help with a dry nose and nose bleeds. The Dr. did tell not to go on the internet to read about the medicine because it's get negative reviews. He said if it was that bad it would have been taken off the market years ago. My SIL is a nurse practitioner and she strongly agreed with the Dr. We made the best decision for our son and no regrets. I think you are doing the right thing.

[beach-mom]

Both of my children were on it. DD was while she was in high school. She had cystic acne on her face, but on no other part of her body. The only side effect she had was dry. chapped lips. Her skin is absolutely beautiful now.

DS just went off it last month. Our dermatologist decided to put it on him right before he left for college far from here! To look at him then, you'd never know he needed it. His face was not broken out at all, but he had terrible cystic acne on his back and chest. As a swimmer, he was reluctant to ever take his T-shirt off. I called the university and talked to the doctor on campus. He was very reassuring. He told me he had 6 boys in the program, and there was another doctor who monitored the girls who were taking it. We had to transfer primary care to this doctor, and DS had to go online and take the "i-pledge" agreement before he could get his medication. Because of other things, he ended up not starting the medication until January. He had to have blood work once a month before he saw the doctor. HE had a lot of side effects - chapped lips, nosebleeds, "sunburn" looking face, and mood swings. When he came home for summer vacation, we saw his regular dermatologist. She saw him one more time before he left, told him to finish up the medication he had when he returned, and that would be it. It did make 100% difference. I was VERY reluctant to let him go on in the first place, because I'd heard the side effects were worse for boys, but we did the right thing. He's no longer self conscious about his chest and back.

One of the worst things for him was the "not drinking" part. I know he's underage, but he was a freshman going to fraternity parties! He told me he was good last year, but I think he's making up for it now!

The bottom line for me in both children's situation was if we didn't do something they would be left with permanent scarring. We didn't want that.

One more thing, like your daughter, mine was indignant about the whole pregancy thing! She was not happy when she had to get a monthly test to see if she was pregnant. And like yours, she was already on birth control pills for heavy periods. She has always had strong values, and couldn't believe they wouldn't take her at her word that she was abstinent.

[twins mom]

I took Accutane a long long time ago... had no side effects from it..... haven't met anyone who has....you need to watch your cholesterol... when you look at Accutane being Vitamin A that made me feel better about it... yes it helped my skin....Yes I would take it again.

[twins mom]

On 10/30/2014 Day1128 said:

I took 2 rounds of Accutane when I was in my twenties. I wish it had been an option when I was a teenager. I suffered with acne and have very mild scarring. I am sure if I had been able to take Accutane has a teenager I would not have the scarring. The only side effects I had was some dry lips. The doctor made sure I was taking birth control when I was on the Accutane as it should not be taken when pregnant. Good luck to your daughter.

just adding on I took it in my 20s... only had one round probably should have had two.... the only thing I had besides dry lips was a real real sun sensitivity and I got some really great sunburns during that time...

[mom2four]

I took Accutane as a teenager in the 80s. I had to take my blood monthly. Other than that I can't remember too many side effects. It did work well.

My teenage son has also taken Accutane. We're very happy with his results. He did have some dryness, but nothing too bad. He had to be very careful and use sunscreen. And he also had to take blood monthly.

I recommend it.

[Theresa1121]

Read what is online. It is a chemotherapy drug developed for brain cancer. There is a reason there are so many lawsuits. My adult daughter took it for 6 months 2 years ago and I didn't think her acne was even that bad to warrant taking such strong medication.

There is only one doctor in this entire area who will even prescribe it. That speaks volumes as far as I am concerned. She had to sign waivers she would not sue the doctor or the drug company. She is now out of work and struggling with many emotional issues. Nothing can be proven but she describes it as not being able to think anymore. Yes, there are success stories but when in doubt, don't has always worked for me as does, better to be safe than sorry. Potent stuff.

[Wsmom]

I was on it in my 40s. I got horrible acne when I was pregnant with my kids and it just didn't stop, so finally a doc put me on Accutane. I wish it had been suggested to me sooner. Any side effect I had I really can't remember now...dry lips, but so worth it. I know when I took it there was media attention about a boy who jumped off a building....I can't remember the whole story now. It was blamed on the Accutane. They also mentioned he'd had a bottle of alcohol to drink. I'm thinking that may have contributed to it. I didn't notice any kind of depression or anything when I was on it and told my husband and kids to point out to me if they noticed any change in me.

[Junker2327]

My daughter is now 29. She started with Acne at the age of 15. The derm put her on Accutane. After she started it the Acne got 50 times worse. The way this medicine works is that it starts clearing your skin from the top and works its way down your face, body etc. Her acne was so bad that I had to pull her out of school and get her home schooled because teenagers are cruel and she was embarrassed. Our derm told me that her case was the worst he had ever seen and he was head derm of a medical school. Top Dr in our area. About six months into it, I took her to the Dr because her bones started huring and kept getting worse and worse and finally she couldn't even walk. I had to take her to the room in a wheelchair. It was terrible. The Dr immediately put her in the hospital. MRI, cat scans, etc were done and within two days in the hospital she got worse and worse. They had medical teams all over the country on the phone reagarding her case. She was taken off the Acutane during the hospital stay and then it really spiraled out of control. So finally they figured out to put her on predinisone. Once she started on that, her symptons went away immediately. Everything inside of her was swelling up. Once they got her adjusted on the predinisone they reintroduced the acutane in a smaller dose. She took it till her course was done and things went ok. Her acne during that time was so bad and did not clear up until years later. She was an unusual case. She has had laser surgery once but her scars are too deep so that did no good. She never went back to school. She was taught her whole high school at home. She does not hardly ever have a breakout now but does have deep scarring. Her twin brother was on it also but he did not have it anything like her. When he took it, he did not like it at all so I had a hard time keeping him on it. He did have dry lips. As I said before, it starts to clear you from the top down so with him he went off of it about two thirds of the way through and once it got to his chest, the acne came out, but he had stopped the medicine so he did not get completely cleared in his chest area. He never had any of the problems that she had. I have other family members who have taken it and it was a miracle drug for them. It is a very very potent medicine so you must take that into consideration. It will also bring the acne all out during treatment and that could be hard on the patient so that is something you have to take into consideration also. I never ever dreamed what it brought out of my daughter. I would not recommend this drug unless the patient had a fairly good case of acne or cystic acne.

Beckyblu