The Notorious Accutane

[ishootblanks]

Have any of you kind folks used this Accutane stuff for cystic acne? I'm strongly considering using it to get rid of this ridiculous acne that I've had for around 13 years. I've heard plenty of horror stories about it, but it seems to me that the worst of the side effects are outliers, aside from dry skin and possibly depression (which I experience off and on already). I'm just stuck on deciding whether the risk is worth not looking horrible every day. Could any of you share some stories about personal use of Accutane, particularly in how effective it was and the side effects you experienced?

I used it for a month when I was about 18.. had nasty acne all over my body.. while I was using it it cleared up the majority of acne that was not on my face.. but it gave me nasty dry skin sores.. I looked like I had ring worm all over my hands and what not.. I had to stop using it as it was affecting my liver.. but the acne did not come back either.. obviously it didn't cure it.. but it was still 1000 times better than before taking it..

I did not have any weird issues with depression or moodiness.. but I also used it before everyone was on 15 different mood changing medications too..

[Sunseeker]

The constant liver testing and the fact that I felt like crap all the time made me quit.

[Sylvre]

He has already stated he's got cystic acne.

Ya.. and there are degrees of severity for cystic acne....

[eriseis]

Ya.. and there are degrees of severity for cystic acne....

But isn't severe regardless?

[Dorian]

I used it for 8 months when I was 18 or 19. Totally worth it.
Only side effect I had was the dry lips, which was easily handled with ceralip
I had to do blood exams every month, but nothing abnormal showed up

[Sylvre]

But isn't severe regardless?

Are the cysts individual or have they converged? How much of the face does it cover? Has it responded to antibiotics?

Systemic antibiotics are a standard of care in the management of moderate and severe acne and treatment-resistant forms of inflammatory acne.

Oral isotretinoin is approved for the treatment of severe recalcitrant nodular acne.

[eriseis]

Are the cysts individual or have they converged? How much of the face does it cover? Has it responded to antibiotics?

I don't know medicine. I'm going from what I've heard and experienced.

[MeleeSpriestDK]

Yeah dont listen to the bullshit commercials. Ive used it twice for a few months. Its the best shit in the world for acne. Been clear since 2009.

[speehs]

Thanks for the replies, champs. I'm going to try to start on it this week or the next.

[Deadvolcanoes]

From what I've read it should be a last resort.

What else have you tried. I would recommend acne.org. They have a program that worked wonders for me.

Use a cleansed, followed by some benzoyl peroxide, followed by a moisturizer, twice per day. I stuck to it and after a month or two my cystic acne was gone.

[Masark]

From what I've read it should be a last resort.

Yes. Isotronin is a last resort treatment for after topical solutions, topical antibiotics, and oral antibiotics have failed to get the job done.

If you are male, go ahead. However, if you are a fertile female... I don't think doctors even prescribe it to us anymore. That stuff literally destroys the blood-system of the fetus, usually causing miscarriage. Even if you don't have an active sexlife, at least here you are still forced to visit the doctor for pregnancy test at least once a month. Yes, males will get side effects like thin skin and such, but you can usually cope with that. Accutane's bad reputation is mostly about the miscarriage part, but it's still a strong drug and I do recommend trying other things first. For women - unless you are infertile this is your absolute last choice.

AFAICT, isotronin is the subject of a clusterfuck of a legal program in the US which makes the prescription and distribution of it worse than a lot of narcotics, even for men.

[FathomFear]

My doctor prescribed it to me when I was younger. It sort of worked, but I had much more success with antibiotics, specifically Minocycline. I've actually been taking the later for about 7 years now (100mg a day).