Accutane....is it worth it??

Question

I am a 13 year old girl with moderate to severe acne. My derm prescribed accutane (3 pills a day 40mg) to me and today is my first dose. I've heard several things about the drug such as severe depression, thoughts of suicide, excessive dryness and peeling...and i'm wondering if it's all gonna be worth it?? Also i've heard a lot about people having blood drawn monthly, but my derm said nothing about this to me. So if anyone could tell me about their experiences with the drug i would be very greatful
thnx:]

Answer 1

I agree with Lucy. One of the most dangerous medications on the market. I think you are WAY to young to be placed on such a drug so quickly. Have all the other possibilities been exhausted? Have you tried other medications or did your doctor just delve into this one?
Let me educate you a bit on Accutane. While it definitely clears up even the worst of acne, it is severely drying to your skin on all parts of your body. You need to go have blood drawn to test for toxicity of your liver because Accutane is Vitamin A in very "high doses"....try 400,000 IUs. While regular supplements on the shelf contain no more than 10,000 IUs, Accutane contains far more. Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin and it is stored in the liver. If you have too much of it, it can damage your liver--hence, taking Accutane's toxicity to the liver. You're only given a low dose of it and for, I am guessing, 6 mos, and then you will need to come off of it. Your acne will usually reappear on some level, but will not completely go away. The other gentleman is mistaken and is only taking his own personal experience. Pregnant women or women who are planning to become pregnant should not take it as it causes deformities in the human fetus. At thirteen years of age, I would seriously look at other alternatives. The side effects out weigh the benefits, and do you really want to risk that all for smooth skin?
I started breaking out with pimples at the age of ten. I took Accutane at the age of seventeen for six months, my acne reappeared and got worse, especially around the time of my period. My acne has stayed with me for several years and, finally, went on Accutane again at the age of twenty seven. I took it for a month and found out, by surprise, that my husband and I were expecting a baby. Alarmed, I went off of it immediately and went to see my doctor for my concerns with the pregnancy. He told me that I had come off of the medication just in time and that I should hope for the best. Luckily, my son was okay and didn't have any deformities or mental challenges.
Over the course of the years, I did some of my own investigation with regards to Accutane and its effects on people and was alarmed by my findings. I wouldn't risk the life of a goat on that stuff. My stepson is taking it and I only question the condition of his liver. He had a very horrible case of acne, but acne pales in comparison to the horrible ramifications that Accutane causes.
I sympathize with your concerns as most of the human population goes through it one time or another in their lives, but there are other alternatives. The quick fix pills are the ones that tend to give you the results you want with the least desireable side effects.
Do your homework on the subject and talk extensively about this with your doctor. Good luck.

Answer 2

Short Answer: YES!

Longer Answer: It has really helped me. Wow, that was a long time ago and I have not thought about my previous acne in years (14 years ago). I tried a a whole mess of other things and they helped but not too much. The Accutane cleared my skin, reduced its oil flow permanently (still oily but not like it was), and allowed me to look a lot better thereby increasing my self confidence. It did dry my hands, my feet and my lips. I was on a very low dose cause a higher dose made me tired for some reason. The low dose worked fine. I had to get my blood checked every month because it can cause liver damage, but the blood check is making sure your liver is doing ok (re: don't worry, the blood check is to make sure nothing is being adversly affected). I would ask the Dr. about the blood checks, maybe research has shown this is not warrented anymore, but if it hasn't, you need to check with the Dr.

I do still have a pimple from time to time but I can just use over the counter stuff and it goes away very fast. I think it was worth it.

Answer 3

When my son had a severe case of acne, at 15, he took Accutane. His scars just disappeared, his acne went away, leaving his skin looking as though he was born with perfectly smooth, wonderful skin, all over his body. He went from being frustrated with his acne, to modeling as a profession!
The accutane means you will need to stay out of the sun, your skin will get very dry while you are on the medication. Since your doctor is prescribing such a low amount, I doubt if you would expect to have any serious negative side effects.
The wonderful part about Accutane, is that it does not just clear your skin for now.............it just clears if up, forever! As long as you finish the complete dose of medication that your doctor has you on, you should NEVER have a complexion with any problems, from now on.
I think it is WELL worth it.

Answer 4

When I was on accutane I didn't suffer from severe depression, thoughts of suicide but I did have dryness and peeling. Also, you should have blood drawn monthly because accutane can have some affects on your internal organs like your liver. Also, when i was on it i developed symptoms of Anemia (lacking of iron) and my acne got worse for the first few months and then it started to get better, but about a month after I stopped taking it, it started to come back. Anyway, right now I am using ProActiv, it is on those infomercials and it is working as good or even better than accutane without the symptoms of it. P.S. I had severe acne.

Answer 5

I think Accutane is one of the worst drugs to be put on for acne especially for someone your age. There are so many side-affects and yes you are supposed to have blood drawn on a regular basis while on it. Also - when you go off it you break out all over again.

There are so many other products. Have you to tried Pro-Active? There is also an acne cleansing product by Intensive Spa - a Dead Sea product from Israel that a friend used and it worked great on her. It's available on-line. Google:
"deep sea-cosmetics" & to the right side of the home page is a little box that reads Black Head Treatment...
I looked it up for you - code 2006 Black Head Treatment
$29.80 consists of exfoliating mud mask & deep cleansing mud soap. Shipping is free... it's worth a try.

Answer 6

I take it and it works great. I think the side effects are overrated. My mom says that they put all those warnings on it because one person who took it was flying a plane and crashed it. It was just some random fluke, but people thought he was committing suicide, so they launched a massive investigation, and it got all this publicity for no good reason.
It does make your skin kinda dry at first, especially around your mouth, but my dermaologist had something that fixed that. I'm sure yours will too.

I don't think I ever got any blood test, but I did have to go to my dermatologist once a month or so, so he could make sure it wasn't changing my behavior.

Hope this helps.