The common name of the miracle drug isotretinoin (13-cis retanoic acid) that cures any and all severe acne.
My question: has anyone ever used it before/know anyone who has used it? If so, what was their experience like (side effects, etc.), how long did they have to stay on the drug, and how well did it work overall?
Backstory
It's not that I have utterly SEVERE acne, but facial/chest/back blemishes have been an issue for me for the past five years, and I'm at the point in treatment where this drug would (apparently) be the next step. I've been seeing a dermatologist off and on for the past two years, but I finally decided over winter break that I wanted to kick this bitch to the curb once and for all, so I went back to the dermatologist to finalize a "kill regimen" that I could stick to for a couple months.
Fast forward now, three months later. I'm using 4 different topical products every morning and 5 different ones (the morning four plus a specific nighttime one), and am taking 125 mg doses of minocycline (antibiotic) twice a day, and yet after 3 months of diligent work (not to mention decent care over the past 4+ years), my condition hasn't gotten any better. Sure, it's cleared up a bit from before, but it's at a point of equilibrium now. To make matters worse, my genetics essentially dictate I have bad skin, as my father had horrible acne as a teenager and still has overworking sebaceous glands at 50. My skin is so bad it's capable of producing enough excess oil within 5.5 hours to use up four oil-blotting pads.
So the answer? After doing minor research I've discovered that Accutane is usually described as the "do-all end-all" drug, the final step if all else before fails (with the preceding step usually listed as 'topical + antibiotic combination,' which, again, I'm on but doesn't work). I talked with a friend tonight who said two of her siblings used it and have never had a problem with acne since, and as I'm aware from research it also shrinks the size of your sebaceous glands, which means overly oily skin wouldn't be an issue anymore, either. Clearly, then, I REALLY want to start this drug treatment.
But there are side effects.
I'll let you guys do the research if you so care and are still interested in this topic even after trudging through my wall-of-text (sorry!), but because this drug is much more powerful than anything else usually used to treat acne, I wanted to get an understanding of the experiences others went through with it before starting treatment myself.
tl;dr: My skin sucks, Accutane's a miracle drug that will fix my problems forever, but because it's so powerful I want to get as much information from previous users as I can before starting treatment.
I had bad acne on my face, and NOTHING would work on me. No creams, no face washes, nothing. Eventually I hated going outside and near refused to do it without at least trying to cover spots with foundation. Self confidence took a huge hit, hid in the shadows etc. Then I finally went to a doctor about it, and he prescribed me isotretinoin. One week and my skin was clear. I stayed on it for 6 months, I only came off it around February this year. I was nervous when I first came off it, in case everything came back. However, my acne seems to be 'cured'. My skin looks great. I do get the occasional spot, but the longest one lasted overnight. One even went away in 2 hours.
As for the side effects. One side effect you're going to get is dryness in skin. I moisturized every single night of those 6 months. Your skin will not LOOK dry, it's not going to crack or anything, but you can just feel it. It's not horrible, not even bad, but you can definitely feel it. Just slap on some moisturizer and you're good to go (I still actually use it, because it's just become a habit and it's good for my skin). Another thing I want to warn you about is your lips. While I took care of my face, my lips actually got too dry and actually cracked. I forgot about taking care of them. I just bought a small, inexpensive tube of lip repair ointment stuff and they were fine in a few days, but just watch out for it. While I didn't experience it, I also know depression can be a side effect. Every month my doctor would check up on how I was feeling, but I always felt better, because I could finally go out in public again. People may think it sounds sad, but acne is a real confidence killer (for me, at least). Another thing I had to do was monthly blood tests, because something could have done something and something could have happened (I'm not really clear on what they were testing for). But I know they did something to do with my liver / lippids (whatever those are). Any side effects can really be found on the Wikipedia page, but all side effects were minor and no negatives could have trumped the overwhelming positives.
Overall, I say go for it. I'd tell anyone who wanted to cure their acne to take it. The second best part was that it was fully subsidized by my government. Every month my 30 miracle capsules would cost me 10 cents each.
Pretty much what Rick said, only without the tl;dr.
Used it for 7 months. 60 capsules a month for me (My acne was kinda bad), all of it went poof and hasn't come back since. The only real bad side effect I've had was sensitivity to UV rays and dry skin.
One side effect none of you really need to worry about is birth defects. Pregnant women should not use this. You also can not give blood while on this drug, because if it is given to a pregnant woman it could cause the baby to be born with a defect. Apparently, the defects are fairly severe too, like possible mental retardation.
My older brother is taking it, one of the side effects is depression. His face is getting better, he cant drink alcohol since it does something to his liver if I remember correctly. He needed to have a blood test to see if he could take it and well he can. His Acne was so severe it would cause pain.
Kabanaw Wrote:One side effect none of you really need to worry about is birth defects. Pregnant women should not use this. You also can not give blood while on this drug, because if it is given to a pregnant woman it could cause the baby to be born with a defect. Apparently, the defects are fairly severe too, like possible mental retardation.
Well, I don't think FrozNlite needs to worry about getting pregnant.
It's different with everyone. I was about to take it, got the prescription, and decided not too. Didn't want to take the risks. Instead you can take some precautions in avoiding acne.
Wash your face with some very milk soap...I use nutrogena and their oil-free wash, morning and night, after activity or whenever I feel like my skin is a little too oily.
Exfoliate your skin with a soft cloth or one of those scrubby gloves from Bath and Bodyworks/The Body shop or where ever. Put some of the oil-free wash on it and gently scrub away the dead skin on your face, once or twice a week. Your skin should feel soft afterwards and when you rub it, you shouldn't feel any dead skin/dry skin after.
Get some toner and apply it to your skin right after, this might burn a little depending on how often you do it and how hard you exfoliated (that's why I said be gentle). Toner will soothe and moisturize your skin.
Avoid creams that are oil based, look for oil free moisturizers if your skin is feeling dry. Summer's coming up, look for oil free sun screen too.
If you use a cellphone, CLEAN it often with clorox or something anti-bacterial or rubbing alcohol. You might find the side of your face which you use your cellphone on has worse acne.
Last but least, don't dont dont dont DO NOT touch them, pinch them, squeeze them.
Also, if they don't bother you too much, don't take accutane, just do what I've said above and it should get better as you age.
My friend Chris used it for about 8 months, in his late 20s when time wasn't magically making it clear up as he'd hoped and none of the other standard advice had helped.
Did wonders for him when nothing else did, and his only complaint was the oft-mentioned dryness and photosensitivity.
@ XTOTHEL: Thanks, but I'm a gay microbiologist. I'm exceedingly well aware of the various products used to cleanse oneself, and am already using a vast number on a daily basis (goes along with Rick's comment about moisturizers - I love them so much I have 5 different kinds, including a fabulous $50 jar from Clinique). Trust me, I'm capable of understanding where I am in the process of eradicating my acne, and that's to take it to the final step with Accutane. Like I said in my spoiler, it's been a problem for 5 years that has never truly gotten better no matter what I throw at it. Not to mention the fact that I have ridiculously oily skin (also listed in the spoiler), which this drug would help cure.
@ ClawofBeta: ;D. But it's still a good comment considering we do have female forum users. According to my College Democrat friend who leads our Women's Caucus (and who had an older brother and sister who both used Accutane with the same phenomenal results Rick reported), it is illegal for pregnant women to take the drug considering the risks are so severe. But yes, as a gay male those are the last of my worries.
@ Harrisonized: Again, I know; as I said in my spoiler, my acne isn't stereotypical "ridiculously severe," but it's enough to cause pain every once and a while and withstand everything else thrown at it, so with my in-progress medical knowledge and mental competency/awareness/logic, Accutane is definitely the next step.
Good news is that I've scheduled an appointment with my dermatologist on Good Friday, a couple hours after my family returns from a vacation in Florida. Definitely looking forward to getting rid of these problems once and for all, not so ecstatic about being unable to drink for 6 months. Ohwell! Curing skin issues for good > fun weekend nights, any day. Thanks for your responses everyone!
Also, I guess my point about giving blood is pretty moot for you too. Any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 is banned from giving blood. They claim it's because gays are at a higher risk of HIV/AIDS, which I think is a bunch of bull.
Kabanaw Wrote:Also, I guess my point about giving blood is pretty moot for you too. Any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 is banned from giving blood. They claim it's because gays are at a higher risk of HIV/AIDS, which I think is a bunch of bull.
O_o.
Wha? Where did this come from? We actually are at a higher risk of HIV/AIDS simply because our community is so small (10% of the population or less), yet has a significant percentage of infected members.
I can still give blood though.....since I'm still a virgin....good thing since I'm O negative.
Rick Wrote:Don't black people have the highest rate of AIDS?
On topic: I hope you get some of this, Froz, it really is a miracle worker.
Sounds like a good topic for research.
On topic: Considering my research/knowledge background, I'll be lobbying my dermatologist to prescribe me the drug. Though to be honest he probably just needs to take one look at my skin and hear my story and he'll prescribe it anyways. I just don't want him dicking around with some other drug or topical product before giving me isotretinoin.
Ever tried Proactiv? I never had problems with acne except when it was "that time of the month". I use this every day instead of taking any medications since I'm on enough already. It works wonders for my skin. I hear alot of bad things about the side effect from Accutane and I'm not sure if I'd risk getting the side effects.
I did, it had zero effect on me beyond making my face incredibly dry and uncomfortable.
After a few months of that I decided I didn't care enough to try more stuff and chose to try waiting it out. Thankfully mine did clear.
