Hi everyone,

So I was at the gym and suddenly realized that all over my forehead (but pretty much only on my forehead) I had what appeared to be red marks, but really bad... patchy and bad looking-- and clearly under my skin/ no raised bumps etc.

I had been walking around in the morning outside on a windy street in Toronto and this seemed the most likely cause to me... it's not itchy, it just looks like suddenly appearing red marks. In fact, it looked like patches of dry skin, like when your skin goes red from being dry. When I was outside in the cold I noticed my eyes were particularly irritated by the cold out, so maybe this is what caused this rash?

Does this make sense? My skin has been great after Accutane and I am worried about what this is ... I left the gym early out of embarassment. Did anyone else have this?

-Andrew

Ok so i'm 21 and had bad acne for around 5 years. I have done my best to control breakouts using topicals and antibiotics. I become resistant to a lot of the antibiotics and they never really stopped really big breakouts when I was on them, even combined with topicals. I have tried just about every medication out there. I would have severe acne if it wasn't for treatments keeping it moderate.

I'm thinking about going private and getting accutane even though my acne is moderate. It is really affecting my life and I keep putting off plans and was debating dropping out of uni at one point. I have just really had it with acne and am looking for something that can give me a bit of time without having to worry about acne, so I can focus on more important things and get my confidence back.

I know the side-effects and even that it may not work for me but I still think its the best chance for me. Would you say it was worth it for someone like myself that has really persistent acne and its affecting them emotionally and their life in general?

Hope everything going ok for everyone else. Thanks

Hey all,

Obviously hair loss is listed as a more rare side effect but it seems like quite a few people have experienced it. I was wondering about how people noticed it in any patterns or anything, texture, etc.

For me the hair on top of my head is shedding but is thicker than around the sides and front, and the back is a bit thinner now. I feel like I have noticed the most change above my temples and ears. My hair is always dry and feels brittle. However when it comes out I have the very tiny white spot, or white ball on the end of the follicle. I was wondering if anyone else had similar symptoms whether you are on accutane right now or else finished with a course of it.

It seems to come out when I really just brush my hair with my hand or anything but only if I cause it. Does my hair loss have any characteristics that would point it to being more temporary like telogen effluvium? Like I said in some areas my hair is definitely thinner but no area has any big signs of patchiness like alopecia. I've expressed my concern in other threads about hair loss and I was wondering if anyone has anything to share or might be able to relate with me. It would be nice to get some responses from people who were worried about hair loss during treatment and are now finished. My dermatologist continues to reassure me that everything will grow back and return to normal once I am finished but it still scares me.

Any comments or reassuring thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

HI,

I've been off Accutane for almost 3 weeks, and I was taking Accutane for 5 months, 80mg a day.

My triglyceride levels was somewhat high during about 2.5 to 3 months of taking accutane.

My stupid doctor finally told me that my triglyceride levels were high after 3 months.

Anyways, Im off now, and I would like to know when it is okay to start eating foods and drinks that are higher in triglyceride levels (such as rice, pastas, potatoes, and fruit juices)???

-Thank you very much

I was just wondering whether current Roaccutane users in the UK could tell me a little bit about the process that lead them to the 'last resort'.

I have only dealt solely with GP's so far and have never actually seen a dermatologist in my whole life, not through lack of trying, however. Although my doctor has suggested that might possibly be the next option should my current treatment fail.

So what happens when you are referred to a dermatologist? Will they go through the same sort of treatments again or will they offer you Roaccutane?

I don't know what my starting cholesterol was, but it came back after the first month of 40mg/day at 240!! I know this is the low end of high. CRAP!!

?

FOR THOSE WHO ARE HESITANT::::

I am new to this website but after starting accutane over a month ago I decided to share my story also. For years I suffered from moderate cystic acne. I would go through phases of terrible break outs then clear skin, however, the scars always remained. I tried every OTc medicine as well as RX and lasers I spent thousands of dollars with no results. I knew around 10 people who did accutane and raved about the results, yet somehow I let my fear of the side effects prevent me from starting.
I began modeling with agencies throughout the US and Europe and my acne really cost me some amazing opportunities (and alot of $$$). Even when I did model for magazines and catalogues I would be self conscious and distraught knowing that they were have to spend hours retouching my images to give me somewhat decent skin.
I started to read up a lot about accutane and spoke to my dermatologist about my fears. Finally I decided to give it a go. I did the blood work prior to starting and everything was perfect so my doc prescribed me 40mg a day (1 am 1pm). I wanted to be on the lowest dose possible but I trusted my doc in this amount ( I weight about 125 pounds at 5'9.5").
Within a week the pimples I had at the start were gone... so were the red marks.
By week two my skin texture had changed and even the old marks were starting to fade.
By the end of the month I noticed a huge improvement. People were complimenting my skin (this had never happened to me in my life). I was fortunate that I did not have an initial breakout, just a few small pimples or whiteheads here and there. Even the pimples that I did get were different, no longer cysts, but just regular pimples that would come and go within 2-3 days and then disappear leaving nothing behind.
After the 4th week I had first bloodwork done since I started accutane. Everything was still perfect, nothing even changed slightly.
The second month my doc has increased me to 60mg.

All I can say is DON'T BE AFRAID TO TRY THIS!! if you hate it, you can just go off of it.

My Side Effects:

Fatigue- nothing horrible but I used to be able to work out (run 3-5 miles plus some ab and arm work) everyday after a full day of school then castings and socializing. Now I switched to yoga because it is great stress release but less of an impact than running.
NO chapped lips!!!!- I swear by aquaphor. I am addicted. I put it on every 10 minutes and my lips are in better condition than before!
A bit of dry skin on body but I just use lotion everyday after I shower and its not a problem.
Nosebleeds- well just a tiny bit when I blow my nose every once in a while. not bad.

I used to suffer from headaches that wold last for 4 days straight and were horrible. My doctor warned me that the accutane might make these worse but i haven't had one headache since starting!!!

I am also currently on birth control as my contraception... I find that the bc causes me to have nausea and a bit moody around the time of y period. I actually find the bc more annoying than the accutane!

I give accutane the thumbs up so far.

Ill let you know how it goes after next month.

Okay so my derm forgot to enter my pregnancy teat results to ipledge after my last appointment. When I tried to answer the ipledge questions it wouldn't let me. This was on Saturday so I had to wait until today to find out they had forgotten. So they put the info in today but the girl put that I had my pregnancy test today instead of onassis Tuesday which is when I really had it. So I went to get my scrip today an they only had annesteem which he said I can only tak sotret or vlaravis if they don't have sotret. So as it was about 8pm I had to call ipledge and fin out what my 7 day window was cuz I was under the impression I had to pick it up today. Ye lady asked wen I had my preg test done and I told her Tuesday. She said my dr had put that I had it today and he got all pissy and bitchy and said she needed to "investigate" the situation. I asked her if I could pik ip my scrip today and she said ya so I had to go back to the place that had te annesteem and get the scrip and bring it to walgreens cuz they hav claravis. So I dropped of te scrip and went home and then the pharmacy called and said ipledge won't letthem fill my scrip. So I called ipledge again and they said thy have yo call my derm tomorrow and I ave to go in and et another pregnancy test (which my derm better pay for!!) and wait for the results from that to come back and then I need to answer ipledge questions again and theeeeennnnnn I can get my scrip!!!!


Rediculous!!!

I.

Hate



Ipledge!!!!!


Anyways so my question is thaat now I'm looking t like 5 days with no pills. Is that going to affec my progress? I am on my last moth!! Also I have to take claravis instead of sotret cuz I can find sotret anywhere!!! Is that okay?

Hey everyone. I'm exactly a week away from starting accutane, so naturally, I'm starting to freak out thinking I did something wrong and will have to wait another 30 missssserable days!

Question: So, I went to the derm on 10/21, was prescribed Accutane (30 day way), and my next appt. is next Monday 10/23... I went ahead and got my bloodwork and pregnancy test done the day of my first appt. on the 21st. Is this bad?! I've been reading posts saying that I need to get it done within 5 days or whatever of my next derm appt. The nurse practitioner said I could do it anytime, when I asked... but for some reason I'm starting to question her answer!

I got my Ipledge info within the first week and logged on... but that's all I did. Am I missing something?! Should I be getting another blood test before the 23rd? Ahhh... this is so confusing!

If anyone has some answers, or wants to explain the exact process to me, it would be mucho appreciated! Thanks! (:

FOR THOSE WHO ARE HESITANT::::

I am new to this website but after starting accutane over a month ago I decided to share my story also. For years I suffered from moderate cystic acne. I would go through phases of terrible break outs then clear skin, however, the scars always remained. I tried every OTc medicine as well as RX and lasers I spent thousands of dollars with no results. I knew around 10 people who did accutane and raved about the results, yet somehow I let my fear of the side effects prevent me from starting.
I began modeling with agencies throughout the US and Europe and my acne really cost me some amazing opportunities (and alot of $$$). Even when I did model for magazines and catalogues I would be self conscious and distraught knowing that they were have to spend hours retouching my images to give me somewhat decent skin.
I started to read up a lot about accutane and spoke to my dermatologist about my fears. Finally I decided to give it a go. I did the blood work prior to starting and everything was perfect so my doc prescribed me 40mg a day (1 am 1pm). I wanted to be on the lowest dose possible but I trusted my doc in this amount ( I weight about 125 pounds at 5'9.5").
Within a week the pimples I had at the start were gone... so were the red marks.
By week two my skin texture had changed and even the old marks were starting to fade.
By the end of the month I noticed a huge improvement. People were complimenting my skin (this had never happened to me in my life). I was fortunate that I did not have an initial breakout, just a few small pimples or whiteheads here and there. Even the pimples that I did get were different, no longer cysts, but just regular pimples that would come and go within 2-3 days and then disappear leaving nothing behind.
After the 4th week I had first bloodwork done since I started accutane. Everything was still perfect, nothing even changed slightly.
The second month my doc has increased me to 60mg.

All I can say is DON'T BE AFRAID TO TRY THIS!! if you hate it, you can just go off of it.

My Side Effects:

Fatigue- nothing horrible but I used to be able to work out (run 3-5 miles plus some ab and arm work) everyday after a full day of school then castings and socializing. Now I switched to yoga because it is great stress release but less of an impact than running.
NO chapped lips!!!!- I swear by aquaphor. I am addicted. I put it on every 10 minutes and my lips are in better condition than before!
A bit of dry skin on body but I just use lotion everyday after I shower and its not a problem.
Nosebleeds- well just a tiny bit when I blow my nose every once in a while. not bad.

I used to suffer from headaches that wold last for 4 days straight and were horrible. My doctor warned me that the accutane might make these worse but i haven't had one headache since starting!!!

I am also currently on birth control as my contraception... I find that the bc causes me to have nausea and a bit moody around the time of y period. I actually find the bc more annoying than the accutane!

I give accutane the thumbs up so far.

Ill let you know how it goes after next month.

Hi, just started my regimen 2 days ago. My doctor has started me at 20mg/day (1 Claravis pill per day). I don't really have problem with acne on my face, it's mostly on my back, rear end (gross, I know), and upper thighs. I guess you'd describe it as non-severe, but definitely annoying and unsightly/painful. Is 20mg normal to start out at for this body acne? Or do I really need to move up to a higher dosage to get some results (and particularly lasting results - I don't want to have to do the program twice). After two days I have no real side effects. Is that normal? If I still have no side effects after a week, should I tell my doctor and ask him to bump me up to 40mg/day? Does 20mg just get metabolized? I know the whole point is to have a residual quantity of the medication build up in your system. Thanks.

fyi, I am male, 27, 160 lbs.

Just curious. I haven't really read a lot of posts from girls complaining about hair falling out/thinning. Why is that? And if it happens less to girls, why? I have noticed that my hair is REALLY dry which I'm not yet complaining about, because having greasy hair made me feel dirty and I can actually go a day without washing it now which is pretty much a first.

Thoughts?

Hey everyone,

Quick question... How bad does my acne have to be to have a legitimate reason to go back on a second course. My dermatologist has me using epiduo but it really isn't doing much. I have broken out pretty badly at times, but then it will clear up and I'll be fine for about 3 days, and then slowly break out again. Obviously my acne is nowhere as bad as it was before I started my course, but its frustrating that my skin is breaking out in waves and its completely unpredictable. For example right now I have about 3 active spots (2 of them being cysts right on my hairline), but probably about 10 healing spots. However this time last week I literally had one active spot...

Question basically is: if I were to go to my dermatologist would it be reasonable to discuss a second course of accutane (I finished my first course in August) or is it too early/not severe enough for a repeat course?

Thanks in advance,
elitehassett04

Hey guys,

hope your all well...

Well, i do suffer from acne for 5 years now.. I tried lotions and it didn't work.. I tried anti-biotics twice and it didn't work. Also tried to stay on a regimen but it didn't help a lot. My dermatologist told me that i need accutane and that it will clear my skin. I really wana take it, but i'm very scared from the side affects !

If i know that nothing serious gona happen, then I would have taken it 4 years back. But since then, I think and try to make a dicision, but I can't. I know there are the positive n negative feedback topics posted, and I read them. But still, I don't know what's gona happen. Is it just dry lips or some disease which will stay for the rest of my life?

Please Any advice?

Been off accutane for 4 weeks now, I was on a 5 month course. I think my skins going greasy again, in the some parts though, my cheeks and my forehead I really can't tell wether they're soft or greasy, and my nose appears to get getting greasy.

My hair is definantly greasy.

Did anyone elese get greasness while coming off tane?, if so did it go away for you?, or did you have to go on tane again?

The problem is, is that grease = sebum = acne bacteria living within sebum = spots = bad.

So If I have to go back on tane I'd want to know ASAP. Just need some other peoples stories.

I feel as if spots are out of my life now, I have matured and outgrown them and the only part of me being childish is my skin............., I like the way I look at the moment, and I'd never EVER want to return to that disguisting state again.

it was kind of a bummer to hear only 40

she said maybe next time she'll increase it

isn't that too low??

I been Accutane on February 2006 and finished on October 2006, I started out with the uncommon side effects which were gastrointestinal like nausea (primary), bloatings, abdominal cramps, heartburn etc. They occured during the beginning of treatment and in the middle when my dose was increased. My derm said it's uncommon to experience this but it's ok as long as it ain't severe.

Anyways, 3 weeks after beginning accutane I started getting weird throat symptoms that would last 1-2 weeks and then pass and then recur. And this went on for a few months and they passed. I thought it might be accutane related but it didn't mention it to my derm and I couldn't find anything online.

At the last month of my treatment the throat problem came back and this time wouldn't go away. After 3 months I went to an ENT and I had a very red and swollen larynx. He said I have acid reflux although I had no stomach symptoms or heartburn whatsoever. But I discovered I had laryngopharyngeol reflux where 80% of people have no heartburn at all but only throat symptoms. And I been on daily meds since then. And they only help like 50-60% but not more. And I been to numerous docs and tests and I can't resolve my symptoms. I been so depressed as f***.

Anyways I don't want to blame accutane. I read about accutane and there was never a case like this alone nobody ever developed any reflux disease. I still don't believe people that have gotten hurt by accutane. Surely, they may have gotten some bad diseases during or after the course but I think it was just coincidence like me. But what do you guys say? My mom keeps blaming the accutane. I'm 21 years old, male, great health otherwise and good shape and alcohol, cigarretes and drug free and acne free not to mention.

I'm switching next month from amnesteem to clarivis just for money reasons... does this make a difference in terms of my body adjusting to the meds? I don't want to have to "start all over again" in a sense esp with the initial breakout...

I just finished my first month of Accutane and now I'm starting the 2nd. I went to the derm this morning at 9am to get my next RX, preg test and blood test. Last time they OK'ed my RX immediately after I left the office in ipledge, but I didn't have any blood tests to go over.

It's almost 4pm now, so I guess they aren't going to do it today. Does it typically take a day or so? I will call tomorrow, I'm just wondering what kind of delay most people have experienced, if any.

thanks!

my derm prescribes me finacea & differin...and this is one of the RARE times when I'm pretty clear

...do you think she'll refuse to put me on accutane?

I know I'm bound to have another bad breakout soon

anyone know??

Hey, im 2 months post accutane and everything is going good, beside the lingering redness WHICH MY DERM TOLD ME WOULD GO AWAY QUICKLY but yeah, I got a small pimple today and it kind of freaked me out.

I've been treating my skin like crap lately since I just figured the accutane did it's job but I guess I need to start taking care of it again to make sure I don't break out. I have plenty of Benzoyl, Tretinoin, and Differin left from my pre accutane days and I was wondering which one would be best to use if i want to keep my skin clear post accutane.

Hello everyone

To start off with let me introduce myself .

My name's John , 16 years old and a junior in high school and I suffer from severe cystic acne. I've had acne since freshmen year and it continued to get worse and worse. The dermatologist kept giving me basically every cream , gel, pill, face wash etc. to help cure my acne but nothing was working.

He had suggested me Accutane 4 months or so ago, but I declined his offer as I always read online the reviews people wrote about it and some of the side affects scared me. And I know this sounds girly but I hate seeing blood and hate needles, so after he told me I needed a blood test every month I basically told him its a deffinite no no that im taking Accutane.

So I kept on going with the creams and all the other garbage for another 2 months until I woke up one morning and just got sick of it. I was sick of looking in the mirror and seeing nothing but a bright red face full of acne, feeling like I was touching alligator skin when I touch my face, not being able to rest my head on my hand without saying owe, sick of everyone asking me if im on any mediciation for my acne and looking at me like I have two heads.

After that morning and alot of thinking I told my mom to call the dermatologist as soon as they opened and set an appoitment for me so I can start Accutane. The appoitment was finally set and I went to the dermatologist the next week. I told him I wanted to start what he recommend me to before (Accutane) and he immediatly without hesitation told me I was making a good choice for myself. I read and signed the whole iPledge booklet thing and he signed off on it.

That Monday I went in for my first ever blood test . I was getting kinda nervous because I didn't know if it would hurt alot or whether I would pass out or not if I accidentally looked at the blood. So I was asking a ton of questions to try and calm myself down. They brought me in the back office and as soon as I sat down I told the nurse to tell me when shes about to start so I can look away and close my eyes (yeah what a wuss I am ) so she goes well start doing that now and puts a rubber band type thing around my arm. I turned my head and got ready for the pain , about a minute of silence goes by and I was like... are you gunna put it in? And she goes " hunny its been in your arm already , you didnt even feel it, im almost done ", after that I realized I got myself worked up for nothing haha. It felt weird driving home my arm felt kinda heavy.

Now my prescription came in for 40mg's a day and I picked it up from wal-mart.

I am now on my 6th day on Accutane and I take my pill at around 9:00pm everynight, right before I go to bed basically which is usually at 10:00 on school nights.

The only thing i've experienced so far is dry lips and somewhat dry eyes, my face doesnt seem to be getting any better at all, it is very flakey though. If anything it looks like it got redder and worse.

So im hoping Accutane will do its job, im sticking with it, this is one and only option left.

Sorry for my long boring story just thought i'd share!

I'll post some recent pictures of my face in a bit , right now all I have is a old picture of me when I didnt have pimples and when I had long hair in my avatar.

- John

Just wondering, are you careful to take your Accutane at the same time everyday?

I know you're supposed to take it with food, but I have dinner at a different time depending on the day of the week. So sometimes I take it at 4 pm, sometimes at 7 pm. It shouldn't make a difference, right?

Would a person who has never had acne in there life (i.e. a child or just anyone who has perfect skin) have an initial breakout if they took accutane??

OK so I am 11 days into the generic form of accutane and my bottom lip is sooooooo dry! I ate tacos last night and couldn't even use fire sauce because it burned so bad:( I have used various chapsticks and even Vaseline. Anyone have any other good remedies?

I was in a hurry this morning and totally forget to take my pill.

I'm supposed to take twp 20mg pills in the morning and one 20mg at night. Can I just take all 3 pills at one time?

Or would it be better to take two now. and then take the other one right before bed?

My doctor will be prescribing one or two pills a week. On such a low dosage, will it be okay to wax?
I had to stop shaving to let my skin clear up but I would like to start waxing every two weeks or so. I go to the beach alot and also have special events coming up. I start accutane on Dec 7th. BTW, the Cetaphil anti-bacterial soap, 2.5% benzoyl peroxide, and the multivitamins have been working well. But I'm hoping accutane will get rid of the cysts and acne scars faster.

Hi everybody!

I was prescribed with Isotretinoin (Neotrex) a couple of days ago. I've been strugling with acne since I was 15 and under several types of antybiotic treatments for over a year and my acne, even when is better now then when I started, hasn't stoped.

So my question is the next. I've heard that since Isotretinoin comes from vitamin A, Taking suplements or products that include vitamin A could increase the toxicity of the medication.

Is this true? because now you can see all sorts of products additioned with Vitamins and Minerals. You can see 'em advertised in Cereals, Yougurts, Beverages, etc...

My family is a fan of Tang's and Suko's wich are basically to make flavored watter, and I can see that they have low portions Vitamin A and B. So should I stop drinkin 'em and stop eating anything with Vitamin A on it. Or it would have to be in larger proportions in order to really cause problems in your organism?

Sorry for my english
And I'll be happy to hear your experiences and opinions