35 replies to this topic

[timtyson]

So, four months have past and I can say Isotretinoin has changed my life.
My skin no longer produces excessive oil and my face looks perfectly normal again.

If you have very oil skin and are male, I can certainly recommend this treatment. The side effects are negligible considering the almost mind-boggling benefits.

Good luck.

[Oil King]

Check out my thread on the topic here:
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Prescribe...40&start=40

I was on a 10mg per day course of accutane for 5 months and the oil reduction has lasted permanently. A lot of people said "your oily skin will come back right when you stop the accutane" but I've been off the low dose completely for over a year now and my oily skin is still reduced about 70% from what it was before accutane. On accutane it was reduced 90% though, so some did return, but a much more bearable amount.

Wish you the same luck.

[radikal]

Check out my thread on the topic here:
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Prescribe...40&start=40
Wish you the same luck.

I'm quoting from your last post from the other thread:

"On the negative side...I know have rosacea (possibly from accutane) which is probably equally crappy as oily skin..and it's a life long condition. The severe nightly flushing I face daily is reaaaaally annoying and has caused spontaneousness scarring, larger pores, and some broken caps. Life eh?"

[{DC}]

So, four months have past and I can say Isotretinoin has changed my life.
My skin no longer produces excessive oil and my face looks perfectly normal again.

If you have very oil skin and are male, I can certainly recommend this treatment. The side effects are negligible considering the almost mind-boggling benefits.

Good luck.

So you plan on staying on this the rest of your life?

[Oil King]

Radikal, thanks for pointing that out, but I'm sure he was fully capable of seeing that for himself (i.e why I gave the link to that thread...)
Anyways yes accutane caused problems for me but he was wondering about the long term oil reduction capabilities of the drug, and in that context it was very helpful for me.

DC, he doesn't need to stay on it the rest of his life as it is possible to experience long term remission post accutane...

[jsmithson]

So, four months have past and I can say Isotretinoin has changed my life.
My skin no longer produces excessive oil and my face looks perfectly normal again.

If you have very oil skin and are male, I can certainly recommend this treatment. The side effects are negligible considering the almost mind-boggling benefits.

Good luck.

It's great that it worked for you. It's worth considering however that not everyone responds to isotretinoin as positively as you did.

In my case, I went on high dose isotretinoin many years ago and it returned my skin to normal (both acne and oil production wise) for a few years. I do however remember being depressed and I even remember a suicidal episode (I didn't go through with it but I considered it). It shows how strongly it can affect people mentally - I'm far from a depressed and suicidal person by nature.

I also tried low dose (about 5mg per day) but I started getting depressed again and it did not control the oil after I stopped.

[radikal]

Radikal, thanks for pointing that out, but I'm sure he was fully capable of seeing that for himself (i.e why I gave the link to that thread...)
Anyways yes accutane caused problems for me but he was wondering about the long term oil reduction capabilities of the drug, and in that context it was very helpful for me.

DC, he doesn't need to stay on it the rest of his life as it is possible to experience long term remission post accutane...

You're as obstinate as when you first took this path, but now you also have side effects you're stuck with. You need to deal with the cognitive dissonance so strictly from a congruence point of view I understand why you need to defend your previous choices.

Ok, so I concede that for reasons unkown, for like 8% of Accutane takers there is permanent oil reduction. There rest go back to much the same level as prior to taking the drug. The full 100% is at risk from side effects. Gentlemen, roll the dice.

The sample size for your POV is N=1, the sample size for mine is N=1+many other members of this board. To my knowledge there has not been a specific study on this topic.

[isabellalove]

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Edited by isabellalove, 25 May 2011 - 07:32 AM.

[biggs881]

Radikal, thanks for pointing that out, but I'm sure he was fully capable of seeing that for himself (i.e why I gave the link to that thread...)
Anyways yes accutane caused problems for me but he was wondering about the long term oil reduction capabilities of the drug, and in that context it was very helpful for me.

DC, he doesn't need to stay on it the rest of his life as it is possible to experience long term remission post accutane...

You're as obstinate as when you first took this path, but now you also have side effects you're stuck with. You need to deal with the cognitive dissonance so strictly from a congruence point of view I understand why you need to defend your previous choices.

Ok, so I concede that for reasons unkown, for like 8% of Accutane takers there is permanent oil reduction. There rest go back to much the same level as prior to taking the drug. The full 100% is at risk from side effects. Gentlemen, roll the dice.

The sample size for your POV is N=1, the sample size for mine is N=1+many other members of this board. To my knowledge there has not been a specific study on this topic.

There are 2 studies to my knowledge on long-term safety of Accutane:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7918010 (N=720)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8286227 (N=88)

Third study somewhat related: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20501862
_____________________________________________

And here is a study directed related to this thread (i.e. isotretinoin and oily skin).

Edited by biggs881, 17 May 2011 - 05:17 AM.

[biggs881]

So, four months have past and I can say Isotretinoin has changed my life.
My skin no longer produces excessive oil and my face looks perfectly normal again.

If you have very oil skin and are male, I can certainly recommend this treatment. The side effects are negligible considering the almost mind-boggling benefits.

Good luck.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but do you recommend this only to males because females have hormones or for another reason?

If you are female with oily skin that you want treated, you would probably try hormonal treatments like spironolactone or birth control pills (neither of which are used in men) before Accutane.

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Edited by biggs881, 17 May 2011 - 05:28 AM.

[radikal]

@biggs881

The "specific topic" was whether isotretinoin has a long lasting impact on sebum excretion after the treatment/containment is stopped. None of the abstracts linked above claim so, only that is effective as containment while on the drug. That is not news.

In the older 1993 study I found a sentence which can be construed as supporting my POV: "Sebum excretion is known to correlate with acne severity, but the long-term degree of sebum suppression was found not to be related to relapse".

My POV is this: a statistically undetermined minority have lasting results wrt sebum excretion. A substantial majority doesn't. All are at risk to side effects from long term use. I define 'long term' as exceeding 100 mg/kg cumulative dose.

[biggs881]

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Edited by biggs881, 18 May 2011 - 03:58 AM.

[Shantelle]

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I was on isotretinoin for three years 30mg day for 4 months for severe acne, then dose lowered to low dose then ultra low dose, then 10mg week ultra, ultra low dose for 2 out of the 3 yrs. I can say without a dout I have longterm side effects from isotretinoin, and most of them got worse when i got off it in 2010. Total cumulative dose was equivalent to a 6-7 high dose course.

At the time that I was taking it I was naieve and trusting of Derms who told me to stay on it until my face was 100% clear. No dout about it it helped control sebum (was always an issue since teenage yrs) but my oil production went into overdrive post treatment and I also got dianosed with Seborrheic dermatitis, Rosacea and Lupus within 6 months of stopping tane.

Now i am on a anti-inflammatory lupus medication called Plaquenil, and Spironolactone (which controls oil because it has an anti-androgen mechanism).

So... that is my experience summed up with longterm Accutane and how it had an effect on oil production on/off treatment.

Edited by Shantelle, 20 May 2011 - 09:33 PM.

[loveurself]

Hi guys.
I was on isotretinoin last year for six months (actually it's been a year since I finished the course)
My acne wasn't cured completely since I still break out, but it was improved. The thing is that now I'm extremely oily. I wash my face and after two hours my skin starts to produce oil A LOT. And then I break out. It's so annoying since I'm a boy and have used EVERYTHING to deal with it.

Do you think a low dose of isotretinoin (about 5mg or 10 mg per day) could eliminate oil and the break outs ? I will discuss it with my derm but I would like your opinion too. Has anyone of you tried this kind of treatment for oily face?

Do you think this will work ?

Hi there Evris,

My first comment on this site as I am a new member looking to help and be helped. I have very oily skin as well, (usually sweaty sheen 2 hours after washing face) and I have found one product by accident that has helped reduce the shiny appearance. It is a product used for chaffing and irritated skin called "Dimethicone". My wife told me that women use it as a base for their foundation to prevent clumping make-up. I tried it and it immediately created a mat look to my skin, reduced the shine, and reduced the appearance of my pores. Suprisingly, after about 30 minutes it blends evenly with your skin and is almost unnoticable unless you are looking for it.

I was exstatic. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" ha ha. I have hyperhidrosis and oily skin seems like another problem related to my anxiety along with living in the humid south which is unforgiving for people like ourselves.

I shower apply BP and a "little" moisturizer and after about 15 minutes, I apply a thin layer of dimethicone to my T zone which is where I suffer the most. I will be a little shiny around 230pm during the day but it helps me feel better for the most part. Hope this has helped.

[mastershadow]

I am considering a low dose of accutane just for oily skin. Getting tired of having a sheen within a few hours and having to deal with blackheads every few days. Planning on having a discussion with a derm around September (after the summer so I can enjoy the sunshine )

[tofupalace]

Hi there Evris,

My first comment on this site as I am a new member looking to help and be helped. I have very oily skin as well, (usually sweaty sheen 2 hours after washing face) and I have found one product by accident that has helped reduce the shiny appearance. It is a product used for chaffing and irritated skin called "Dimethicone". My wife told me that women use it as a base for their foundation to prevent clumping make-up. I tried it and it immediately created a mat look to my skin, reduced the shine, and reduced the appearance of my pores. Suprisingly, after about 30 minutes it blends evenly with your skin and is almost unnoticable unless you are looking for it.

I was exstatic. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" ha ha. I have hyperhidrosis and oily skin seems like another problem related to my anxiety along with living in the humid south which is unforgiving for people like ourselves.

I shower apply BP and a "little" moisturizer and after about 15 minutes, I apply a thin layer of dimethicone to my T zone which is where I suffer the most. I will be a little shiny around 230pm during the day but it helps me feel better for the most part. Hope this has helped.

Where do you get this stuff at? Does it make you break out or anything like that?