It never crossed my mind. Looking back over secondary school..one boy cleared his skin taking some tablets..and because his face was red and it cleared perfectly Im assuming it was accutane (I think this was somewhere between age 15-17) although I never asked him. But he ended up being one of (if not the) tallest boy when we finished school by age 18.
Wait also one other friend took the drug about 3 years ago. And he is very tall too...about 6"1. So he did grow after taking it.
As for me..Im small (5'9) but my mothers side is short anyway. I have been on and off the drugs since october 2004. I dont know either way if Ive grown or not sorry.
However I wouldnt rule it out compeltely based on a few experience just as I wouldnt rule out absolutely any other side effect until scientificly proven.
Even if there is the risk, there is also a risk of depression/suicide. You just can't get so worked up over these things. The percentage that these things will happen is rediculously small. Also, the body is so insanely complex that the side-effects with such low percentage of occurence rates cannot really be pinned on accutane. Most people just experience muscle/joint aches, dry lips/skin, and so on.
Good luck, and just to let you know my mom was the exact same way (she got worked up when she saw the >0.01% chance of depression, and refused to let me accutane for the longest time. Now all I have is some muscle aches and dry lips/skin).
Thanks for the last two replies...very happy to hear about the 2 tall boys who took accutane.
Bob, good judge of character as I am so worked up over this issue...basically spending most of my day looking for more info online! Best of luck...by the way, I took accutane at age 19 back in the 80's...one of the best things I did...don't even remember any side effects except dry lips...of course back then, there was not the pages and pages of potential side effects on the warning insert...the only precaution I was given was regarding birth defects if I became pregnant. 
hi im 16 male and im going to be on accutane in a few days for the first time. I was worried about the same thing so i asked my dermatologist and she said that stunting growth is not a side affect so that made me worry a little less. But i cant help to wonder after doing much research since accutane stops your oil glands from producing oil it must do somthing with your hormones and i hope it does not affect the growth part of my hormones.
I'm sorry to say that my son still has not grown one iota since starting accutane. He started in February, finished in May (with good results, I must add). He was only 13 when he started; 14 now. He has a lot more growing left to do, and I am really hoping I haven't made a terrible choice for him.
I have asked many doctors about this and have not come up with any conclusive information aside from the side effect being detected on people who took Tane for an extremely prolonged period for another type of disease (sorry can't find my notes). My son 13 just started on tane about 10 days ago. I have seen this mothers posts as I too look for data .... we have measured our son and have said a prayer ... sometimes faith can overcome what science leaves to chance...
Accutanemom .. don't beat yourself up... he is in good hands as you are very vigilant over him.. next few months I hope to read about his height progress and to know your burden has been lifted !!!
St. Louis Father
I know someone who took accutane at the beginning of high school and experienced a growth spurt a year or two later. He is now 6'1" In fact, he had such a tremendous growth spurt that he got this condition of the knees where you grow too quickly and the bone sort of grows weirdly. Not freaky looking but it was cause of his massive growth. Hope this helps!
hi im 16 male and im going to be on accutane in a few days for the first time. I was worried about the same thing so i asked my dermatologist and she said that stunting growth is not a side affect so that made me worry a little less. But i cant help to wonder after doing much research since accutane stops your oil glands from producing oil it must do somthing with your hormones and i hope it does not affect the growth part of my hormones.
I wouldnt be worried if I were you. If you are a female there's like a 10% (maybe less) chance that you will grow more. If you're a male you also dont grow much after 15. Except for people(9x% males) that experience growth spurt. My younger brother grew like 4 inches in a single year.
I have been unable to find any studies done -- just anecdotal stories. Input from anyone who has taken Accutane would be extremely useful. Has anyone actually gotten taller after taking Accutane?
I think accutane stunts growth. I personally haven't been getting taller anyway so i can't really answer the question, but i have back problems, and when the accutane lab called me they said it causes skeletal system damage. Now if something damages your skeletal system, it definately will affect your growth. I'm not saying accutane WILL stunt growth, but it could and its a side effect that may/ may not happen, depends if you experience it or not.
It's been awhile since I've checked in. My son has grown ever so slightly since stopping Accutane (less than an inch). My personal opinion is that he stopped growing completely while on Accutane and for several months thereafter. His acne has come back to a somewhat milder degree, but I would NEVER put him back on Accutane while he is still growing (he's 14). I fear that I made a terrible decision in allowing him to take Accutane. If the medical community/drug manufacturers disagree, they should do the study once and for all -- I bet the data on patients is already there. If they're so confident that the results will be fine, then just do the study -- or publish one if it's already been done.
My son is 16, took Accutane just two months when he had to stop becuase his liver couldn't take it.He's 6'5" and grew 1 cm. during the treatment.
I think his growth may be the result of his not being able to continue the treatment. My son was to be 6'2", minimum and ended up at just under 6'1", never growing after a single round regular dose of accutane. He misses the extra height, but does not miss the acne.
However, the literature does indicate the possibility of growth plate closure, but I believe it should be upgraded to reflect the truth. I think single round of regular dose accutane does result in premature growth plate closure. I too wish that I had this info before hand, as we might have chosen to postpone the treatment until most or all of his growth had been achieved. As a potential professional athlete, I believe his future in his sport was compromised.
Not fair that they are not more forthcoming about the truth. The literature seems purposefully scant on this issue as they do not give the incidence of occurence. It appears they are trying to hide something! In our experience they definitely are trying to under report, if not misrepresent, or surpress the true statistical incidence of this phenom. In other words, conspicuous by its abscence is the real truth.
Any new updates on younger teens who have taken accutane and had grown during or after treatment? Still looking for info.thanks!
Hey there, I took accutane for about 3 1/2 months shortly after turning 14. Had great results, within a few weeks my face started clearing up. I tried dozens of other oral medications, topical creams, washes, etc., as I began getting moderate-severe acne when I was only 11 or 12.
When I began taking accutane, I was 5' 8" prob about 130 lbs. I have not grown at all since then. I thought I just went through puberty at a very early age, my voice dropped when I was 13. But every part of my body is basically the same size it was then, other than the addition of some muscle mass, which I have had to work very hard to attain. My shoulders are the same width they basically were at age 14, as is the size of my penis. I felt very well endowed at that age, but have become concerned I havn't seen any more growth since. I don't come from a very tall family, so 5' 8" could be the height I would have stopped at anyways, but definitely the same time I took accutane was the same time my body stopped growing. I never really gained more muscle mass naturally, and even now at age 24 I get told how young I look all the time. I'm about 155lbs now, still fairly lean and in good shape, but I don't feel like I am fully grown by any means. I can't say for sure that there is a direct relation, this is just my story, and I would love to get more info on this subject.
For those of you mums and father with young children preparing to go onto accutane, make sure you try home light therapy first...blue/red combination of light therapy works for about 80-90% of people, better success rates than accutane, sure you hav to continue to use it but it has NO side effects....
Look into it people.