I had my doc's appt. yesterday and told him I was tired of this and want to go on accutane. But he told me my acne is not that bad and he can't refer me to a NHS dermatologist. He said he can only refer me to a private dermatologist and just the initial visit will cost me 150 pounds. If you see my pics, you can see that my acne is quite bad so I dont agree with him that he cant refer me to a NHS dermatologist. Does anyone here know how much it would cost me if I do accutane privately? I am so fed up with this. It ruins all my confidence as a teacher. So my options are either to quit my well paying job or do accutane.
I had my doc's appt. yesterday and told him I was tired of this and want to go on accutane. But he told me my acne is not that bad and he can't refer me to a NHS dermatologist. He said he can only refer me to a private dermatologist and just the initial visit will cost me 150 pounds. If you see my pics, you can see that my acne is quite bad so I dont agree with him that he cant refer me to a NHS dermatologist. Does anyone here know how much it would cost me if I do accutane privately? I am so fed up with this. It ruins all my confidence as a teacher. So my options are either to quit my well paying job or do accutane.
I'm surprised your doctor wouldn't refer you to a dermatologist on the NHS. My acne is milder than yours and my doctor had no problem referring me and I'm now on Roaccutane. Then again I have had acne for eight years and have a long list of tried and failed treatments on my medical records. I don't think a doctor will refer a patient on the NHS unless they've already tried at least two types of antibiotics, as well as birth control and topicals. If you've already tried these things and they haven't worked I think your doctor should have taken you much more seriously.
Apparantly doctors get a certain amount of money for referring patients to private specialists instead of to the NHS so maybe this was his motive. Perhaps you could request a second opinion from another doctor? And really stress the psychological effect it has on you and your career.
If you do decide to go pivate at least you will avoid the NHS waiting lists, I was waiting three months for my first visit.
Good luck.
Bandini, I have had acne since I was a teenager and I am 29, so I have suffered enough to try accutane now. I have tried everything else like the topical retinoids, antibiotics etc. So I dont understand why this doctor cant refer me to a NHS dermatologist. He just flat out said he cant refer me to NHS dermatologist because my acne is not bad and scarring. Now I am gonna have to pay so much more for private dermatologist. I dont think I can go to another doctor as I am registered with this one. I was wondering if I can go on private insurance just so I can get the accutane cheaper? I checked out the BUPA, private medical insurance site but they say "pre-existing" conditions are not covered. So they will probably not cover acne related expenses?
Hylander,
Is 400 the total cost for the accutane treatment or just the medicine? Do you have to pay extra for dermatologist visits, blood tests etc.?
hina79 said:Bandini, I have had acne since I was a teenager and I am 29, so I have suffered enough to try accutane now. I have tried everything else like the topical retinoids, antibiotics etc. So I dont understand why this doctor cant refer me to a NHS dermatologist. He just flat out said he cant refer me to NHS dermatologist because my acne is not bad and scarring. Now I am gonna have to pay so much more for private dermatologist. I dont think I can go to another doctor as I am registered with this one. I was wondering if I can go on private insurance just so I can get the accutane cheaper? I checked out the BUPA, private medical insurance site but they say "pre-existing" conditions are not covered. So they will probably not cover acne related expenses?Hylander,
Is 400 the total cost for the accutane treatment or just the medicine? Do you have to pay extra for dermatologist visits, blood tests etc.?
Hina, its just the cost of the meds.
It is an expensive game going the private route for accutane. I think a rough summary of the costs I had were:
Four Derm appointments approx.120 each = 480
Cost of 5 month 80mg per day = 500
Cost of two blood tests = 200
So it cost over 1k all in all which is a lot. But I don't think you would have to pay for this! The prescribing critera for accutane is not simply acne severity. Your acne is clearly effecting your confidence and giving you psychologically a hard time.
I would say to your Dr that psychological distress is one of the prescribing criteria for Roaccutane and it is affecting your confidence as a teacher. Furthermore, at 29, you should not have to deal with acne. This is sufficient for a referral to a Dermatologist. If now, I would go to another GP.
Definately push for the NHS. If not, you may have some luck with BUPA covering the Derm fees but I don't think they will cover the costs of the meds or blood tests - they didn't for me!
Best of luck, let us know how it goes.
Yes, that dude/dudette is right!
just tell the Doc you are 29 its affecting you social life! you feel terrible everytime you look in the mirror and you cant take it anymore! Youve got to get help or else you dont know what to do!
Say that when you talk to people you've lost all your confidence and that you feel they looking at your zits and you feel like a horrible person!
Thanks how I sold it 
it worked!
