hi chico, do u think accutane is completly out of your system in 2 months? if not where would it be stored? would it come out in time?
It depends on many factors, the company tells you it's removed within 3 months but we know this is a lie because many people suffer for years with side effects that don't go away. Retinoic acids removal can be hindered by zinc deficiency, because without retinol binding protein accutane cannot be moved around the body....hence stopping it's metabolism. Lack of bile, other issues like hypothyroid could effectively slow down it's removal from the body all together as it slows metabolism. The drug is fat soluble so it stores in the fat, when it's not actively in the skin cell receptors binding to god knows what. It can affect vitamin D receptors, thyroid receptors and hormone receptors as they are all very similar to said retinol receptors.....and i think it can get lodged were it shouldn't be.
Often people react to vitamin A in foods and this is a prime example of why it's still in the body...the body reacts to the new retinol coming in, because it's already got an abundance of retinoic acid in the body in the form of accutane. It can come out, usually by eating vitamin A rich foods. Some people have said they've had retox symptoms in the sauna, by doing oil pulling, during egg yolk liver flushes and other things. It doesn't come out unless it's triggered too, the body stores fat soluble toxins in the fat to protect the organs and the body as a whole. The body wants to protect you, it won't release loads of fat soluble toxins into the bloodstream unless it's triggered to do so. But yes if people have recovered from gulf war syndrome and things like mercury poisoning then it's possible and theoretically plausible to say accutane can be removed as well.
In your case with the hairloss and loss of sexual sensation, things like modifilan / sea kelp may help as you need to focus on thyroid health. Vitamin D3 is always a good standby, people are talking about b12, b6 and folic acid (you can get a supplement with them 3 in it) that sounds promising for mitigating side effects. Zinc may be a good one to increase the amount of retinol binding protein.
Maynerd, UDCA produced a massive energy boost within hours. Long term, it increased my resilience and energy. I have not attempted to expand my diet, and I'm still susceptible to cramps from overeating. However the situation is much improved.
I recently changed my sleeping location and now am getting high quality, perfectly dark, uninterrupted sleep. It's amazingly beneficial. I'm essentially sleeping in a closet, on the floor, in sleeping bags, and it's the best sleep I've ever had. As Tim Ferriss says, sleep is the currency of high performance living.
Mattress softness/hardness doesn't matter, studies have shown. What matters is that sleep is long enough, in perfect darkness, at the same time every night, uninterrupted, and lead up to with early eating cessation and low lighting.
I also switched from "plain" storebought yoghurt with sugar in it to homemade yoghurt, and that seems to help a lot too.
Feel so suicidal today.
Can't see any future now.
Why deny it?
What the fuck has happened to us?
My gums are sore.
What else can I fucking do?
By any standards, I'm healthy, and it doesn't make a damn difference.
No words to describe this feeling.
Diet my man. All the health dudes I have been watching are saying the same general thing: Alkalize the body with fresh fruits and veggies. Stop eating acidic foods. You will be so surprised how much better you start to feel when you cut out the acids. I know I was.
When you start to detox, the body starts expelling the built up mucous crap built in the body. And I can say from personal experience over the past few weeks, it feels weird, and it can be painful at times. But I understand that it is a good thing, and keep on going with it. Here it a liferegenerator video that explains detoxing well.
Best wishes.
Thanks chico. Also only a few little red pumps probably spots have started coming under my chin so could that mean that it could be out of my system as there not goin away?
It can be a good sign but it's not conclusive proof of it's removal. Taking gamma linoic acid / omega 3 can make the skin oily again, giving it the appearance that it's back to normal, but when you cease taking it the skin goes back to that dry state caused by accutane. It's merely covering up the symptoms and not dealing with the actual problem. When your hair stops falling out, your sexual side effects diminish, the reaction to vitamin A in foods subsides and the skin takes on the texture that it was before in terms of healthy sebum and skin texture. When your side effects diminish, of all kinds...thats when you know it's truely gone.
Some people take a lower dose for a shorter time, some peoples body's are better capable in handling the drug and metabolism of the drug than others. Some people can handle it, others cant. It's down to genetics, dose, duration, underlaying problems like weak glucuronidation, zinc defiency, hypothyroid, lack of bile etc. Most people had slow detoxification in the first place, hence the reason why they have acne, their livers and other organs were unable to remove the influx of hormones brought on by puberty and the body ended up having to release the toxins through the skin.
So it's complicated but anyone can be affected at any dose, but we do know the longer you take it, and the higher the dose, the worse the problems will be. I'd say judge whether it's out of your body by the reduction of your side effects over time....as opposed to other external things.
There are alot of people afraid of taking retinol rich foods and theres a strongly held belief that avoiding vitamin A in food will protect you from the side effects. It's partly true but ultimately is the wrong approach to take. This thought pattern works on the logical basis that taking vitamin A rich foods compound accutane side effects, it amplifys skin conditions, makes hair shed more, increases sexual side effects, joint pain, eye sensitivity to light etc.
So people say "i'm going to avoid this because it makes my side effects worse" but the question is, why does it make the side effects worse? my personal belief is that these people still have accutane stored in their bodys... most probably in the skin cell receptors were it transcribes gene expression, alters skin proliferation, messes up hormones and all sorts of things. When the person takes in healthy vitamin A from food, the body uses the new retinol and disguards the old accutane, and this causes retoxification symptoms. The accutane enters back into the circulation and heightens all the previous side effects.
Things like zinc, taurine, vitamin D3, seaweeds can mitigate some of these retox symptoms , as well as FIR saunas and strengthening of the detoxification pathways.
Avoiding vitamin A in food for the rest of your life or eating chicken and rice over and over is by no means the answer, it's merely trying to cover up the wider context of the problem at hand. This is of course just my personal perspective and other people adhere to different philosophy's on why they have these side effects.
Wanted to encourage everyone with diet because if you're like me you think "oh man, i've got to be perfect and do nothing but smoothies and water fasting to see any effect". But I've been making veggie and fruit smoothies and drinking one in the morning and one in the evening. They give me really good energy and they taste pretty good because I put grade B maple syrup in there. I even put garlic and cilantro in it and it turns out pretty good, considering. I've been trying to keep to a diet of fruits, veggies, beans and lentils but the other day everyone from work was going to chipotle and so I went and ate too much but I didn't have any problems from it so this is just to say you don't have to be perfect.
The other thing I am doing and have felt better from is taking around 300 units of niacin, waiting until it starts flushing me out real bad and then going to the sauna/steam room. At such a low level of Niacin it shouldn't be hurting my liver, in fact at such low levels it is supposed to help with fatty liver.
Anybody here felt anything from doing the Hulda Clark Epsom Salt/Olive Oil Gallbladder Cleanse?
There are alot of people afraid of taking retinol rich foods and theres a strongly held belief that avoiding vitamin A in food will protect you from the side effects. It's partly true but ultimately is the wrong approach to take. This thought pattern works on the logical basis that taking vitamin A rich foods compound accutane side effects, it amplifys skin conditions, makes hair shed more, increases sexual side effects, joint pain, eye sensitivity to light etc.
So people say "i'm going to avoid this because it makes my side effects worse" but the question is, why does it make the side effects worse? my personal belief is that these people still have accutane stored in their bodys... most probably in the skin cell receptors were it transcribes gene expression, alters skin proliferation, messes up hormones and all sorts of things. When the person takes in healthy vitamin A from food, the body uses the new retinol and disguards the old accutane, and this causes retoxification symptoms. The accutane enters back into the circulation and heightens all the previous side effects.
Things like zinc, taurine, vitamin D3, seaweeds can mitigate some of these retox symptoms , as well as FIR saunas and strengthening of the detoxification pathways.
Avoiding vitamin A in food for the rest of your life or eating chicken and rice over and over is by no means the answer, it's merely trying to cover up the wider context of the problem at hand. This is of course just my personal perspective and other people adhere to different philosophy's on why they have these side effects.
Personally, I don't think Accutane is stored in the body, in fat or whatever. I believe it just fucks up your Vitamin A receptors. They believe they have enough retinoic acid, but it is in fact unusable to them, as Accutane cannot be used as Vitamin A, so you get overdose symptoms from Vitamin A, but you actually in fact have a definciency.
So we have the worst of both worlds, really. I have wondered if the damage may be limited to the receptors in the stomach, and other means of absorbing Vitamin A would be beneficial.
Frankly, I have no idea. Sorry. No one does either really. Everyone has got thoughts and theories, some even very complex and convincing-sounding ones, but in truth no one has a fucking clue the extent of Accutane's true workings, not even the makers.
Find out how well you deal with retinol containing foods - eggs, liver etc. Become very self aware of your symptoms, do they feel better or worse? Do some get better while others worsen when you eat these foods? How about beta-carotene (vegetables)?
Retinoids and the thyroid are probably central to most problems. Unfortunately many people just avoid Vitamin A because its easier. Who can blame them either if they get problems from them? I avoid them because concentrated green juices make my bones hurt and eggs make me shit blood. Avoiding them is not dealing with the problem though, if I'm not already deficient I will be eventually.
The thyroid can be inhibited my large amounts of Vitamin A. I have read of a person that was told to improve their thyroid and their tolerance of Vitamin A will also improve, and from what I gather it worked to some degree. Get your thyroid tested properly.
Good luck.
Wow..
This thread just dies when I stop posting, huh? 
I just wanted to put forward my own theory on what's going on with our bodies.
It's all too easy to get lost in countless possibilities (chemo drug, vitamin a toxicity, genes, etc), but I think the answer could be somewhat straight forward.
Last night, I was worrying about my gums (and I have been for a while) because they're still receded/receding.
They don't feel right, and it sucked not knowing what the hell was causing it.
Sometimes it just feels like Accutane is in control.
Like somehow it is unstoppable and is causing my body to fall apart, fairly fast.
But that's not too logical.
I came across a link between endocrine (hormonal system) disorders and receding gums.
Then, I came across a direct link between Hypothyroidism and receding gums (and other dental issues).
There are two types of hypothyroid.
1) Low T4 which can sometimes be corrected with Thyroxine (T4 replacement medicine)
2) Inability to convert T4 into T3 - The active thyroid hormone.
People with Accutane (and Propecia) side effects all seem to have a thyroid issue - and an adrenal issue too.
For us, why would we have an inability to transfer T4 into T3?
Because a lot of the conversion takes place in the liver.
Frankly, I think bloodtests are inadequate.
If I drink a bit of alcohol, my liver hates me.
That's evidence enough for me to conclude I do have an issue with my liver.
We all know by now that Accutane is highly linked to liver damage (as is any poison)
[Edited link out] < This is where I'm pulling most of this from, and it links in very well for our side effects. Some may not have gum problems, but hair loss, fatigue and a bunch of other symptoms will match you.
So, what's the answer?
That's the tricky part.
I've just bought the book mentioned on that site - though I got it off Amazon - so will give that a read, but the point stands - It is very likely that our problems are linked to Hypothyroidism. I was lucky enough to find out my thyroid WAS an issue, after much speculation, but just because blood tests say 'normal', it doesn't mean shit.
Do minor research and you find that blood tests are pretty useless for diagnosing thyroid problems.
I'm going to start using my infrared sauna 3 x a week, to help with detoxification.
Didn't help me before, but it definitely makes me sweat, so it's worth a try.
All these things that people have mentioned - Diet, exercise, sunlight. They're all important and promote healing.
Keeping a journal is a great idea too... To get a plan of action together.
Decide what the biggest stressers in your life.
Eliminate them, if possible.
Thyroidism = Reduced cell metabolism of proteins, fats and carbs = Insufficient transport of nutrients into the cell membrane and insufficient transport of wastes out.
I'm not saying this is the whole cause of our problem(s), but I think it's definitely a part of it.
An approach to healing the thyroid and adrenals is important.
It's still hard to say if constipation, and other digestive issues, are there because of the Thyroidism, but digestive support is important too.
I believe my social anxiety and depression are physical rather than mental. I didn't create them, and most sufferers seem to have these problems.
I believe they would vanish (largely) if the physical issues were repaired.
Serotonin may play a part, but digestive problems are likely the cause of low serotonin (as that's mentioned a fair bit, surrounding accutane).
Maybe one of you guys can figure something else out from the site.
I can't afford it at the moment, but this might be worth a try:
[Edited link out]
It would include T3.
Not a single approach, but could be used holistically, among a regular sleep pattern and good diet/exercise/stress management.
Good post @ indigo and @Milano as well. theres definately a thyroid component in there somewhere. I remember reading a post from a girl on curezone that was talking about having flaky dry skin and hairloss from taking accutane, she took modifilan and she said that removed these problems. Likewise another poster on this thread said liquikelp was a miracle in terms of helping their side effects. Theres also oilgirl and another poster talking about the benefit of B12, B6 and folic acid in mental side effects and helping chronic fatigue syndrome. Theres also myself that is trying to eat more healthy retinol containing foods like raw dairy, raw eggs etc as well as taking taurine, zinc and vitamin E to mitigate the side effects.
Theres also the fact that some have noticed effects from vitamin D3 as it can protect in the case of excessive vitamin A, although it's not a cure...
I've previously sang the praise of livotox a liver health formula, but after taking milk thistle, dandelion, artichoke, chinese bitters for years... and many liver flushes, i can honestly say from my perspective that is a dead end.
Yep! Thyroid seems to be a common thing in the Accutane population, wether hyper or hypo. Just a fyi for ya Indigo, Hypothyroid is know to cause constipation & depression. Hyper tends to cause anxiety and hyper bowls.
Hope all is well with everyone [Edited image out]
I just wanted to add also that low thyroid can cause elevated liver, choleserol, sugar levels and a decrease of certian hormone levels. By the way, I had my B7 - Bioton levels checked. It takes about 19 days to come back as it is a enzyme. My was on the lower side of normal. Normal is 450-4200 and I was 700 lab level. I had stopped taking it for 2 months before having the lab done. I thought that was interesting....Explains why I have had a slight sucess w/ using Bioton.
The most dramatic help for my leaky gurgly gut issues so far has been Young Living Peppermint Essential Oil. Two drops in a water bottle hugely cuts down my gurgling stomach, particularly if I make a dietary "mistake". In regards to purity I'm sure that there are a lot of companies that actually are pure but the only two that I think we can be 100% sure that they are pure and high quality are Young Living and Detera.
The other thing is that I notice that my Oxyal drops work something like 5 times better if I put them in right before I go to bed. I've heard that Hyaluronic acid is synthesized while you sleep plus it can just sit on your closed eyes and absorb for longer so that makes sense.
That's all for now.
I am not sure if anyone here may know about this, but i experienced Vit A toxicity many years ago, due Accutane.'
Anyway, I have just ordered a Vitamin A and D moisturiser, through Sarah Vaughter site, and am wondering if maybe it's a bad idea to use it, because of the previous vit A toxicity to my body. I now have very little accutane long term effects left, other than mild seborrheic dermatitis.
Would the Vit A in the moisturiser form, still absorb into one's bloodstream, or does it just sit on top of the skin in topical form, and not aborb into the blood? And will it exacerbate or bring back the Accutane side effects or unlikely to?
It contains 48,000 I.U of retinol. is that high in vitamin A?The cream / moisturiser is called Infadolan.
Thank you
Girlie
I am not sure if anyone here may know about this, but i experienced Vit A toxicity many years ago, due Accutane.'
Anyway, I have just ordered a Vitamin A and D moisturiser, through Sarah Vaughter site, and am wondering if maybe it's a bad idea to use it, because of the previous vit A toxicity to my body. I now have very little accutane long term effects left, other than mild seborrheic dermatitis.
Would the Vit A in the moisturiser form, still absorb into one's bloodstream, or does it just sit on top of the skin in topical form, and not aborb into the blood? And will it exacerbate or bring back the Accutane side effects or unlikely to?
It contains 48,000 I.U of retinol. is that high in vitamin A?The cream / moisturiser is called Infadolan.
Thank you
Girlie
5,000iu is the maximum recommended daily allowance of retinol, so 48,000iu is a hell of a lot. If you've had problems in the past with accutane i'd avoid retin A and other retinol containing skin creams completely. Synthetic retinol whether it be in tablet / capsule form or in the form of creams will always exacerbate accutane side effects and yes it can be absorbed into the bloodstream. If i was you i'd stay away from any new age retinol or vitamin d containing creams as the retinol is usually Tretinoin which is synthetic and very damaging long term to your health....it will most certainly aggrevate any old symptoms. Same goes for vitamin D which is usually in the form of Calcipotriol which is synthetic, toxic and will cause it's own set of problems. I'd say get your vitamins from whole foods and stay away from creams with vitamin A or Vitamin D in them in general, especially after past experiences. In this cream it has retinol acetate and vitamin D2 but the same principle applys, both are synthetic and they will aggrevate your old symptoms over time.
If you get Bicarb of soda and add some water, making it into a paste, you can then apply that to your hair, wash off after about 30 minutes, it will help remove the scales of seb derm and will reduce oilyness . Then apply 100% aloe Vera gel on top that will help any itchiness and act as a moisturizer. The two work together well. Hope that helps
Thanks Chico!
why would u avoid vit D? I mean, in the moisturiser/topical form?
I had blood tests done three months ago, and was found to be very low in Vit D
I was given Vit D supplements in oral form, and my health has improved vastly.
My seborrheic dermatitis is at an all time low on my face, my scalp has cleared amazingly well, can't get over the improvementm and
vit d supplementation is the only thing i have changed.
Plus I have more energy too.
I did try a dab of the infadolan vit a moisturiser on my arm, i didnt notice any side effects at all, but i am going to stay away from it, like you mentioned
do u think that little dab would have had a negative impact. I did it about 4 days ago now, and noticed nothing different.
Thanks Chico!
why would u avoid vit D? I mean, in the moisturiser/topical form?
I had blood tests done three months ago, and was found to be very low in Vit D
I was given Vit D supplements in oral form, and my health has improved vastly.
My seborrheic dermatitis is at an all time low on my face, my scalp has cleared amazingly well, can't get over the improvementm and
vit d supplementation is the only thing i have changed.
Plus I have more energy too.
I did try a dab of the infadolan vit a moisturiser on my arm, i didnt notice any side effects at all, but i am going to stay away from it, like you mentioned
do u think that little dab would have had a negative impact. I did it about 4 days ago now, and noticed nothing different.
It depends, i cant see synthetic vitamin A and synthetic vitamin D being good for you, synthetic being the operative word. Vitamin A and vitamin D derivatives can cause problems long term because they are difficult for the body to remove. Taking accutane as an example...it's terrible for the body, even if some people have no visible side effects. It's still toxic amounts of a synthetic vitamin A derivative that has no place in the body in those amounts. It messes up your hormone function, affects your DNA and cell production. We both have experienced seb derm as a direct consequence of accutane's effect on DNA and it changing the rate our skin cells grow.
Healthy vitamin D3 is good for you, but i'd stay away from any synthetic vitamin A after your problems with accutane. A famous saying comes to mind "once bitten, twice shy" Carry on with your vitamin D3 oral supplementation, but i'd stay away from (Calcipotriol cream) vitamin D creams, retin A (tretinoin) vitamin A creams and all these synthetic lab produced deriviatives of a vitamin, they mess you up.
Any tips on (social) anxiety here? Been suffering greatly the last few weeks of a sore throat, headaches and general stress things. Can't seem to figure out how to only search this thread instead of the whole forums. I've had this issue throughout my 8 years of accutane use, but ever since I stopped it seems to come up more random and for more drastic with no obvious reason.
Tried magnesium and rhodiola, but those two seem to power my anxiety even more... 
I started college last week.
It's scary being a student again, because of the social anxiety.
You find yourself surrounded by loud, energetic, confident people and it makes me feel like shit.
I needed to get a part time job, so found a local bar job in my village.
Started today.
Did a 5 and a half hour shift (without a break) and feel destroyed.
I really don't know what to do.
I want to die so much.
I know there is no hope.
I'm terrified of what's happening to me, because it appears I can do nothing to stop it.
It's all so unfair and... just horrible.
The people I was working with are very nice, but I feel like a fraud even trying to do the job.
I was so nervous, and not just because it's new.
I used to work in a supermarket for around 10 months and I never got rid of the nerves.
My eyes sting and feel dry and I can't make eye contact without feeling like an ugly piece of shit.
My gums are worse.
For absolutely no reason, the gum over one of my back (top) teeth is cut and bleeding.
It looks really sore.
I've had a-fucking-nuff of this.
[Edited link out]
Reading stuff like above just terrifies me.
I'd like to say that my receding gums are just down to a thyroid problem, but I don't think that's the case at all.
Even if it were, what the fuck difference does it make?
I can't fix that problem.
I cannot eliminate stress, no matter how I try.
There is nothing I can do.
I just want to end this nightmare.
It's not right :'(
IF doctors and shit really think accutane doesnt cause these problems then why dont they prove them so we can actually feel better? it sucks
sorry to hear stefen wat ur going through it sucks now my problems r getting worse and im arguing with my mum cause she trusts the doctor . fuck this
Indigo i've seen your videos and for what it's worth you look like a normal good looking guy. If your worried about your teeth and gums the first thing i'd do is get a good electric toothbrush (i like oral B). People laugh at this but it's true a good electric toothbrush will clean your teeth of plaque much better. Accutane can affect vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin K and thyroid hormones so try and centre attention on them. The B vitamins are implemented too, b12 and the rest of the b vitamins.
About the projection of yourself, outward projection is what people see, they don't see an ugly person when they see you, they see an attractive person with zero self confidence. I've seen your hair many times in video's and i know your self conscience about that, i can honestly say hand on heart there is no-one that would say or think anything negative about your hair or the way you look. It is a projection brought upon by the depression, suicidal feelings....accutane can cause that. It may not be something you want to hear, but just have a think about that, nothing more.
I'm not saying your problems aren't geniune because i know with 100% certainty they are real, and the side effects you have (in relation to the mental and the hair etc) were caused by the drug. But your perception of yourself is not the truth, and your girlfriend / family may tell you that, but i'm telling you as a complete stranger.