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Hey guys, I've been on Accutane since about February. I started out on a small dosage. I began taking 10 mg a day and then after about a month I increased it to 20 mg a day. Currently I am using 40 mg of Accutane a day. I am tired of taking it, and can't really afford to buy the remainder of the course. I will finish all my pills in about 10 days time and I have had roughly 7,600 mg of Accutane. I didn't have bad acne to begin with and I have had clear skin for about 3 months. I am so scared of stopping incase my skin goes bad again. I am 6'2 and approximately 76 kg, so my cumulative dosage is around 9,000 mg. Do you think being 1400 mg short will guarantee a remission? Or is there a good chance I will stay clear?
Thanks,
Lewie
Don't worry about cumulative dosage and people on this site are obsessed with it. The guideline is . 5mg for every kilo of weight. So you're fine on 40mg. However I'd stick out the course as many here will see clear skin immediately on accutane and then will break out when off it.
I would stick out the course as your derm recommended. People DO relapse as you can see from the posts on here and its more likely if you don't take as much overall during the course of treatment it seems like (don't have any facts to back this up though). In terms of costs, where do you get your meds? I just got my first Rx for accutane at 60mg a day and they gave me generic Claravis and at CVS I paid $4 for it with my insurance. but it said on the reciept that without insurance it would only have cost me like $16.23 for a month's supply. Call around to see if you can get it at a better price somewhere else if the costs are too high where you are filling it now. Good luck!
Well now I feel bad but I was just going on what my prescription reciept and insurance claims page said. It says on the receipt with the med: "you pay: $4.00" "insurance paid: $12.23" and on my medical claims page for my insurance it says "insurance billed: $16.23" "patient responsibility: $4.00." I guess that my insurance gives me a discount before they even take off for my regular Rx co-pay or something? I don't know... Seems like they would have put the original price like they did for my topicals. When I got my tazorac filled a few months ago it said "you pay: $42.00" "insurance paid: $659.24." Weird.....
Did your Dermatologist give you a reason to upping the dosage in stages and why you're still on 40mg? If not, I'd ask when you next see them. Perhaps your blood tests weren't satisfactory or something? Maybe even say you've researched online and think your dose should be higher by now.
Mine started me on 20mg due to my history of depression and he also said a higher dose may cause my cysts to erupt, which could lead to scarring. Then I increased to 40mg once my skin was pretty much clear and atm I'm on 60mg whilst I see out the course.
I didn't realise some people would have to pay for roaccutane treatment, but I would see out the course if you can, it'll be worth the money to have acne free skin. It's possible stopping beforehand may increase the risk of a relapse.
Good luck 
. And my source has stopped selling it.