I need some opinions: I am 25, I have moderate/severe acne. My derm gave me the option of going on accutane. I decided to think about it, and in the mean time she gave me minocycline and retin-a. I am considering going on accutane, but I have some dilemmas. The obvious one is the side effects, they scare me just thinking about it. The biggest dilemma for me is, I am not going to have insurance come September. I might not be on it till June or July, that's only 2 months that I would have insurance to pay for it. Do I get accutane or not?
It depends on how desperate you are feeling. If you are feeling so depressed with life and feeling like there's is no hope and you need a solution, I say, do it.
I, like you, was extremely worried of side effects but did it anyway. I did it because I was at a point where I wanted to commit suicide because it was so bad. I would wake up in the morning and my bed spread and pajamas would be covered in blood from the facial, back and chest acne. I didn't have any more suicidal thoughts while taking Roaccutane. The only thing I regret about Roaccutane was that it thinned my hair a lot but I'm not bald by any means. I am a girl, so of course I want it thicker but I prefer thinner hair than what I dealt with before. Also, as far as I know, hair loss only occurs in about 10% of users so I was just unlucky. Other than that I never had any real side effects. I had pinkish skin, really dry and cracked lips, dry/red eyes and constipation but everything went away 2 - 3 months after I ended my 8 month course.
im on it now. face is slightly slightly pinker and my lips are quite dry. my hair line seems to have receeded a bit but i could also be imagining things. I say if youre getting scarring, do accutane now. the longer you wait the more you scar. If my lips werent so dry i would literally have 0 problems with accutane! my arms are getting smoother, my nose is smoother than its ever been, and im happy to know that im actually getting better each day, rather than hoping things dont get worse. Make sure you get a low dose and slowly build up, im on 20mg a day and im 70kg male 6 foot. I also have dry skin on my elbows and slightly on my knuckles but i would say on a scale of one to ten, ten being unbearable, it would be a one.
i say go for it, but its up to you.
Will you be without insurance temporarily? If so you might consider waiting until you will have continuous coverage. I'm in a similar situation and I've been told that out of pocket Accutane costs around $800/month and that does not include your monthly dermatologist visits or labwork. You can get it for somewhat less at Sam's and Costco I've heard but it's still much higher that what you would pay with insurance.
Will you be without insurance temporarily? If so you might consider waiting until you will have continuous coverage. I'm in a similar situation and I've been told that out of pocket Accutane costs around $800/month and that does not include your monthly dermatologist visits or labwork. You can get it for somewhat less at Sam's and Costco I've heard but it's still much higher that what you would pay with insurance.
Holy moly!! That is so expensive 
If you don't mind my asking, where do you live? I am in Canada and I don't have health insurance (just Medicare) so I pay the full price and it only costs me 91 dollars per month (40mg), next month I plan on switching to the generic brand though, should save me about 20 dollars unless the dosage goes up.
I need some opinions: I am 25, I have moderate/severe acne. My derm gave me the option of going on accutane. I decided to think about it, and in the mean time she gave me minocycline and retin-a. I am considering going on accutane, but I have some dilemmas. The obvious one is the side effects, they scare me just thinking about it. The biggest dilemma for me is, I am not going to have insurance come September. I might not be on it till June or July, that's only 2 months that I would have insurance to pay for it. Do I get accutane or not?
I was in the same boat, 23 with persistent moderate acne on my face and severe on my back. I tried for 10 years with the topicals/antibiotics/BC pills etc before taking the leap to try accutane (I am two weeks in). Definitely talk the side effects over with your doctor to see if it is right for you. My acne is genetic (I get it from my Dad). He took accutane in his 40s and it worked very well for him. His acne came back in a few years but it was very mild. He only experienced dry dry skin while on the drug and to be honest, I was so fed up with my acne that I did not see another option. I am extremely self conscious of my skin and it was stopping me from enjoying different activities etc. I find that people who had a negative experience with Accutane are more likely to find an outlet like the internet to tell their stories where as the majority of people who had a good one don't see a need to. I don't want to shrug off the side effects, they are very real. It is a serious drug and shouldn't be taken lightly. But the horror stories you read about are rare occurrences. I guess I am not very helpful, sorry. Just wanted to let you know I went through something similar and am giving the accutane a try!
As for the cost, where do you live? I'm in Canada and am paying 91 dollars a month for 40mg/day and don't have insurance. I only have medicare so I pay full price for prescriptions. Is there anyone who could help you out with the cost?
I live in the US, I don't want to ask my parents to help because I already owe them so much (I don't pay rent) and I am not working right now. I think I'll ask my derma what it wound cost without insurance, get all the details first.
I can relate to that. I'm still living with my mom and am 23 (almost 24).
Well the questions you have to ask yourself:
1. How will you pay for treatment once your insurance runs out? 2 months is not enough to clear anyone.
2. Have you exhausted all the other mainstream options? Topicals, like BP, retinoids, antibiotics, then oral antibiotics, birth control pills? Have you given them all a fair try? A 'fair' try is 3 months adhering to all the doctors instructions.
3. Have you had allergy testing/hormone testing to see if any of these two are the culprits?
4. How bad is your scarring? Accutane will prevent most future scarring.
5. Do you understand all the side effects and what they entail?
If you've tried everything and can find no obvious cause of your acne, and if you can find a way to pay for Accutane once your insurance runs out, then it might be worthwhile.
Responding to an earlier question, I live in the United States. I am unexpectedly changing jobs and will be without insurance coverage for a month and am midway through my course, my dermatologist told me that my generic will likely be around $800 for the one month I am uninsured.