For me I think tane has made me more irritable/tired...feel my patience is def a little bit thin...

I havent had crying episodes..just feeling lazy/lethargic

I did tell me derm about this..she said as long as I wasnt depressed or had bad thoughts (which I did not)

I told her I was just lethargic..as I could sit and watch bad reality tv all day and be content

I would open up to your Dr..as far as I am aware its the cumulative dose that is important..so if that means lowering your dose to 60mg or even 40mg to see if that helps and stick it out an additional 1-2mnths

GOOD LUCK

U are so close!

Kim

For me I think tane has made me more irritable/tired...feel my patience is def a little bit thin...

I havent had crying episodes..just feeling lazy/lethargic

I did tell me derm about this..she said as long as I wasnt depressed or had bad thoughts (which I did not)

I told her I was just lethargic..as I could sit and watch bad reality tv all day and be content

I would open up to your Dr..as far as I am aware its the cumulative dose that is important..so if that means lowering your dose to 60mg or even 40mg to see if that helps and stick it out an additional 1-2mnths

GOOD LUCK

U are so close!

Kim

Thank you you so so much!

Whoa!!!

Depression can be a serious side effect. Please let the derm know and ask to be on a lower dose for the rest of your treatment!!

The result will be the same, and your skin will continue to look better and better. It will just take a little longer to finish up.

That's a very high dose, so the derm shouldn't be surprised that you're having side effects.

A lower dose is very nice, actually. I'm on it now and it's very pleasant. I forget I'm on it, yet my skin is looking better and better.

Please call your derm today!!! They may want you to take it only every few days or change to a 20mg every day.

Side effects should go away once treatment is over, but your body is reacting to the dose that way, I wonder if it's doing other damage you don't know about yet.

Hey guys,

So my Dr. prescribed me 80mg a day for three months on Accutane (or four Months if my acne still needed to be cleared up a bit). And so I'm about done with my 2nd month and I'm all cleared up on my cheeks, besides a few red, scab-like marks and some small pimples on my forehead. But all in all, I'm Definately clearing up!

I'm super excited to see all of this progress, but something really unusual has been happening to me on accutane I straight up cry basically every...single...day. Without a reason, for that matter! Say if someone was to ask me why I was crying, I wouldn't even be able to answer because there simply isn't a reason behind it.Its all so confusing and I told my dad to keep an eye out on me so It won't be getting worse. But Besides that I also had slight loss of interest but not anything significant.

My questions are:

-Do these depression-like symptoms go away after accutane?

-Are there going to be any long term behavioral changes post-accutane?

-Since I'm basically halfway done with accutane, is it okay for me to not tell my derma about my crying spells? ( I really don't want for him to lower my dosage)

Hi - before you worry about depression (this can be a self perpetuating anxiety if you're not careful) ask yourself this:

In addition to crying have you experienced

Less pleasure in the things you normally enjoy doing?

Extreme fatigue / inability to sleep?

Increased agitation?

Changes in eating patterns (i.e. eating too much / not enough)?

Irritability?

Inability to focus or think clearly?

Reduction in your typical motivation to complete things?

If you find yourself answering yes unequivocally to more than one or two of the above (especially the first one), then you should definitely bring this up to your derm. But sometimes crying spells can just be that...if you are not experiencing any of the other typical symptoms of depression (i.e., you get a little stressed, you have a good cry and you move on) then I would say that you might be letting off some steam and this will pass. Go with your instinct.

To answer your other questions:

1. Depression-like symptoms such as fatigue and brain fog have been reported with accutane. Feeling incredibly sad, losing pleasure in the things you once enjoyed, etc. are not.

2. I have not experienced any long-term behavioral issues after taking accutane (nor did I really experience them while taking it - accept for the aforementioned brain fog)

3. This is up to you. If it starts to impede your functioning or you're experiencing some of the other side effects, it might be appropriate to bring it up.