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Hey bro i've been reading your message board and everyone else to find an answer for my redness. Before accutane i didn't have any facial redness just bad acne. When i started my treatment my face became red and sometimes pink. My face is red everyday only because of my training. But sometimes when my body isn't worked up it starts becoming red even when im outside. I'm still on the treatment and my skin is clear only while im on the treatment. When im through my face starts forming tiny red bumps as if a small bug bite me. This happens on my forehead, cheeks, nose, chin, and around my mouth after a few days off the treatment. Did you have this problem after the treatment?
I still deal with acne post tane, but its not so bad. If this problem you mention involves more than just a couple of red bumps then I can say that I have never had that. It may be acne. The acne I experience post tane is definitely different than the acne that I used to have. The acne I get now is similar to what you experience, but for the most part my skin is clear. I would be careful with staying on accutane long term as the risk of side effects would increase over time. Hope that helps. Feel free to ask more questions if you have any...
Thanks bro but the couple of bumps after one week covers my face and it feels like sand paper the very rough kind not the fine ones.
Halfpipe, I am sure lamarr will agree w/ me on this one...You would be crazy to do that. In the link that she posted to try and say it is a good idea.
The guy one took Accutane for Roscea, Not Accutane Induced Roscea, then he was on a low dose for many of years and after 5yrs he stopped accutane and his Roscea came back full force and decided to go back on low dose forever.
Low dose Long term can be just has devasting esspecially to bones and joints...
On another note halfpipe are u going to try plaquenil????
Im deciding on if I should go to my doctor this week about plaquenil or wait because I am still a bit yellow from mepacrine and I am wondering if plaquenil would get in the way of me getting less yellow? or in a unlikely situation make me more yellow
really interested in seeing how seattle is doing
and how did you get results so quickly oilgirl? 2 weeks on plaquenil and redness/flushing gone,pretty amazing.
Im deciding on if I should go to my doctor this week about plaquenil or wait because I am still a bit yellow from mepacrine and I am wondering if plaquenil would get in the way of me getting less yellow? or in a unlikely situation make me more yellow
really interested in seeing how seattle is doing
and how did you get results so quickly oilgirl? 2 weeks on plaquenil and redness/flushing gone,pretty amazing.
Don't do it. You have rosacea because of tane. Even high doses of vitamin A will make your situation worse, let alone ANY dose of accutane.
Going on plaquenil won't affect your bodies ability to eliminate the yellowing from mepacrin. Give it a try.
Hey guys, here is a little update...
Still on the mepacrine and have been cycling it, 8 weeks on and then 4 weeks off, then 8 weeks on etc. This seems to help with the yellowing, at the end of 8 weeks I am not really yellow but more slightly olive. Then when I take 4 weeks off the olive/light tan tone pretty much goes away, so far so good in that respect (knock on wood). Also drink TONS of water. Halfpipe you may want to try this if you are not totally sold on giving up mepacrine. It really shuts the flushing, redness down. I am hoping after another 6 months or so of this perhaps I can try going 100mg every other day during my 8 week cycles instead of everyday. I will play it by ear, but as it stand after approx 2 x 8 week cycles things are slowly improving as time passes. 
Taking the 4 weeks off also gives my body a bit of a break but I am not overly concerned on that as a lot of people take the drug daily for years. Oh and another thing I read a study on B vitamins and that they help to reduce toxicity (on liver etc.) when taken with mepacrine, at least in rats so I take a mega B, can't hurt and it is good for the skin too.
It is almost 2 years to the day since my Accutane course. For those commenting on sickness and the immune system my WBC had been low since my course of Accutane but only just recently has it gone back to within normal range, still on the low side of normal range though.
My eyes are just really bothering me though. I have occular rosacea, blurry, gritty sensations, swelling of the eyelids, lose eyelashes, get tearing, wake up with that goo or sand in my eyes, all these symptoms are transient but a pain in the arse to say the least. Watching TV and looking at monitors for more than an hour triggers it pretty badly.
Lamarr, sorry dude, I may have asked but I didn't see it when I skimmed, what dose of Curcumin/tuermic do you take for your eyes? I need to give it a go, I use drops and a low dose antibiotic atm but not a lot of improvement.
JT, good luck on the plaquenil, if it is anything like mepacrine, which I'm sure it is, it will likely help you a lot as the anti-milarials have helped a lot of us.
Cheers and good health and prosper to everyone.
Hey guys, here is a little update...
Still on the mepacrine and have been cycling it, 8 weeks on and then 4 weeks off, then 8 weeks on etc. This seems to help with the yellowing, at the end of 8 weeks I am not really yellow but more slightly olive. Then when I take 4 weeks off the olive/light tan tone pretty much goes away, so far so good in that respect (knock on wood). Also drink TONS of water. Halfpipe you may want to try this if you are not totally sold on giving up mepacrine. It really shuts the flushing, redness down. I am hoping after another 6 months or so of this perhaps I can try going 100mg every other day during my 8 week cycles instead of everyday. I will play it by ear, but as it stand after approx 2 x 8 week cycles things are slowly improving as time passes.
It is almost 2 years to the day since my Accutane course. For those commenting on sickness and the immune system my WBC had been low since my course of Accutane but only just recently has it gone back to within normal range, still on the low side of normal range though.
My eyes are just really bothering me though. I have occular rosacea, blurry, gritty sensations, swelling of the eyelids, lose eyelashes, get tearing, wake up with that goo or sand in my eyes, all these symptoms are transient but a pain in the arse to say the least. Watching TV and looking at monitors for more than an hour triggers it pretty badly.
Lamarr, sorry dude, I may have asked but I didn't see it when I skimmed, what dose of Curcumin/tuermic do you take for your eyes? I need to give it a go, I use drops and a low dose antibiotic atm but not a lot of improvement.
JT, good luck on the plaquenil, if it is anything like mepacrine, which I'm sure it is, it will likely help you a lot as the anti-milarials have helped a lot of us.
Cheers and good health and prosper to everyone.
http://www.iherb.com/Jarrow-Formulas-Curcu...ules/13089?at=0
One of those day and night.
You should look into using rosex gel (topical used for rosacea) applied to the eyelids. I read about it on a few forums and gave it a try. Significantly reduces the burning. Been on it about 18 months now. Dr Chu is fine with it, as is my GP.
Also get yourelf some genteal severe eye GEL. It is the only gel/drop etc that helps.
Cheers and glad your getting some relief on the mepacrin. I Recommend people take the b vitamins with mepacrin aswell, i just take two per week. Have done since a few months of starting it.
P.s. I am currently working on a project which is like something 'Doc brown' out of back to the future would make. Is taking me a while but im really fedup with the folliculits on my face so i'm going to cure it with Low Level Lasers (better than LEDs).
Will post pictures in a month or two when its finished.
Edit: Soul you should try and get restasis (cyclosporin) eyedrop if you can/haven't tried them....
seattle good to hear you got plaquenil,who did you get it off,your family doctor or a specialist (which kind of specialist)? and did he look at you and decided you needed it once you told him your symptoms?
Family doctor. I have been asking for it for 6 months or so before she finally agreed. No change yet at 200 mg for one week. Good news though is that I haven't experienced any sides. I'll keep you updated. As Lamarr said, I don't believe the yellowing would increase/decrease based off of starting plaquenil.
I agree with Oli Girl and Lamarr about low dosing tane. If you hadn't gotten flushing from tane then you could make an argument, but since your flushing is directly related to tane I think it unwise to take more of the poison...
Hey bro i've been reading your message board and everyone else to find an answer for my redness. Before accutane i didn't have any facial redness just bad acne. When i started my treatment my face became red and sometimes pink. My face is red everyday only because of my training. But sometimes when my body isn't worked up it starts becoming red even when im outside. I'm still on the treatment and my skin is clear only while im on the treatment. When im through my face starts forming tiny red bumps as if a small bug bite me. This happens on my forehead, cheeks, nose, chin, and around my mouth after a few days off the treatment. Did you have this problem after the treatment?
I still deal with acne post tane, but its not so bad. If this problem you mention involves more than just a couple of red bumps then I can say that I have never had that. It may be acne. The acne I experience post tane is definitely different than the acne that I used to have. The acne I get now is similar to what you experience, but for the most part my skin is clear. I would be careful with staying on accutane long term as the risk of side effects would increase over time. Hope that helps. Feel free to ask more questions if you have any...
Thanks bro but the couple of bumps after one week covers my face and it feels like sand paper the very rough kind not the fine ones.
Hmm yeah I don't know anything about that. It sounds like a bad reaction. How long did you go off accutane for before restarting? I'm going to see if I can find anything out about this, but right now I don't have any advice. I'm sorry...
Cheers Lamarr, thanks for the info and keep us posted on your project.
Halfpipe, I agree in staying clear of any Accutane. There was one poster on here that only took 1 or 2 pills and had this terrible flushing start, he hadn't used Accutane in over a year and all it took was 1 or 2 pills and boom, it tipped the scales...we don't know much about Accutane, how long it really stays in the body, what the build up is etc. We do not that it often causes permanent changes in the body ie. for some people it can permanently shrink the sebacous glands which is how it 'cures' some people's acne.
Halfpipe- The flushing yes, went away in 2wks, the redness I just woke up one day about 1month after plaquenil and it wasn't red, though at times it still gets slightly red, probably due to the broken capillaries from the flushing.
Wether it be truly Roseaca (flushed and red 24/7) or probably due to the fact I have Accute Inflamation in other places. My symptoms and problems resemble thoose who have connective tissue disorders, lupus and such, and well I have Accutane induced Sjorgen's and arthritis. (though most of my lab work is normal sed rate and such) Why soo fast don't know, after everything I have tired I have just responded well to plaquenil and my Rhuem didn't seem suprised by the quick response.
Lamarr- You were right the plaquenil hasn't thinned my hair worse, in fact it has been growing and getting stronger. The rhuem must of noticed a diffrence and tried to pull a strand out,(which in the past numerous strands would came out) and well it wouldn't come out.
Question though??? How has the raynaud's been since the anti or do u take something elese for that????
Seattle- You probably be okay to bump up to 300mg or 400mg if needed. For the joints and muscles give it time, though mine are better then previously he said it will take about 4-5 months for full relief.
Halfpipe- The flushing yes, went away in 2wks, the redness I just woke up one day about 1month after plaquenil and it wasn't red, though at times it still gets slightly red, probably due to the broken capillaries from the flushing.Wether it be truly Roseaca (flushed and red 24/7) or probably due to the fact I have Accute Inflamation in other places. My symptoms and problems resemble thoose who have connective tissue disorders, lupus and such, and well I have Accutane induced Sjorgen's and arthritis. (though most of my lab work is normal sed rate and such) Why soo fast don't know, after everything I have tired I have just responded well to plaquenil and my Rhuem didn't seem suprised by the quick response.
Lamarr- You were right the plaquenil hasn't thinned my hair worse, in fact it has been growing and getting stronger. The rhuem must of noticed a diffrence and tried to pull a strand out,(which in the past numerous strands would came out) and well it wouldn't come out.
Question though??? How has the raynaud's been since the anti or do u take something elese for that????
Seattle- You probably be okay to bump up to 300mg or 400mg if needed. For the joints and muscles give it time, though mine are better then previously he said it will take about 4-5 months for full relief.
My raynaud's is still there, but it isn't really raynaud's anymore... Just relatively normal cold hands and feet in cold climates. It took about 6 months on the mepa for my hands to reach the point they are at now!
My mum joints continued to improve on plaquenil until about 5-6 months aswell, then hit a plateau. So you should see some good improvement yet.
I believe the reason why some of us see such fast results, is that our bodies haven't been in a state of inflammation as long as many people with auto immune/inflammatory dissorders (well that is assuming that it isn't many years since you took tane) thus the damage which long term inflammation can cause, isn't to extensive....
Hey guys, will no longer be posting on here anymore. You can add me or email me at if you need any advice or support.
I'm fedup with people on these forums so i will stop spending my time on here trying to help people.
I still want to help you guys with accutane side effects, so you know where i am!!
cheers
Wow - it is so nice to find this thread. Thank you so much for starting this up!
I have been off accutane for maybe 18 months and just this winter has this flushing thing begun.
At first I thought it was a flu, then an allergy until I finally realized that my skin was sensitive to HEAT! Of course this had to happen on my year off away from home teaching english in JAPAN!! When it happens the kids stare and ask if im okay and I feel like jumping out the window! 
Please, if anyone has any advice let me know! I saw the fish oil tip which i will try. I hope to god it gets better in time!
Thanks again for the post - it's nice to know I'm not alone in this
Hey everyone
I went to my doctor this morning and talked to him and he was about to give me plaquenil,literally about to write the prescription and then just stopped and said "IM NOT GONNA GIVE YOU PLAQUENIL,I CANT I CANT" and he was only gonna write it for 100mg...
He was saying how he could get sued if I get eye damage and all this..
Talked some more and He sent me for some test for inflammation
S,SR,CRP,ANA,RI
(edit: looking at these tests online,they test for autoimmune disorders and others..what are the chances that I would get some results back with these tests that would give him a reason to put me on plaquenil? because he said if something comes back with the tests he will think about it)
those are the tests I just got my blood work done on.
fucked up thing is when I told him accutane is more dangerous then plaquenil he said "but accutane I am covered because its for acne and I can say I gave him accutane for acne"
Basically made me feel when leaving that this is a doctor whos not looking to help me with my problems even when everytime I go in there im red/rashy and flushy,hes not looking to help me find a answer with trials and errrors but is only looking for patients with things he can be covered for when I thought the thrill of being a doctor was to help patients like us find the answers.
and when i told him about the flushing,he said plaquenil won't do anything for the fevers and that next time i get a fever I should take my temperature and come back to him with the results..
loss of words right now..
Hey everyone
I went to my doctor this morning and talked to him and he was about to give me plaquenil,literally about to write the prescription and then just stopped and said "IM NOT GONNA GIVE YOU PLAQUENIL,I CANT I CANT" and he was only gonna write it for 100mg...
He was saying how he could get sued if I get eye damage and all this..
Talked some more and He sent me for some test for inflammation
S,SR,CRP,ANA,RI
(edit: looking at these tests online,they test for autoimmune disorders and others..what are the chances that I would get some results back with these tests that would give him a reason to put me on plaquenil? because he said if something comes back with the tests he will think about it)
those are the tests I just got my blood work done on.
fucked up thing is when I told him accutane is more dangerous then plaquenil he said "but accutane I am covered because its for acne and I can say I gave him accutane for acne"
Basically made me feel when leaving that this is a doctor whos not looking to help me with my problems even when everytime I go in there im red/rashy and flushy,hes not looking to help me find a answer with trials and errrors but is only looking for patients with things he can be covered for when I thought the thrill of being a doctor was to help patients like us find the answers.
and when i told him about the flushing,he said plaquenil won't do anything for the fevers and that next time i get a fever I should take my temperature and come back to him with the results..
loss of words right now..
Hey man. Sorry to hear that. Did you offer to sign a waiver of rights? My doctor isn't covered for plaquenil either because she's not a rheumatologist so in order for her to give it to me she covered herself by having me sign a waiver saying that I cannot sue her for damages. If that is all that is holding your doctor back then you should try to do that.
thanks alot seattle will be sure to ask him for that
I wonder if they have that in canada though?
and yeah its pretty much all thats holding him back
Yeah true I don't know how your laws work. Down here the doctors just need you to sign your name on a piece of paper stating that you forego the rights to sue them and assume full responsibility.
Halfpipe- See if you can sign a waiver. I just went to the eye doc for a vision field test and check up since I have bleperitis, sjorgen's problems. The eye doc who is a retina surgeon also said the same thing, she has only read studies and seen people have eye problems if they are above 400mg or on it for 15yrs or more, but if caught in time it is reversible.
Also I know for me it took 4 rheums, I couldn't get my regular doc prescribe to me. It was a hassle to have to see a new doc each time. Maybe something will show in the lab, but then again that would suck.
Good Luck
As bad as it sounds I really want something to show up on the test
because I believe something is wrong inside
my inflammation is so high in my body I feel and not even that,I pretty much have every symptom of systematic lupus and the only time I had relieve was on mepacrine
seb derm treatments don't work
rosacea treatments don't work
doxycycline don't work
First time on a lupus treatment and Im on my way,yet its so unfortunate that the yellow skin got to me but apart from that,it just shows me that these are the treatments that my body needs
Same here Halfpipe. I actually had a positive ANA and DS Antibody (indicative of SLE;Lupus) but Mi tried to say that it was so low that it was nothing and 3 rheum called me crazy.....Recently I was retested for all that and came back normal, except physical findings. I was nervous the Rheum was going to take me off, but he said your clinical physical findings resemble that of a UDCTD
though my flushing is gone, I have so much damage to my joints,bones and tendons, I probably going to plateau like Lamarr said in that aspect. I hate the day I ever heard of Accutane.
Just keep being persistent don't give up!!!!!!
As bad as it sounds I really want something to show up on the test
because I believe something is wrong inside
my inflammation is so high in my body I feel and not even that,I pretty much have every symptom of systematic lupus and the only time I had relieve was on mepacrine
seb derm treatments don't work
rosacea treatments don't work
doxycycline don't work
First time on a lupus treatment and Im on my way,yet its so unfortunate that the yellow skin got to me but apart from that,it just shows me that these are the treatments that my body needs
I know why Seb Derm treatments dont work, firstly i'm 23 years old i took accutane at 17 and developed facial flushing and cracked lips throughout my course. After discontinuing the product i developed extremely severe seb derm of the face and scalp, i'd gauge about an inch thick all over at it's worst. The outer portion of my eyes became very red and i could never gain a pound above 10 stone.
To explain whats happening to you Accutane is a synthetic form of Retinoic acid, retinoic acid is what retinol is converted to to be used in the cell. It is not stored in the liver and cant be used anywhere else other than the cell itself. Also retinoic acid cannot retro convert itself back to retinol it stays as retinoic acid. The body is damaged on a cellular level due to accutane, it possibly causes cholastatis of the liver due to a build up a glucuronidated metabolites, this is not conclusively true but could be plausible. Any way when the body finds itself unable to remove a fat soluble toxin such as accutane, it stores it in the fat cells of the epidermis just under the skin.
This is true of any environmental toxin such as mercury, uranium, you name it they're all stored in the fat cells under the epidermis to keep them from entering the bloodstream and causing even more damage. Whereas mercury stored in the epidermis may cause chronic fatigue it will never cause seb derm or rosacea due to the fact that it has no control over cell differentation. Retinoic acid is used by the body to control skin cell differentation, therefore the places where accutane resides in the fat cells under the epidermis is where you have out of control skin differentation (ie skin growing far to quickly, which is what Seb derm is)
Also look up hypervitaminosis A and you'll see all your symptoms there, this is a condition where the body contains too much vitamin A, joint pains, hairloss, petichea, inability to gain weight, chellitis of the lips, seb derm are all symtoms. But it's not as straight forward as that, it's not hypervitaminosis A, it's similar but it's not the same because unlike retinol which is stored in the liver, retinoic acid isnt, so accutane users livers are normally perfectly fine, because they havent got any accutane in the liver, it's all stored on a cellular level, normally under the epidermis of the face or scalp.
The only way to remove accutane from the skin cells i've found is Eniva vibe cardiac and life 2oz's a day it seems to scab the seb up then it just falls off leaving healthier skin underneath, but i've now developed hairloss as a result of the accutane being pushed out of the cells, which is displacing one problem with another. I'm thinking the hairloss is associated with the retinoic acid possibly binding to the endrocine hormones such as the thyroid and putuitary.
Also all these people taking anti inflammatorys why dont you supplement your adrenals, thats were all your anti inflammation hormones are created. It's a well known fact adrenal problems cause hairloss, plus environmental toxicity causes you adrenals to shut down. Remember it's all cellular.