Hey I was hoping I could get a question answered about the Remeron/Clonidine type stuff. Last week my allergies started to act up and I took a zyrtec which I observed noticeably reduced my flushing so I have been taking one a day for a week now. Is zyrtec similar to Remeron/Clonidine for flushing purposes?

Another question I was hoping to get answered is that over the last two weeks I have had a lot of breakouts on my face and I haven't had this much acne since I was on accutane like 14-16 months ago. It sucks, but I am hoping that this is a positive sign that the accutane is losing, somewhat, of its effect. Does anyone know of anyone else that has had their flushing decrease once their acne returns?

Thanks for any replies,

James

Hey all, some good news and bad news.

The good news - Remeron has worked very well for my flushing...not only that but I sleep pretty much through the night and am a lot more happier in general. I can control flushing now pretty much with the exception of being in some public places which the flush is then anxiety related (this is something I am personally working on). Hard to say about hot or warm temps because my biggest issue was with the heating systems in the house and shops etc. - the warm air from the vents used to make me flush like crazy...so time will tell once the fall comes. I am still flushing int he sun however, but am ok in the evenings, just not good in the mid afternoon, but I am also on minocycline so this could be adding to the sun sensitivity, that and also while I was on Accutane I never went out in the direct sun which was 8 months, so I think my skin just needs to become accustomed to the harsh sun again, but I am not too worried about this, as I have no need to be out in mid afternoon at the moment (don't work outdoors and have been skipping out on the beach).

The bad news - I am getting a side effect and I am not sure which medication it is from but it may perhaps be the Remeron...or maybe the Clonidine? I am also on Minocycline which I stopped a couple days back. I also take Ativan when going out in some largely populated public places which also helps with the flushing because it reduces my anxiety levels. So now I am to figure out which medication of the 3 (Ativan, Clonidine, Remeron, Minocycline) is giving me this side effect and go from there. I have stopped the Minocycline as of Tuesday. I see my GP tomorrow so I don't know if I will need to cut everything and start each one at a time to see which one I am having problems with, OR cut certain meds out or doses? Not sure, will be interested to see what he has to say. Also of note is that I have been able to cut down my Clonidine to .75mf twice daily where I was taking twice that amount when this first started.

So, I am not sure what exactly is going on here which ads to my anxiety, but I hope the flushing has also just gotten better with time. I fear that if/when I stop the Remeron/Clonidine the flushing will return full circle, but I sure hope not. The fact that I have been able to cut my Clonidine dose in half leads me to believe that the Remeron is really helping and/or thigns have gotten better with time.

Seattle JT,

Remeron works in a way that is not fully understood, but basically it helps by reducing or supressing your central nervous system and also by having an anti-histamine type of effect, which would be similar to the allergy med you mentioned. I personally believe, (for me at least) that the supression of the central nervous system is what has really helped (ie. anxiety etc.). If you are flushing at night and wake up red faced in the middle of the night, then you are probably like me and have a lot of sub-concoius anxiety etc.

Clonidine works differently as it simply lowers your blood pressure, so your blood is circulating with less pressure and thus less blood to flow to the vessels in the face etc.

Glad to hear that some of you are doing ok and hanging in there. Keep the faith and stay positive. I have also beeen doing daily meditation and exercise, eating healthy etc., which I also think has helped me quite a bit.

I will keep you all posted.

Peace

Oh yeah, Seattle JT, I was going to ask you how long it took from when you stopped Minocycline before you noticed a difference in your flushing?

Soul just to let you know the clonidine works in more ways than simply lowering the blood pressure. It alters the reactivity of the blood vessels to stimuli. It also lowers the overall output of the sympathatic nervous system.

I have found that the combo of clonidine and mirtazapine is great, but each without the other is not so good. The main reason for this is that the mirtazapine works on the same A2 receptor as clonidine but mirtazapine INCREASES it's activity. The clonidine counteracts this action of the mirtazapine allowing this 5-HT3 effects to do their Job.

Moxonidine also works in a similar way to clonidine and i am soon to be trying this instead of the clonidine because at the moment i am only able to take about 50 mcg of clonidine per day, where as before i was taking 75mcg three times daily. I am pretty sure the interaction between clonidine and mirtazapine is on the A2 receptor and moxonidines affinity for the A2 receptor is 30 times lower than clonidine, but it still lowers sympathatic output via a different receptor.

Soul,

I don't flush at night at all. Every morning I wake up with no flushing and just have some of the redness that can persist after using accutane which by itself is not something that bothers me. Most of my probems occur in mid afternoon/evening like you said when it is hottest out and what not.

You definitely, in my opinion, should stay away from minocycline or any other acne medications for that matter. Umm when I stopped the minocycline I noticed improvements for upwards to a month, but the majority of the improvement came in the form of feeling the flushing much less and I don't get that burning sensation from flushes unless I run really hard now and my face also has felt less sticky. It did somewhat help in how bad my flushing looked, but like I said the majority of the improvement was in the feeling. The minocycline was working really well for my acne and I had literally no acne after being on it for awhile, but I decided that I would rather deal with acne than flushing when I stopped using it like 3-4 months ago.

In response to your side effect I wouldn't be surprised if it was related to your heart as both Lamarr and I have had complications with our hearts by using similar medications...

Thanks for the comments and info guys.

Lamarr, that is really interesting information about the Clonidine, I did not know that. I will look into Moxonidine as well. What dose of the Remeron are you currently taking, still 15mg? When will you be starting the Moxonidine...?

At the moment im on 30mg of mirtazapine as my eyes are also severely effected by the rosacea and Tony said a higher dose can help with the eyes, which it has done. The flushing doesn't seem to be improved any more with the 30mg but you could give it a go, he did say there wasn't much difference between the 15 and 30 for flushing.

I plan to start the moxonidine in about a week, you need to come off the clonidine very slowly but i'm already on a very low dose now.

I'm starting on 200mcg of moxonidine then slowly working my way up.

,i'm hoping i can get the same effect on my flushing with this combo but without the sides!!

Only trouble you may have is that i don't think moxonidine is available in the US...It might be by now though...

Dropping your dose 50mcg twice daily should still give you the same effect but with less sides.

What kind of side effect have you had? the clonidine and mirtazapine is normally ok for most apparently, but for others it gives obscure sides, like with me...

Lamarr, Chase and others who have used meds to treat flushing...

This is probably a stupid question, but is it possible that using things like Clonidie, Remeron, Propranolol could cure or improve flushing permanently, even if you stop them?

Because we are not Rosacea sufferers as I understand what we have is not Rosacea, just Rosacea like (been told to me by derms and others etc.) is it possible that using Clonidine, Propranolol or Remeron for 3-4 months or until flushing is manageable could treat the problem similar to how a medication would treat acne. If you have acne, you use a topical or antibiotic or whatever until things are under control and then you stop and often if you are an adult the acne does not come back full force. I know these are totally different situations, but I used this example to help clarify what I mean.

Lamarr, I wonder if your doctor has said anything about this. The only reason I think it may be plausible is because there are quite a few posters I came across like Chase and the likes who have been fortunate enough to have their post Accutane flushing subside after a year or so, so I am just wondering if using some meds that I have mentioned for 3-6 months could just speed up the healing process?

Maybe this is a stretch but just something I thought I would throw out there. I have stopped the Remeron for a few days and still on Clonidine but I am planning on having to stop everything slowly over the next week or so until my side effect goes away but am hoping that maybe the gains I have made will not be lost (probably wishful thinking or maybe not..?).

I would be curious to hear some of your thoughts...

Hey soul

I actually talked with a doctor about this... he said that it is possible to eventually ween off of a medication after a long period of time being flush free for you to then stay flush free. Especially because this is not something our body developed on it's own. It was a reaction to a medication... your body has a better chance of readjusting it's self (with the help of a medication) and eventually going back to it's normal self.

I agree with this. ) Thats my goal

Lamarr, Chase and others who have used meds to treat flushing...

 

This is probably a stupid question, but is it possible that using things like Clonidie, Remeron, Propranolol could cure or improve flushing permanently, even if you stop them?

 

Because we are not Rosacea sufferers as I understand what we have is not Rosacea, just Rosacea like (been told to me by derms and others etc.) is it possible that using Clonidine, Propranolol or Remeron for 3-4 months or until flushing is manageable could treat the problem similar to how a medication would treat acne. If you have acne, you use a topical or antibiotic or whatever until things are under control and then you stop and often if you are an adult the acne does not come back full force. I know these are totally different situations, but I used this example to help clarify what I mean.

 

Lamarr, I wonder if your doctor has said anything about this. The only reason I think it may be plausible is because there are quite a few posters I came across like Chase and the likes who have been fortunate enough to have their post Accutane flushing subside after a year or so, so I am just wondering if using some meds that I have mentioned for 3-6 months could just speed up the healing process?

 

Maybe this is a stretch but just something I thought I would throw out there. I have stopped the Remeron for a few days and still on Clonidine but I am planning on having to stop everything slowly over the next week or so until my side effect goes away but am hoping that maybe the gains I have made will not be lost (probably wishful thinking or maybe not..?).

 

I would be curious to hear some of your thoughts...

Dr Chu actually simply considers post accutane flushing/rosacea to be simple rosacea. As with rosacea if you get the flushing under control all things improve, including the frequency of flushing. Now if the inflammation that accutane created has subsided then yeah it is possible to keep the gains. But unfortunately what may happen is the flushing slowly pick up again (but probably not as bad as it was).

As you gain a better understanding of your triggers and little tricks on how to avoid flushing, like when im out i chew on ice from cocktails. Then things should stay improved, obviously people recovered from it anyway and if you were destined to then hopefully things will just keep improving.

Lamarr, Chase and others who have used meds to treat flushing...

 

This is probably a stupid question, but is it possible that using things like Clonidie, Remeron, Propranolol could cure or improve flushing permanently, even if you stop them?

 

Because we are not Rosacea sufferers as I understand what we have is not Rosacea, just Rosacea like (been told to me by derms and others etc.) is it possible that using Clonidine, Propranolol or Remeron for 3-4 months or until flushing is manageable could treat the problem similar to how a medication would treat acne. If you have acne, you use a topical or antibiotic or whatever until things are under control and then you stop and often if you are an adult the acne does not come back full force. I know these are totally different situations, but I used this example to help clarify what I mean.

 

Lamarr, I wonder if your doctor has said anything about this. The only reason I think it may be plausible is because there are quite a few posters I came across like Chase and the likes who have been fortunate enough to have their post Accutane flushing subside after a year or so, so I am just wondering if using some meds that I have mentioned for 3-6 months could just speed up the healing process?

 

Maybe this is a stretch but just something I thought I would throw out there. I have stopped the Remeron for a few days and still on Clonidine but I am planning on having to stop everything slowly over the next week or so until my side effect goes away but am hoping that maybe the gains I have made will not be lost (probably wishful thinking or maybe not..?).

 

I would be curious to hear some of your thoughts...

 

Dr Chu actually simply considers post accutane flushing/rosacea to be simple rosacea. As with rosacea if you get the flushing under control all things improve, including the frequency of flushing. Now if the inflammation that accutane created has subsided then yeah it is possible to keep the gains. But unfortunately what may happen is the flushing slowly pick up again (but probably not as bad as it was).

 

As you gain a better understanding of your triggers and little tricks on how to avoid flushing, like when im out i chew on ice from cocktails. Then things should stay improved, obviously people recovered from it anyway and if you were destined to then hopefully things will just keep improving.

 

Hmmm, interesting...now I am totally confused. I always thought it was not Rosecea because we do not get the permanent redness, papules and all that most Rosecea sufferers get. I have asked a few derms and they have said that Accutane cannot cause Roseacea but can mimic the Rosecea like symptom of flushing. In a number of cases (the majority I have read), the flushing from Accutane resolves or lessens substantially but can take 6 months to a few years. Rosecea on the other hand, is something that cannot be cured or ever go away and it evolves or worsens over time, beginning with flushing, leading to permanent redness, leading to papules and pustules in those 3 stages...where as all we have is the first stage or flushing which to my knowledge will not evolve/get any worse and move into the latter 2 stages of Rosecea (permanent redness and papules.pustules). Ah well, not much you can do I suppose - it seems each derms has their own interpretation/opinion of things. Best to just go with it and hope for the best.

Yeah, I always keep a glass of ice around me, even when I am just loungin around the house. Summer is ok for the most part because many buildings are air conditioned and freezing inside, but it's the heating vents in the winter that I dread...big time trigger for me.

Hey soul

 

I actually talked with a doctor about this... he said that it is possible to eventually ween off of a medication after a long period of time being flush free for you to then stay flush free. Especially because this is not something our body developed on it's own. It was a reaction to a medication... your body has a better chance of readjusting it's self (with the help of a medication) and eventually going back to it's normal self.

 

I agree with this. ) Thats my goal

Hey Karyn, that is good news to hear. The other medication you could possibly consider or talk to your Doctor about is called Gabapentin. It has a very low side effect profile and is not addictive, in other words you will not become dependent on it like you can sometimes with antidepressants (although for the most part uncommon - some go through a form of withdrawl if they have been on antidepressants for a long time).

Gabapentin is used as an anti-seizure med primarily, but also used quite often for pain including the prevention of migraine headaches. It is also used off label for flushing and as a mood stabilizer. GABA as I understand, is a chemical that already exists in our brain that helps to control our central nervous system, basically supresses/regulates it in one way or another, so it is believed that by regulating our nervous system through taking GABA, it inadvertently helps to control the flushing, which is all part and parcel of the nervous system I suppose.

Of the meds I have tried I would say by far the REmeron helped the most but I cannot take it due to a side effect The only thing with Remeron (for me at least) is that it make you really hungry and sort of sedates you (make you feel really tired) after you take it. These things, for the most part can be controlled through manipulating the dose and being strict with your cravings.

Clonidine will give you the least sides (just a little dry mouth for an hour after I take it for me) but just sort of takes a little more then the edge of in my experience. Does not do a whole heck of a lot in terms of substantially reducing or controlling things.

Let us know how it goes...

Lamarr, Chase and others who have used meds to treat flushing...

 

This is probably a stupid question, but is it possible that using things like Clonidie, Remeron, Propranolol could cure or improve flushing permanently, even if you stop them?

 

Because we are not Rosacea sufferers as I understand what we have is not Rosacea, just Rosacea like (been told to me by derms and others etc.) is it possible that using Clonidine, Propranolol or Remeron for 3-4 months or until flushing is manageable could treat the problem similar to how a medication would treat acne. If you have acne, you use a topical or antibiotic or whatever until things are under control and then you stop and often if you are an adult the acne does not come back full force. I know these are totally different situations, but I used this example to help clarify what I mean.

 

Lamarr, I wonder if your doctor has said anything about this. The only reason I think it may be plausible is because there are quite a few posters I came across like Chase and the likes who have been fortunate enough to have their post Accutane flushing subside after a year or so, so I am just wondering if using some meds that I have mentioned for 3-6 months could just speed up the healing process?

 

Maybe this is a stretch but just something I thought I would throw out there. I have stopped the Remeron for a few days and still on Clonidine but I am planning on having to stop everything slowly over the next week or so until my side effect goes away but am hoping that maybe the gains I have made will not be lost (probably wishful thinking or maybe not..?).

 

I would be curious to hear some of your thoughts...

 

Dr Chu actually simply considers post accutane flushing/rosacea to be simple rosacea. As with rosacea if you get the flushing under control all things improve, including the frequency of flushing. Now if the inflammation that accutane created has subsided then yeah it is possible to keep the gains. But unfortunately what may happen is the flushing slowly pick up again (but probably not as bad as it was).

 

As you gain a better understanding of your triggers and little tricks on how to avoid flushing, like when im out i chew on ice from cocktails. Then things should stay improved, obviously people recovered from it anyway and if you were destined to then hopefully things will just keep improving.

 

 

Hmmm, interesting...now I am totally confused. I always thought it was not Rosecea because we do not get the permanent redness, papules and all that most Rosecea sufferers get. I have asked a few derms and they have said that Accutane cannot cause Roseacea but can mimic the Rosecea like symptom of flushing. In a number of cases (the majority I have read), the flushing from Accutane resolves or lessens substantially but can take 6 months to a few years. Rosecea on the other hand, is something that cannot be cured or ever go away and it evolves or worsens over time, beginning with flushing, leading to permanent redness, leading to papules and pustules in those 3 stages...where as all we have is the first stage or flushing which to my knowledge will not evolve/get any worse and move into the latter 2 stages of Rosecea (permanent redness and papules.pustules). Ah well, not much you can do I suppose - it seems each derms has their own interpretation/opinion of things. Best to just go with it and hope for the best.

 

Yeah, I always keep a glass of ice around me, even when I am just loungin around the house. Summer is ok for the most part because many buildings are air conditioned and freezing inside, but it's the heating vents in the winter that I dread...big time trigger for me.

 

Well man, i have slowly developed a low base permanent redness, as have many other accutane sufferers. Most do when it lasts long enough.

Mine took about a year to even begin showing.

I have seen Dr Crouch here in the uk who is the top laser specialist and he treates plenty of post accutane rosacea cases and says mine was typical and agrees with Dr Chu in that we have rosacea. There are also people on rosacea forums who have it due to accutane and have permanenet redness. There was even that guy in this thread who had vbeam to removed permanenet redness if you remember.

Most people do developed permanenet redness, the reason why it takes a while is because we are young and our vessels are strong, thus takes more to break them. It is the same for anyone with rosacea at our age. The papules and pastules aren't always seen with flushing anyway and the cytokines involved with our flushing are probably slightly different from your normal rosacea. But it is still exactly the same really.

I even have rosacea on my eyes e.g. ocular rosacea....

I just had the biggest flush ever when i was going to the doctors as we are having a heat wave here in the UK, my car was roasting hot. My ears neck, full face etc were crimson red. I try my best to deal with this shit but its been a long time for me and i'm still fighting it and even with the dozens of specialists i can't seem to beat it.

The problem for me is that mine has just slowly progressed further and further, even with improvement from drugs it just stil gradually progresses.

Anyway man i wouldn't let my case get you down i have so many other sides it isn't even funny. My whole body is a wreck.

acceptance and optimism are the biggest tools in fighting this. Externally, you aren't gonna beat this. This def. has to do with an internal imbalance, since we did take a medication that internally effects the biochemistry of our body. You have no other choice but to stay positive about it, and just live your life. I have leanred this, and my quality of living has drastically improved. That, I personally feel, is the only real solution to this problem, ATM, from my own experience and knowledge.

if I could advise anything for you guys, is to get yourselves off this forum. This forum is doing nothing for you guys. There are no answers, just other people that you can relate to. In the end, you are just wasting away valuable time of life, questioning and worrying about an issue that no one knows anything again. I feel for you guys, I used to spend every almost every waking minute on this forum, till I realized that it is a waste of time. Go live life. We aren't supposed to spend our lives wallowing in our problems and past mistakes. Grow, move on, and live.

Bro theres a big difference between me and you. Your sides always were alot milder, doctors are considering putting me on shit like cyclosporin/corticosteroids, which obviously i won't but my inflammatory markers are sky high my body is just in a state of destruction and i'm not exagerating in the slightest, i essentially have lupus.

If i had some intermitent flushing and a bit of seb derm life would be a breeze lol.

again, thats your doctors opinion. All of us who have been fucked by accutane, have been fucked by accutane. Your situation isn't more severe than mine. First of all I took accutane much longer and more times than you did, so there is no need to be comparing here man. I don't doubt you have it tough, but again I think you are letting these side effects add more to the stress and heart ache you really experience. yeah its tough man, I don't doubt that. My life isn't all peaches and cream either. But you have 2 decisions here. To choose to be a victim, or to live your live and be who you are. Life is too short to be a victim. Your life though man...

Well, I don't think we are particularly playing the victim so to speak...I think we are just relating to each other and bouncing thoughts and treatment options off one another for both insight and experience.

I do not think we are wallowing...and I don't think that is a fair assessment. I haven't read any negative thoughts in terms of (my life is over I hate Accutane etc). Aside from a few frustrations now again (in terms of what has worked and what has not) we post more for support then to "complain". There are lots of medications out there that can help with flushing, it may just be a matter of finding the right one for each person and their given situation. I know that personally, being able to relate to JT, Karyn, Lamarr and yourself has helped and actually been a form of optimism for me.

I do however, agree strongly with you in terms of working towards self acceptance and trying best to carry on with life. This is something I am trying to achieve myself through meditation and exercise, healthy diet etc. I am a big believer in the connection of body and mind and I know for a fact that stress has played a role in my flushing and makes it a lot worse when I am stressed out.

Just remember that you have been fortunate enough to have your flushing resolve so it is likely a little more easy for someone in your position to say that we must take it for what it is and get off the forums or stop thinking about it and move on with our lives...you know what I mean?

I think for most of us, we come here for support, to share our improvements or lack there of and bounce info and treatments of each other to help remain optimistic. In the meantime, it is best to just take it one day at a time and try to stay relaxed about the whole issue and not stress over it (as you have pointed out).

Lamarr,

I hear what you are saying. I hope I do not develop the permanent redness, but I suppose that since the flushing has somewhat improved since when I first had it (5 months ago) that perhaps I am fortunate enough to be going in the right direction. I am sorry to hear that things have gotten worse for you, but I must say that it is the first I have heard of the flushing getting worse or progressive post Accutane, but I am not doubting that it can happen. Perhaps Accutane can also trigger a later onset of Roseccea. If someone was prone to Rosecea or flushing, then I was thining maybe Accutane can just start the process eariler or faster then when they were once destined - not that it is what happened to you, just throwing it out threre. Keep the faith bro, I know it has been up and down for you so things will likely improve again. That topical sounds like it would deal with any permanent redness regardless.

Peace.

Lamarr,

 

I hear what you are saying. I hope I do not develop the permanent redness, but I suppose that since the flushing has somewhat improved since when I first had it (5 months ago) that perhaps I am fortunate enough to be going in the right direction. I am sorry to hear that things have gotten worse for you, but I must say that it is the first I have heard of the flushing getting worse or progressive post Accutane, but I am not doubting that it can happen. Perhaps Accutane can also trigger a later onset of Roseccea. If someone was prone to Rosecea or flushing, then I was thining maybe Accutane can just start the process eariler or faster then when they were once destined - not that it is what happened to you, just throwing it out threre. Keep the faith bro, I know it has been up and down for you so things will likely improve again. That topical sounds like it would deal with any permanent redness regardless.

 

Peace.

I think you will be fine if things are improving, the difference with me is i started having them appear just after i finished and everythign went haywire. I have always blushed or gone red when i workout or get to hot so i believe i have always had a slight flushing component and this has now been combined with inflammation so i have porbably got rosacea full on. There is no family history of it though don't get me wrong.

Chase man I have to compare when you imply that i need to just get on with life. If i just had the flushing i would be 100 times better off.

Put it this way dude, if i don't libricate my eyes every 30 mins my eyelids get stuck to my eyes, i kid you not. I am going to be having my draining ducks that drain off tears blocked because my eyes are so severely dry.

The flushing is just one of the worser side effects. I have always been strong minded and if i could get on with life i would, but that just isn't an option. unless i want to go permanently as red as a tomatoe, which is how i would go if i didn't have fans on me half the day.

I lose hair across my entire body, my eyes are severely dry, if my hands get too cold they get extremely painfull, i flush worse than any pictures i have seen posted by anyone, i get mouth ulcers that rub against my teeth when i eat. I also picked up scarring from accutane, not to mention extreme dryness. I could go on all day and i wish i was making this up or over rating it. But trust me i have it worse than you by FAR. Some occassional flushing and seb derm is a walk in the park and the brain can heal with time and medication, so your problems are what the every day person may encounter within their lives.

Like i said i am pretty much living with lupus but they can only find excess inflammation and not raised ANA, they test me every other month for every auto immune disease under the sun.

Lamarr, how long have you been off accutane now?

I read your post and it looks like I have finally found someone who is going through exactly the same thing I'm going through. I know exactly how you feel. No doctor or anyone at all believes me how bad it actually is. All my side effects also started when I was finished with accutane. The only one I had on tane was the dry eyes. I have been off accutane now for a year and a half and lately even more problems have been popping. I have been getting mouth ulcers and my sexual desire has gone down to zero. I know its all accutane related cuz I've never had a problem with that in my life and I've heard it happening to other people from tane. My overall quality of life has gone down hill and it looks like it will continue to get worse as time goes on.

I have exactly every side effect you mentioned and also the extreme dryness everywhere, face eyes, skin, hair, body everything. It's not a dryness that some eye drops or moisturzing creams can fix, its basically constant all the time. I wake up with exzema shit all over my face even if I slap on heavy thick moisturizer the night before. Not to mention the flushing and rosacea, blowing fans on my face all day is kinda shitty. Oh and my acne has come back. Nice eh? I can't continue on with life and I haven't done anything at all for the past year or so. Losing all my hair also, the shower drain clogs up during every shower and I have to pick it all out. I sit at home ALL day..you don't even know...the only time I ever leave my house is when I have a doctors appointment or somthin like that. As bad as this sounds I think I would rather have one leg then all of this shit. I dunno about you but i'm also effected mentally by this. its all made me become a social recluse and have no active social life anymore.

I also had my eyes plugged with the punctul plugs about a year ago. I recommend you only get 1 plug in each eye cuz if you get 2 in each eye ( 1 in lower 1 in upper ) you will most likely have extreme excess tearing where the tears drip down your face all day. You might think that helps with the dryness but for me it didn't. Currently I don't have any plugs in cuz it didn't help me to much and they kept falling out. I have been through every eye treatment possible with my opthamoligist and the only one that I think helped a little bit was Restasis ( cyclosporine ) a prescription drop. It's kinda expensive and hard to get but I would give it a shot if I was you for about 3 or 4 months to see if it has any benefit. About your eyes, are the lids also very full of inflammation? If they are I would also recommend you do warm compresses if you haven't already tried that.. it can help sometimes.

I have also tried tons of different supplement treatments to rid these long term effects. I took 480 GLA for awhile but I didn't seem to have any relief with that. Currently I'm on Biotin, I read about it on some accutane site where it helped peoples overall dryness. I would say I'm at ends meet with how many more things I can try. I might give a liver cleanse or some kind of internal cleansing like that a go cuz at this point I honestly have nothing to lose. I've had blood tests done and they all come out normal. my bad about the long post.. had to say it to someone

lets keep in touch and try to work through this together.. even tho it feels like this is never gunna end.. and it might not..

take care

I think you will be fine if things are improving, the difference with me is i started having them appear just after i finished and everythign went haywire. I have always blushed or gone red when i workout or get to hot so i believe i have always had a slight flushing component and this has now been combined with inflammation so i have porbably got rosacea full on. There is no family history of it though don't get me wrong.

Chase man I have to compare when you imply that i need to just get on with life. If i just had the flushing i would be 100 times better off.

Put it this way dude, if i don't libricate my eyes every 30 mins my eyelids get stuck to my eyes, i kid you not. I am going to be having my draining ducks that drain off tears blocked because my eyes are so severely dry.

The flushing is just one of the worser side effects. I have always been strong minded and if i could get on with life i would, but that just isn't an option. unless i want to go permanently as red as a tomatoe, which is how i would go if i didn't have fans on me half the day.

I lose hair across my entire body, my eyes are severely dry, if my hands get too cold they get extremely painfull, i flush worse than any pictures i have seen posted by anyone, i get mouth ulcers that rub against my teeth when i eat. I also picked up scarring from accutane, not to mention extreme dryness. I could go on all day and i wish i was making this up or over rating it. But trust me i have it worse than you by FAR. Some occassional flushing and seb derm is a walk in the park and the brain can heal with time and medication, so your problems are what the every day person may encounter within their lives.

Like i said i am pretty much living with lupus but they can only find excess inflammation and not raised ANA, they test me every other month for every auto immune disease under the sun.

I feel we are all dealing with high levels of anxiety and stress, probably even some depression and these, when felt for prolonged periods of time can take a terrible toll on the body and exacerbate many of these symptoms you are experiencing. I used to brush this off, but once I started on an anti-anxiety medication, I noticed a lot of these things improve, ie. the dry skin, and mouth ulcers in my case. I can still notice that when I am stressed out, the dry skin gets worse for me as do my lips (start to become dry also).

If you visit any forums dealing with Psoriasis, you will notice that stress is a huge trigger for flare ups because it can worsen dry skin.

What I think is quite possible is that we have some dryness, flushing, whatever, from Accutane and the high levels of chronic stress and anxiety are making the symptoms and situation a lot worse.

If you feel a lot of stress, anxiety and/or bouts of depression/hopelessness, I suggest talking to your doctor about it. They can prescribe you medications that will help to keep you calm and your anxiety at bay, whether it be a short lasting/as needed type medication or a regular anti-anxiety/antidepressant type of medication. If you are against medications, you can always look at therapy...anything to help alleviate the stress will at least likely help with some of the symptoms.

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/stress-skin.html

"While dermatologists are still debating whether stress actually causes skin disorders, they seem to agree that stress definitely triggers or aggravates skin conditions such as acne, hives, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, warts, cold sores and blisters. "And that matches the ayurvedic perspective," says Rama Kant Mishra, world-renowned ayurvedic dermatologist. "Ongoing day-to-day stress adversely impacts your immune system."

Hey dude i'm sorry to hear your going through the same shit. I have been off for about 18 months myself. You and i both know how this isn't really down to mentallity and stress/depression. It sounds like your problems started when you were stress free and the sides just started kicking in by themselves, which is exactly how it happened to me.

Ofcourse we are going to be down when our bodies are litraly falling apart, but who the hell wouldn't!!

I will be trying restasis very soon i'm glad they helped you some and yeah my eyelids swell really badly, omega 3 is the only thing that helps. But i still wake up in so much pain from the inflammation.

I use topical steroids for the hairloss, which help alot!!

There is a new topical drug out in about 18 months to 2 years time that i think will drastically help our eyes and flushing so i am looking foward to that. Those are the two issues which stop me from doing anything in life. When you can't see properly due to dry eyes (eyedrops don't do shit, even ones designed for dry eyes, i have to use an ointment designed for night use but use it every hour to get some relief) and your face is burning hot from any change in temperature you can't really do much... I am sure you can relate.

The hairloss is contunual for me but i have it under pretty good control, the mouth ulcers have improved as i change my diet accordingly. The rosacea i do get some relief from by taking a combination of mirtazapine and moxnidine/clonidine.

Dry eyes is the real motherfucker that i am trying to beat at the moment. I have tried everythign but the restasis so i will be trying that. You know the rosex gel you get for rosacea? i will be using that on my eyelids soon as supposedly it is very effective at reducing the inflammation there.

Add me on msn moreGano, people here won't understand our situation so i will pm you my email!!

Lamarr, how long have you been off accutane now?

 

I read your post and it looks like I have finally found someone who is going through exactly the same thing I'm going through. I know exactly how you feel. No doctor or anyone at all believes me how bad it actually is. All my side effects also started when I was finished with accutane. The only one I had on tane was the dry eyes. I have been off accutane now for a year and a half and lately even more problems have been popping. I have been getting mouth ulcers and my sexual desire has gone down to zero. I know its all accutane related cuz I've never had a problem with that in my life and I've heard it happening to other people from tane. My overall quality of life has gone down hill and it looks like it will continue to get worse as time goes on.

 

I have exactly every side effect you mentioned and also the extreme dryness everywhere, face eyes, skin, hair, body everything. It's not a dryness that some eye drops or moisturzing creams can fix, its basically constant all the time. I wake up with exzema shit all over my face even if I slap on heavy thick moisturizer the night before. Not to mention the flushing and rosacea, blowing fans on my face all day is kinda shitty. Oh and my acne has come back. Nice eh? I can't continue on with life and I haven't done anything at all for the past year or so. Losing all my hair also, the shower drain clogs up during every shower and I have to pick it all out. I sit at home ALL day..you don't even know...the only time I ever leave my house is when I have a doctors appointment or somthin like that. As bad as this sounds I think I would rather have one leg then all of this shit. I dunno about you but i'm also effected mentally by this. its all made me become a social recluse and have no active social life anymore.

 

I also had my eyes plugged with the punctul plugs about a year ago. I recommend you only get 1 plug in each eye cuz if you get 2 in each eye ( 1 in lower 1 in upper ) you will most likely have extreme excess tearing where the tears drip down your face all day. You might think that helps with the dryness but for me it didn't. Currently I don't have any plugs in cuz it didn't help me to much and they kept falling out. I have been through every eye treatment possible with my opthamoligist and the only one that I think helped a little bit was Restasis ( cyclosporine ) a prescription drop. It's kinda expensive and hard to get but I would give it a shot if I was you for about 3 or 4 months to see if it has any benefit. About your eyes, are the lids also very full of inflammation? If they are I would also recommend you do warm compresses if you haven't already tried that.. it can help sometimes.

 

 

I have also tried tons of different supplement treatments to rid these long term effects. I took 480 GLA for awhile but I didn't seem to have any relief with that. Currently I'm on Biotin, I read about it on some accutane site where it helped peoples overall dryness. I would say I'm at ends meet with how many more things I can try. I might give a liver cleanse or some kind of internal cleansing like that a go cuz at this point I honestly have nothing to lose. I've had blood tests done and they all come out normal. my bad about the long post.. had to say it to someone

 

lets keep in touch and try to work through this together.. even tho it feels like this is never gunna end.. and it might not..

take care

 

 

 

 

 

I think you will be fine if things are improving, the difference with me is i started having them appear just after i finished and everythign went haywire. I have always blushed or gone red when i workout or get to hot so i believe i have always had a slight flushing component and this has now been combined with inflammation so i have porbably got rosacea full on. There is no family history of it though don't get me wrong.

 

 

Chase man I have to compare when you imply that i need to just get on with life. If i just had the flushing i would be 100 times better off.

 

Put it this way dude, if i don't libricate my eyes every 30 mins my eyelids get stuck to my eyes, i kid you not. I am going to be having my draining ducks that drain off tears blocked because my eyes are so severely dry.

 

The flushing is just one of the worser side effects. I have always been strong minded and if i could get on with life i would, but that just isn't an option. unless i want to go permanently as red as a tomatoe, which is how i would go if i didn't have fans on me half the day.

 

I lose hair across my entire body, my eyes are severely dry, if my hands get too cold they get extremely painfull, i flush worse than any pictures i have seen posted by anyone, i get mouth ulcers that rub against my teeth when i eat. I also picked up scarring from accutane, not to mention extreme dryness. I could go on all day and i wish i was making this up or over rating it. But trust me i have it worse than you by FAR. Some occassional flushing and seb derm is a walk in the park and the brain can heal with time and medication, so your problems are what the every day person may encounter within their lives.

 

Like i said i am pretty much living with lupus but they can only find excess inflammation and not raised ANA, they test me every other month for every auto immune disease under the sun.

well lamarr, I never did read up on the history of this post, but I suspected that your side effects were still the same since we last "talked". I am sorry to hear that things got worse for you man. My heart def. goes out to you. I was just voicing my opinion, as I too have experienced the hardships of accutane, and still do. As I mentioned before, I still flush, and still experience serious bouts of flushing. No where am I cured from the flushing. We all got the shit end stick of the situation. It blows, no way around that. Only thing I have learned from my own experience, and from the help of others, is to change my point of view on life and the situation that is before me. As tough as it is, when it seems like life can't get any worse, you should try to coast away from the negativity. I know how tough it is. I used to be suicidal. I thought my life was over with, after i found I had flushing, then seb derm..*and more problems. But a little help from some friends and some critical posts on message boards, I was able to change my perspective and begin to rationalize and be fortunate for what I do have, rather than stay stuck in the same old sad shit of mess that I was in.

One perfect example that is used when keeping it perspective is advocated is the others who are much less fortunate than us. The crippled, disabled, dead, deformed, starving, diseased...i mean it goes on. its not so good to compare lives with the unfortunate souls, but sometimes it opens our eyes a little bit wider to the truth of the world. Shit happens, w/ or without our control. We make mistakes, but we are all human.

I dunno, I am mad tired, and not really sure where I am going with this yet again. but all i can say, is that I have found the "the" light for me. I have been down that dark hallway for quite some time as some of you know, and even though my life is no where close to perfect, it still is what it is. Its life. Its tough, sad, exhausting...but also beautiful, and enlightening as well. I am close to recovery, not physically with the flushing/SD but mentally. Things are coming together. And I have done it through positive and rational thinking. The mind is boggling.

Good luck guys. I hope for the best, and wish that you all find happiness and peace in your life. We never deserved this bullshit. I truly hope you guys can find the answers your seeking for, and find the resolution to this battle. It is unfair, but i am confident that you will win. Lamarr, keep your head up man. You are a smart guy, with a lot to offer. Things will get better. Don't let your problems get the best of you. Your too good for that. Fight it, but remain strong brother.

Take it easy guys.

Cheers dude, i wish you all the best aswell!

Just out of curiosity...how often (on average) is everyone here flushing and how long are your flushes?

I would say I am flushing 1-3 times per day, usually lasting from 20 mins to sometimes an hour or more. If it lasts more then an hour it is usually what I call a low grade flush that is more like a slight flush, but it is that prolonged sort of light flush that can linger for a couple hours at times.