In previous years I have been on Accutane. I did two full courses at separate times, and both times experienced side effects. However, these can be combated with good commitment and knowledge.

You need to understand that Accutane's main ingredient isotretinoin impedes your bodies natural oil production. Hence, all your bodies natural lubricants stop being produced at a normal rate. Your eyes, hair, ears, nose and skin all secrete their own oils as a defence and lubricant. When production of this stops, of course acne will clear up. It did for me. However you need to combat the sever dryness so your skin doesn't get damaged. You need to start using high level moisturisers for your face and body, as well as lubricating eye drops, and intense conditioner for your hair as well.

On Accutane there is no need to use any other method of acne medication, as this will push your skin past a safe limit. The main thing to know is that moisturizer whilst on Accutane is essential, and you need to use a lot.

Hi- I did 2 rounds of Accutane in 2009 and 2010 and had the same side effects, plus some more. I was extremely worried about how much of my hair i seemed to be losing... I will say that while I am no longer losing AS MUCH hair, I am still losing more hair on a daily basis than I did before I was on Accutane. I didn't really notice any issues with the dry hair, but then again I am a blonde so that requires a ton of dyeing and harsh chemicals, so I've pretty much always had dry hair. If you also had muscle pain as a side effect, I will say that went away completely for me. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the responses!

Is the skin able to regenerate this oil over time or is it usually permanent?

On Accutane there is no need to use any other method of acne medication, as this will push your skin past a safe limit. The main thing to know is that moisturizer whilst on Accutane is essential, and you need to use a lot.

Oh sorry Ibs. I understand.

I found that after finishing Accutane that Differen and Duac were quite effective topical options. As opposed to antibiotics.

My acne never responded to doxyciclin or similar ABs.

So a little update with a new nur related question: This week ive been on Holiday. Not only habe my scars gotten worse without me actually having any pimples (why ans how?), but also I have gotten some proof that my hairline has receded significantly. After creaming in well and being in the sun, I stayed white except for one red stripe about 1cm in thickness along my hairline where my hair used to be. So far I always thought that it may just be an illusion because my hair has become thinner but now I see that that simply isn't true more and more. Will the hair grow back in the area where it has receded? And what can I do to avoid further scarring?

thanks for your help! It really gets me down every time I look into the mirror to see all the damage Accutane has done in just 6 weeks ;(

See Lamarr1986 post about post Accutane scarring and hair loss! have you gone to see if it is TE or alopecia or does MPB run in the family as Accutane can accelerate that.

See Lamarr1986 post about post Accutane scarring and hair loss! have you gone to see if it is TE or alopecia or does MPB run in the family as Accutane can accelerate that.

Thanks for the response! Lamarr1986's post on scarring was deffinately a big help, however I have been having trouble finding anything on hairloss. Do you have a link for this?

There is MPB running in my family, but not until the age of 45 plus (I'm 18). I will talk to my doctor next time I see him.

See Lamarr1986 post about post Accutane scarring and hair loss! have you gone to see if it is TE or alopecia or does MPB run in the family as Accutane can accelerate that.

Thanks for the response! Lamarr1986's post on scarring was deffinately a big help, however I have been having trouble finding anything on hairloss. Do you have a link for this?

There is MPB running in my family, but not until the age of 45 plus (I'm 18). I will talk to my doctor next time I see him.

That's so unfortunate that you experienced all these side effects. Let us know what your doctor says when you go to see him.

I have been told that in some cases the hair loss is permanent, but generally hair grows back after you stop accutane.

See Lamarr1986 post about post Accutane scarring and hair loss! have you gone to see if it is TE or alopecia or does MPB run in the family as Accutane can accelerate that.

Thanks for the response! Lamarr1986's post on scarring was deffinately a big help, however I have been having trouble finding anything on hairloss. Do you have a link for this?

There is MPB running in my family, but not until the age of 45 plus (I'm 18). I will talk to my doctor next time I see him.

You can read different stories about hair loss, Lamarr is on here and he suffered from Alopecia and body wide hair loss. However, there are many stories of different types of hair loss from Accutane. How long has it been since you been off? What supplements have you tried? Do you have any inflammation, itchy scalp, cycles of shedding. Any lab work to test for hormones Accutane is known to disrupt this. Maybe if needed have a scalp biopsy, it may be accelerated MPB or just TE! Like I said even though you are young Accutane can accelerate MPB, I have read reports of those who mpb didn't run in their family and developed it from Accutane.

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/152239-the-answers-i-got-from-my-doctor-about-hair-loss/

Good Luck

It seems like everyone has it covered. All I wanted to ask is why a guy wouldn't condition their hair? Is it too effeminate to take care of yourself?

:S

See Lamarr1986 post about post Accutane scarring and hair loss! have you gone to see if it is TE or alopecia or does MPB run in the family as Accutane can accelerate that.

Thanks for the response! Lamarr1986's post on scarring was deffinately a big help, however I have been having trouble finding anything on hairloss. Do you have a link for this?

There is MPB running in my family, but not until the age of 45 plus (I'm 18). I will talk to my doctor next time I see him.

You can read different stories about hair loss, Lamarr is on here and he suffered from Alopecia and body wide hair loss. However, there are many stories of different types of hair loss from Accutane. How long has it been since you been off? What supplements have you tried? Do you have any inflammation, itchy scalp, cycles of shedding. Any lab work to test for hormones Accutane is known to disrupt this. Maybe if needed have a scalp biopsy, it may be accelerated MPB or just TE! Like I said even though you are young Accutane can accelerate MPB, I have read reports of those who mpb didn't run in their family and developed it from Accutane.

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/152239-the-answers-i-got-from-my-doctor-about-hair-loss/

Good Luck

I have only been off Accutane for 2 weeks. I am now also starting to get new spots again with even the smallest ones leaving scars even though I make sure not to manipulate them in any way.

Currently I am taking multivitamins every morning, but am researching (although so far with limited success) for other ones.

What goes for my scalp: yes, it is a bit itchy at times. However, I have not ever physically seen any of my fallen out hairs, I honestly don't know where they disappear to. The largest and most obvious concern is their condition and the retreated hairline, both of which being quite obvious.

I am going to see a traditional Chinese doctor to see if he can help for the sideffects.

It seems like everyone has it covered. All I wanted to ask is why a guy wouldn't condition their hair? Is it too effeminate to take care of yourself?

It's not really that. For me, mostly the problem is that the only conditioner I seem to be able to get around here smells extremely feminine (roses etc.) but I guess that's more of an annoyance than anything else.

The thing I'm most annoyed by tho is that my hair still looks fuzzy and by far doesn't feel as good as it used to now, even when I use conditioner. I've started reading through the massive hairloss thread but am yet to find any details on how to work against this. Maybe it's just a function of time, but maybe I really do need to do something against it. If anyone has had any experience with it, I would love to hear from you. I will make sure to keep posting if I find anything/have any progress.

Okay, so bit of an update:

I'm 3 weeks off accutane now and I am still losing hair. However since my hair is so short, its hard to tell how much. I will be going to see my doc again at the end of this week and hopefully he can help bring some clarity.

I also went to a traditional chinese medicine doctor the other day who seems to know 100 times as much about accutane than my doc does. She thinks that she will be able to reverse the hairloss with the help of some medicine (based on herbs) in time, but it will take a bit of time (3-6 months). She also helped me sort through my diet a bit and it seemed as if she knows about every tip ever discussed on this board The only point where I think she may be off is that she wants me to start drinking milk again and she doesn't think that it would affect my acne as long as it's a low dose. What goes for the acne, I am also going on some herbs which should have a permanent impact in time. While at first this seems like a bunch of BS, I previously saw really impressive short term effects from a previouse attempt with TCM with another doctor, which however failed to be of long term use. She seems to know a lot more about what she is talking about though (plus she was a doctor at the asian games which says something..).

I'm not going to give up completely on western medicine though. I'm going to continue taking doxycicline and BP until I move back to Europe in about 6 weeks, and would potentially keep using BP afterwards. I'm starting uni this fall so I hope that I can see some results by then.

Edit: and while I'm at it. I've been noticing thin hairs all over my face momre and more. I know this is quite a common sideeffect but haven't really found much on how to get rid of it either. Any advice?