I had been seeing a dermatologist for 4 years, and he gave me BP, anti biotic pills, then he upped the dose, then neo-medrol and I still got acne...
so my GP (family doctor) recommended I start a low dose of accutane. He of course can't prescribe it to me so he gave me a referral to a dermatologist (mine of 4 years recently retired) and on the referral note wrote I should start accutane.
I'm worried the dermatologist can refuse and still not give me accutane, despite my GP's recommendation. Do you think this could happpen? Has this ever happened to you where a doctor refuses to give you a medication?
Yes, it is very possible that you could be denied Accutane, even if your GP is recommending it.
Dermatologist look at Accutane as a last resort medication. You should too, it's a very serious medication that causes many many side effects, some long lasting and some temporary. You should look into all the side effects and see if treating your acne with Accutane is worth all the potential side effects.
I took Accutane 2 years ago and did a 7 month course. Accutane is prescribed for cystic acne, severe acne, and acne that has not responded to all other treatments. Before most dermatologist will prescribe Accutane you need a fail a bunch of other treatments. Over the counter treatments like BP or SA, then prescribed medications. Most derms will prescribe 4 or 5 different antibiotics all of which you need to be on for 3 to 6 months to see if they are working. They will also usually prescribe you multiple topical treatments like differin, retin a, retin a micro, epiduo. Most insurance companies will also demand you fail these treatments before they will cover Accutane, because it is such a serious medication and it is very expensive.
Your best bet is to walk into that appointment prepared. Have a list of everything you have tried and had little to no results from. Tell the derm you are interested in Accutane and had studied up on the side effects ( which I strongly suggest you do). If you are a female, you need to be on birth control for a month prior to starting Accutane and need to be using 2 forms of birth control your entire course. You need to get set up in the ipledge system take a test, and do a series of blood draws each a month apart, you will need to continue to do that your entire course as well. You also need to have two negative pregnancy tests a month apart, you will continue to get pregnancy tests monthly as well. All and all it takes 2 to 3 months after the initial Accutane appointment before you start taking the medication. It's a lengthy process.
If you are male the process is a lot less complicated and you don't need the birth control. Still need to do all the blood draws and get enrolled with the ipledge system. So for a male I would guess you start your medication about a month earlier than a female would.
Yes, it is very possible that you could be denied Accutane, even if your GP is recommending it.
Dermatologist look at Accutane as a last resort medication. You should too, it's a very serious medication that causes many many side effects, some long lasting and some temporary. You should look into all the side effects and see if treating your acne with Accutane is worth all the potential side effects.
I took Accutane 2 years ago and did a 7 month course. Accutane is prescribed for cystic acne, severe acne, and acne that has not responded to all other treatments. Before most dermatologist will prescribe Accutane you need a fail a bunch of other treatments. Over the counter treatments like BP or SA, then prescribed medications. Most derms will prescribe 4 or 5 different antibiotics all of which you need to be on for 3 to 6 months to see if they are working. They will also usually prescribe you multiple topical treatments like differin, retin a, retin a micro, epiduo. Most insurance companies will also demand you fail these treatments before they will cover Accutane, because it is such a serious medication and it is very expensive.
Your best bet is to walk into that appointment prepared. Have a list of everything you have tried and had little to no results from. Tell the derm you are interested in Accutane and had studied up on the side effects ( which I strongly suggest you do). If you are a female, you need to be on birth control for a month prior to starting Accutane and need to be using 2 forms of birth control your entire course. You need to get set up in the ipledge system take a test, and do a series of blood draws each a month apart, you will need to continue to do that your entire course as well. You also need to have two negative pregnancy tests a month apart, you will continue to get pregnancy tests monthly as well. All and all it takes 2 to 3 months after the initial Accutane appointment before you start taking the medication. It's a lengthy process.
If you are male the process is a lot less complicated and you don't need the birth control. Still need to do all the blood draws and get enrolled with the ipledge system. So for a male I would guess you start your medication about a month earlier than a female would.
Yeah, I'm a guy. I'm 21 now and have been using prescribed medications from a dermatologist for 4 years now. My retired dermatologist told me if these all don't work then he'd put me on accutane but he retired so never got the chance to lol.
I've used Prescribed BP, prescribed anti biotics, neo medrol, Salycic acid, all of various doses... and my acne is still here- on my face, back, chest and now my shoulders. so it's not cystic, but it's STUBBORN. That's why my family doctor recommended a low dose of accutane. hopefully the dermatologist will listen.
also, I'm in Canada so maybe getting an Accutane prescription is a little more easier? I've never heard of this ipledge system
Ahh yes, ipledge is an American thing. Pain in the ass honestly, the whole system is shotty. It should be easier to get the medication in Canada from that stand point. Sounds to me you should be able to get it prescribed. For sure write a list of everything you have tried in the past and how long you tried the treatments. Generally you should give every treatment about 3 months to work. That was what my dermatologist said anyway.
I think if you go into the office with a referral suggesting Accutane, plus a list of medications you've tried and your sure this is what you want to do next. The dermatologist will most likey prescribe it. It's aways an iffy thing seeing a new derm for the first time and getting prescribed Accutane. A lot of US dermatologist at first visit will make you try an antibiotic first and then they will give Accutane. That's what I have gathered from reading Accutane logs on this site anyway. I had been seeing my derm for 8 years before she prescribed me Accutane. Although that was because I didn't want to take it for a long time. I think she first offered it to me after 2 years of seeing her.
Hopefully you can get the medication and your course is a smooth one! When is your appointment?
Well its funny, I have two appointments! One with the dermatologist my retired dermatologist is referring his patients to on September 15th and then my family doctor's referred dermatologist on the 18th! So two chances at accutane haha.
Call me crazy but until then im hoping my acne doesnt get any better or gets a little worse (a few cystic pimples here and there) so I have a better chance lol.
Also my retired dermatologist had also recommended accutane as a last step but he retired so I was never able to get the prescription which Im sure I would have gotten