Hey everyone,
I am currently on my second accutane course and I would like to hear your opinion on a couple of things.
My first course went from October last year until March this year. I was on 10mg a day for the first 4 months and on 20mg for the last two. I experienced only the usual side effects like dry lips and dry skin. However, after I finished my skin went back to the way it was before within only 4 weeks!
I figured that 10mg/20mg are too low to achieve a permanent result. For my second course I wanted to take a higher dose. But my derm refused to prescribe me more than 10mg, instead she wanted me to take the same dose for a longer time. I reluctantly agreed, although secretly I had another plan...
When I began my first course in October I was in a psychiatric clinic for my depression. In a clinic they don't let you have medication in your room, not even accutane. I received my pill every night together with my other medication. I left the clinic on December 24th and they gave me pills for the next 3 days. On December 27th I went to the hospital to get prescriptions for all my medication. The doctor gave me a prescription for a 100-pill box of accutane (I didn't ask for it, he did it out of his own will). In January I went to my derm for the monthly blood check and received my pills for the next 30 days. After a while I noticed "Wait a minute, I still have pills left, I could take a higher dosage and no one would know." That's why for the last two months of my first course I secretly took 20mg a day. Yet still my skin returned to its original state within a month.
This is why I was determined to take 40mg this time. 20mg didn't achieve a long lasting effect, and I don't think just 10mg more (i.e. 30mg a day) would make a big difference.
In order to take 40mg a day, I have to get an extra box of 100 10mg-pills every month. I take one from the regular box my derm prescribed me and three from the other one every day. To get the extra box I just go to the hospital on the weekend or Friday nights and pretend that I've run out of pills and need a prescription. I told the doctor my derm always gives me a 100-pill box for 3 months. He believed it and readily gave me a prescription! It almost scares me how easy it is to cheat the system.
So I have started my second course in July and have been taking 40mg a day secretly since August. Unfortunately, because I'm such a lucky bastard, I have noticed that this time....my hair is falling out. YAY!!!!!!!!
I called my derm and she assured me that this can happen while you're on it but goes back to normal once the course is finished. But I have seen some people on this forum where the hair loss was permanent. They might be some of the rare cases where that happens but what if I'm a rare case, too? This is all so difficult
It's not certain that the secret higher dose is responsible for this. I have watched a youtube video, where someone went on the lowest dose possible, twice. The first time everything was fine and the second time her hair started falling out.
For now I have decided to continue my course, because my acne makes me suffer so much that I am willing to risk even hair loss. My derm, who thinks I take 10mg, said I could take accutane for up to two years if I wanted to. But I think that's too long, even if you just take 10mg, let alone 40mg. Originally I had planned to take 40mg for 12 months, because I wanted to make sure my skin wouldn't go bad again. But now with the hair loss I'm not sure anymore What would be best, 6 months, 8 months or 10 months?
Also I have decided to try to live vegan for 3 months (have been a vegetarian for 4 years already), because I have heard from many people on this forum that their skin got better since they are vegans (and also because my cholesterol levels are too high and I have gained some weight because of the anti-depressant medication). I think that with a vegan diet I could be breakout-free even without accutane, but my skin would still be oily, because that is just my skin type and my genetics. My mother is 60 and still has oily skin. Oily skin is even worse for me than the occasional breakout, that's why I continue taking accutane.
So thanks to everyone who has read the post this far. I would appreciate your opinions and advice to anything I've talked about, whether it be dosage, length of the course, hair loss, vegan diet, or anything else that comes to mind. I have no one to talk about this in real life , so far I had to deal with everything on my own. I know that some may not agree with me secretly taking a higher dose, but I just think a lower dose will not give me permanent results and so far my life has been ruined by acne (never had a boyfriend in my life, no friends at the moment, depression, unable to work, etc.).
I don't know what to think about this. It's pretty irresponsible,but you are getting your monthly blood work,and being controlled by a dermatologist,as you said right ? Just be extremely cautious please. I know that anything that i could say won't stop you,but please,think about it wisely.
We don't know your weight. Usually a 40mg everyday course is 6 months long at 60kg~70kg.
Yes I am getting my monthly blood work and am under supervision of my derm. But my skin doesn't feel different than with 10mg, it's just as dry but not drier. My weight is 54kg, but I thought the original rule for accutane was 1mg per kg body weight, so I'm still below that.
Maybe the hair loss will stop me after all. I don't know yet. I told my derm about wanting to go vegan and she said, during the first time my skin could actually get worse, because it's cleaning itself and therefore I should continue taking accutane to prevent that.
Yes I am getting my monthly blood work and am under supervision of my derm. But my skin doesn't feel different than with 10mg, it's just as dry but not drier. My weight is 54kg, but I thought the original rule for accutane was 1mg per kg body weight, so I'm still below that.
Maybe the hair loss will stop me after all. I don't know yet. I told my derm about wanting to go vegan and she said, during the first time my skin could actually get worse, because it's cleaning itself and therefore I should continue taking accutane to prevent that.
I would keep taking 40mg. You MAY up your dosage to 50mg but you should definitely talk about it with your derm,but if u don't want to,my recommendation is to keep taking 40mg.
By the way,i'm also on Accutane, 40mg one day,60mg the other. I weight 64kg.
My hair also is falling out,but don't confuse HAIR SHEDDING with HAIR LOSS. Since i started my Accutane course,my hair shedding increased (body wide),but i'm not loosing it. It grows normally and i keep cutting it once per week.
Anyways if u see that your hair is not growing back,or you are seeing bald spots,receding hairline,etc,then you can say you are loosing your hair.
Accutane dries you out (as you know lol). Oiliness is the nutrient for our hair follicles. Without it,hair "dies",and falls out. So it's not that uncommon to shed more hair during Accutane. Don't stress about it,because it won't help at all.
You can use this "Accutane dosage calculator" if u wan't to know how long you have to take it. But again,please,i would talk about it with the derm.
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/271565-accutane-treatment-doseduration-calculator/
Good luck.
Did your doctor give you a reason for not prescribing more than 10 mg? Perhaps there is a valid health reason that you don't know about, and you may be putting yourself in danger. 40 mg is a low-ish dose, depending on your weight - so if you are healthy, you should be fine. You should take enough to get to 120 mg/kg of your body weight. There are calculators that will help you do that.
It should be noted, there are inidividuals on here that have had great, long-lasting success with a low dose/ long-term course of accutane.
Also, in regards to your wanting to go vegan, this may backfire. It is important to have plenty of (good) fat in your diet while taking accutane. Accutane will not be absorbed by your system unless it is taken with a high-fat meal. It is very hard to get enough fat on a vegan diet (Read: Not impossible, but hard). You will need to go out of your way to eat high-fat nuts and seeds (which some say may contribute to acne as well!) or oils.
Yes I am getting my monthly blood work and am under supervision of my derm. But my skin doesn't feel different than with 10mg, it's just as dry but not drier. My weight is 54kg, but I thought the original rule for accutane was 1mg per kg body weight, so I'm still below that.
Maybe the hair loss will stop me after all. I don't know yet. I told my derm about wanting to go vegan and she said, during the first time my skin could actually get worse, because it's cleaning itself and therefore I should continue taking accutane to prevent that.
I would keep taking 40mg. You MAY up your dosage to 50mg but you should definitely talk about it with your derm,but if u don't want to,my recommendation is to keep taking 40mg.
By the way,i'm also on Accutane, 40mg one day,60mg the other. I weight 64kg.
My hair also is falling out,but don't confuse HAIR SHEDDING with HAIR LOSS. Since i started my Accutane course,my hair shedding increased (body wide),but i'm not loosing it. It grows normally and i keep cutting it once per week.
Anyways if u see that your hair is not growing back,or you are seeing bald spots,receding hairline,etc,then you can say you are loosing your hair.
Accutane dries you out (as you know lol). Oiliness is the nutrient for our hair follicles. Without it,hair "dies",and falls out. So it's not that uncommon to shed more hair during Accutane. Don't stress about it,because it won't help at all.
You can use this "Accutane dosage calculator" if u wan't to know how long you have to take it. But again,please,i would talk about it with the derm.
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/271565-accutane-treatment-doseduration-calculator/
Good luck.
Thanks for your advice, especially with the hair shedding. I didn't know that. Maybe my hair really is just shedding faster. I'll watch out for possible bald spots and I'm gonna make more of an effort to keep my scalp moisturized.
I'm not gonna take more than 40mg. That is enough.
Did your doctor give you a reason for not prescribing more than 10 mg? Perhaps there is a valid health reason that you don't know about, and you may be putting yourself in danger. 40 mg is a low-ish dose, depending on your weight - so if you are healthy, you should be fine. You should take enough to get to 120 mg/kg of your body weight. There are calculators that will help you do that.
It should be noted, there are inidividuals on here that have had great, long-lasting success with a low dose/ long-term course of accutane.
Also, in regards to your wanting to go vegan, this may backfire. It is important to have plenty of (good) fat in your diet while taking accutane. Accutane will not be absorbed by your system unless it is taken with a high-fat meal. It is very hard to get enough fat on a vegan diet (Read: Not impossible, but hard). You will need to go out of your way to eat high-fat nuts and seeds (which some say may contribute to acne as well!) or oils.
My cholesterol levels were too high, even without accutane and I'm suffering from mild depression. Moreover I have very few breakouts, I'm taking accutane primarily against oily skin. So for my derm I am somebody who wants to go on accutane for oily skin, despite having depression and high cholesterol. She says I'm a high risk patient. I repeatedly asked her for a higher dosage and she refused every time, saying I should be glad she's giving it to me at all and other doctors wouldn't even prescribe it to me in the first place.
But I have been taking 40mg for a month now and I'm fine! Ok, I haven't had my blood work done yet, only after the first month where I took 10mg, but I'm gonna get that done in a couple of days.
And thanks for telling me about the fat. I'm gonna mention that to my derm at the next appointment.