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Should I Increase My Accutane Dosage?

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(@itahu48)

Posted : 12/07/2014 2:17 am

Im 18 years old. Ive been suffering from mild acne since i was 12. When i was in high school and during my first month of college, my acne wasnt as severe as it is now. Acne pretty much destroyed my confidence and self esteem. I was an outgoing and social person, now i refuse to go out with my friends any more, cant talk to girls and become antisocial. My acne used to be small pimples that would just go away in 3-5 days, now i keep getting huge red pimples which are under the skin surface. Mainly on my cheeks (my forehead is clear of acnes) My derm only prescribed me 10mg of accutane for 3-5 months period, i was kinda surprised considering my acne is pretty moderate-severe so i asked her if she could increase the dosage and she told me that 10mg should be enough (in my opinion its far from enough) fyi i weight 64 kg/140 lbs. Today is my 35th day of 10mg accutane, the first 3 weeks my skin was drying up but i got like HUNDREDS of clogged pores all over my face, i talked about this to my derm and she suggested that i get a facial treatment to extract the comedones which i did. After getting the facial treatment my face was pretty clear from comedones, but the next day i got a horrible breakout from the treatment. 8 red new pimples appeared and to be honest, they were painful. I asked for acne injection the next week, my pimples went away within 2 days but then i got 3 new pimples under the skin and theyre still here on my cheek til this day. Im starting to lose hope, i know its too early to lose hope but i think 10mg isnt just enough, on top of that most people here in this forum are prescribed with 20-80mg. Im thinking about getting 20mg next month after completing my 2nd month pills, with or without my derm consent. What should i do?

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MemberMember
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(@maryc)

Posted : 12/07/2014 12:46 pm

Hi!

Do you know why your derm just prescribed 10 mg/day? Any health issues? 10 mg/day seems too low. Usually, you have to reach a cumulative dose between 120 mg to 150mg per kilo. So, in your case, you would have to reach a total dose of at least 7 680 mg. If you take only 10 mg per day... you will never reach it in 5 months. I am surprised, since I have never read any story of someone taking such a low dosage for a short period of time. I weigh 58 kg and I am now taking 30 mg/day with very few and bearable side effects and I will be upped to 60 mg in 2 days!

All this being said, I am not a specialist at all, but I would question my derm if I were you. The chances of relapse are pretty high with a so low dose...

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