Hello,
so I am absolutely fed up with my acne. It is literally ruining my life - I cannot make eye contact anymore, I don't like having to go to school or any public places, and I'm just pleading for it to be over. I'm a 17 year old male with what some people would only call mild to moderate acne, yet it has destroyed my confidence (I apologize to those who have worse acne, I do not mean to offend you /: ) I have had bad acne for about 5 years, I first started off on a bunch of acne kits, and then was switched to epiduo for over a year. Lately, I was prescribed Retin-A with a sodium sulfacetamide wash, and have been on that for about 3/4 months. It has not worked either, so I am going to visit my derm again this week. A friend of mine was on accutane and it worked wonders, and I wish to ask my derm for it to. I am ready to tell him that I have done my research and are aware of all the risks that come with it, but I ultimately want to reduce the extreme oiliness and acne that I have. Now, last time we went he offered an antibiotic but we turned it down, and now I'm afraid he'll simply prescribe another wash and topical that won't work, coupled with an antibiotic that won't work as well. I know this might seem to be a silly problem to some of you, but I have reached my breaking point where I feel like it's go accutane or go home. That being said, if I asked him, based on conditions, do you believe I will be granted my request of an accutane prescription? I really want to get it out of the way before college comes around, because accutane affects the liver and we all know that college is also known for testing the liver... haha
I was in kinda the same situation as you, where my derm/doc wouldn't allow me on accutane. I just agreed to his topical until the same breaking point as you and i wanted accutane. It was hard trying to convince him since he thought my acne was getting better BUT IT WASNT (moderate-sever acne). He tried offerin me another face wash and topical, but I "forced" him to prescribe me tane. My suggestion, explain to your derm about the whole college thing ,get your parents on your side to help with the convincing right?, also explain how absolutely nothing seems to work. I do believe with all that,your derm will prescribe it. Just started tane btw
I know this may not seem helpful, but best i could do lol
It depends on how liberal your derm is. If you've only tried one topical then you may need to try another before jumping on the accutane band wagon. It is a very strong drug and people often times dismiss the possible side effects when they can easily become a reality. I was on it for a month and ended up in the hospital with abdominal pain and high liver enzymes in the hundreds. I had used it 3 times previously since 2001 and the most i have cleared was about 2 yrs. If you've done more than one topical, diet changes then i say go for it. As for convincing your derm, telling him the emotional impact it has on you may work.
Explaining how badly you want it and that you know all the effects and still want to do it should work. I was on accutane and finished this summer and went to college in the fall but my acne came back, I believe it was from all the lifestyle changes. Start it now so you can fight acne your freshman year!
EDIT: I am on a second round of accutane right now in college and I drink on it. I don't drink often but my blood results always came out fine.
