My doctor recently prescribed me with Accutane to help deal with mild acne that appears on the sides of my jaw, after noticing that Tactupump wasn't able to get rid of the aforementioned acne.
I was informed of the side effects of Accutane, and depression was mentioned (though my doctor said it wasn't common).
Feeling a bit anxious of a drug that could possibly affect my brain, I did a bit of research into the cognitive side effects of Accutane and ended up with conflicted results.
A forum post on this website mentions that Accutane does indeed cause brain damage with several sources included:
https://acne.org/messageboard/topic/376677-accutane-causes-brain-damage/
The forum post above says the following about the drug:
- 37% of dermatologists say that Accutane may cause mental illnesses
- Mildly affects the part of the brain that mainly controls decision-making and emotion
- Causes memory issues in mice
- Causes depression in mice
In the last paragraph, the poster makes a claim that signs of Traumatic Brain Injury are evident, based on what other users post, though I take this with a grain of salt.
I have also found a few articles that say that Accutane doesn't affect the brain at all, and even possibly improves brain function:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21545542
The article above states that Accutane has no negative effects on adults and children.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4473493/
The article above says it's not sure whether there's a link with mental illnesses.
https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3360864/
The article above says that they found improvements in cognitive abilities upon doing a study on participants aged 16 and over.
So now I'm lost. Does Accutane actually cause damage to the brain?
(edit: Grammar + Bolding)
Unfortunately, these days any thing and everything supposedly can have an adverse effect on the body. Look up anything on google, and there is usually at least one listing of whatever it is not being good for you.
Theres no denying that accutane is a harsh medication. Everyones body is different, so what one can tolerate, another cant. Overall, its best to make this difficult decision on your own, taking into consideration professional advice. If you do end up taking the medication and you feel depressed or different (in a negative way) please take this seriously and consult a professional.
Hi Bloxman,
Have you heard the saying: Where there's smoke, there's fire?
So, I'm sure there's some truth to what you're hearing. After all, you're talking about the routine ingestion of a chemical (Danger, Will Robinson!).
Anyways... I know a friend who took Accutane and it permanently damaged and destroyed her kidney.
To paraphrase what she has to say about Accutane:It murderedmy kidney.
She had to get surgery and her kidney was removed.
Luckily, she found a kidney donor and was given a new life (for about 7 years).
But, now she needs to find another kidney.
Scary stuff.
And it's all because of Accutane.
I don't know about you, but, based on what I've seen happen to my friend, I wouldn't touch Accutane with a 6 foot stick.
So, I'm not surprised if there is information circulating around the internet about Accutane causing brain damage. After all, like my friend said,it murdered her kidney...so it could probably damage your noggin', too...
My 2 cents: If you want to avoid the brain trauma, kidney damage, and the other adverse (and numerous) effects of chemicals... I'd take a holistic approach.
Anyways, hope this helps.
Cheers & best of luck...