What are the Dangers of Accutane?
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Dangers of Accutane
Accutane is one of the newest drugs on the market today used to maintain and treat severe forms of acne. This was at one time considered to be a miracle drug by those who had been suffering from acne for years and received no relief through any other form of treatment, prescriptive or over the counter. Recently, the FDA has issued severe warnings and strict guidelines regarding the use of Accutane through doctors as well as patients. This drug has been proven to emit harmful side effects which are now forcing patients to take a second look at this miracle acne treatment.
Patients must now sign a consent form with their doctor before taking Accutane to acknowledge they are aware of the side effects before beginning this new prescription skin care regime. This form has been produced by Accutane's creator, Roche Pharmaceuticals by order of the FDA. Doctors and pharmacies must also now hand out a warning brochure to inform patients of the possible risks and side effects so they are fully educated on what Accutane can do. Accutane is only three of the drugs throughout the USA that has ever been forced to come with a medical warning and consent form.
Some of the serious side effects include:
- Birth defects if taken by pregnant women with acne. It can also cause a miscarriage, premature birth or still births. Therefore do not take Accutane if you are pregnant or think you may be pregnant. You must stop taking Accutane at least 1 month before you become pregnant be sure to avoid these types of birthing dangers.
- Some patients not long after they stopped taking Accutane developed serious depressive emotions and even mental illnesses. Symptoms of these problems include anxiety, irritability, anger, memory loss, changes in weight or appetite, change in sleeping habits, trouble concentrating, work performance problems, etc.
Today female patients cannot receive a prescription for Accutane without at least 2 negative pregnancy tests to be sure there is no chance of pregnancy. Each month while you are taking Accutane you must be able to show a negative pregnancy test to make sure your child does not experience any birthing dangers as the ones listed above.
Although at one time Accutane may have seemed like the perfect solution for severe acne, today it is seen more of a health risk than anything else. There are so many different treatment options today that Accutane should not even be considered and if you are considering it you should definitely speak with your doctor and discuss the risks and severity of your acne problem.
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Comments
i was on accutane for 8 moths, and while i was on it i never felt like doing anything, unmotivated etc. it took about 4-5 months for everything to return to normal, and it has been 6 years without any problems. as long as parents pay attntion to their kid, the risk should be low. you have to remember that the people on this medication tend to have low self esteem as it is, and are often dissapointed that the clearing of their acne doesnt automatically make them popular (and we all thought teenagers were just shallow...)
bottom line is it is dangerous, but doing something while youre young can save your face by preventing you from having scars that will never go away. my doctors were very cautious and forced me to spend a year on other meds before i was eligible for accutane. the one piece of advice is to make sure your doctor understands the method of choosing the right dose. there are several different doses and quanities of dosage(once a day, twice a day etc). make sure your doctor isnt giving you the overkill to fatten his wallet.
does it have to be super severe to work?
No, it does not have to be super severe to work.
I wanted to kill myself while taking accutane but I never knew I felt that way because of it. I had no idea what was wrong with me. I thought I should be so happy because my acne was gone but I felt worse.
After two years of using triaz, differin, doryx (150mg) and some other stuff, my dermatolgist has told me that the only thing he thinks that could help my acne is this. So I wanna know, how old of you who use it and what have YOU expierenced. I'm 15 years old.
Wow I must be one of the lucky few, I just experienced dry skin and that was it. I definitely don't regret taking it since I haven't had a problem in the past four years with scarring acne. So not Everyone experiences the worst of the worst when they take this.
Honestly I don't care about the side effects if it works. I am 25 and I can't believe I still have problems with acne. I have tried every topical cream which only dried out my skin, and 4 different pills. If accutane can fix this permenantly then I'll do it and get some thereapy.
I'm scared to take it but i have had acne for years and it is all over my face it was on my chest and back i am a twenty year old and i have never had side affects from any meds so this is kind of scar i would love to have this acne gone but is it worth the side affects is the question. lastly, is there anything that is generically similar to this that can heal acne? i know the main ingredient is vitamin A so i just really need to feel optimistic before getting into this because i am the type that will notice every littlle thing and feel that it is a symptom...sad but tru!!
I just wanted to say that there are possible side effects issued as a disclaimer, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are common side effects. I used accutane and it worked where other treatments outright failed, and now I have clear skin that has never flared up again. The used of accutane should definitely be considered.
Is it expensive?
Wow i just started taking accutane tonight! and people need to know that all these side affects are so unbelievably rare, you have more risk from driving to the dermatoligist than experiencing a side affect from accutane. trust me guys, this stuff is safe (and i know that not from my own experiece, just from MANY doctors.)
I am 30yrs old and am on my fourth month of accutane. I am so sorry that I didnt start it when I was 25. I absolutely love it. With a little help from hydrous emulsifying ointment for the dry skin and blistex of course things are going great. Of course, caution should be taken for unstable individuals. I have never had a problem with self esteem. If people dont like me for who I am...I am better off without them anyway. WOOHOO!! Thank you accutane
BTW, they haven't proven that Accutane causes depression. I agree with the post way up top, peole taking it might not have the best self esteem due to the acne, and were probably already depressed. So to those who think They might kill themselves on it, it's all in your head.
I am 42! I've spent literally thousands on my skin, topical creams,microderms , fraxel laser was the best for scar help with minimal down time but the acne came back my friend used it 80mg a day and 825$ a month and she looks amazing and was just really dry and tired toward the end I just took my first dose! I've just told all my family and friends if they notice me acting wierd take it seriously and call my doc. Otherwise I can't wait to look as pretty as my friend! By the way Kaiser covered mine for 10$ a month woohoo!
I took accutane when I was 16, and I became incredibly depressed and suffered from bone loss. Not until some time after I finished taking the medication and things starting getting back to normal did I realize that it was because of the medication. Worst of all, a few years later and my acne is back, not as bad as severe as it used to be, but pretty disappointing. It is most definitely a heavy drug and anyone who takes it should be well informed about the side effects. Not everyone reacts the same way, but to say this stuff is safe is pushing it. Better to be aware than sorry.
Whoever authored this is ill informed and spreading misinformation. Come on people its apparent from the first sentence how misinformed the author is about this medication. "Accutane is one of the newest drugs on the market today used to maintain and treat severe forms of acne."
I'm 19, and i'm finishing my 3rd month my 2nd course of accutane now. My acne is almost gone now. It came back a few months after the first course, but it wasn't bad. My dermatologist just said I could begin taking it again if that's what I wanted to do since I was on it last year and had no bad side effects. I've never had any severe problems with it. Just dry lips and skin, which is vey typical. Accutane has been a life saver for me. I reccomend it, but only for responsible people that will take it correctly.
im taking accutane and all i have is dry lips, it definately isnt too dangerous for most people
i aint sure about taking accutane. im from uk n iv bin taking acnecide and that haznt seemed 2 work! i h8 it
ive been usin roaccutane for 4 months and am seeing results already. the only side effects i got was dry skin and really dry lips
My derm said I might have to start taking it...and I'm amazingly freaked out...especially about the whole depression/suicidal thoughts thing..I mean. I'm already depressed...so...yeah. I think I'm going to try it. and pray it works.
I took acutane many years ago and it was great, it cleared up my acne, very dry skin but no other side effects. I found another great way to clear up your skin.
1. Go to the store and buy a dozen large face clothes. Soap it up and clean your face and other areas with acne. Change the cloth every day. No need to scrub but clean those areas well.
2. Bleach bath every other day for the first few weeks. One half cup of bleach in a tub of water just soak for 10 to 15 minutes. The low concentration of bleach will kill the bacteria. When you start the bleach bath you will feel dry for the first week but that will pass. Also using the face towel and the bleach bath at the same time may really dry out your skin so start the bath first then work in the face cloth.
Works over a few months but it turns out great.
You know, I think it would be safer to go for laser treatment than go on this pill. Although the harmful side effects are not the case for everyone, I don't want to take the chance.
I have been taking roaccutane for about 6 weeks, when i started for the first two weeks i was getting angry a lot for no reason, i didnt realise it was the pills until i read the warning information on the pill. however that has passed, i only have dry skin and lips and hope that is the only side effects i experience. i have tried antibiotics like tetracycline and docicycline for acne but it didnt work, i have seen a lot of changes since using roaccutane. i hope by the end of this treatment the acne is all gone and i dont have a relapse.
Im Seventeen years old and Ive been on Tretetoin(sp?) cream and doccycycline for over a year. my doctor told me that ACCUTANE is a great option and that it will make all my cystic acne on my back go away, will it work?
doccycycline kind of helped but the minute i stopped taking it....it came back. so when i stop the accutane will the acne just come back?
I first took Accutane at 15, in 1995. My acne began when I was 9. I was told at that time that mine was the foundation for the worst instance of acne my dermatologist had ever seen.
By 16, I had taken every treatment imaginable. I did not have cystic acne primarily, rather "sandpaper" acne. I had more cystic occurances on my back and occasionally facially. According to my research, sandpaper acne is very difficult to treat and is responsive to Accutane. I have taken Accutane a number of times and believe it to be a miracle.
My side effects were completely manageable, especially in light of the change I saw. After my first session I've never had another problem with my back. I have had to take Accutane over the years in response to facial breakouts, but only do so when other options prove futile. Each time I take Accutane I respond more quickly and the length of time until a severe breakout requiring specialized attention is longer.
It has not "cured" me, but I am now 29, and have lived more of my life with good skin than I have lived with bad skin. I attribute this to Accutane. I encourage those seeking advice to try the drug and be an informed consumer. The side effects can be great, but so can the benefits. Those who have never experienced the hell that is acne, have limited perspective.
Accutane has been my prayer answered. I had such bad skin and i was hesistant that accutane wouldn't work but it did! Sure i got the dry lips but it wasn't that hard to apply lipbalm every day and occasionally i had dry eyes but so what it changed my life!! I think sometimes people imagine that them being upset was the drug. I wass upset when i was on it especially the first 2 months when i didn't see a massive change in my skin but i knew exactly why i was sad i was sad because of my skin and i just wanted to be acne free! There is soo much Negative publicity about the drug when really for people suffering terrible acne its magic.
Honestly i was more likely to continue being upset and kill myself if i had never taken accutane because of my skin and how low it made me feel. I think when your on the drug you have to be aware of your own emotions. There is no proven scientific study that accutane makes you depressed and honestly for me it was my skin that ever made me feel sad not the drug.
I wish more people could here the good things that accutane does.
If you are suffering from terrible acne you should defiantly get in touch with your dermotoligist and disscuss accutane.
And as my doctor told me when i was thinking about going on it he said the good ways out bad by alot. I was hesistant when he said that but now i can firmly agree.
The good ways out the bad by alot.
And it really will change your life.
I had nothing to lose and now i can go out and LIVE my life again and what is more beautiful then that?
Accutane has been my prayer answered. I had such bad skin and i was hesistant that accutane wouldn't work but it did! Sure i got the dry lips but it wasn't that hard to apply lipbalm every day and occasionally i had dry eyes but so what it changed my life!! I think sometimes people imagine that them being upset was the drug. I wass upset when i was on it especially the first 2 months when i didn't see a massive change in my skin but i knew exactly why i was sad i was sad because of my skin and i just wanted to be acne free! There is soo much Negative publicity about the drug when really for people suffering terrible acne its magic.
Honestly i was more likely to continue being upset and kill myself if i had never taken accutane because of my skin and how low it made me feel. I think when your on the drug you have to be aware of your own emotions. There is no proven scientific study that accutane makes you depressed and honestly for me it was my skin that ever made me feel sad not the drug.
I wish more people could here the good things that accutane does.
If you are suffering from terrible acne you should defiantly get in touch with your dermotoligist and disscuss accutane.
And as my doctor told me when i was thinking about going on it he said the good ways out bad by alot. I was hesistant when he said that but now i can firmly agree.
The good ways out the bad by alot.
And it really will change your life.
I had nothing to lose and now i can go out and LIVE my life again and what is more beautiful then that?
Accute or Roacutan, are manufactured by famous European drugmaker Roche, if prescribed by a doctor and checked by monthly blood tests, not at all dangerous to humans, only for the U.S. industry because U.S. criticais to anything not I encourage your industry and upset that the Europeans do this drug.
You just have to read countless reviews on the internet, left by individuals who conducted the treatment with excellent results.
In my country, Spain, is a treatment that is indicated in nearly all cases of severe acne, being that the vast majority of patients achieve complete cure.
within the months of taking it, will my skin break out worse? or will it clear up? that is what i am afraid of. that it will get worse before better. reassurance?
I'm sick and tired of the attacks on Accutane. Every few years activists try to get the FDA to ban it. I wanted to take it when it first came out in September 1982, but my dermatologist thought that since I was about to turn 21 I would outgrow my acne. I finally got her to prescribe me Accutane in mid-December 1983 when I was 22. I was very much aware that it was a dangerous drug with many side effects and that I would have to take monthly blood tests to monitor its effects on my liver and kidneys.
I had lots of the side effects but didn't care, because my acne greatly improved. After a 150 day course of therapy, my acne decreased by 98%. I have ocassionally had mild flare ups since then, but they were easily treated with standard over the counter acne medications. For 5 years prior to taking Accutane, I tried many of the products available over the counter, and I took prescription antibiotics. Nothing I tried could stop my acne, but it may have limited the damage.
From the the very beginning Accutane has been considered the "drug of last resort" for acne. If any other therapy works, do that instead, but don't let the FDA take away Accutane for those who don't respond to other forms of treatment.
sue says:
18 months ago
I'm so relieved, yet incredibly scared to see that the memory loss i'm currently experiencing might not be a brain tumor, i finished taking accutane three months ago and i've been experiencing memory loss... it seems a little bit better now, but i still find myself searching for words, mixing words up or trying to remember something....
I hope it's not permanent!