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Accutane / Isotretinoin / Roaccutane for acne


msjones
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My son finally went on accutane for his acne.  He had success with Retin-A and topical antibiotics for a few years, but then he began having much worse acne.  The dermatologist said it was cystic and would only get worse.  She suggested accutane.

 

I had heard of it and was reluctant but interested.

 

She spent a long time (30 min or so) reviewing the research related to possible links to depression and suicide. There appears to be no link, so we gave it a try.

 

We are so glad we did.  After only one month (he'll be on it for six months), his skin is so improved!  He had some bad initial breakouts (she warned him about that), but those seem to have subsided considerably.  

 

He is still breaking out in spots, but it's nothing like before.  His back is completely clear (!!!) and his blackheads are completely gone.  

 

The main side effect is severely dry lips.  That has been manageable.

 

I just wanted to share because I know some of you have children struggling with severe acne.  If you have insurance, you may want to consider it.

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I've been trying to stay away from this in my daughter's case, because of its potentially serious side-effects but also because girls have to be on birth control and have pregnancy tests monthly, I believe. So far we have been able to avoid it, but she has had flairs that have really been terrible and we did consider it. (She has the cystic acne, too.)

 

That being said, my SIL's son is on Accutane and she said it really changed his life. Absolutely nothing else worked, his acne was terrible, and this cleared it up almost completely. He is a young man in college now. He had no side effects with Accutane except the dryness that you mention. He has needed to go back on Accutane two other times, but each time it clears it up for another year or two.

 

I'm so glad it worked for your son!

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My son just finished his 6-month course of accutane.  We also were reluctant because I had heard about depression and suicide. Then someone said "maybe the depression and suicide were because of the acne."  Not to brush off a risk or make light of it.  We went ahead with it and watched our son carefully.

 

I would say he had some mood changes - he was just a little quicker to anger than he had been - but he is also 16 and has some other chronic health issues (which had started before the accutane so not a result of it).   He began to regulate himself pretty well, and walked away from, say, his annoying sister before he got angry.  

 

His skin is so much better.  He feels better about going to camp now that he can swim without staying covered up.  No one teased him about his acne, and he is generally not one to care overmuch about his appearance, but the acne bothered him. 

 

And, he's been off only a week but his mood seems lighter.  I don't think it goes out of the system that fast, but maybe just being done has helped too. 

 

Oh and the dry lips - that's getting better already too!   In the long run, it's been worth it.

 

I hope you have as good an experience as we have had.

 

 

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I've been trying to stay away from this in my daughter's case, because of its potentially serious side-effects but also because girls have to be on birth control and have pregnancy tests monthly, I believe. So far we have been able to avoid it, but she has had flairs that have really been terrible and we did consider it. (She has the cystic acne, too.)

 

That being said, my SIL's son is on Accutane and she said it really changed his life. Absolutely nothing else worked, his acne was terrible, and this cleared it up almost completely. He is a young man in college now. He had no side effects with Accutane except the dryness that you mention. He has needed to go back on Accutane two other times, but each time it clears it up for another year or two.

 

I'm so glad it worked for your son!

It certainly would be a hassle for a girl -- with the birth control and the pregnancy tests.  But, my son's acne was bad enough that I would think a girl in the same condition would be willing to deal with the inconvenience.

 

His acne started at age 9 (really unusual) and the doc said it could last until his late 20s.  :(  So I'm very thankful for this medication and for our insurance.

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My son is on it right now. We think one more month after this one, and we'll be done. His skin has improved so much! We did have an issue with the accutane making his face inflamed and painful. It looked infected! It was a one in a million reaction, and taking prednisone with the accutane fixed that issue. Nothing else helped his acne much, and I'm glad we decided to do it, but I'm also glad we seem to be in the home stretch.

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DS17 did a course of Isoretinoin when he was 16 - terrible cystic acne with big red lumps under the skin.  Like most folks, we had done the anitbiotics and Duac and retin-A but they did not even touch it.  While he was on in, he was also diagnosed with really low Vitamin D levels.  We aren't sure whether his levels were low before starting the meds, but fortunately it was fairly easy to supplement and bring these back up.

 

DD19 is on it now and the pregnancy/blood tests are a bit of a hassle (she was on birth control before for problems with her periods).  For both my kids, it has really worked a miracle in terms of clearing up those cysts.  DD19 had a huge cyst on her cheek the size of a dime and now it looks like she will end up with scars :(.  Unfortunately she was off at college when it flared up, so we had to wait until she got home for summer to get her started.  I wish we hadn't had to wait and I hope the scarring improves as the skin heals.

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It certainly would be a hassle for a girl -- with the birth control and the pregnancy tests.  But, my son's acne was bad enough that I would think a girl in the same condition would be willing to deal with the inconvenience.

 

His acne started at age 9 (really unusual) and the doc said it could last until his late 20s.   :(  So I'm very thankful for this medication and for our insurance.

I agree! And just so you know, I never ruled it out completely for my daughter. If that's the only thing that would have worked, I'm pretty sure we would have done it.

 

My daughter's started at 9 too. Soooo young! Those poor kids!

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it is interesting that so many of you had children with acne that started young.  My daughter who is taking accutane had no acne at all until 14.  The it was mild and mainly on her back.  At 16 she started getting the cysts and it just kept getting worse from there.  We finally stated the accutane at 18.5.

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My son has been on Accutane for six months now and is just finishing.  He began having some problems with pimples at 11.  Mostly just keeping his face clean and for a short time, using a low level antibiotic kept things under control.  When he turned 15, he started having severe cystic acne.  After a month or so of that it became clear to us that something more needed to be done.  I am SOO glad that we didn't wait longer.  He had huge, oozing cysts and his face was red and swollen and his back looked like a battleground.  He does have some scarring on his back, although the dematologist says that most of that will go away over time.  His face looks great.  

 

Mood swings?  There were a few blow-ups which may or may not have had anything to do with the Accutane.  He did experience some joint pain when he ran.  He decided just to stop running until he was finished with the medicine.  

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  • 2 months later...

Just an update.  He's finishing his fourth month on the accutane and his acne is gone.  Gone.  

 

The scars are fading and should continue to do so according to the doctor.  

 

His lips are still crazy dry, but manageable enough given the major, miraculous healing of his acne.  We can hardly believe it and are so thankful.

 

He'll take it for two more months to finish off the dose and then we should be done.   :)

 

Just posting as an encouragement to those of you who may be considering accutane for your child.  

 

 

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Just an update.  He's finishing his fourth month on the accutane and his acne is gone.  Gone.  

 

The scars are fading and should continue to do so according to the doctor.  

 

His lips are still crazy dry, but manageable enough given the major, miraculous healing of his acne.  We can hardly believe it and are so thankful.

 

He'll take it for two more months to finish off the dose and than we should be done.   :)

 

Just posting as an encouragement to those of you who may be considering accutane for your child.  

I will update too, my daughter took the last dose of her 6 month course last week and she too has no acne at all. 

 

She is dealing with extremely dry skin and uses a lot of lotion but that is manageable.

 

We do regret deciding to use Accutane/Isotretinoin.

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I will update too, my daughter took the last dose of her 6 month course last week and she too has no acne at all. 

 

She is dealing with extremely dry skin and uses a lot of lotion but that is manageable.

 

We do regret deciding to use Accutane/Isotretinoin.

You do or don't regret using Accutane?  

 

I'm glad her acne is gone like my son's.  He actually now has what I would call really beautiful skin. (!!)

 

And, I'm wondering, if you daughter had dry lips, have those improved now that she's off the medication?

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You do or don't regret using Accutane?  

 

I'm glad her acne is gone like me son's.  He actually now has what I would call really beautiful skin. (!!)

 

And, I'm wondering, if you daughter had dry lips, have those improved now that she's off the medication?

 

 

The dry lips go away quickly once they are off the medication. Just a warning, the acne can and does often return after they are off of it for a while (year or so). 

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Did they make your DD do the birth control and pregnancy tests every month?

 

 

Pregnancy test every month, yes. Birth control, no. Her two methods listed for paper work purposes were abstinence and condoms. She was 13 at the time. Now, she uses bc to control her acne. Of course, the doctor doesn't actually believe her that that is the reason she is taking it...

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You do or don't regret using Accutane?

 

I'm glad her acne is gone like my son's. He actually now has what I would call really beautiful skin. (!!)

 

And, I'm wondering, if you daughter had dry lips, have those improved now that she's off the medication?

Arghh, I cannot type to save my life. We do not regret choosing accutane.

 

Her lips are still dry, we were told that the medicine stays active in her system for a month. I expect that the dry skin will let up in about a month.

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I will update too. My son finished his course in July.   His skin was perfectly clear, with just a little scarring, mostly on his shoulders.  But we have noticed that his face is breaking out again.  Not badly, and not nearly like it was before Accutane.  It may not even be the same type of acne that Accutane treats.  His dermatologist prescribed Tretinoan cream for him to use, so we'll see how that goes. 

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My daughter is still getting occasional pimples, but we didn't choose Accutane because of them.  She was having a terrible time with cystic acnes, having up to 5 cysts at a time, they were vary painful.  Her back and chest were covered in acne.  She got occasional pimples on her face but it was mainly clear. She never actually minded the small monthly pimples on her face and they don't bother her new.  She is thrilled that her back and chest are totally clear and she hasn't had a cyst since July.

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