Oh lastly, do tanning beds work against acne as well? or only real sun exposure?
Cool, Might try it out.
No sides? Also did it come back after? I heard that it prevents the acne on those treated spots to come back as well?
No to both questions. I can’t recall the dose right now but I did some research on accutane dose by weight and went from there.
As a PA working in dermatology For over 15 yrs I would never ever recommend buying isotretinoin (accutane) from outside the USA. This medication is regulated very closely by the FDA. Yes low dose isotretinoin works great to control acne at 40mg per week for most, but before jumping straight to this medication I would strongly consider injecting T in split dose 2x per week. By doing this usually you can inject less with the same results in free T levels. As for medications. Doxycycline 100mg daily with a benzoyl peroxide wash works great for most. I like to add topical clindamycin lotion to apply twice daily and usually after a couple months things improve dramatically and most can then stop the oral antibiotic and just use the topicals. For those who don’ t respond then oral isotretinoin would be a good option.
Isotretinoin and it’s derivatives are the second most teratogenic substances. Some can induce malformations in fetuses 3 years after stopping the medication (Anophthalmia). For men this seems not to be the case since sperm must be ok to work, it could even make some infertile man more fertile by enhancing sperm production.
But if you’re giving it to a girl (reproductive age) there should be a tightly regulated birth control. For more than the duration of the drug. That’s why it’s so strongly regulated. Even topical adapalene, which you don’t need to get prescribed in the US, can induce malformations.
Just wanted to add this in case women read this thread.
I would have taken Accutane in my early teens but I was scared of the psychiatric sides. Liver is all good, as much alcohol as I drank then, it took a hard hit every weekend. I didn’t want kids too at that time. But depression? I didn’t want to risk that.
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Hmm, Ill try the BZ wash first then.
Im not a big fan of antibiotics as they also kill all the good bacteria, but if the wash isnt enough ill try that, then lastly if none of those work maybe low dose accutane.
This is exactly why I self treat. The medical profession knows what will treat you best but they choose to nickel and dime you with treatment after treatment, each one lasting about 4 - 6 weeks before making a change only to finally give you the most effective treatment after they’ve taken all your money and wasted about 3 months of your time and you having to suffer thru their arrogance and bullshit.
And don’t forget the time taken away from work for each appointment and the pharmacy costs, and the time spent there too.
Not smart! But then again there are a lot of self proclaimed experts out there. I guess you stayed at a Holiday Inn.
I’d say that falls under the category of taking the least risk. If it goes away with doxycycline, why risk isotretinoin? It’s also a lot of time and paper work for doctors. In Germany they handle it the same and here doctors don’t get paid more if you come more often.
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That’s funny but no. I’m not saying you’re like this but your most of your colleagues are. This forum is FULL of men who have been treated by ignorant if not willfully negligent doctors. The same goes to for most specialties, especially GPs.
And please, lets not be hypocritical about the dangers of accutane. Hell, 15 or 20 Tylenol capsules can cause liver failure but Drs are so worried about low dose accutane that they consider it a last resort?
Oral antibiotics are their own problem and the cause for so much resistance bacteria have against them plus the sheer havoc they create on the gut. Accutane works by changing the structure of the skin cells so it can’t reoccur in most cases. Antibiotics just subdue the problem till the next flare up.
I self administer TRT. I may not have a medical background, but I am analytical in nature (engineering is what I do), but the amount of people who come on here with the stupidest protocols from their doctors reassures me, that I indeed wouldn’t be much better off with most doctors.
I’ve met all sorts of “qualified” people who were morons too. Just because you don’t have credentials does not mean that you understand less about a subject than someone who does. I will say if you fuck yourself up self administering drugs, that you only have yourself to blame, but blaming the doctor usually doesn’t do you much good anyways.
I guess I am a libertarian when it comes to things that don’t impact others. If someone want to use alcohol, pot, steroids, LSD, etc… why not. It doesn’t impact me.
Ditto - MS Degree with a research background
Yep
100% agree with everything you said
I do know the guy I started TRT with knew his stuff, but after a bit over a year, I got sick of the hoop jumping and cost, and just ordered some UGL test, did blood work on it, and all is good.
If I had friends looking into TRT, I would recommend that guy to them, as they just don’t know about this stuff like I do. If they asked, I would help, but more in the context of this isn’t medical advice, it is what I do.
10mg Accutane EOD works for me. I get the odd zit but it works very, very well. Without it, I get cystic acne spots on my chest but not often on my back or face.
I know a dermatologist and he’s told me many times if the acne is hormonal/cystic, Accutane is the only way to go because it develops so deep in the skin. If it’s more surface type acne, hygiene, retin creams, tanning etc can work pretty well.
For reference, I’m 200lbs and use Clarus.
I tried it all, but Accutane is the only thing that reliably keeps it in check.
Yea, I’m not a fan of testosterone either aside from the realm of replacement. For me, dosages of T above 125mg/wk induce quite a bit of water retention/facial oedema, acne, excess hair growth etc. I get acne/cystic acne on TRT, thankfully I don’t get it on my face.
Test is the easiest on the lipids though.
I have started to try some anti acne treatments that I got recommended, is it normal for the acne to flare up and become a bit worse first before it will start going down? Or is that not supposed to happen?
Been 2 days now and they are actually more visible now, I had a lot but first they weren’t so noticable as they were about the same contrast as my skin, but now they are actually reddish and more prominent than a few days ago.
what were the treatments?
Anti biotic and a certain anti-acne wash with zinc n benzyl, salicylic acid etc.
they become worse and more red, also the skin feels sort of burned-ish, superdry also,not really burned but a glowing feeling to it, like you been in the sun for a while but not long enough for a real sunburn.
I read that sometimes treatments sometimes do this? make it worse before it starts fading. But bit worried coz if its adverse reaction it will be terrible coz this is just from 3 days now.
Mine always gets worse every time I change something. Different soap, new benzylperoxide wash, etc. Always gets worse before it gets better for me.
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