Accutane worked for me and I had really severe acne, took it for 3 months and all acne was gone by the end of the first month. I have not had ANY acne since.
All I had to do was ask my family doctor for a perscription; however I understand Accutane is expensive if you dont have coverage but in my experience nothing comes even close to the effectivness and I tried literaly everything else.
I asked my derm for accutane and he has had me on a whole slew of other creams and antibiotics because “they want to try everything else first.” Makes me think they dont want to give me the good stuff bc they want to make as much money as possible since I’m sure they get paid by the pharm companies to sell their products.
I want the dang accutane already. I only have mild acne the past 4 years but it sucks really bad especially in college.
I had the same run around, I basicly just ended up putting my foot down telling the Dr to just write the damn perscription. I agree the more times you visit the Dr the more he makes…
Accutane was actully so effective I had a ton left over once I was done. Also if you take accutane make sure you buy some chapstick before you start, for somereason it drys your lips out like crazy.
As far as Dosage goes I was taking 1 40mg cap a day and that was good for me, but I would leave that to a Doctor/Pharmacist to decide.
Whats so hard about getting a prescription? I mean aside from them trying to get you to do other stuff first.
As far as life lasting issues, I think Accutane is a sort of permanent solution thing; my Dr mention at the start that people rarely take it for more than 6 months but it may take more than one treatment cycle.
Accutane is linked to depression, and has been cited as a major contributor in some suicide cases. It doesn’t affect everyone, but this is the reason for not wanting to prescribe it too openly. It’s not some money making scam.
[quote]eigieinhamr wrote:
Accutane is linked to depression, and has been cited as a major contributor in some suicide cases. It doesn’t affect everyone, but this is the reason for not wanting to prescribe it too openly. It’s not some money making scam.[/quote]
I don’t get that - I was more depressed with acne than I ever was on accutane.
Acne is an internal problem as far as I’m concerned - anything topical is only covering up the problem - isotretinoin is the only thing that has worked for me.
Niacin is the form of vitamin B3 that makes your skin red (flushing) rather than niacinamide.
I’ve taken niacinamide in high dosages orally and it didn’t do anything for my acne.
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) on the other hand, has worked wonderfully on my skin. Currently on 15g per day.
I’ve been on two courses of Accutane. All they did was temporarly improve my acne. After a year it came back.
I also had severe depression and chronic fatigue. That happens in a minority of cases but don’t kid yourself it still happens. Most likely you won’t get it.
If you have a family history of depression definitely do NOT take it. Your doctor will ask you this when he prescribes it.
Your name also gets put in a registry to allow you limited access to the drug. It’s to help cut down on birth defects in women. You are also required to get monthly blood work for liver and cholesterol values before you can fill your next prescription.
The reasons doctors are so reluctant to prescribe Accutane is because it is such a harsh compound. Side effects like bone/joint pain, nose bleeds, liver dysfunction, fatigue, depression, severe birth defects in women, etc… is why it is so tightly regulated.
For a minority of users, some side effects continue for years afterwards (depression, fatigue, joint pain).
There’s a reason it’s an end of the line medication.
Accutane is a miracle drug for some people, and a drug from hell for others. You have decide if the risk is worth it for you.