Thread: Accutane

Its expensive. And it makes you not care about anything...or so thats that my friend said.

But it works very well.

It is horrible on your liver and causes depression in some patients.


Plus, here is a third: I took that shit for 2 months and it didn't do anything but turn the volcanoes on my back into slightly smaller volcanoes. A change in diet, lifestyle changes, and the acne regiment from Acne.org - Acne treatment and community cleared up my skin to almost flawless perfection.

What lifestyle changes are you talking about?

My diet is already fairly bland and controlled, very little greasy food is ever eaten. I'm already on minocyclin and benzyl peroxide cream which is doing an ok job, but I would like to have better results, especially on my back.

The only thing I can really do is try to sleep a little more, which I'm trying to do anyway just for health reasons (getting 7 hours, want to get 8)

Originally Posted by danzik17

What lifestyle changes are you talking about?

My diet is already fairly bland and controlled, very little greasy food is ever eaten. I'm already on minocyclin and benzyl peroxide cream which is doing an ok job, but I would like to have better results, especially on my back.

The only thing I can really do is try to sleep a little more, which I'm trying to do anyway just for health reasons (getting 7 hours, want to get 8)

It does nothing to your mood IMO. Ive ran it before for a long time at a high doseage. Mood was never better and blood work came back like I hadn't been on anything.

Originally Posted by BigPapaPump68

It does nothing to your mood IMO. Ive ran it before for a long time at a high doseage. Mood was never better and blood work came back like I hadn't been on anything.

Some people are lucky. The side effects are a crap shoot with every thing you take. If you decide to take it, just have liver functions checked, and if your mood is fine, then you are all set. Just take the proper precautions.

I just actually finished taking accutane. Liver was NOT affected; you must drink tons of water though. Basically the drug dries out your whole body; lips and eyes were the worst for me. I had so many problems with dry eyes and eye infections due to the lack of lubricant it wasn't even funny. How bad is your acne?

I decided to take this drug because I would not get breakouts like most patients, but huge cysts that were the size of golf balls on my face every 1-2 weeks. I had to get injections on my face to bring down the swelling. After taking it for 3-4 months, It really has changed my life (less stressful) and my face doesn't become as oily as it did before and hardly any pimples (NO CYSTS ANYMORE). Any questions let me know.

About the mood comment, I did notice I would be in and out of different mood states constantly. One little thing would set me off, then I would be okay. I guess it's a person by person thing, but it has warnings all over that it may cause depression.

It's not "terrible" acne as in it's not disfiguring or anything, but it doesn't seem to be responding to the other meds that we have tried. I do have ridiculously oily skin though, about 2-3pm most days I can wipe it off like sweat - it's absolutely ridiculous.

Originally Posted by danzik17

It's not "terrible" acne as in it's not disfiguring or anything, but it doesn't seem to be responding to the other meds that we have tried. I do have ridiculously oily skin though, about 2-3pm most days I can wipe it off like sweat - it's absolutely ridiculous.

Accutane does take care of that. A couple of my co-workers have also taken it, and their skin was also very oily. As a result, they haven't had a problem with oil. And it's not like you have to wait till your off the meds to see/feel a difference. It dries anything and everything up.

The first two weeks are the worst (wasn't for me). It is said that you will break out those first two weeks, but after that the meds really start to kick in and you see a drastic improvement. Really is a miracle drug for people who have acne.

I was in the same boat as you when it came to trying every medicine for acne and even face wash. I did minocycline, tetracycline, even bactrum DM which is stronger and if taken over a long period of time can be really bad for your liver.

Don't be fooled about accutane causing liver problems. That is all part of the proccess of the doctor taking your blood after the first month to monitor your liver, and if it is indeed affecting it, they take you off right away.

I would recommend taking this medication though, really has done me wonders.

I was more concerned about some of the other side effects like vision and like permanent joint aches. The liver thing will be monitored obviously, it's the "other" side effects I'm more worried about.

My doc did mention joint pain. He said that with the weight lifting and such, if pain were to be a big problem that I should immediately stop the drug, but I had no problems. My big problem was indeed vision as mentioned before. I wasn't necessarily loosing my vision, but my eyes were constantly irritated even with eye drops. I think I had the worst time with it with my eyes compared with other patients though. It was pretty rough, but I guess again it all comes down to how badly you need to take care of the situation with your face. You don't seem to be having as much difficulty as I did, so I would think it over a bit more, maybe you'll grow out of it. My acne got worse before I know it and I had run out of options. Something to think about. Good luck.

I've been waiting to "grow out of it" for 7+ years now. I'm just going to go for it, all this work I'm doing in the gym is pointless if I don't feel comfortable taking my shirt off because of goddamn acne.