Accutane - Advice/ETC...

joebo

joebo

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I'm going to the dermatologist this afternoon to pursue accutane. I'm 28 and have been dealing with acne since puberty. At this point and really all my life it has not affected my face much at all. I tend to get cystic acne on my neck and back. I'm not talking to a disgusting degree, but maybe one or two sore red bumps under the skin that take forever to go away. My back also gets acne as well, but its off and on and nothing too bad, but still at my age its impacting my life. I've been using Benzaclin/Tazorac/Doxycycline for a while now and doesn't seem to help much.

I've come to a point where its affecting my life too much to keep doing what I'm doing. I want it gone. I know accutane is no guarantee, but its the closest thing to a sure thing as one can get with acne. I'm looking to hear from people who've used it and the sides, results, etc... and even from those who've had family or friends use it. I just want reassurance i'm doing the right thing. Will it impact my life in the gym?
 
crewchief182

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Took my son in for same problem about a month ago. They told us that accutane is a last resort med only. Side effects could include such things as, reproduction problems for females, suicidal tendencies etc. We pretty much new all of this before hand and were prepared to live with the acne, if they chose the accutane route. She put him on one oral med and two topicals. All are Clindamyocin based products. Results have been nothing less than amazing! Ton's of info about this product on the web.
 
papapumpsd

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From what I've heard is that accutane should be left for those w/a serious acne condition. This stuff is not joke. Since you're not so bad, Acc might even make your life worse.
 
b unit

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joebo, i have used accutane many years ago and had no real problems, dry skin and being thirsty was pretty much it. never felt suicidal or depressed, slightly tired but that was it

If you decide to use it, please moniter yourself mentally and physicaly and if you feel any unwanted conditions starting to develop then either stop the course or see your doc again.
 
johnyq

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I'm going to the dermatologist this afternoon to pursue accutane. I'm 28 and have been dealing with acne since puberty. At this point and really all my life it has not affected my face much at all. I tend to get cystic acne on my neck and back. I'm not talking to a disgusting degree, but maybe one or two sore red bumps under the skin that take forever to go away. My back also gets acne as well, but its off and on and nothing too bad, but still at my age its impacting my life. I've been using Benzaclin/Tazorac/Doxycycline for a while now and doesn't seem to help much.

I've come to a point where its affecting my life too much to keep doing what I'm doing. I want it gone. I know accutane is no guarantee, but its the closest thing to a sure thing as one can get with acne. I'm looking to hear from people who've used it and the sides, results, etc... and even from those who've had family or friends use it. I just want reassurance i'm doing the right thing. Will it impact my life in the gym?
I'm 27 and go through the same thing. I have to do the same routine I did as a teenager (wash 3 times a day, lotion, topicals, Doxy at the moment every morning). Oddly, I didn't have much issue in my college years, wish I knew what caused it to suddenly come back. It's bad enough being the youngest engineer here, try doing it with a severe breakout....


Just wanted you to know you aren't alone. Good luck with your decision.
 

Master Amino

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I was on it last summer. My biggest problem was my extremely red, chapped lips with dead skin on them all the time. If you go on it, carry chap stick with you at all times. As far as workouts, it didn't seem to effect me at all (not that I know of anyway).

And now that I've been off of it for awhile, I don't seem to get pimples anymore. Occasionally I'll get a few, but not NEARLY like i used to have. Maybe one or two a month or so.

And keep in mind that while the pimples will be gone, you'll have to use other methods to heal any scarring you've had from previous pimples throughout the years. Though my back is much MUCH clearer now that I've used accutane, it still looks iffy in areas due to scarring.
 
cranghel099

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i took accutane about three years ago, and it worked wonders for me, both my older peers had taken it and they too had phenomenal results with accutane. My oldest peer probably had the most severe case of acne, but he now has the clearest skin.

i took accutane for about six months er so and the sides do get old after a while, (extremely dry lips- chap stick did nothing i had to get advance moisturizers, my skin was very sensitive to heat, sun, humidity, even sweating during exercise would aggrevate the skin sometimes.

Before taking accutane my skin was pretty oily i had to wash my face a couple times a day, my breakouts were primarily on my jaw,nose and upper back.

After taking accutane my skin is no longer oily, i find that i occasinally have to use moisturizers during climate/season changes. Breakouts are very rare, maybe one or two within the past two years. I did find that my pores seems to be bigger especially on my nose. I have to use a skin exfoliator or black heads will start to pop up within a couple of days.
 
cranghel099

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i took accutane about three years ago, and it worked wonders for me, both my older peers had taken it and they too had phenomenal results with accutane. My oldest peer probably had the most severe case of acne, but he now has the clearest skin.

i took accutane for about six months er so and the sides do get old after a while, (extremely dry lips- chap stick did nothing i had to get advance moisturizers, my skin was very sensitive to heat, sun, humidity, even sweating during exercise would aggrevate the skin sometimes.

Before taking accutane my skin was pretty oily i had to wash my face a couple times a day, my breakouts were primarily on my jaw,nose and upper back.

After taking accutane my skin is no longer oily, i find that i occasinally have to use moisturizers during climate/season changes. Breakouts are very rare, maybe one or two within the past two years. I did find that my pores seems to be bigger especially on my nose. I have to use a skin exfoliator or black heads will start to pop up within a couple of days.
 

JJC

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This is what I wrote in a previous thread about accutane:

I've been on Accutane before. It was administered by a doctor with routine bloodwork. Whether you are doing this yourself or with a doctor, I hope you are getting your blood checked regularly. Do not use gear or alcohol on Accutane (I'm sure some alcohol would be fine, but you might as well stay away altogether).

What to expect (from personal experience): you might not notice anything for a little bit, but then your skin will get extremely oily for a period of time, then it will get extremely dry and will peel like crazy. When you get to this point make sure you have plenty of lotion because it gets nasty.

Also, if you start to experience symptoms of depression, talk to a physician immediately. Don't do anything stupid.
I would make sure you've tried a lot of other options before going this route (as others have suggested) because the side effects are strong (oily skin then dry, peeling skin), there is routine maintenance (bloodwork), and you have to change your lifestyle for awhile (no drinking! no steroids!). But if you do go this route, in a good number of people it will help their current and future acne situations.


Here's one thing that I've been doing that has surprisingly helped out as of late: I have stopped washing my face before bed. I'm starting to think that washing constantly may actually make things worse. You may not want to try this right now, but once you get things under control, you might see for yourself.

Good luck!
 
joebo

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I will be going on an ultra low dose accutane. After reading several medical studies comparing normal to low dose administration the outcome was virtually the same, but almost eliminating any sides. The normal dose for me would be 88mg daily, but I got my dr. to let me run 10mg and maybe up to 20 after a month or two. She said I probably won't even get the red chapped lips at this dosage. I have to get my preliminary bloodwork first before I can get the prescription. I'll keep those of you interested in my results updated as the months go on.
 
comacho

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stuff you need on hand when you start

dryness will start in one week or two into it if high dosage

neutrogena lotion (scented or not) white tub with blue pump on top
cetaphil is good too but expensive

vaseline brand chap stick, not the waxy **** but the gel like stuff

get some joint supps like SAMe or glucosamine or cissus (injured something in my leg doing deadlift while on accutane, dries out your joints)



hey you are not a teen and if you have cystic acne, and you sound frustrated...you dont need all that, give accutane a try and monitor your mood,,,dryness is nothing and bloodwork should be fine. Some get suicidal tahts the most worrisome.

in my experience i had to do several high dosage treatments through 3 years, now i still have zits but its not like bleeding all over the mattress everymorning type of deal. I loved the end result. kinda sucks for staying on for a few months and constant blood work but its worth it, and goodluck to you man, dont get stressed out it will be okay.

now i use differin gel, tetracycline, and evoclin,,,not bad combo minor case of acne.
 

russianstar

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I know 2 people who have used accutane, and even though it made the acne worse for about 10 days, they say its the best thing they ever did, they never get any bad skin at all now, and there confidence has sky rocketed.
 
cranghel099

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I know 2 people who have used accutane, and even though it made the acne worse for about 10 days, they say its the best thing they ever did, they never get any bad skin at all now, and there confidence has sky rocketed.

yeah this is soo true, i look of pics from high school, and sometimes i can't believe how bad my acne was; it's been years since i've had it, it's almost like you forget you ever even had it ha.
 
tmachovec

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when i used accutane i had to get monthly blood work because its very liver toxic. yes it will dry you out and carry chap stick with you. the first month sucks but when your skin starts to clear you will feel like a new person...

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joebo

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Looking forward to seeing results. My acne really isn't bad, but I'm 28 and just don't want to deal with it anymore. After trying harsh topicals, anti-biotics, its just time for it to go away. Currently I have like 4 pimples on my back, but clear else where. Its the deeps cysts I get on my neck on occasion that really bug the hell out of me.
 

MMAMONSTER19

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If you still check this dude i took accutane ok my acne wasnt bad but i just never had a clear face i would get it on my shoulders/back and very lil on my chest taking accutane was one of the best decisions i have ever made in my life!!! there really are no sides that they claim there are i never experienced any of them, just extremely dry lips and kottonmouth, the worse side i experienced was slight exzema on my forearms just major dry skin the flared up red that was it so just use lotion on your arms if necesay, get carmex chap stick works the best, and carry water with you as much as possible, and since it is liver toxic means extremely little to no ALCOHOL whenever i drank i had a beer thats no big deal its the whole getting wasted that is bad for you. they say there is suicidal and depression effects never experience any of them but if you start to feel that way consult your doctor immediately and stop takin accutane. any other info you need just pm me dude best of luck to ya
 
johnyq

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there really are no sides that they claim
they have to claim those sides because they showed up in studies and they obviously exist. Just because you didin't have them doesn't mean ****.
 
mcmayne

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I started an Accutane cycle about a year ago because I had moderate cystic acne similar to yours. it will yield amazing results, but I think you should try 20mg dosage. the doc had me on 40mg/day and in retrospect it was way overdosed for me but I dealt with it.
also the side-effects are NOT to be taken lightly. I actually felt extremely depressed during a portion of my time on it. there were other factors in my life at the time that could have contributed to the depression, but I think the medication really aggravated it. some days I felt such terrible apathy for everything I could scarcely make myself do anything.
I also got some pretty ugly and uncomfortable rashes on my arms and neck due to the medication. and finally, it actually f'd up my eyes as well. they used to be crystal clear and white all the time. I'm fairly sure accutane damaged them in some way, as my sclera (white part of eye) is seldom without redness and irritation.
just slather on the sunscreen and chap stick. your skin is much more prone to sun damage while on accutane and it would be a counter-productive shame not to protect it during your treatment. you'll likely be just fine at such a low dose, but stay hydrated inside and out.
 

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