So, I had my appointment with the dermatologist last week and I was shocked when he prescribed roaccutane. Yeah, I have a few little cysts under my jaw line but roaccutane …really!?
So the questions I asked and the pleasant answers he gave me were enough to convince me that the low dosage that he prescribes does not give you all of those side effects that everybody goes on about. So I filled the prescription and started taking it thinking that this would make me acne free forever and the worst I’d get from the medication was dry lips (so, I just carry a chap stick around - big deal).
Err …no. For the 6 days that I took the medication I was fatigued in the day then restless at night, my back and neck was sore and muscles felt stiff, I had a constant minor headache, my lips were dry, my skin started to peel, and worst of all - my face was bright red and sore just like I had a bad sunburn. I was also starting to get that ‘old skin’ look from the dry skin that I got when I was using Benzoyl Peroxide. This is because both products did a great job at drying out my skin a lot.
Yeah, the few spots that I had were getting a lot better but the feeling of this poison in my body was not enough for me to keep taking it. I hardly have any acne and can completely cover it up with a little bit of mineral makeup so this prescription was total overkill for me. AND there’s no way you’ll get me to take that stuff again. My acne would have to be extremely severe and all over my face for me to even consider taking it again.
I’ve recorded a video on my experience over the 6 day duration, and another video on some things you can do that I think would help a lot if you do decide to take this medication. I know I’ve really bagged it, and yes I think you need to be very careful when taking it, but ultimately some people do have very severe acne that is very noticeable and this medication can be the only thing that works. If you do take it, please go into it knowing the full possible side effects, because I thought the controversy was all just a lot of hype, just a heap of people on very high doses complaining about it, until it happened to me AND in just a few short days.
My experiences taking accutane
Things that may help you if you’re taking accutane
Aloe Vera
As I mentioned in the video, aloe vera was great at helping reduce the redness and irritation of my face. I didn’t have the plant in my garden to use, but a gel I purchased worked well. It didn’t take all of the redness away, or all of the soreness …but it definitely calmed my skin down a lot and did take some of the color and irritation away.
Here is the link to the aloe vera gel product that I was using. I just bought it from a grocery store. You don’t have to buy this one, any will do. Just try and find one that is as pure as possible, that means it doesn’t have anything added to it.
Fran
Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.
14 responses ↓
hey darls
love the feedback
but i did use accutane years back and i didnt finish off the full trial but guess what it worked for a good 4 years
i was like a baby’s bottom
but i got it again just recently
now im on the natural stuff, i just had a nutrient injection? what do u think about that?
u fink itl work?
Wow, how long did you take it for it to work for 4 years? I’m guessing it did a good job and clearing up all your clogged pores and comedonal acne
I did notice a big difference in my skin for the 6 days that it was on, and I can see if I continued to take it, it would make a significant difference in my skin, but I just felt so %$^% on it that it was not worth it for me.
Nutrient injection? I’ve never heard of that …do they inject something into your face?
Your dermatologist should never prescribe you with Accutane if you have a minor case of acne, which seems like the case in your situation. I was first prescribed with Accutane when I had minor blemishes on my face as a teenager. The dermatologist tried nothing else before putting me on Accutane. Sure enough, it cleared up my acne initially. But then a year or so later it was back in a big way in the form of cysts. Then I went on a much higher dose of Accutane for another year. Let me just say that the side effects of this drug, some of which you mentioned totally outweigh the benefits that it might cause.
Interesting that you call it poison. Accutane is essentially a highly concentrated form of Vitamin A. Vitamin A, in large doses can be toxic/poisonous. My advice: stay away from Accutane.
Hi Peter, I know! I definitely won’t be going back to that dermatologist ..and guess what, I feel 100% better now that I’m off it. And you know what else? My skin is looking really great at the moment, and that’s without using accutane!
I’m sorry to hear that it gave you cysts. I hope your skin is doing well now.
Hi!
I have been on Accutane (Soret) for five days now, and my skin is really oily. I don’t have cystic acne, but persistent smaller white heads and many black heads that are flat with my skin.
Today, I noticed that my skin looked sunburned and tender (like how you described yours was) without any sun exposure.
I am going to buy that Aloe Vera cream as soon as possible to help reduce the redness.
I was wondering if you know anything about the possibility of green tea helping with the redness in skin (the kind drank, not topical lotions)? I have heard some positive things about it, and was just wondering if you know anything more about it.
–Thanks
Kevin- I’m surprised your doctor prescribed accutane to you when you don’t have cystic or severe acne. Blackheads and whiteheads can be treated easily with a good diet and a BHA.
Pure aloe vera is definitely the best natural treatment for red skin. You could try the green tea if you want too, it doesn’t hurt considering it’s natural.
i have a few on my chin and nose ive tried hundreds of dollars in medications i jus need to eliminate stress and i need to rid of the fewq i have ne help?
i used it for a month or so..i was so happy.(the first day)
i thought this was a miracle.
the doctor said that my acne would dissapre for ever and that my skin would glow.and all i needed to do is eat those pills and just mosturize…it was a dream come true.
when i found out the side effects i thought i was going to die…
.
*Dry skin (causing inflammation, scaling, itching, increased skin fragility)
*Dryness of the mucous membranes, eg lips, eyes (causing irritation, conjunctivitis), nose (causing nosebleeds) and throat (causing hoarseness)
*Headache
*Increased liver enzymes
*increased cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar; decreased red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets
*Pain in the muscles and joints
*Mood changes, strange or abnormal thoughts, anxiety, depression, ))))))suicidal ((((feelings
*Hair loss
*Visual disturbances (eg blurred vision, cataracts, colour blindness, decreased night vision)
*Inflammation of the surface of the eye
*Breathing difficulties due to a narrowing of the airways (bronchospasm)
*Nausea
*Inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammation of the pancreas
*Bone disorders
a had really dry lips which made me look like a vanpire
my face was peeling and extremly dry
i was very dizzy
i felt like i was on drugs or someing.
so i stopped using them
i rather be ugly and healthy ..then beautiful and sick.
i almost experienst every thing there is .
I took Accutane for 8 months will I was in high school. To begin with it was 400 dollars a month (not covered by insurance). I was put on the highest dosage possible (the doctor did not have my best interests in mind he just wanted results…..FAST). Well I didnt get results…..I still have cystic acne to a point. And I now have a thyroid condition, and I have borderline polycystic ovarian disease (meaning my fertility isn’t compromised but I do have darker facial, leg, and arm hair and striations (stretch marks) that pop up out of nowhere!). Evil, evil, evil drug.
Here is the states, girls are required to be on birth control while taking accutane because of the severe birth defects that the drug causes. It isnt a choice….you are required to sign a paper that says you will be on birth control for the duration of the treatment and that you will not get pregnant with in 6 months of stopping your treatment. Plus once a month I had to go to the clinic and get my blood drawn to make sure my liver wasn’t being damaged. Looking back it scares me….what that drug did to my body.
I almost feel like the drug damaged my DNA.
This drug has not only ravaged my body it has cost me more money than I could have imagined. Between going to specialist for my thyroid and the couple grand I’m having to spend to have the extra body hair removed by lazer.
Acne isnt so bad….in fact it is the least of my worries now. I will never recoment Accutane to anyone.
I was on a six month course of roaccutane (60mg a day) the only side effects I got were dry lips and redness/blushing of my face……strangly enough I was still as oily/greasy as a frying pan while taking it. But the after effects I got during and after finishing my course was brown hyper-pigmentation on my cheeks and blotchiness over my face even though I was rigourous with protecting myself from the sun while on and after taking the drug, since then ive been battling to treat that. Also yes my acne dissapeared but a few years later down the track it came back but thankfully not as servere as it used to be (ie no more cystic acne) but just random clusters of pimples and clogged pores
Hi Fran, i’m 13 turning 14 this year and have recently been to the dermatologist because i have really bad acne, it’s not only on my face but the whole of my back, chest, and my legs and shoulders. I’ve had this for about 2 years now. The dermatologist told me that i had weird acne. Because of how wide-spread it is. I had to have blood tests because he thinks i might have a thing called cushions disease. But he said i don’t look like someone who does have the disease. I’m going back to the dermatologist on the 15th of June to get the results. If i don’t have cushions disease then i have to go on roaccutane. I’m pretty scared considering all the side effects, also do you really have to go on the pill while your on Roaccutane? because my grandmother died from breast cancer and she told my mum, who told me, that it could increase my risks of getting cancer. Thanks.
Hi there! I’m so sorry to know that you had to go through all this. I guess your skin is too sensitive and that might be the case why acutance caused so much of trouble to you. Dermatologists must look into the past history and the skin type of a person before prescribing an acne medication. Natural remedies are like life savers for those with sensitive and acne-prone skin. Aloe vera really works…I am glad it helped in reducing the inflammation. I think you must try some natural remedies using garlic, lemon, and green tea. Next time you see your dermatologist, tell him to prescribe some natural acne medication that are 100% safe and without any side effects. ..keep healthy
Dear Fran
I have very severe nodulocystic acne, which even harsh treatments has failed to treat. I`ve tried Benzoyl peroxide, hydrogen Peroxide, salacytic acid, erythromycin, lymacycline, doxycycline, adapalene, retin A and even forms of photopherapy (a relatively new treatment for acne). Retin A worked very well - but since i have acne all over my back and arms (which ruptures and hurts when i lie down) my dermatoligist prescribed generic accutane. Im on 30mg a day and today is day 10. I have suffered from the Initial breakout (yesterday was the worst), but today i can definately see improvement. I actually have experienced very similar side effects to you during the first week. All last week i had sleeping distrubances (waking up 5/6 times a night)and was therefore constantly tired. I also had awful headaches ( although i think this was down to still having tetracycline in my system - ive stopped this treatment now). On sunday (day 7) i felt really really sick and then had diarea (sorry for spelling). I thought i would have to come off accutane ( i did feel like it was killing me), which understandably i didnt want to do, since i have wanted to go on accutane for over 4 months (In the Uk NHS dermatological referals take months). However over the past 3 days all these have subsided, and im left only with cracked chapped, thoroughly dry lips and my skin is getting more fragile and stings when i apply mosituriser. I know and completely understand if you want to ignore this but perhaps you should retry accutane, since it does cure 60% of people and could completely change your life. I hope it will mine.
I love this site and i will feinately try aloe vera.
sorry for spelling in last line i meant: “definately try ALOE VERA”
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