Accutane Long Term Side Effects (Page 18)

I have a son that took accutane 60 mg a day for six months in a row three years ago. Now after many trips to doctors over strange medical problems, it seems accuatne is the culprit medication that has caused servere joint and muscle pain, severe dry lips, redness in face, eye infections of own immune system attacking itself, systems of osteoarthritis in both shoulders, both wrist and right hand, blood in stool, possible hair loss, abnormal liver function test results in AST and ALT. My son went from being a high school football and track athlete while taking this medication three years ago to someone that is in constant pain just washing a car. After I have researched this drug extensively, I can't believe that the FDA allows this drug originally made for cancer patients to be marketed for teenagers with acne. All one has to do is look online what vitamin A overdose does to someone and then you have the results of what this medication has done to my son. This drug needs to be taken off them market ASAP and the drug companies that make it need to compensate all teenagers that they have possible ruined their future. Shame on them! What is going on here?

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REPORT

My experience has been much the same as Clarke's. I took it about 10 years ago...but, I took it for like 3 years...and I took a HIGH dose. Mine was a very SEVERE skin disorder that only Accutane could treat. The only issue I have, now, is easily irritated eyes.

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I am not acquainted with the drug, gonna check on my grandchildren to see if they have ever considered it. Why is this drug still being prescribed? I have ms symptoms,but no lesions, checking on zinc poisoning which causes neuropathy which I have and is not in MS profile.

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Extremely nervous. I am projected to start taking accutane in Jan, but after reading these blog comments I am very leary. I am 31 years old and have had acne since I was 14. I have tried everything, nothing seems to work but if I am going to have the horrible long-term side effects that all the others have had on this blog I don't want it. So do the benefits out weigh the cons??????

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I am the one that started this post over my son that is now 20 that took this drug when he was 14-15 years old.. Just a heads up. I recently had to take my 17 year old son to a new Dermatologist in town over a brown spot on his back. My 17 year old also has cystic acne on his back, but not so much his face. We were not in his exam room for 2 minutes and this Dermatologist asked Is there depression in your family . I said, I know where you are going and don't even bring up the word Accutane in front of me. He asked why and I went on a rave that lasted 20 minutes on this drug, the FDA, the American Medical Association and Journals. This guy refused to let up saying, Ok, we will try a lower doze on your son. I let out a lot of frustration on this doctor that day and although he still will prescribe Accutane at ever chance he has, he will never forget my conversation with him. He only knows what the FDA tells him and that isn't much when it comes to trying to prescribe Accutane and its generic brands to all that walk into his office as a guarantee cure all for acne. When I asked him why the FDA allows a chemotherapy drug to be prescribed for acne, he had no answer. Shame on him ! As long as the FDA allows this product to be on the market, dermatologist will continue to push it as a cure all for acne and telling people all side effects go away after treatment. Do your homework and please try all other treatments possible before signing the dotted lines on the I Pledge contract. There are so many people now with Colitis, Crohns Disease years after they took Accutane and have No Idea where they got it, and 99.9% of doctors are ignorant or just keep there mouth shut.

Best Wishes,
Scott

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I think Andrew hit the nail on the head by using the dosage according to his needs, medicine always does its one size fits all approach, we need more compounding pharmacists, dosage according to the patients metabolism,because we are as different as are our fingerprints

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I only wish I had read these reports 3 months ago. I've had moderate acne since aged 17 and have tried all antibiotics/creams/the pill. The pill worked but I was forced off it due to having focal migraines (there is a link to having a stroke?). Anyway from aged 19 (to 25) EVERY dermatologist has said the only option is roaccutane. When I was 20 i started this drug and went away to uni with it. I was also on an antibiotic and i remember taking collectively 6 tablets a day. After 4 days I got this bizarre 'rash' all over my arms and legs. Not being able to contact the original dermatologist I called my own doctor. He said it sounded like it was affecting my blood cells in some way and to come off it. So i did- and i was very nervous about the drug.
However, i then remained with bad acne for the next 5 years- and i still saw a few dermatologists in this time with the hope they had something new to prescribe. But they always pushed for roaccutane (and also LAUGHED when i told them what my GP had said about that rash!!). To the point i wondered what they did before the drug existed. Finally, after what i believed to be quite a bit of research i decided to take a course. To be honest my teenage life had been ruled by acne as of much of my young adult, and i just really wanted the battle to be over. I didnt want to get married with acne, i didnt want children to have a mother with acne and i didnt want to be old with acne.
I looked up online what the drug does, the effects, users comments and life a year on. I also knew 2 people who had taken it and it had been successful for them. By the end of all that i thought i was making a fairly informed decision. I really thought all the side-effects were the ones i read in the instructions and that all these disappeared after treatment. I was also very aware of the 'mental' issues. But i thought i would be careful and stop it if anything like that occurred. I've not had any unusual symptoms- back ache, dry skin, eczema, rashes, bloody nose and more recently my left eye started twitching. Then i came online to investigate further and found this message board. I AM HORRIFIED and have stopped Roaccutane immediately (am on 60mg per day). I know this is already too late as i've been on it for 3 months. I honestly never knew, nor was advised that problems can occur after use. Since reading this thread i have done more research and more terrifiyingly i have found posts by women who are unable to concieve or who miscarry their babies.

WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MINDS WHEN GIVEN ALL THIS INFORMATION WOULD ANYONE TAKE THIS DRUG???

I also never knew it had been withdrawn in the US due to all these lawsuits being filed against roche. I plan to take all this info to my dermatologist and confront him.

I stopped taking this drug as soon as i read the posts on this site- My thoughts are of all the people who have been affected by this drug, or all those like me who have just taken it (and of our future health and fertility) and of all those who have yet to take it (due to pressure from peers and a lack of realistic info from derms!).

Hilariously, my derm told me it was ok to get pregnant a month after ending the treatment- but i seriously doubt this and am utterly disgusted at such irresponsibility.

Best wishes, love and prayers, Melissa

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Thank you everyone for your comments. I was going to take Claravis until I found out Accutane, Amnesteem, and Sotret were basically the same drug. (Sotretinoin) After reading these stories it is clear that although doctors tell you the side effects are rare, they are actually quite common. I have decided against taking it. Hopefully they will come out with something in the future that doesnt include all the crazy side effects.

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I took the good ol' 6 month 3 pills a day treatment when i was 16 in high school. I am now 19. While on the medication I developed severe apathy and still to this day could give a f--- less about the majority of things in life deemed 'important'.I was always had a gpa of 94+ and then it was lower, and lower, and lower. I didn't do homework and I would turn in blank essays. I was also easily aggravated, turning from calm and complacent to being filled with near rage. Also while undergoing treatment i developed the expected severely chapped lips, back pain, joint pain, etc. I even visited a chiropractor and that did help to some degree. I have only recently developed shoulder pain, and my left hand, rather than right seems a little more 'tight' than the right. I'm not sure if its from my own stupidity or this medication.

so here is what you must accept before taking this.

1 you will love explaining why your lips look like goldfingers skin box from austin powers to everyone at school. (drink a lot of water) use aquaphore.
2 you will be moody/aggressive
3 headaches and severe back pain are common.(and often)
4 Apathy.
5 anything i didn't list that other people have.
6 you will not be the same, of course you will still be you to a point but there are inevitable changes that will happen in you.
7 you will be acne free after the treatment (some 95 percent of people if I'm correct). I know almost never have a break out. I hope this clear skin was worth it.
[i also still have little white scars randomly dispersed around my shoulders and chest] sometimes people ask what happened. Another fun day to tell a story.

this is a very serious drug.
if you can accept those things, and wish to take it i strongly recommend smoking some weed. Acutane is one hell of a drug.

(my friend also endured the same treatment and experienced similar effects)

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Mandie--If you can possibly stay off of it, PLEASE DO NOT START TAKING THIS DRUG. I am an otherwise healthy 32 year old woman, and I've been on Accutane 3 times--in hs, college and just a few years ago. Because I never had suicidal/depression thoughts nor joint pain I thought I was absolved from its side effects. I recently found out I cannot have children and the accutane basically ruined my stomach and my egg/ovary production. As a young woman, having a great complexion was so important to me, but had I ever known this could happen, I NEVER would have taken this drug and as a woman or girl considering it, PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF AND DON'T DO IT.

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Queenie and " This drug should never be approved", Thank you for your coments. Please know that you have educated others that may possibly want to take this drug.

To all,
Please keep your comments coming. Remember there are people on this post that will gladly reply to your comments, if need be. We are here for you !

Thanks !
Scott

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I'm a 27 y/o male and took accutane when I was 13. About 3 years ago I started to experience very odd and unexplainable upper respiratory problems myself. I've been looking for a cure or just a simple understanding of the chronic sinus and throat problems I've been having and not a single doctor or specialist has any idea what it could be. I've done every test known to man and still nothing. You're literally the first person I've heard list "Upper Respiratory Infections" as a major issues in the wake of taking accutane. Can you please tell me more about your situation and symptoms?

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Organic Virgin Coconut Oil is doing wonders. Also Jojoba too. There is too many natural things out there to help the skin so please don't use drugs like Accutane etc..that only does more damage even after it's use. I know first hand. I have so many health problems from using Accutane. I too had to have a total hysterectomy from the damage this drug caused. There isn't one organ in my body that haven't been affected by it. Some one told me to try this.... http://www.clayremedies.com/Clay_Therapy_Resources.html

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My daughter took the generic of Accutane for 5 months when she was 12 1/2. The dermatologist thought it was the perfect drug for her acne. He had prescribed it for many, many years to many people including his nurses. He thought the drug was quite safe. I read several blogs about the drug that told of the symptoms that only lasted while taking the drug. Your blog had not started.
It seemed it was as safe as any other treatment. Now my daughter is 14. She was just in the hospital for severe abdominal pain. She has had several scans and blood tests. For the last three weeks, she has spent the majority of the day sleeping because “it hurts less.†The doctors are unable to determine what is wrong. Next week she will have the colonoscopy and endoscopy. I am sitting here crying and wondering how this could happen. I found your site. If the pain ends up being from Accutane, how have some of you managed it.
The gastroenterologist did not think it was from Accutane. Is there some reading material I can give him so he can read up on the issues (even though he should know them)?
Thanks

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Thank you! My parents did the same for me! I have a lot of the side effects and it sucks!! But my face looks amazing and I would do it again in a heart beat! Thank you for posting this..it NEEDED to be said!

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Is your daughter in the U.S.? I am mad they would think such a dangerous drug was okay for a 12yr old. (Though this drug should be off the market for anyone)

Many have developed gastro problems w/ no answer, only to be told they have IBS. Have you tried changing her diet? Many have become intolerant to many foods after taking Accutane. Such as gluten intolerance, Lactose intolerance etc... Many have developed ulcers thoart issues.

As for literature there is a lot out there and It doesn't suprise me that the docs deny its accutane, though it clearly states in the prescrption information.

http:/­/­www.gene.com/­gene/­products/­information/­accutane/­pdf/­pi.pdf

I will post some links to studies if I can find them, is there anyother testing she has had?

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jan2,
I am sorry to hear what you and your daughter are going through. Have been were you are at. Please have faith, my prayers are with you. There is allot of information on here. It is easy to be overwhelmed. There is a 65 page report, I believe the line is around number 25 post on here from a "Ncc". It was wrote by a very intelligent person that also took Accutane and fell ill to some side effects. I thought I had a link, but I can't find it. I have taken all 65 pages of this report and handed directly to my doctors including the Cleveland Clinic. I am very surprised that Accutane was giving to your daughter at only 12 years old. Did you sign a form in the doctors office called " The Pledge ". It is my understanding in the United States that a girl has to be on the pill for a few months before this drug can be prescribed. I was told my son had to be 14 years old to take Accutane or any of its generic's. he was 14 when he was prescribed it. I am curious to hear back from you over this. Best Wishes
From the Heart,
Scott
From he Heart,
scott

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jan2,
A follow up fom my last email. said "The Pledge". I should have wrote" I Pledge ", which is a booklet of papers the dermatoligist has youfill out before you can be prescribed Accutane or its generics.

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I am so so sorry to hear about your daughter.

It IS ACCUTANE. I was a healthy person before this and was going to be in the OLYMPICS, when it stole my life from me.

The pain in my stomach is less since going gluten free. I follow Dr. Osborne on his website http:/­/­www.glutenfreesociety.org He's ahead of others in his knowledge of how to eat this way. I think that this medicine does damage to the gut, just my guess and brings on food allergies.

Tell the doctors to check her for Celiac Disease or gluten problems. And if it comes up negative, don't rule it out. Try her on gluten free foods, no process gluten free foods those are a joke. And if she improves :) then your most likely on the right track.

Accutane still causes damage in the body years and years after using it. I know it's happen to me and many others. My cousin died from this drug. :(

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Sorry to hear this, before you say a word to him, get all your medical records first from him once you have them in your hands then say something and make sure he notes that and get that too from him. Good luck! My medical records were destroyed! My doctor covered his bleep.. He had my folder and NOTHING inside it. UGH. The only thing proving I took this drug was the company doing survey's on what people thought of the drugs before the lawsuits. I GOT PLAYED. I had NO IDEA my health problems were from this drug.

OH and keep all medicine evidence that you took it. Get your prints out from the pharmacy. Keep it for life you may need it down the road, and I hope not.

Start doing what you can to get it out of your body. I mentioned the clay in a blog here. I need to order it and try it. I have heard some good results from it, lets all hope for a miracle. My cousin died from this drug. It took her hearing and other parts of her organs :( She died young and left behind two young kids and a husband that really loved her.

Good luck!

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I am not seeing my reply to you, just in case it doesn't go through. Have them check her for Celiac Disease or gluten problems. "Allergies to foods". The drug seems to stay in the body and continue to do damage. I think it attacks the gut. I have had the same problems. I would suggest only one site glutenfreesociety.org. Dr. Osborne is ahead of many doctors putting awareness out there about the glutens causing stomach problems and other health problems serious ones. So if they say she has IBS or Colitis etc...a gluten free (no process foods) diet would be best.

Keep us posted please and best of luck. I am so glad for sites like this.

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