Accutane Long Term Side Effects (Page 71)

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 After I have researched this drug extensively, I can't believe that the FDA allows this drug originally made for cancer patients to be marketed for teenagers with acne.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

Hello, I just want you all to know that my stepson who was 14 years old took accutane for several months. He started on a 20mg dose and was doing well on it, so the doctor increased it to 40 mg per day. This was in mid July of this year and that's when all of his problems really began. He became distant, quit eating or ate very little, had a .700 batting average at his travel baseball world series tournament and finished over .500 for the summer...2nd highest stats on a team that finished 2nd in the world series, but dropped to less than .100 for the first fall tournament, his lips dried out and bled and had cracks in them, he spent hours in his room crying for reasons he couldn't name (as reported by his mother as he doesn't live with us), lost 8 pounds in a couple of weeks and had nearly zero body fat to begin with, started arguing more frequently with his friends and girlfriend or just shut his friends out altogether. The doctor took him off the drug in late August, but it was too little too late. On September 9, 2013, two weeks ago today, he ended his own life. Please, please, please, please, please, please!!!!!! DO NOT TAKE ACCUTANE OR GIVE IT TO YOUR KIDS!!! My stepson had everything in the world going for him...most popular kid in school, stellar athlete that was already being recruited on the college level for baseball, star football player at his middle school, good grades, parents with means to secure his future no matter what he wanted to do, elaborate vacations with extended family, parents and step parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins that all supported him in all endeavors. Please, please, please don't take accutane!

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As a person who suffered from severe acne conglobata and was only helped by Accutane I have another perspective. Yes Accutane is risky but if you acne is so bad that it makes you feel like a freak and you barely leave your house then the risks are worth it. What good is life anyway if you can not be comfortable going out into public because you look like a freak? Seriously google Brittany's extreme acne and watch the video. There is nothing worse than living life as a monster.

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At least you get to live a life Brittany... My son took a generic of accutane and has been ill since week 7 on this poision ! He was nearly 17. He has had and still has so many problems that he cannot go anywhere . He went out last week for the first time in 17 months. He sees no one. He has a permanent Migraine now as well as joint pain and depression ..... This is No Way a life for a young person whom has now lost nearly 3 years of his life . He was at college, did voluntary work on weekends & went to the gym. Now his life is filled with Pain !

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Hey mitch uk, maybe your son could try Protandim. It would probably help out with the joint pain and help with his mood. You could read about it in my previous post and look up how it is helping people on google. I talked about how it has really helped with my joint pain from accutane and how it increases energy and makes you feel good. Let me know what you think.
lou

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Mitchuk,

My condolences to your son. I am not sure if Accutane caused his problems but I am sympathetic to your son's condition. My point is that statistically Accutane has helped more people like myself than it has harmed people. If a person suffers from extreme acne like I did then they should be able to decide to take that chance. It may not be like your son's condition but it's still painful emotionally and socially since society is really quite cruel on a whole when it comes to your appearance. A disease does not have to be deadly or painful to ruin your life.

Just look at these men:

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107573/Bubble-man-body-covered-tumours-No-likes-looking-near-me.html

huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/19/chandra-wisnu-the-bubble-_n_1609254.html

Dymy

My condolences but the chances of suicide or extreme depression happening from Accutane is very slim. The official statistics say 1 in 200,000 and even if a lot of them are not reported that chances are still very slim. If you would multiply this number by ten it would be a 1 in 20,000 chance which is only a 0.00005 percent chance. If you multiply by 100 then the chance is still only 0.0005 percent. Plus severe acne may have been the cause of those suicides because it's well known that people with severe acne are more likely to suffer from low self esteem and depression.

to everybody,

I can understand why you would label Accutane as just a bad drug but you can't everything on it. It's the only option for people suffer from not only severe acne but from other skin conditions as well. Anything that affects your confidence, your social life, you chance at dating, employment, and etc is very serious and should be treated with any option the patient wants.

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Brittany,
To compare the bubble face man to teenagers being prescribed Accutane, Amnesteem, and other generic brands for acne alone is insane. Your statistic evaluation lacks you ignoring the proven facts about these drugs. From the heart, I am truly happy for you that your health has not been harmed and the drug for a appearance stand point has helped you. Criticizing parents that have recently lost their son to the potential side effects from Accutane was very ignorant and immature of you. Do some research on what an overdose of Vitamin A will do the the human body and you will find the same side effects from Accutane. Shame on you!

To dymy.
I am so sorry for the lost of your stepson. I am a parent of a son that took Amnesteem ( generic Accutane ) for 6 months until he ended up in the E R with extensive bleeding from his colon while running a track and field event in High School. He has suffered for the last 7 years with medical problems. The drug company admitted it was their drug that caused severe bleeding from his colon. I can understand your point of view and you have my deepest sympathy in your loss.
May God Bless,
From the Heart,
Scott

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Brittany,

In cases like these common sense easily reigns over skewed statistics. Not to mention these "official" stats are more than likely released by the drug companies themselves. Look at this one thread....over 71 pages and hundreds of people commenting on a multitude of mutual side effects directly correlated to vitamin A toxicity. This is one of hundreds of of other topics online. It's not rocket science.

And to echo Scott's remark, to compare a man with that terrible disease to someone even with severe acne is ridiculous, not to mention what he has not only looks very painful but potentially fatal. The idea that suicidal thoughts are mere coincidence while being on the drug is also asinine. The company states it as one of the serious side effects.

It's certainly not the only option regardless of the severity. As I mentioned in an earlier post, for me, this drug was a trade-off for many other problems. My skin isn't perfect from all of the s*** I tried over the years. It's clear for the most part, but all of the other problems I have started dealing with make me regret it. Sorry to be so forthcoming in regards to your post, but I feel like you trivialized the comments of those suffering from these powerful effects and brushed it off to be merely a coincidence.

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Scott,

I wasn't trying to be rude or anything I was just trying to make a point about how your appearance can affrect your quality of life. My acne may not yave been as bad as his disease but it still ruined my life. I felt so ugly that I avoided mirrors, stopped hanging out with my friends, and at times I would cry at how bad I looked. Not to mention I would sometimes have to endure stares and very terrible comments when I did go out. The worse thing that happened to me was I tried to say hi to a guy from my college and he told me never to speak to him in public again while he looked at me in disgust. By the way I am not talking about regular teenage acne and accutane. Also it is not just teenagers who take Accutane there are people who experience sudden cystic acne is their late 20's and even older. Not to mention older people taking it for rosacea.

I did not mean to be rude to dymy. I apologize.

Anthony,

I know the bubble man is much worse than severe acne but I was just trying to make a point on how you appearance can affect your life and that you should not dismiss something as not being serious because you see it as being cosmetic. If you would go to the acne.org forum and read some posts on the emotional and psychological section you will be shocked at how much it bother a lot of people. By tthe way when I watched the special on the bubble man it was mentioned that the tumors are benign but they are uncomfortable especially during the summertime. As far as suicide is concerned I was just trying to give another explanation. There was a study done on Norwegian teenagers with severe acne and have not taken Accutane. The teenagers with severe acne were twice as likely to feel suicidal than the other teenagers. I have also read suicidal posts on the acne.org support forum. Based of that information and how I was feeling I believe it is not unbelievable that some of those suicides was caused by acne. For most peple with acne there are other things that can work but before Accutane my case would have been hopeless.
I cannot imagine having to wait years until it goes away only to be left with scars that look like potholes.

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Hello again everyone and thanks for your comments in regards to my stepson. Let me just say that I might have overstated myself in saying he was the most popular kid in school, but replace it with one of the most popular kids in school...and that was WITH severe acne. He did say that the acne affected his self-esteem to some degree, but did not start the crying spells and such (as reported by his mother) until he was on the medication...Amnesteem. He had many friends and had a nice girlfriend of a year as well and all that was WITH acne. He had no social problems, was very outgoing, a star athlete, was being recruited on a high school and college level for baseball... in other words, he had it all and that was WITH acne. All of this changed after he started the medication. So, before the meds=normal, after the meds started=not normal. Now, I must also clear things up in saying that the Amnesteem did in fact clear his acne...so social and self esteem problems due to acne in itself I believe was not a contributing factor to his suicide. Let me also give it to you straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak...on the day the doctor removed him from the medication it was by his request. He told them, "I would rather have acne than feel like I do." This comment was in reference to all the side effects he was experiencing as given in my previous post.

At first when I read Brittany's post, I was angry. I'm not anymore though, and it was actually good for me to be challenged in that way. But I think people just think it will never happen to them. Matter of fact, I know people think that because I'm a RN in a level 2 trauma ER. I just hope for Brittany that she will never have any of these long term side effects.

Let me close today's post with this assignment, if you will...for those of you that are in favor of this drug remaining available. It's easy to dismiss someone as just another statistic, even if that statistic is a death...that goes along with the "it will never happen to me" theory and I myself rationalize those types of stats all the time in my job. You have to be a little "hard" to work in healthcare...it really is a fine line that I walk between compassionate and b***h. Ha! But just humor me here and think of the three people you love most in the world...for me it was my stepson, my biological son, and my husband. Now imagine one of those people dead...one that was a completely normal person before taking a medication and became someone else afterward. Even if you don't think of them as being gone, imagine them having just one of these problems all of these people are talking about on this web site.

I don't mean to be so dramatic, I just want for people to be safe and LIVE. It's part of who I am...it's what I do for a living. I save people. I couldn't save my stepson, but if something I said...some stupid post on a web site...if that could save someone else...well, you know the rest.

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Lou,
Thank you I willcheck it out. My first appointment with the naturopath is Monday. Wish me luck because if it doesn't work my life is over.

Scott,

I do not think Brittany was trying to be rude. She was just saying that the chances of suicide is low. The numbers is low considering that at least 12 million have taken this drug. The bubble face man comparison may have been over the top but it is an example what you look like determining your life. My severe cystic acne is the reason why my girlfriend broke up with me, why I don't have any friends in college, being bullied by my coworkers and the customers, and etc. I am so tired of living like this. My life has definitely gone down the toilet.I can't blame Brittany for her comments about Accutane since she had the worst form of acne ever. Nobody is talking about regular teenage pimples we are talking about nodules and cyst everywhere.

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Scott and Anthony,

Brittany did give condolences to DYMY so she wasn't trying to be rude even though it might have seemed that way. She should have made her point in different words The point is that you shouldn't say never take Accutane because it's far from a guarantee that you will have severe symptoms let alone commit suicide. Also Brittany should have made a different comparison than the bubble man. A better comparison should have been severe psoriasis which is sometimes treated with Accutane too. You say that Brittany is ignoring your point but what about the point she and others have made. The point is that skin diseases like severe acne are often devastating emotionally, psychologically, and socially. So when you say that Accutane is just clearing teenage acne you are being ignorant of how bad the disease can get. According to a study in 1984 some of the first takers of Accutane had cysts so disabling that nobody would hire them. There is a huge difference between that and a few pimples.

examples

cystic acne
dermnet.com/images/Acne-Cystic/picture/4012

nodular
helpfulhealthtips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Nodular-acne-1.jpg

profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-prn1/50263_93880941192_7729543_n.jpg

bing.com/images/search?q=elaine+mokk&qpvt=elaine+mokk&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=BFCA8349

conglobata/fulminans
diseases.blogcu.com/acne-conglobata/6343015

4.bp.blogspot.com/AOY/MexsZ_f-mgA/s1600/acneconglobata.jpg

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@brittany I just want to know first how old you are because your long term analogy of the negative side effects of this drug is very shallow. The side effects are permanent and do not show until years later after taking this drug. you may not feel this now but there are many negative things this drug does to your body without you feeling it. that is how it is designed so that no amount of blood exams can find anything wrong with you. this is the secret of drug companies to make lots of money from individuals who think they need this drug. chemo drug turned designer drug sold to innocent naive teenagers. Please try to think about your life 10 years from now after you had stopped taking accutane. Please listen to the thousands of negative experiences people have posted here. All of them are true. Please believe the sufferers since they are living proof. I am sure that you will be back to this website maybe a few years from now regretting taking this drug. I hope you can learn to accept the fact that this drug is poison. This isnt like the drug marijuana or other illegal drugs that have been around for hundreds of years. This is an experimental drug pushed to teens who dont know anything. The company making accutane doesnt even really know what it is for. I hope you can grow up and think with an open mind and heart. DO not let these drug doctors fool you into taking this. they just want your money and the more you get sick, the richer the doctors get coz you will keep going back to them. wake up and smell the reality.

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Hey justin
yea I think protandim would work for you like it has truly helped me with my negative accutane side effects. Also I like how it gives me more energy, naturally. And yea I hope it works out for you.

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Bro needs help:

I am 20 years old and I took Accutane when I was 19.

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I have to agree again with bro needs help here. Maybe it's the cynic in me but it really seems to be an accurate breakdown of the drug. It truly is poison. We are overdosing severely on vitamin A for sometimes a full year. And then it effectively "shuts down" your sebaceous glands that are a large cause of acne. But how could it be? How could accutane magically only affect our skin and acne? I was so ignorant to take it and expect nothing bad to come after. I was on minocycline for 2 and a half years and developed blueish gray hyper pigmentation all over my body and in my mouth. Still, I was blinded by my lust for clear skin.

@ Lana -I am fully aware of emotional side effects caused by acne itself. I suffered for years with nodular and cystic acne, all over my body as well. Very few people with a few pimples have probably ever even requested accutane. I never became what I would consider depressed until after taking accutane, and this was with clear skin! Is it merely a coincidence? Maybe, but I don't believe it. My point is that I really don't believe anymore that accutane is the end-all last-resort option that I once did. I was one of many that brushed it off like nothing bad would happen to ME. It's easy to do something at the time without considering consequences that may affect onself 5 years down the road. Hell, even if I were told about the potential for long term side effects I probably would have done it at the time because I could not empathize with anyone suffering from the problems that I do now.

So let me ask you accutane supporters, would you rather try to treat severe acne using other natural methods or potentially deal with: severe dry eyes that impair and affect your everyday life, suffer from a dry nasal passage that makes breathing difficult, a dry and clenched throat which also makes eating/breathing a challenge, stiff and sore joints and back which make a man in his twenties feel over twice his age, digestion and intestinal problems that make taking a crap a literal pain in the ass, tooth sensitivity, problems with depression or anxiety and all the while still dealing with occasional acne or newly developed skin conditions and thin, aged skin that stem from dryness caused by the toxicity in the first place. These are some of the many things that I have started to deal with and let me tell you I can hardly focus on my "clear" skin because of the rest of the issues with my body. You won't know what your affects will be until it comes. I couldn't empathize with anyone until now. The coolest part is I can now empathize with old people, because most of these problems don't occur until you're older! The silver lining in all of this is that I am not dealing with bad acne on top of everything else. That would be the knockout blow.

My initial reason for joining this topic was definitely not to argue or debate, but I won't back down from trying to help others not make the same mistake that I did. And Brittany I am also curious about your age and story too. Please share, because I do welcome stories from everyone of course. Thanks for the good discussion.

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My sister took Accutane several times i believe since her 20's. she suffered terrible with neck & back pain. I never knew until my son became ill that she had taken this drug.. Also in her late 30's she lost just about all her teeth, which were lovely pearly white teeth.. When i asked her wat her dentist had said .. He told her it was bone loss.. She was not aware that Accutane caused this .. But it is a well known side effect along with calcification of tendons etc,. I know of someone whom has this problem in her feet & shoulders... Taking this poision is like steppin in a mine field. You never know what is going to explode next. ! My heart goes out to all the people that are suffering from the effects of Roaccutane & its Generic relatives ;-( Shame on those money making Leeches

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Doctors are ignorant. They give accutane (isotretinoin) out like candy. I guarantee that over 50% of people did not have severe acne to begin with. Especially kids still going through puberty when hormones are raging. I think in years to come you will find that doctors switch to functional medicine and preventative medicine and we start finding out the causes to these problems and not just treating symptoms once they have already surfaced. I was prescribed claravis for very mild accutane and it was my very first visit to the dermatologist. No antibiotics, not even a prescription topical, just straight to claravis. My once thick head of hair thinned, my skin turned pale, my eyes look hollow, skin thinned. Now I have what seems to be rosacea as a 21 year old Italian male. Not a fair skinned 30 year old woman.. My hair never returned. Doctors have searched for everything wrong with me and my symptoms are almost identical to Scotts son. Tendonitis in my shoulders, blood in stool, hair thinning, dry thin fragile skin, joints creaking, dry lips, dry eyes that kill at times. I was a normal kid. Ironically rosacea and many other symptoms can be linked to an unhealthy gut. All signs point to accutane. This poison messes with you on a genetic level and no doctors know how to treat side effects because it's abnormal what it does to the body. Maybe severe adrenal fatigue or insufficiency. That'd explain rectal bleeding if caused by hemorrhoids and dry skin.. Idk I can't believe I took this. My life was so different before. To think that in 5 months I ruined my entire life. At 21 I feel old. My hair is dry and thin, my face is pale and red, I have premature wrinkles around my mouth and eyes. I can't workout or I'll get shoulder Tendonitis. Everyone who ever took this drug should receive compensation.. It's absolutely ridiculous that a drug can cause such lasting effects

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To: Usedtohavealife,

I read your story and my heart goes out to you and all the others whose lives have been ruined by this poison, Accutane.

I took Accutane back in 1984 as a 24 year old man that had acne left over from my teenage years. It was the typical teenage acne but, I would not have classified it as "severe". Yet, I was prescribed this poison by my Dermatologist as a cure all for my acne. It did clear up my face while I was on the drug but, I still get acne to this day. When I do get acne now, it is usually of the cystic type and it's not always on my face. I've had several places on my back develop and one got to the size of a small chicken egg before I had it removed surgically. I do understand that "severe" cases of acne can affect you mentally and can lower your self-esteem. However, these doctors today are prescribing this drug and many others to people who with time will outgrow their acne. My gosh, just let nature take its course. After reading here how teens are being given this poison as early as 13 years of age when their bodies are still maturing, is just stupid! The doctors get kick backs from these drug companies to push their pills. Sadly, it's all about making money to alot of them these days. If I could go back 30 years I would NEVER take this drug! Unfortunately, I can't go back. So, I have to learn how to live with this hell! When my doctor first told me about Accutane they gave me a pamphlet about the drug. It had before and after pictures in it of people that had "SEVERE" cystic acne. I did not fall into that category. The pamphlet also spelled out, Brittany, the side effects, both short & long term, of using the drug. Those side effects are the same ones that I hear from all the people that have posted on this blog. They are not just a coincedence!! I remember some of those side effects that were listed such as dry skin, gastrointestinal problems, mental issues and bone/joint problems. These were all spelled out in the literature that I was given on the drug PRIOR to beginning the treatment. I read the pamphlet and told myself those side effects would never happen to me. I just blew it off, went on and took the poison and now have suffered the consequences for almost 30 years!! My problems that I deal with are bad enough but, not as bad as some I read on here. I only stayed on Accutane for 3 months and did not go the full 6 months treatment due to the severity of the side effects I suffered while taking the drug. I got nose bleeds almost everyday while taking Accutane and of course had the dry lips and skin also. I think by only taking the drug for 3 months vs 6 months it has lessened the severity of my long term side effects but, they are still present. I have struggled with various gastrointestinal issues since being on Accutane. I have degenerative disc disease in my spine and neck. Since taking Accutane I have sensitivities to many foods I used to eat with no problem. I have had facial flushing that comes and goes which I attribute to Accutane. This problem has been getting worse in the last month. People are always asking me why my face it so red. You know, have you been in the sun alot?? The past year my digestive issues have gotten worse and now the doctor thinks I may be Gluten intolerant. To compound that my bones are aching alot more than normal and I have developed tendonitis in my left shoulder that is causing constant pain down my left arm. That has been going on since Nov 2012. I don't mean to bring gloom and doom but, the effects of Accutane use just seem to continually get worse for me with the passage of time. The best advice I can give is to try to eat right and stay away from unnecessary drugs. Stay natural as much as possible.

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DYMY
Dymy I apologize. I should have been chosen my words better and not been as ignorant. The reason I said what I said was that I personally felt depressed and worthless because of my acne conglobata. Also when I go on other acne forums I would see posts from other sufferers talking about how miserable they were with their severe acne because they were being bullied, ridiculed, had no social life, and other things. I even read three posts from members contemplating suicide. Like Lana mentioned there are studies to prove that people with severe acne and other skin conditions are more likely to feel suicidal than people without acne. Your stepson's case was clearly different than what I assumed it was. Once again I apologize for coming off as insensitive.

As far as you challenge is concerned I cannot imagine losing a loved one or having them experience the symptoms that have been mentioned. So I can understand your point and why you want this drug off the market. On the other hand I cannot imagine this drug being taken off market and my loved one with truly bad acne having no other option. I could not imagine them going not being able to look at the mirror at themselves, feeling worthless, not wanting to leave the house, being stared at in public, and being the object of ridicule. That's what I went through and a lot of people with severe acne go through. All I am saying is that a person should be able to have every option available to them if their acne is very severe. It should be the patient's decision whether or not the benefits of Accutane outweigh the risks. For me the benefits far outweigh the risks because not only was my acne unusually severe I would have been left with terrible scarring as soon as it went away. I would have lived the rest of my life being horribly disfigured.

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Justin,
My wife had acne when she was young and I still found beauty in her. Her acne did not clear up till she was in her thirty's. One of my three sons, all now in there 20's ended up with severe cystic acne and took Amnesteem ( generic Accutane ). I can't imagine how it effected his self esteem because when I was a teenager, my acne, which was never severe for long periods of time also is the only thing I seen when I looked in the mirror. I could feel the pain my son had with his cystic acne he had. Hang tough and don't give up finding a way to help you with your cystic acne. One great thing about it, is that for allot of people, once they get through their adolescence age, acne can clear up on its own. Please be strong. We all are thinking of you. Try the candida diet and many other cures that has helped others out on this site.
From the Heart,
Scott

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