Accutane Long Term Side Effects (Page 80)
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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 After I have researched this drug extensively, I can't believe that the FDA allows this drug originally made for cancer patients to be marketed for teenagers with acne.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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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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 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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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 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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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 took accutaine 10 years ago. I was on a very high dose, 3 times the regularily recommended amount. I believe it was 3x30mg capsules every morning noon and night. While I was on it, it was absolute hell, dry lips, eyes, my skin was so fragile and split so easily and my moods were all over the place. I had such severe nodular acne that if I didn't take it I would end up with painful festering pockets under my skin all over my shoulders and chest. Despite the side effects of the accutaine, it cleared me up within 4 months at which point I discontinued using it. Since then I've had no big issues and it's 10 years later. I have found that my eyes are constantly dry and easily irritated, but aside from that this drug did wonders for me. Everyone responds differently and are more or less susceptible to side effects. From the stories ive heard here I consider myself lucky. For those of you not as fortunate don't waste another second seeking compensation, just make sure you have all the facts, timelines, names, places, dates, etc all in a row. Corporations fight dirty in a lawsuit so don't expect a fast track to easy street. Good luck guys.

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Hi Mike B.

Thanks for leaving a thread on here. Glad to hear all is well during your treatment. My suggestion would be is to follow up with your doctor Derm or PCP after you quit treatment of Accutane. These drugs seem to help some out without any side effects. So be positive and just keep a heads up with any aches and pains or just maybe feeling blue without any reason.

Best Wishes,
Scott

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Hey Everyone,
I am a 17 year old just finishing up my treatment using accutane. I started out with 40mg a day for two months then every two months increased the dose by 20 mg. I have been on it for almost 6 months and my acne has improved tremendously. I have noticed some side effects such as dry eyes and skin, mood swings, and being fatigued; nothing that my derm didnt warn me about.
I worked out hard regularly before starting the treatment and still do while on it. The only side effect I noticed while on it, was that I would be sore for much longer than if i wasn't on it.
I stubbled on this site and have read many of these post. I feel sorry for everyone who has had problems while on or off the drug, but am afraid of becoming one of them as well. I only have 2 more weeks of my perscription and then I am done with my treatment. What can I do to help ensure that i dont get any life changing side effects, or catch them early and get them treated?

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@Idaho Mom...Please get your son on a gluten free diet and see if this doesn't help him. It is recommended for those of us that have Colitis too.

Follow what Dr. Osborne recommends on his site I think it's so far the best site I have found www.glutenfreesociety.org It's helped me a lot.

Sorry to repeat myself on this site, but it's nice to help people if we can too.

Thanks for allowing this :)

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I was alarmed to discover while reading the Sept. 2010 (page 116) of Allure Magazine they were recommending Accutane(name brand) under their Skin Care Special for college students. They too called it mildly, A MEDICATION, but added it can cause side effects. Doesn't this media outlet know it was recalled in June 2009? Nothing like sugar-coating this dangerous drug and the dangerous, long term side effects this has! On the same page it tells everyone to stay out of the sun. ???

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I have an 18 year old son that was on Accutane for his acne and has been off of it now for over a year. He has had many of the same symptoms that Scott and some of the others have listed on here. He was recently in the hospital for 4 days due to having severe abdominal pain and was diagnosed with Colitis. It is frustrating because he is not sick all of the time but he says he feels wierd and he has had all kinds of stomach issues with nausea and cramping. He, too says that he is achy...I do know that it is not necessarily proven but it sure seem strange that all of the same symptoms come to SOME of the people who take this medication. I wish I would have know before he took it. And to those that don't have problems, I am very happy that you don't because the alternative is not fun!

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Just got a call a few days ago on possible lawyer taking my Accutane case, sorry to sound negative here, but I will believe it when it happens, it's many years in the making. So I was told by the lady taking down the information that Accutane was first used for treating Fibromyalgia! I SAID YOUR KIDDING? The reason I mention it here is I never had Fibromyalgia before taking Accutane, and now I just got diagnosed by three RA doctors. Strange! She said I will make note of that for the lawyer.

PLEASE PEOPLE avoid this medicine and it's other names it's under it will do damage to you too it's all just a matter of time!

More later on this subject...

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