Accutane Long Term Side Effects (Page 84) (Top voted first)

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 After I have researched this drug extensively, I can't believe that the FDA allows this drug originally made for cancer patients to be marketed for teenagers with acne.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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Before going on this drug I specifically asked my doctor if it affects my digestion which she said no I knew to ask from going on antibiotics for my acne. After I was done I got insanely sick chronic digestive issues depression and joint pains. After years of different supplements because other meds weren't working and I didn't want to go on any other drugs I tried hemp oil for inflammation and it's made a huge difference so far I think I needed the omegas. Look the stuff up it doesn't contain thc so don't worry about it being anything like marihuana. Do your research and give it a try I'm not 100% but it's making a difference after years of pain. I hope this helps at all. I know it has great long term affects it's a whole foods or amazon is cheaper.

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hi there how is your son now?? my 15 yr old son had isotretinoin for 8 weeks at the age of 13 as well and has not been the same since for the last 18 months. crippling anxiety and depression can not cope with being on his own at any point. as for friends he hasnt met up with anyone for months and months. we are thinking of trying neurofeedback as a last resort?

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Alison,
Sorry to hear about your son.. You son only took the drug for 8 weeks, so there is a chance some side effects he has may go away. My personal believe is that these drugs where prescribed at to high of a doze and for to long of a period ( 6 months for most at 60 mg a day ) All I can do is suggest you be there for him, especially with depression and see as many doctors as it takes to get the help you need. Please look over this forum, and if you see anyone that has or is going through what symptoms your son is, leave them a message. We all are here to help others.
From the Heart,
Scott

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Hi Shana, how long have you been off it as of now? I'm 11 days in and I'm trying to stay positive but stumbling upon this site has really scared me. I'm trying to be healthy as possible, eating clean whole foods and doing some light exercise and I want to do yoga.

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Me too. I had severe severe acne- acne fulmicans (??). You've never seen anything like this. It was awful. I couldn't walk past anyone without getting strange looks. I'm just coming off accutane for the third time. My skin looks great now. I do have achy joints, dry skin and lips and other side effects, but I'm so much happier now. I wouldn't recommend this for regular acne, but for those of us with rare forms of cystic acne, it is a lifesaver.

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Alison, my son took 30mg of one of the generic Accutane 2 times a day for only under 7 weeks . I immediately tried to detox him with a gentle detox for the whole body and quickly realized that Accutane is like vitamin A overdose and that would not work. So i went to a herbal gentleman and told him what type of medicine i needed to detox and he suggested an Environmental detox,. I also have him a very strong probiotic and started giving him individual vitamins, like milk thistle, biotin for his hair. He has occasional stomach pains but he still eats horrible though. He had a mental health crisis close to 6 months after taking this medicine and it was awful. He felt like he wanted to kill himself, like he was not in his own body, but was fully aware that he did not want to hurt himself. We got him immediately in to see a psychologist and he recommended we ask his primary physician for Zoloft. He is on a small dose of 25mg per day. It took about 1 week for him to feel like himself again. That had helped his anxiety a lot. I do believe that he has always had some type of social anxiety but the Accutane brought out social anxiety and many others of manic anxiety and things like that. He still gives me a hard time about going to school but he is much improved. I don't believe the theory the nurse practitioner gave us on how kids are already depressed because of their acne but when he had the acne he went to school, when his face cleared on the medicine after about 10 days, i could not get him off their couch with a very beautiful clear complexion. Btw, my son never had cystic acne and did get his acne back after being off the accutane for a couple months.

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My son was 14 when he tooik accutane for one year. At age 19 he paniced when hiis hair started to fall out. As baldness does not run in our family, I thought back to the days when his lips, eyes, mouth and skin were so dry and caused him so much discomfort. There seems to be many side effects that can manifest years later. How many others have suffered from baldness using accutane? What can be done legally regarding this afflication?

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When you actually deal with horrible acne and have tried everything and nothing worked for me so my mother said it would be a good idea to try so how is that my fault im dealing with all these health issues because when your under age you don't have much of a say your parents do. Plus if you never have had acne and had to look at that and be made fun of everyday then don't comment, you are willing to try anything. Plus all medicine should be tested more then it has been before putting it on the market. All medication has different side effects to people so you were the 1 of 100 that hadn't had side effects. We are all here trying to get help and all your doing is making it worse.

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Dear Jessa and Dananeer,
Thank you for sharing your personal stories with us. I am so sorry to hear of your present side effects. Jessa, you story sounds very familiar to my sons. Dana, if you have only taken the meds for 10 days, you may have temporary side effects or none at all. I think it is the long term effects of 5-6 months on Accutane may contribute to the long term side effects. There is plenty of information on here of others that may have the same side effects as you. Please don't be afraid to contact them for any questions you may have. I would start out detoxification my liver ext with a colon cleanse fro GNC etc. Talk to your doctor about a colonoscopy if you continue to have stomach issues.
May you get better at God's Speed.
Scott

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Thank you for your kind words, Scott. I hope that your son is healing and that you are finding peace.

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Hi Stacy,

Could you please post to this link regarding your pregnancy(ies)?
Discuss/accutane-and-birth-defects-248974_s2.htm?ts=549614

Thank you

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My daughter took it about 2 years ago, and is doing okay. She also got rid of her acne.

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I was on Accutane in 1993. I started when I was 15. I guess it was within a few weeks after starting or so and the skin on my shoulders, chest and back erupted into what I described as blood blisters. My skin looked like it turned inside out into what looked like raw liver on top of my skin. These sores were about the size of a quarter. Some where smaller, some were larger and in various shapes. I had to wear band-aids at all times. I only took them off to take a bath. A shower would have hurt. I didn't take gym and couldn't participate in any kind of sports for over a year in fear of someone bumping into these sores. My dermatologist said to just continue the Accutane and they would go away. They eventually did, but they scarred my skin really bad and the areas feel like gristle instead of skin. I know for a fact that was directly related to me taking it. I have experienced other issues for years now, but didn't connect them to Accutane until reading some of these comments. I have had headaches constantly for I don't know how long. My neck is always sore. My shoulders bother me. My chest hurts and I have to press on my ribs for relief like how I crack my knuckles. I experience constant fatigue. My lower back hurts too from time to time like how some people describe. I don't know if these are related to taking Accutane, but my blood work always comes back ok and MRIs on my brain and X-rays on my shoulder, neck and chest show nothing! Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

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Joytyme,

I am very sorry about your sons hair loss but you have to realize that Accutane is the only medicine that can treast severe acne and sometimes the risks are worth it. In 1998 I suffered from very severe cystic acne that affected every aspect of my life. At my lowest point I barely left my house because of it. When I took it it changed my life for the better and I have no permanent side effects. For evey person that had a bad reaction to the drug that are more people whose lives have improved drastically. Severe cystic acne is not just a cosmetic issue and needs to be taken seriously. It has been proven that people with cystic acne are more likely to feel depressed and even suicidal. By the way the studies were done on young people that did not have Accutane in their system.

Daphne

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Hi im a teenager and my derm just prescribed me accutane. he told me to eat it at least 8 month to get my skin free from acne. I had researched it before going to see my derm. But he said that it's safe to eat unless you want to get pregnant or pregnant or still breastfeed your baby. I didn't sign anything (i.e agreement letter or something). I already purchased 30 pills, my questions are,

Can i eat that in 30 days without getting the long term side effects? Should i throw that away because the effect is not worth it (for eating just for one month). Plus i have gastritic problem. And im not considered myself as healthy person (rarely exercising)

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Hi Koko,

Are you male or female? If you're female (not sure if it's same for male) you ABSOLUTELY should have had to sign something - and maybe even a few things. There's a program called "iPledge" that you have to sign indicating you will not get pregnant (2 forms of birth control required) and you have to answer a series of questions each month in order to get your prescription and refills.
As far as side effects, everyone is different. It wouldn't hurt to call another dermatologist just for a consult/2nd opinion before you take it, even for 30 days.

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Im female. He didn't give me an agreement letter or anything. I wasn't asked to do some medical checks, he just gave accutane in a separate bottle (not in their strip, so everyone has no idea what pill is it.)
And my friend was on it in 8 months without knowing the long term effects (same derm) after the derm had said it was safe.
He even gave someone with mild acne the same pills (accutane).

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Hi Koko,
Thanks for the info. That's really concerning, as a female post-accutane patient. I don't know whether the iPledge program is a law or regulation, but I do know that it's extremely important and for a good reason. Here's a link to it: ipledgeprogram.com/default.aspx

From the rest of your note, it sounds like the dermatologist you've seen is practicing some shady business by not having you sign anything and providing the pills outside of the normal packaging. If I had the doctor's information I'd report him/her myself, but I don't. I strongly suggest you do not take the pills that the doctor provided you, and seek medical advice from a different and unrelated dermatologist.

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Excellent reading!! Have been speaking to a few people about this over the last while and is very encouraging! I've not been on the forums much recently due to feeling so fatigued and rubbish hope everyone is doing ok! Can I ask, where do you get this oil if your in the uk? Also did you do any special diets eg, specific carb diet whilst using the oil or just eating normally? My symptoms are gastric as well as mental so need to consider whats best to do!:) thanks again for a positive story!
I hope lots of people are managing the protest at Roche tomorrow? I'm in Scottish highlands so too far away

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Thank you for your replies, April. Now i'm thinking that isotretianin is too risky to try. (Im on antibiotic now) Plus, i'm not suffering severe acne, at this time i only have 3 active acnes, but with many scars left. The derm was overgreedy huh.

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