Accutane Long Term Side Effects (Page 96)
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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 After I have researched this drug extensively, I can't believe that the FDA allows this drug originally made for cancer patients to be marketed for teenagers with acne.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

I took accutane at the age of two because according to my doctor nothing else worked. six years later i am having many health issues i never would have guessed that what cured my acne would cause me problems for life. I recently found out about these side effects and decided to do some research. i will be going to my doctor asap. Im currently taking yaz and it is doing a decent job of controlling my acne. the reality is acne wouldn't be such a big problem if there weren't ignorant ppl that point it out every second. I couldn't even ride the train without being stopped and someone comenting on my acne.

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Charile is 30 days off the generic accutane and is still symptomatic but showing improvement on antipsycotics and antidepressants. I have been spoken to about 25 of close family and friends and everyone knows someone that had adverse reactions to this stuff but Dermatologist swear that the side effects are minimal. Case 1-beautiful smart 17 year old girl that had many offers to universities accross the country was put on Accutane. She became so depressed and suicidal that she sought out buying antidressents from friends and ended up in a rehab facility. This girl is now 20 years old and is still on antidepressents. She went to college for a short time, but had to drop out. She is now on sabatical overseas helping kids with autism. Case 2-mature adult male started to see little green men out in his farm field and wanted to take a gun out a shoot them. Case 3- 26 year old college student took Accutane in her early 20s. She said that Accutane helped her get through college and cured her acne. When asked if she was still on antidepressents-she said yes. She never put it together that being depressed years later may be related to the Accutane. She was put on antidepressents while on Accutane in her early 20s. Another young female, mid 20s was put on Accutane at 14 years old. The Dermatologist put her on Antidepressents at the same time as the Accutane. This beautiful young women cant get away from the antidepressents. When a pharmacist was asked about Accutane-He said that it was black boxed he has to sign all kinds of paperwork and chose not to carry it due to the side effects. Again I ask-Why is this on the market? I lived through acne, so can you.

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I have been prescribed Accutane on three different occasions. Twice when I was in my early 20's. While I was on Accutane my face would clear. They always had to decrease my dose because of my liver values coming back elevated. I am now 35 and last year my dermatologist insisted that I try it again. He recommended a maintenance dose. I would take it only once a week. My skin became so thin, headaches, hair falling out...it just wasn't worth it. About a month after stopping Accutane the acne came back. Not only did it come back but about four times worse. On my face, chest, neck and back. I had never had acne on my neck, chest and back before. About 8 months later now my hair continues to be so extremely dry that it just break off, my skin is still very thin, acne is horrible, joint pain in wrists, and just within the last month I went to the ER with this excruciating pain on my left side under my ribs. They have tested me for everything and cannot locate a reason as to why I have the pain. I feel it is all due to Accutane still in my system. Does anyone know if it is possible for Accutane to remain in your system after stopping treatment? If so how do I go about cleansing my system of this nightmare? I am currently doing a colon/liver cleanse.

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I have taken accutane for about 1 and 1/2 weeks now. My symptoms are extremly dry lips and face as well as nose and skin next to the eyes. I have read over all of these symptoms and I am still going to go through with the six months of it.

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I took accutane about 9 years ago
it seemed to work great, it was recommended by a friend that took it. After about 9 years I had uncontrolable bowel problems. I used to run 2 miles a day, but I stopped because I would get so far into my run and then it was like I had to jump in the ditch because a movement was going to happen ready or not. I have been dealing with this for 2 years. I thought maybe it was a food allergy, so I cut certain things. Nothing ever changed. I am going to see a specialist tomorrow to get some answers hopefully. This condition is not only uncomfortabe, it's embarrasing! I have to plan my life around my movements. Checking on this site makes me feel better, because anyone I talk to around me doesn't understand!

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I took Accutane for acne in 1983. I have suffered from chronic pain syndrome for over 20 years, and IBS. Depression and mood swings have been part of my life during this time. I recently met with integrative medicine physician and was online checking out some current drug side effects, and had no idea that my problems could have been from this drug years ago. Take my advice do anything you can to avoid taking drugs for any non-life threatening illness.

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We are now on day 15 off the generic Accutane. My 15 year old has been home from the hospital for 2 days and doing much better. Still seeing and hearing things but coping due to the medications. We are trying our third antipsychotic medication. The medications make him very tired and out of it. He is seeing a psychiatrist and psycologist and will be on meds for 3-6 months at least. I saw a little bit of my boy today-goofing off and teasing me, wanted to go outside and to the store, and then he went back into his bubble. We are taking it one day at a time. We had 2 good days and hope the days continue to get better.

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Like Raymondjjohnsonjr, I didn't take Accutane until I was 40, having sufferred acne since I was a teenager. During the (approx 6 months) treatment I experienced no side effects. However I did rupture my achilles tendon which may have been related.

As I've got older (I'm 52 now) I have experienced a range of health problems, none of which occur in any other family members. Of course I can't say that the Accutane causes them but I would be interested in the experiences of others:
- chronic joint pain throughout body (this is largely under control now following diet change to eliminate all processed meats and eats lots of leafy green vegetables).
- IBS
- Chronic Low White Blood cell count (neutropenia)
- Chronic Upper Respiratory Tract Infection
- Cochlear hydrops (Meniere's disease)

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I took Accutane when I was about 40 years old, as having acne issues since a teenager I was fairly motivated. The side effects were explained to me and I encountered some such as dry lips while I took it, but have not really experienced anything unusual. I have to say that after 25 years of spending a fortune on Dermatologists and over-the-counter meds, it was the ONLY thing that ever worked and permanently cleared me up. So, in that regard it was a miracle-- I had tried about everything, believe me. I am now 56, I have exercised regularly (but not fanatically) since I was about 35. I'm in decent shape for my age and really have no chronic issues (other than hereditary ones), except for one. The reason I searched for Accutane long-term side effects and came to this posting is because, in spite of my many years of cardio regime, and never having smoked, I have some weird cloudiness on my chest x-ray that is being called an 'interstitial lung disease'. They are not able to be very specific, but they have told me many things it is not-- for example, they did a biopsy (because it looks pretty weird on the xray), and no cancer. They also did other tests but can't really give me a cause. Shame on me for not having a benchmark chest xray around from when I was in my 30's or 40's to see if I've had this since then. So, I was just checking to see if any known side effect from Accutane may be some scarring in the lungs that show up in this way. I am not hugely impacted by this, but it is becoming more difficult to climb steps and exercise hard as I get older. But, I am getting older. I have to suppose that with the extent/duration of my acne problem all those years, that maybe the scarring in my lungs came from the disease, rather than the cure (drug). But, I do think about it and search for a cause-- as this is not a hereditary thing. Good luck to all you guys with these symptoms, but I caution that drawing a conclusion taking you right to Accutane as a cause (as opposed to heredity, diet, exercise, etc.), seems somewhere between overly-cautious and downright irrational. I admit I did not take it when I was young-- so the person that talked about stunting growth I cannot debate (but there should be other hard evidence out there if true). Also, the guy that started losing his hair but had no hair loss in the family?? naaahh, don't think so. But I'm no doctor. Just a bit older survivor of this problem with a 10 or 15 year history under my belt. good luck all. thx.

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Hello to everyone. I cannot believe all these stories about Accutane. My mind is blown how many families have gone through soo much trouble. I found this thread by doing an online search for long term side effects for this particular medication, because I want to know if its affecting me. I am 22 yrs old. and I took accutane for 6 months. 3 pills a day. I honestly do not remember the mg. My question to everyone reading is.. Can this medication cause long term emotional effects? My mood swings are like any young woman, but I have become a super sensitive person emotionally and it hasn't been this way until the medication. I noticed once while on the pills but didn't think anything of it. it was an argument with my stepfather, my heart raced, my hands shoke, and my anger level jumped quicker than it ever has. And now being off the medication for about 2 years now, I find myself in the same situation. my hands shake when someone confronts me. I can not keep myself composed when dealing with an issue. I know this may sound silly, or it might be just me being me without side effects. But I swear I was never this emotionally unstable until I took the acne medication.
On another note... whoever takes this... be warned about hair loss. I used to have super thick hair and as a ballerina, it was very hard to even put it in a bun. Now, anyone who touches my hair makes a comment saying how thin it is.. and I am only 22.

Thank you to everyone posting their stories... I am sure it has helped more people than you realized. :-)

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I like to know when are they going to stop handing out the Chemotherapy drug for brain cancer for acne. When is the pain and suffering caused by this poison going to end.....When is Roche and generics and the FDA going to be held responsible for thier actions???? Just so people know they are in Phase III stronger form of Accutane.....
To the mother I want to let you know to please look at Bart Stupak.gov He is a congressman whoose son commited sucide while on accutane. You will find a lot of information on there and I urge you to email him also. I also urge you to go to the link or webadress that Nathan has posted on here and it will explain the hx and info on accutane also.
My prayers are with you and your family.....

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It is Day 7 off CLaravis(isotretinoin) or generic Acutane Charlie admitted to ER hospital last night for extreme hallucinations,depression, suicidal thoughts. He will be admitted to inpatient adolesent hospital under care of many doctors who can help him deal with this. Depending on which dr that you talk to it is 3-30 days to clear your system. Dr say less than 1% chance of happening. I have talked to 6 people with kids that have been on this drug. My percentage of this happening so far is 50/50! I did report to the FDA website. Thanks for the tip.

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Your son is not the only one who has had theese symptoms from this drug. I will pray that he gets better.
I urge everyone who has had a side effect or damaged from this drug wether it be temporary or permanent to please report to medwatch/fda and the generic manufacturer.

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15 yr old son on Claravis(isotretinoin) for 12 days. Paranoid behavior started at day 10 and contuned to worsen. Now on Day 7 off the Claravis and we continue to wait for this drug to clear his system. He is experiencing extreme delusions, paranoid behavior, anorexia. Behavior was a perfectly adjusted 15 year old before starting this medication. I cant find much help locally of anyone ever expirencing this behavior. I have heard anywhere from 3 to 20 days to clear brain receptors.

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WOW! all you people who took accutane and have all these side effects in the future...guess what they tell you that before you start taking it!! I took accutane knowing about the long term side effects and yeah there were side effects that the doctor told me would happen and its not like you can't read up about the stuff on the internet if you cared about your children you should have researched the effects of accutane BEFORE you let your kid take it thats what my mom did and she left the decision up to me. You should look up every medication you take that has any kind of side effects.

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I have had reoccurring stomach problems for years now. Looking back I believe it to be the accutanethat did this. I took accutane my sophmore year in high school into my jr year, then starting at the end of my senior year i started getting stomach problems, a weird cold pain/discompfort. For a while it was bearable so i ignored it but soon i found myself in the hospital with an innersuccepted bowel. Wich means my intestines basically kinked in on itself. they cut my open to repair my intestine but it was fine when they went in so i basically had a major stomach surgery for no reason. I have had over a year of testing and doctors and no none can explain what happened or what is wrong. I lost 30 lbs from the surgery and it took me over a year to gain it back. i have been having a problem gaining weight, and also a big problem sleeping at night. i find myself tired all the time, even after i slept for over 12 hours(which most of the time is during the day when i shouldnt be asleep). After researching on the internet i believe accutane is to blame for my problems. I basically live with this pain every day now because after years of no answers people are tired of looking for answers and hearing me complain. Some one needs to do something about the distribution of accutane to teens before more people end up like me!

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Accutane is poison...Don't take it....It almost killed me, I couldn't walk for 4 months. I have severe osteopenia high fx risk, I shrunk a 1 1/2, I have thyroid problems now, major tendon,ligament,joint damage, it burnt my eyelids which are now constantly dry and swollen, along with dry eyes,mouth and body,I now have ear infections (30yrs and never had one), Accutane gives a whole new meaning to anorexia, I lost all muscle and fat on my body and massive amt of weight...It took months to regain just some of this and to top it off I am swollen behind my right side of the head...mri and mra shows nothing....No Doctor Cared about any of this stuff just shrugged thier shoulders as well theese things happen.....
I think really hard before you put this chemo drug in your body...I wish someone would of warned me, told me what this poison was...
Don't Do It there are safer alternatives.........

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Hell is where I have been living since taking Accutane years ago. I was perfectly fine for a year after taking it with just some slightly dry lips and skin and then my health went straight down. I mostly live the life of a vegetable now, unable to participate in most activities because of chronic pain, lung problems, gastric problems, chronic fatigue. Accutane will reduce your capacity to enjoy life and creates a depression that is unlike any other.

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Dear Lynn M.,
I read your post about considering getting accutane prescribed for your daughter. I only speak from the horrific side effects this drug has done to my now 19 year old. My son was a star track and football player and took accutane while he was doing both sports when he was 15. Since then, he has been unable to even swim in school and we have to get him an excuse every year because the chlorine in the water cased his face to turn cherry red and become extremely dried out from the medication. Your daughter may get her complexion better, but may suffer the consequences of never being able to swim in chlorinated water again. Unfortunately, my son also never again participated in any High School sports since taking accutane do to major joint pain and now has arthritis in both shoulders, both wrist and right hand. Thats only a few health concerns we have today from a decision a doctor made. Who in their right mind would prescribe a cancer killing drug to their child to clear up acne, if they only were told that up front. It's a decision I let happen 3 years ago that haunts me everyday.

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I suffered from acne in my 30's and took the antibiotic Minocin for years. It worked fairly well. My doctor asked me if I wanted to try Accutane to clear up my acne for good. I used the drug for the medically prescribed time in 1997. It cleared up my acne and it never returned. Ten years later, I am suffering from chronic pain syndrome - arthritis type symtoms in my back and neck. I also have inflammation in my S.I. joints that can't be explained. I now take an anti-inflammatory drug called Mobic and use a muscle relaxant called Skelaxin. Every day is a struggle with pain. I've always wondered if taking Accutane is the cause of my illness. I am 48 years old now and barely able to work full-time. I would not risk taking this powerful drug and recommend alternative treatments.

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