Accutane Long Term Side Effects (Page 9)
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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 After I have researched this drug extensively, I can't believe that the FDA allows this drug originally made for cancer patients to be marketed for teenagers with acne.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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Ray,
I don't know if you were referring to my son or the above post. My son's acne has not come back, but if I could do it again I would definitely not have let him do it. He has too many mysterious ailments. If I were you, I would look into laser treatments or other alternatives. He has also developed gluten sensitivities, which also are related to Accutane (Claravis). Please don't take it. I have taken my son 3 times to the emergency room for various things like shortness of breath, migraine headaches and pain in his stomach. In the long run, it will cost you $$$$$ and your health.

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Im 24 years old and i been on accutane for 6 months now ive been off accutane for 1 month and my skin has been really super itchy and i get little bumps im glad my acne hasn't flared up but im really super itchy all over and when i say all over i really do mean "all" over...also my mid to lower back feels really sore and tired like im over worked im not 100% sure if its cause of the accutane or because i have a new job and im standing up all day then i come home and sit at my computer and play video games im trying to maintain a positive attitude and try to stay strong mentally and im just really glad my acne is pretty much gone the only thing is i have alot of scarring chest back shoulders and face .also my face gets red very easily and my dermatologist gave me tretinoin cream and that dries up my skin but i should be ok. LASTLY i wanted to ask if your sons acne is gone or has it come back?

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Matt, thanks for posting. My son, 19 now, has similar symptoms and is trying desperately to find answers. I'm wondering how your doing now and if you have been able to find relief.

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I am happy you decided not to start accutane. I know the acne problem is hard to deal with. There are many treatment options on the market to reduce acne. Keep googling and trying different options, do research, there are many topical products including natural oils. Use soaps that don't dry out your skin or add oil. I have used Neutrogena face soap with no scent for many years with good results, everyone is different try things. We who have taken accutane can not stop it's effects, but if we can stop someone else from taking a chemotherapy drug for acne, we have won.

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I would like to thank all of you guys for preventing me from taking this medicine.

you might have just saved my life.

Now i need to figure out a way how to cure my acne without taking accutane.. :/

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My Goodness. I'm 3 month after a very short 6 weeks treatment. I didn't have acne! My dermatologist (I went privately in Poland) diagnosed me with dermatitis seborreica and suggested a short accutane course. I now have spots, mainly around my mouth, nose/cheeks and, worst of all, my gums are receding more and more every day. I wish I was warned about this by the dermatologist. Only now, after the damage is done, I keep finding forums and other people with long lasting and dire side effects. How can people campaign to ban this poison, or at least make it compulsory for the doctors to explain in great detail the dangers of accutane?

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PLEASE........Those of you debating about taking Accutane or allowing your children to take it.............DON'T TAKE THIS POISON!! I am a 55 year old male who took Accutane 36 years ago when I was 24. I took this poison for 3 months on the advice of my Dermatologist. Was supposed to take it for 6 months but the side effects were just too much for me to deal with. So glad I didn't continue for the full 6 month treatment. The last 36 years have been an up and down roller coaster with my health issues. Immediately after getting off Accutane I began having gastrointestinal issues. I developed ulcers in my esophagus and IBS( Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Brain fog also began and has been an ongoing problem ever since. Within a few years I started to have bone issues. I have been diagnosed with arthritis in my neck and spine, i.e. degenerative disc disease which is progressively getting worse. My joints "pop" constantly. Everyday life has been a struggle. Other issues have been food intolerance and food allergies. I have to watch what I eat very closely. Can't tolerate sodas. Spicy foods, which I ate in abundance prior to Accutane are now a no no. If I eat them I am miserable for days. The latest problem is Gluten Intolerance. Gluten, i.e. grains such as wheat, oats, rye now cause me severe stomach issues, bloating, diarrhea, reflux. I could go on. My skin now stays very dry, especially during the winter months cold. It will crack and bleed at times. All this because of Accutane. I didn't have any of these problems prior to taking this drug. I recently learned about Accutane being a chemo drug for cancer patients. If I had known that fact, I would have never considered taking this drug/ poison! So if you don't want your kids to go through a life of misery don't give them Accutane. I would gladly take back my Acne problem to have my health back to normal. Oh, and by the way, I still get Acne at times.

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There are many other helpful products on the market for acne. Please do not start your daughter on accutane. If she has an aggressive cancer of some type maybe the doctors would think about using the chemotherapy drug, accutane. Sounds terrible but it is true. There are natural helping things, like natural oils, foods to eat and to avoid keep googling and trying different things. I was given accutane when I was 18 years old in the Army. I could do anything before accutane with acne but things changed after accutane. My acne sores took longer to heal and I still have scares that are problems today and I am 49 now.

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I would not recommend putting my child on Accutane at all... ever... period. READ all you can on this drug. READ what others have posted. I put my son, 17, on Accutane without knowing all the facts, side effects. Make sure your daughter has a good eye exam before going on Accutane if you decide to do it. We found out my son has cataracts and Accutane exacerbated them. The accutane stint was brief, but the damage has lasted for months. Terrible scarring as a result of going on Accutane. My son has said he'd rather live with acne than take this drug. The side effects and long term effects (known and unknown, it seems) just aren't worth it. I feel for your daughter and the acne, but this drug option just isn't worth the potential risks. It is poison. Period. My son went back to taking anti-biotics after Accutane and has now even stopped taking those. He is using tea tree oil and his face has been in the best shape it's been now, although the purple scarring from the initial Accutane outbreak is horrific. We hope to treat that with laser treatments in a year. Every dermatologist we've contacted push push pushes Accutane... it makes me sick. I chew myself out every time I think about agreeing to allow my son to take that drug. My advice: Don't allow your daughter to take it. It may clear her skin up, but the long term effects aren't worth it. We place far too much emphasis on looks as it is. Her health and continued health in the future is what should be a priority. Just my two bits. This drug should NOT be allowed.

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I want to put my daughter who is 15 years old to this drug..., I am scared help... I don't know what to do she is suffering from acne for 7 years

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Somehow all of us have to band together and help one another. I recently had an appointment at Bellin neuro clinic for pain help. I tried explaining my history about the Accutane and my problems since with no family history of these problems. These professionals did the same as other docs, and said I should consult my primary. My primary refered me to this clinic for my problems. Rock and a hard spot. I hope you find someone who will listen and help. I can not understand why cancer docs can not help us because it is a chemotherapy drug, and they should know the side effects?

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I have the same symptoms as you. Everyday has been excruciating for me. The doctors can't find anything. I took 3 regimens of Accutane during my 20's.q

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I was given this drug while in the Army 1984 to 1986 at 40 mg twice a day. I went through hell during basic training. I did not know what this drug was and neither did the military doctors,I think. I went through fits of rage like a mad man. My kidney function deteriorated starting 1986. No docs understood why until 2012,when they discovered that the Accutane started a glumerlonephritis. My kidneys scared to the point that they could not be found on an ultrasound in 2000 and I went on dialysis and then a kidney transplant. The reason it took until 2012 to discover Accutane did this to me, is that I had to do the research and find a doctor that would put the pieces of the puzzle together. Most docs will not talk about Accutane due to lack of knowlege of it or they are receiving grants from the Hoffman Roche company and dont want to step on any toes. My anti-rejection meds are from the Roche company kind of ironic. I now suffer from neck, shoulder and back arthritis along with a very irritable bowel and permanent dry eyes. I believe the inhibiting of cell proliferation that Accutane is to do to cells in a cancer patient is to blame for my physical and mental problems. I never had cancer, only acne and Accutane was developed as a chemotherapy drug.

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So sorry you're going through this. Have you talked to a professional? Counseling/Therapy? Hope you find relief.

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I honestly feel the same exact way you do. I took accutane when i was 15 yrs old, it cause redness and extreme dryness around my mouth and nose. I was extremely bi polor while on the medication. I took it for 6 months, 3 pills a day, not sure what the dosage was. I am 20 yrs old now, and i'm suffering with extreme emotional issues. I'm usually the type of person who is never angry, and since this medication, i have become CRAZY! My body becomes so overwhelmed, frustrated, and I act out in bizzare ways such as screaming and crying and hitting things. And while i'm in that moment i cant control anything its as if i black out. I'm super sensitive to a lot of things now. I even went through a phase where I cut my legs and felt suicidal, IM FAR FROM BEING THAT TYPE OF PERSON LIKE WTF. I also struggled with sleeping, and I still do, I've encountered many panic attacks while in deep sleep, I wake up fighting to catch my breath because i stop breathing, and theres been many times where i just simply can't fall asleep no matter how hard i try. I could just be a nut case, thats how i feel, but at the same time i was never like this before this medication. And being on that medication was hell.

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Has anyone tried drinking raw goat or cow's milk from small dairy farms?It's supposed to be amazing for IBS and Chrohns so maybe. I just started drinking it a week ago and am super hopeful it will help. Over time it is supposed to heal the body and digestive system.

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Straight up this is a chemotherapy drug that changes cell differentiation and inhibits cell proliferation. This is a DNA game changer. Your immediate side effects will be the drying out of tissue. The long term effects are what cells in your body have stopped reproducing and those effects can take a long time to change and show. Look up the drug in cancer reports as that is what it was developed for. The only reason it was started for acne is that the doctors noticed it cleared the acne in their cancer patients. Just think about

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Im very VERY sorry about the nightmare you and your son are enduring :(
I know what its like to wake up one day with a disfigured face from cystic acne. The depression and hit to ones self esteem is indescribable. I remember one day balling my eyes out in the passenger seat of the car while my dad drove, and looking up at him and saying,"I dont want to be ugly anymore." I could tell right then and there, looking at my hero and seeing tears well up in his eyes, just how much acne had taken over my life.

As soon as possible we scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist and without hesitation jumped on the accutane train.
After about 5 months my face was clearer and healthier then it had been in years, and my self confidence finally started to grow back piece by piece.

After about a year or so of basking in the glory of normality, my worst nightmare was realised.
My acne was relapsing, and the cysts were attempting to rebuild their lost domain.
After trying everything known to man to fight back, I again decided it was necassary to call in another bombardment of accutane, and after only a couple months my face was back and better then ever.....or so I thought :/
Although my acne problem was now solved, I had an entirely new battle to fight.
I had extreme anxiety due to my struggle with acne, and would have mild but enduring anxiety attacks.
Thats not what my problem was though.
Everytime Id have an anxiety attack, my face would turn tomato red, and would stay that way for what I remember being several hours.
I was so embarrased of looking like a walking fire hydrant that the embarrasment would just add fuel to the fire. It was a vicious cycle.

I went on this way for a couple years, slowly building the skills to cope with the anxiety and reduce my flare ups, until I enlisted in the army, and
it was the best thing to ever happen to me and my poor face. While I was in constant duress, running miles and miles everyday, I discovered a secret weapon..... And that secret weapon was sweating.
Not just sweating, but sweating from CARDIO.
The excercise combined with the fresh air and UV rays and constant hydration finally delivered me into a life without acne, without anxiety, and without the constant worry of when the next outbreak was coming.

We put so much emphasis these days on the quick route or the ,"Try this mask! Try this super quick method! Try this easy diet! Try this new FDA approved carcinogenic chemical!" That we've forgotten about the most important, yet most obvious tool we have to better ourselves both mentally, and physically, and that ladies and gentlemen.......... is excercise, and H2O. PERIOD.

Thanks a ton for reading!

--Veteran Combat Medic
--2x Accutane courses
--Tried everything EVER to win the war over Propionibacterium Acnes.

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I have been on accurate twice, once at 15 and again at 26. I did not finish the second round due to the side effects being worse than the first time around. I am now 32 and still have chronic cystic acne. Not only is it extremely embarrassing but the acne also can be really painful. I have been to doctor after doctor after doctor (dermatologists, gps and women's health) and they all want me to do accurate again. Even before reading this thread I have been worried about what my two rounds of it have done to my health long term. I have been on sooo many topicals, antibitiotics, retinoids, have tried laser treatment, chemical peels, have tried natural holistic remedies, and even tried eliminating gluten, dairy and sugar from my diet. Nothing works and I am at my wits' end. Are my only options suffering cystic acne forever (cause I am looooong past adolescence and my skin is never clear... Not even close) or an extremely toxic drug??

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I took accutane when I was 18. I have cystic acne. I had the hall mark symptoms of accutane(chapped/bleeding lips, face would flake and be like paper) and depression to boot. I was very active and in great shape. I will note I had knee problems when I was a child (Juvenile Arthritis was said but never confirmed). When I was 26 I messed up my back in a freak every day occurance. I had to quit my job and was found to have 3 slipped discs, none bad enough for surgery. I was getting in so much pain and so tired I was bed ridden for 3 months! I couldn't even use the bathroom without being in so much pain (back), I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Myofasical Syndrome in November of 2012 after having RA and Lupus ruled out. I was put on Cymbalta (horrible, worse than accutane) for my pain. I ended up having serotonin syndrome and they tried putting me on other medication (SSRIs and muscle relaxers) but come to find out through DNA testing I have a messed enzyme that counteracts this stuff (no knowledge on accutane). While I was on Cymbalta I gained 30lbs in 3 months. I suffer from all side effects of Hypothyroidism, but my levels come back normal. My mom has hypothyroidism was diagnosed about a year or two ago. I'm tired of hurting. I've had to quit 2 jobs because of it and the stress that comes with a job messes with my body. I love to work. I am fixing to start another full time job that isn't as physically demanding. I hope I can do it, but I want my life back. Tired of being tired and misunderstood. Thanks for your time, sorry for your suffering.

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