Who has used accutane?

[SVTMuscle*]

Is it true that accutane make your acne alot worse before it gets better? I dont have terrible acne right now but I would like to get it 100% gone because I'm sick of it. And i want to run a cycle but acne is the only thing holding me back. Anyone have any feelings on it?

[AlphaLdr]

I used accutane for 6 months under doctors supervision. I had out of no where serious cystic ance. If you pushed next to a cyst, not even on the cyst, a nice wad of puss would come out. Seriously groos. I tell you this so that you know I did have bad acne and I did not notice any increased acne after taking it. My acne was not acne that came and went. It was pretty steady and appeared out of the blue, so I would be able to tell if there was any increased "activity".

I will say this. I presume you are already doing blood work regularly with a doctor. What they had me do for blood work was this....

For the first month it was blod work every week,
2nd and 3rd month, every other week,
4th and 5th months once a month,
and the 6th month they tested it 2x's- 2nd week and final week.

It is seriously a wonder drug. But really dangerous. I mean really dangerous. I went to a new derma and told her and showed her my acne, told her I was on accutane and she said I will only write me a script after we tried every other possibility.

I thnk Merck makes it, and they are having a back lash of law suits about suicides, birth defects and all kinds of stuff. It is a synthetic form of vitamin A in a very concentrated form. It does work man and makes everything really dry. LIps and nose for sure. Make sure you have some good lip balm around. But it has been 14 years and I just now have to look into it again. And I think only becuse I choose to use Adrol and that kills me with acne.

Hope this helps. Any Questions feel free to hollar.

[lifterjaydawg]

I have used accutane and although it helped a little, nothing has worked as well as ProActive. No joke, that stuff is great. It has worked so much better than anything I have ever tried. And it doesn't dry out your skin the way accutane does. Proactive is worth the money.

[Z12]

If you have a little acne now, then it will proably get a little worse before it gets better - well worth it though. Also, if its not that bad, then you dont have to go on the full 80mg/day, like you would if you had cystic acne or something. +/- 30mg/day will do the trick, without so many sides. If youre not sure about accutane, I reccomend a book - "The skin type solution" by Dr Leslie Baumann. Its done wonders for me

[Triple X]

I have taken it twice. Results were incredible for a few years then it came back (not quite as bad). The second time cleared me up pretty good but I still hit up the derm. a few times a year. Seems my acne flares up when the seasons change.

[SVTMuscle*]

Yeah it would all be doctor regulated, my mom is a derm so i can get it no prob

[Diablo10000]

pro active is trash imo, mine got worse will on pro active, ACCUTANE worked wonders

[IFR]

I use tetracycline which works fine. It takes a few weeks to start clearing up.

[Mick_540]

I used accutane when it first hit the market in Australia 20 years ago.

Here are some bullet points about my experience with the drug ...

* cleared up my cystic acne awesome. I had some MASSIVE pimples on my face, ones where you could squeeze incredible amounts of pus. As a 15 year old, this is not good for your social life. These got wiped out when I was on the accutane.
* dry skin, lips, nose is a real side effect - so dry that your nose can start bleeding quite easily.
* I believe that the drug has affected my skin in that I now tend to graze incredibly easily (and the scabs that form are massive). For example, a grazing blow in a sparring session will actually end up bleeding and scabbing up. This never happened before I took the drug. My scars also tend to be extremely thick
* specialist insisted on regular blood work and was happy with my cholesterol levels. I attribute this to a diet high in rolled oats.

Anyway, in my opinion accutane is the king of the acne drugs, particularly for those who suffer cystic acne. However, it has some side effects which you need to be aware of.

[SVTMuscle*]

thanks for the help! it sounds like the benefits may outweigh the costs. I am going to try Pro-Activ for one quick last stance, and if it dosnt work like I want it to, accutane it is

[BigNate]

Check out Anthony Roberts website for his article about Nizoral clearing up acne. As far as Accutane, it takes time, has a horrible drying effect, but does work.

[SVTMuscle*]

nah i have nizoral right now, nothing special to me

[shrpskn]

I successfully undertook a doc-supervised accutane treatment several years ago...aside from the nasty sides of extreme thirst, terribly chapped lips, and dry skin..the results were amazing.
I was completely acne free for about 4 years following treatment...AAS use likely aggravated things again as of late, but it has never came back as bad as it did before I ran the accutane treatment.
I now keep my acne in check with doc-scripted topicals...they work great.

-ShrpSkn

[SVTMuscle*]

yeah i got a trillion moisturizers so hopefully i can combat the dryness

[AnabolicAndre]

doxycycline works wonders for me!!!

you said your mom is a derm so you can get it if not PM ill hook you up

[SVTMuscle*]

doxycline? is it oral or topical?

[shrpskn]

yeah i got a trillion moisturizers so hopefully i can combat the dryness

Vitamin D ointment works great to combat the dryness that you'll likely encounter through the course of accutane treatment.

-ShrpSkn

[vermin]

I took Accutane 20 years or so ago. It destroyed 1/3 of my liver. It is my understanding that it is now better understood and prescribed in much lower doses, but is it really worth the risk?

[oswaldosalcedo]

I
accutane is great.

[SVTMuscle*]

I
accutane is great.

orly?

[AnabolicAndre]

doxycline? is it oral or topical?

oral antibiotic

[oswaldosalcedo]

and dutasteride it will work too

Dutasteride
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread.php?t=200188

[eL FriJolerO]

I have used accutane and although it helped a little, nothing has worked as well as ProActive. No joke, that stuff is great. It has worked so much better than anything I have ever tried. And it doesn't dry out your skin the way accutane does. Proactive is worth the money.

lol, you must work in something related to proactiv. Cause that stuff is definitely not better than accutan. Accutan is the most potent drug available for acne. It is dangerous thought, i took for like six months, nothing bad happened to me, i just did blood work regularly.

[Slowhand]

very powerful drug!! and very expensive if you don't have insurance!


curious though... has anyone here ever taken some Accutane HGH at the same time?? I'd assume those results would be nice.

[AlphaLdr]

Wikipedia say

Adverse effects

Most adverse effects resemble vitamin A toxicity. Adverse drug reactions associated with isotretinoin therapy include:[1]

Common: mild acne flare, dryness of skin, lips and mucous membranes, cheilitis, itch, skin fragility, skin peeling, rash, flushing, photosensitivity, nose bleeds, dry eyes, eye irritation, conjunctivitis, reduced tolerance to contact lenses, hyperlipidaemia, raised liver enzymes, headaches, hair thinning, myalgia and/or arthralgia.

Infrequent: severe acne flare, raised blood glucose level, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, fatigue and/or mood changes.

Rare: impaired night vision, cataracts, optic neuritis, menstrual disturbances, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, hepatitis, corneal opacities, papilloedema, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, skeletal hyperostosis and extraosseous calcification.

[Z12]

Wikipedia say

Adverse effects

Most adverse effects resemble vitamin A toxicity. Adverse drug reactions associated with isotretinoin therapy include:[1]

Common: mild acne flare, dryness of skin, lips and mucous membranes, cheilitis, itch, skin fragility, skin peeling, rash, flushing, photosensitivity, nose bleeds, dry eyes, eye irritation, conjunctivitis, reduced tolerance to contact lenses, hyperlipidaemia, raised liver enzymes, headaches, hair thinning, myalgia and/or arthralgia.

Infrequent: severe acne flare, raised blood glucose level, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, fatigue and/or mood changes.

Rare: impaired night vision, cataracts, optic neuritis, menstrual disturbances, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, hepatitis, corneal opacities, papilloedema, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, skeletal hyperostosis and extraosseous calcification.

I gotta say, one of the common side effects is flushing and after being on 3 cycles of accutane, me becoming flushed is much more common. Becoming flushed for an extended period of time, like 2 hours or so. Sometimes it's embarrasing, but what can I do? Kinda sucks, especially at work. Somebody said giving blood could help with this?? Any advice?

[Slowhand]

I gotta say, one of the common side effects is flushing and after being on 3 cycles of accutane, me becoming flushed is much more common. Becoming flushed for an extended period of time, like 2 hours or so. Sometimes it's embarrasing, but what can I do? Kinda sucks, especially at work. Somebody said giving blood could help with this?? Any advice?

Don't give blood while on accutane.