The Student Room Group

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Reply 1
psychological harm? Depression? You'd probably need bad acne and other things too.
Reply 2
to be honest your doctor will know whats best for you and prescribe what is necessary
Reply 3
i had to have three failed antibiotics and benzoyl peroxide before i got prescribed accutane.
Reply 4
dh00001
to be honest your doctor will know whats best for you and prescribe what is necessary

Seconding this. The medical system isn't some psychological gameshow where patients go head to head against doctors to win fabulous prizes.

And if people give you advice in this thread, which you use, and successfully convince your doctor to give you the drug, and it then turns out to have been a bad prescription, who are you going to blame?
My sister is 17 and got the treatment after failed birth control pills, that cream and other tablets failed.
It is the last resort and has so many side effects!!!!!
Reply 6
Becky_Sheffield
My sister is 17 and got the treatment after failed birth control pills, that cream and other tablets failed.
It is the last resort and has so many side effects!!!!!


ive had very few apart from the usual dryness.only a rash on my hand which went after i moisturised it.
She had dryness and her eyes were going funny. But she could not get pregnant and they made her go on birth control. It is a serious medicine!
Oh yeah it is the last resort and will remove acne for good.
Reply 9
PeeWeeDan
psychological harm? Depression?


Do NOT tell your doctor that you are depressed because of your acne, or for any other reason. Being depressed means you are LESS likely to be prescribed it, as accutane can make depression worse.
Reply 10
Becky_Sheffield
Oh yeah it is the last resort and will remove acne for good.


I certainly hope so. I've been on it for 3 months, and my skin is no better than it was on erythromycin.
Reply 11
Come on people
how do you think our ancestors did it. They had no accutane availabe.

Jokes apart, I think that everything has it side effects , which you may end up hating more than the actual effect of acne. think it through and do what is best.

a question for the person who started this thread - how bad is your acne? you sound like desperado!

Bobzilla
when the time of judgement falls upon God's creatures, incurable diseases[1] and damnations shall spread unstopped between the numbers, until but a few remain.
[1]Acne being one of these
Quote from the Great Bobzilla Scriputes. Copyright 2000-2007:eek: :eek: :eek:
As I understood it, GPs can't prescribe it, you need to be referred to a dermatologist.
Yeah need to get sent to hospital. R will clear it up, it is the last resort. You go and see you Doctor in first instance. Acne as opposed to spots is that they scar, therefore the doctor wont give you trestment for teenage spots, as this friend said.
I don't mean to be all like "ooh, new drug??" but I'm interested, is it bad for your liver? and is it taken oraly or is it a cream? My doctor keeps reccommending me to go on dianette, but I fear for my liver :s-smilie:
I was on roaccutane for 6 months, with hindsight I shouldn't have been put on it. Still feel the effects on my lips now, two years later.

Isotretinoin (the active ingredient) is very lipid soluble, it sits in your body fat for aaages.

Should be prescribed for "nodulo-cystic acne (the deep red cysts under your skin), severe acne, scarring or acne that hasn't responded to an adequate course of antibiotics". (Taken from the BNF).
digitalis
I was on roaccutane for 6 months, with hindsight I shouldn't have been put on it. Still feel the effects on my lips now, two years later.

Isotretinoin (the active ingredient) is very lipid soluble, it sits in your body fat for aaages.

Should be prescribed for "nodulo-cystic acne (the deep red cysts under your skin), severe acne, scarring or acne that hasn't responded to an adequate course of antibiotics". (Taken from the BNF).


Can you tell me more about why you felt your should not of been given it, previous treatment etc?
My sister has just finished after 3 months, all spots gone, just scars. I do worry it is sooo dangerous the medicine but apparently no long lasting effects.
Well I had gone through a few weeks of erythromycin, standard course to try and clear up any bacteria that are causing the spots. I don't think I should have been put on it so soon because I didn't have many of those deep set, cystic acne that roaccutane should be used for. I remember seeing a guy out once, he had seriously bad acne, the type that looks like the side of your face has been stung by a bee and thinking he is a roaccutane case and not me.

Because your whole skin dries up, it cracks so easily, your lips blister and peel...I still have to carry around lip balm. I just generally felt lethargic and unwell when on it and you burn like a sheet of paper. I remember having to score for a PGA tournament, 3 days in the sun, I was almost in tears by the end of the third day, even with SPF 60 on my face. It was like being sunburnt within 3 hours, then getting burnt over that for two more days!

If you want to find the full list of side effects for roaccutane, it's available on the BNF website (free registration)...it's very long.

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/isotret_ad.htm
Another one.

Bear in mind it's not recommended to drink alcohol when on roaccutane, you do get blood tested every month for liver/kidney function, so going on a weekend boozer isn't the best for your liver when your taking a strong drug like this.

Although to be fair, it did clear up 75-80% of my acne, just be aware of the risks.
Reply 18
I'm slightly concerned that I've been on accutane for 3 months, and my acne is actually worse than it was before I started taking it. :s-smilie:

I'm not sure why this is.

I've been drinking quite a lot of alcohol, but although that might not be too good for my liver, I don't see why it should prevent the treatment from working. :confused: Anyway, I'm planning to give that up for at least the next week or two, to see what happens.

My diet is also quite unhealthy at the moment -- it involves a lot of Gingsters pies and Chicago Town pizzas, yum. From reading on the internet, it seems that a vegetarian / vegan diet is good for your skin, so I might try to give up meat and perhaps also dairy products for a while as well.

Any other suggestions / ideas as to why it might not be working as well as I hoped? Or do I just need to be more patient?
i heard it causes many side effects and only used in the most extreme of cases