how difficult is it to get prescribed accutane?
I'm a 19 year old male who has suffered with blackheads, whiteheads, and regular pimples (with the occasional cyst) since i was about 13. I suffer with really oily skin hence the blackheads. I get blackheads all over my face, all around my neck, and all over my back (my back has so many black heads when i rub my hand over my back it feels like my hand is rubbing over loads of grains of sand). Once every couple of months i may even find a blackhead on my arms or legs. My chest tends to just get rather a lot of your basic pimples which i tend to make worse my unconsciously scratching them (a habit im trying to get out of). I'll get a couple basic pimples on my shoulders, back, and on the back of my neck as well but not nearly as bad as my chest. My face and the front of my neck are permanently riddled with black heads (please note that although i get a tonne of blackheads they are not really big ones) which in turn causes me to get whiteheads as well.
I'm pretty sure I have all this mildly but it still ruins my life. As I am typing this I am ignoring my friend asking me whether i want to go to the gym because i dont want to go out and be seen in public and this happens about once every 1 and a half weeks. I haven't socialised properly with a group of people in about a year. I just shut myself in my room most of the time. So yeah i think it's safe to say regardless of whether it's mild/moderate/severe it is definitely affecting my life and self confidence badly.
I've tried multiple types of exfoliating scrubs (they did more harm than good), ive tried cleansing masks (my face felt nice after washing them off, then my face would be really oily again after a couple of hours), ive tried apple cider vinegar (all that did was get rid of cysts quicker), ive tried multiple homemade remedies (zero success), I've tried aspirin masks (helped a lot with reducing the size of pimples and cysts), I've tried swimming and sauna (helps massively with everything if i go every single day for at least an hour which i do not have the time to do now and definitely wont in the next couple of months), tried regular squeezing (all it does is make my face red).
Also please note that I'm not a dirty person, i have a shower every morning without fail and i wash my face 1-2 a day. I also get all my vitamins and minerals everyday as I'm a fitness and health nut.
Now to finally get to the point. I don't want to keep going through the same thing day after day anymore i want it to stop now so i can become a human being with a life. So I've been researching accutane and seen a huge majority of people have success with it, however I'm nervous about going to a derm because of a story my mum once told me. She said she had terrible skin when she was younger (apparently way worse than mine) and she went to see a skin specialist and apparently she got "laughed out of the room" by the guy. I'm scared of going to see a derm and getting laughed out of the room of getting denied to get on accutane. Because of that story I'll admit ive been tempted to get accutane without i prescription which ive very aware is a foolish thing to do.
My question is, is that what derms are really like? will i get laughed out of the room if i dont have severe case of acne? Does my skin sound bad enough to start taking accutane?
If youve read all this and replied, thank you.
I'm pretty sure I have all this mildly but it still ruins my life. As I am typing this I am ignoring my friend asking me whether i want to go to the gym because i dont want to go out and be seen in public and this happens about once every 1 and a half weeks. I haven't socialised properly with a group of people in about a year. I just shut myself in my room most of the time. So yeah i think it's safe to say regardless of whether it's mild/moderate/severe it is definitely affecting my life and self confidence badly.
I've tried multiple types of exfoliating scrubs (they did more harm than good), ive tried cleansing masks (my face felt nice after washing them off, then my face would be really oily again after a couple of hours), ive tried apple cider vinegar (all that did was get rid of cysts quicker), ive tried multiple homemade remedies (zero success), I've tried aspirin masks (helped a lot with reducing the size of pimples and cysts), I've tried swimming and sauna (helps massively with everything if i go every single day for at least an hour which i do not have the time to do now and definitely wont in the next couple of months), tried regular squeezing (all it does is make my face red).
Also please note that I'm not a dirty person, i have a shower every morning without fail and i wash my face 1-2 a day. I also get all my vitamins and minerals everyday as I'm a fitness and health nut.
Now to finally get to the point. I don't want to keep going through the same thing day after day anymore i want it to stop now so i can become a human being with a life. So I've been researching accutane and seen a huge majority of people have success with it, however I'm nervous about going to a derm because of a story my mum once told me. She said she had terrible skin when she was younger (apparently way worse than mine) and she went to see a skin specialist and apparently she got "laughed out of the room" by the guy. I'm scared of going to see a derm and getting laughed out of the room of getting denied to get on accutane. Because of that story I'll admit ive been tempted to get accutane without i prescription which ive very aware is a foolish thing to do.
My question is, is that what derms are really like? will i get laughed out of the room if i dont have severe case of acne? Does my skin sound bad enough to start taking accutane?
If youve read all this and replied, thank you.
Original post by Anonymous
I'm a 19 year old male who has suffered with blackheads, whiteheads, and regular pimples (with the occasional cyst) since i was about 13. I suffer with really oily skin hence the blackheads. I get blackheads all over my face, all around my neck, and all over my back (my back has so many black heads when i rub my hand over my back it feels like my hand is rubbing over loads of grains of sand). Once every couple of months i may even find a blackhead on my arms or legs. My chest tends to just get rather a lot of your basic pimples which i tend to make worse my unconsciously scratching them (a habit im trying to get out of). I'll get a couple basic pimples on my shoulders, back, and on the back of my neck as well but not nearly as bad as my chest. My face and the front of my neck are permanently riddled with black heads (please note that although i get a tonne of blackheads they are not really big ones) which in turn causes me to get whiteheads as well.
I'm pretty sure I have all this mildly but it still ruins my life. As I am typing this I am ignoring my friend asking me whether i want to go to the gym because i dont want to go out and be seen in public and this happens about once every 1 and a half weeks. I haven't socialised properly with a group of people in about a year. I just shut myself in my room most of the time. So yeah i think it's safe to say regardless of whether it's mild/moderate/severe it is definitely affecting my life and self confidence badly.
I've tried multiple types of exfoliating scrubs (they did more harm than good), ive tried cleansing masks (my face felt nice after washing them off, then my face would be really oily again after a couple of hours), ive tried apple cider vinegar (all that did was get rid of cysts quicker), ive tried multiple homemade remedies (zero success), I've tried aspirin masks (helped a lot with reducing the size of pimples and cysts), I've tried swimming and sauna (helps massively with everything if i go every single day for at least an hour which i do not have the time to do now and definitely wont in the next couple of months), tried regular squeezing (all it does is make my face red).
Also please note that I'm not a dirty person, i have a shower every morning without fail and i wash my face 1-2 a day. I also get all my vitamins and minerals everyday as I'm a fitness and health nut.
Now to finally get to the point. I don't want to keep going through the same thing day after day anymore i want it to stop now so i can become a human being with a life. So I've been researching accutane and seen a huge majority of people have success with it, however I'm nervous about going to a derm because of a story my mum once told me. She said she had terrible skin when she was younger (apparently way worse than mine) and she went to see a skin specialist and apparently she got "laughed out of the room" by the guy. I'm scared of going to see a derm and getting laughed out of the room of getting denied to get on accutane. Because of that story I'll admit ive been tempted to get accutane without i prescription which ive very aware is a foolish thing to do.
My question is, is that what derms are really like? will i get laughed out of the room if i dont have severe case of acne? Does my skin sound bad enough to start taking accutane?
If youve read all this and replied, thank you.
I'm pretty sure I have all this mildly but it still ruins my life. As I am typing this I am ignoring my friend asking me whether i want to go to the gym because i dont want to go out and be seen in public and this happens about once every 1 and a half weeks. I haven't socialised properly with a group of people in about a year. I just shut myself in my room most of the time. So yeah i think it's safe to say regardless of whether it's mild/moderate/severe it is definitely affecting my life and self confidence badly.
I've tried multiple types of exfoliating scrubs (they did more harm than good), ive tried cleansing masks (my face felt nice after washing them off, then my face would be really oily again after a couple of hours), ive tried apple cider vinegar (all that did was get rid of cysts quicker), ive tried multiple homemade remedies (zero success), I've tried aspirin masks (helped a lot with reducing the size of pimples and cysts), I've tried swimming and sauna (helps massively with everything if i go every single day for at least an hour which i do not have the time to do now and definitely wont in the next couple of months), tried regular squeezing (all it does is make my face red).
Also please note that I'm not a dirty person, i have a shower every morning without fail and i wash my face 1-2 a day. I also get all my vitamins and minerals everyday as I'm a fitness and health nut.
Now to finally get to the point. I don't want to keep going through the same thing day after day anymore i want it to stop now so i can become a human being with a life. So I've been researching accutane and seen a huge majority of people have success with it, however I'm nervous about going to a derm because of a story my mum once told me. She said she had terrible skin when she was younger (apparently way worse than mine) and she went to see a skin specialist and apparently she got "laughed out of the room" by the guy. I'm scared of going to see a derm and getting laughed out of the room of getting denied to get on accutane. Because of that story I'll admit ive been tempted to get accutane without i prescription which ive very aware is a foolish thing to do.
My question is, is that what derms are really like? will i get laughed out of the room if i dont have severe case of acne? Does my skin sound bad enough to start taking accutane?
If youve read all this and replied, thank you.
You won't be laughed out of the room, I can assure you. That is not a common thing to happen, and would in fact be very rare and unprofessional obviously. If it's affecting you this much then even if the problem isn't directly severe, it's still severely affecting you. Go to your GP and make this very clear, they'll be much more likely to help you further
Hey Buddy,
Have you been to see your GP before? They won't prescribe you acctuane without trying other acne medication such as Epiduo/Zineryt/Retin - A etc first. You'll probably need to go through a cycle of antibiotics if you haven't already.
Having been on acctuane slightly over a year ago, I can confirm it has made a huge difference to my skin! I was glad to have been on it, and only wish I had started the course a little earlier. My acne however was most definitely severe- so I got it prescribed pretty much straight away.
It varies from derm to derm, however mine was pretty much like you have stubborn acne- here take Acctuane. You won't be laughed out of the room don't worry, dermatologists have seen it all and like you say it is affecting you.
Let me know if you have any questions
Have you been to see your GP before? They won't prescribe you acctuane without trying other acne medication such as Epiduo/Zineryt/Retin - A etc first. You'll probably need to go through a cycle of antibiotics if you haven't already.
Having been on acctuane slightly over a year ago, I can confirm it has made a huge difference to my skin! I was glad to have been on it, and only wish I had started the course a little earlier. My acne however was most definitely severe- so I got it prescribed pretty much straight away.
It varies from derm to derm, however mine was pretty much like you have stubborn acne- here take Acctuane. You won't be laughed out of the room don't worry, dermatologists have seen it all and like you say it is affecting you.
Let me know if you have any questions
Specialist dermatologists will have a threshold for accepting referrals and will turn down any referrals that do not meet that threshold. Generally speaking, this means that the patient's condition has to meet a certain degree of severity, have persisted for a certain length of time, and failed to respond to less specialist interventions. For acne, this would almost certainly include courses of both topical and systemic antibiotics as well as the things you mention.
Your GP should be familiar with the referral guidelines that pertain to your local specialist dermatology service, so will only make the referral if you meet their criteria. So when you go to the GP, try to present them with a good history and a full list of all the treatments you have already tried. In any case, you really should start there to make sure you have tried all the other treatment option - although roaccutane treatment is usually very effective, it does have significant risks, so really you don't want to be taking it without being certain that it is the only option left .
Your GP should be familiar with the referral guidelines that pertain to your local specialist dermatology service, so will only make the referral if you meet their criteria. So when you go to the GP, try to present them with a good history and a full list of all the treatments you have already tried. In any case, you really should start there to make sure you have tried all the other treatment option - although roaccutane treatment is usually very effective, it does have significant risks, so really you don't want to be taking it without being certain that it is the only option left .
hi there, I also have had acne since an early age so i understand your pain; I cannot speak for everyone who has taken accutane however from my own experience i know how infuriating a moderate level of acne can be, i took accutane for 5 months with amazing results, by the end of treatment you can see a great improvement in your skin with no spots, cysts or blackheads whatsoever. During the process of getting the prescription neither my GP or dermatologist took my condition as a joke, they looked at me and my concerns seriously as they saw scarring from the acne (which allowed them to prescribe the accutane). Though asking for a prescription may seem daunting at first it was 100% worth the effort and my only regret was i didn't go for it earlier.
I can't really add much else on to whatever has been mentioned above; definitely go to your GP; as from the sounds of it your acne is quite severe and is having a substantial psychological impact on your life they'll probably prescribe you something first that's less potent than accutane. They might put you on antibiotics first then if that doesn't work refer you to a dermatologist. The reason accutane is reserved usually as a last resort is because it can damage the liver so if you were put on it you'd have to go in for liver tests
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