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Original poster

Did your DC take Roaccutane, and how old were they?

35 replies

DaphneCraneMoon · 28/03/2023 17:07

Roaccutane is being suggested for two of my kids - both have quite bad acne and both are very down about it :(

I know some people who've taken it, but only as adults. My kids are 15 and 13. Has anyone else had a child taken it this young, and was it OK? I'm so nervous because of the possible side effects, but I also want to help them and none of the other treatments has worked so far.

Many thanks in advance.

OP posts:
Ardmac1 · 28/03/2023 17:16

Hi Op. My son was nearly 19 when he started taking it. Took it for six months - acne completely cleared up and hasn’t returned. I was also nervous about the side effects, hence the delay, but I really regret not moving to it sooner. He was not too bothered but I think it would have made a difference to his confidence as the teenage years are tough anyway. He didn’t suffer any side effects other than very dry skin.

Original poster
DaphneCraneMoon · 28/03/2023 17:20

Thanks so much, @Ardmac1 . So glad your DS had a good experience of it. My kids are currently developing scarring, and are upset about it as their skin doesn't clear up even when the active spots are in a down-phase. So I'm thinking that there would be advantages to doing it sooner...

OP posts:
Nodney · 28/03/2023 17:25

I have the same dilemma with my 15 year old. Watching with interest

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Beauty Children's health General health
bizzey · 28/03/2023 17:26

DS was about that age when he started taking it .
Like pp the dry skin was his worse side effect
Aveeno cream was his prefererd moisturizer.
I use to give him a small tube to take to school.
And a small suncream .
The skin is very prone to burning even in just a hint of sun !

bizzey · 28/03/2023 17:28

They do liver function blood tests every 2 months so I was glad DS had finished before he got introduced to beers !!

Greenfinch7 · 28/03/2023 17:28

My daughter took it twice, at 14 and at 15 or 16. It helped her acne so much, but didn't completely fix the problem. She was so so much happier and felt like a different person with it. Side effect was very dry skin.

steppingcarefully · 28/03/2023 17:29

My sons both had roaccutane at the age of 14/15. They did suffer very dry skin but apart from that they had no other side effects and it cleared the acne. One does have some scarring but that is fading over time.

Kay286 · 28/03/2023 17:30

My daughter took age 16, it completely
cleared her skin to immaculate! however left her extremely dry to the point her lips looked like crust ! It affected her mood and left very low and she barely had any appetite, really struggled to even force an apple and cereal bar down in a whole day.

unfortunately her skin has got bad again, she is 19 and has said she wouldn’t take it again due to the affect on her mood (which is especially a delicate age experiencing low mood in teenage years)

Beamur · 28/03/2023 17:32

My DSS was mid teens? Now late 20's.
His skin was getting him down and this cleared it up. No scarring and his skin is fine now.

bizzey · 28/03/2023 17:34

Oh yes .
DS had a tub of vaseline for his lips as well.

Titsywoo · 28/03/2023 17:34

I took it at 16. Only side effects really were very very dry skin - my lips were very sore. It worked well but came back after I stopped it (not as badly though).

Revengeofthepangolins · 28/03/2023 17:34

Da2 was offered it at 14 and I was nervous as it felt young, then loads of appointments ts were cancelled for covid so he finally got it at newly 17 and now he has scars.

Go for it.

MistyFrequencies · 28/03/2023 17:35

My sister was14. She got very depressed. It really impacted her mood. Cleared her acne but she was happier with it. So just really closely watch their moods if they do devide to take it.

chosenone · 28/03/2023 17:35

My DS was 16, 6 Months with does increasing in the latter months. Took a while to work, very dry skin and lips a few nose bleeds. Regular liver checks were fine as he hadn’t started drinking then. I think it’s better sooner than later tbh.

Cherrybl0ssm · 28/03/2023 17:44

Yes, aged 15 and 16. Really helped a lot, their skin was transformed:
They each had different side affects.
Dc1 very dry nose and toes and prone to nosebleeds.
Dc 2 very dry lips and prone to infections between nail bed and fingers.
But with carefulness both were not so frequent and worth it for the results.
Now they have both finished the course of treatment. DC 1 has had a couple of spots but I think it’s stress related and really un noticeable.
They and I are happy they did the treatment

Cherrybl0ssm · 28/03/2023 17:46

Ooh and sunburn - spf every day.
Apparently the research on depression and Roaccutane is not conclusive. I still kept a close eye anyway.

DoctorMartin · 28/03/2023 17:51

Both mine took it at 14 and 18. It worked brilliantly in both cases and side effects were minimal, in fact some of them they liked - only having to wash their hair once a week for instance!

I would say take the plunge - they monitor them very closely throughout. Younger is better in some ways as you can't drink so it was a bit of a pain for DD at university for six months.

AllGoingSouth · 28/03/2023 18:10

My DS started taking at 16 - has just stopped taking as was suffering from extreme tiredness. Cleared spots on back really well but was still getting spots on face. They looked worse as had such dry skin. He is back on antibiotics until after his GCSE's when he can decide if he wants to start taking it again. At the moment he is not sure if the pain is worth it

bizzey · 28/03/2023 18:16

2 threads on Roaccutaneat the moment!
Other thread is in chat .
Sorry don

bizzey · 28/03/2023 18:17

(can't even type either !!)
Can't link but it is in Chat

bizzey · 28/03/2023 18:19

Ahhh !
This IS chat !
The other one is in General Health.

TaLooLaBell · 28/03/2023 18:21

We are at this point with DS who is 17 but I've been really worried about side effects

Leafytrees · 28/03/2023 18:24

I took it at 13/14 25 years ago and it totally cleared my acne. My skin has been much, much clearer ever since and I got away with minimal scarring.

Looking back, I do wonder whether it made me depressed as a teenager, but it's hard to say. I'd let one of my children take it because improving my skin improved my life immeasurably, but I would watch their mood and keep track through something like a mood diary.

ScreenPrinting · 28/03/2023 18:27

Not quite your question OP so apologies but wanted to post.
i took accutane age 21 and again age 30.
one of the best things I ever did. My skin was ruining my life. Nothing else worked. It sorted it within weeks first time and didn’t have a spot again for years, let alone the cystic acne I was plagued with before.
cystic acne returned age 30 and I took accutane again, I’ve not had a cystic spot since (I’m now mid 40s)
if my DD (currently age 9) were to suffer the same bad skin as I did, I would get a dr to prescribe accutane as soon as they were happy to do so. No question.
I know it’s a powerful drug but cystic acne as bad as mine was can cause extremely serious mental health side effects. It took over my life for almost a year. Utterly miserable.
i wouldn’t hesitate if it were my teenage DD

Original poster
DaphneCraneMoon · 28/03/2023 18:31

Thank you all so much for the responses. I would like to reply individually, but too many! But I'm reading every response and taking it in. So helpful.

On balance of responses, it seems a cautious, heavily-monitored "go for it" may be in order...

OP posts:
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