To go private to get ds accutane

[coffeegirl73]

He’s been battling acne for a few years now and has asked to go on accutane. His friend had even worse skin and went on it and he looks fine now. So went through the doctor etc after having tried all different creams and antibiotics etc over the years. Referral made to dermatologist. More than a years waiting list. GP said wait or go private. I feel so sorry for ds his face looks terrible. He’s in year 12. Does anyone know how you go about going private? I do t know where to start. I don’t know if I could afford it. I know they need blood tests when they go on it. Would I have to pay for the medication and all those extra things. Can anyone explain the system to me. Am Irish where it’s easy enough to go private you just ring up the consultant. But I’m not sure how it works here?

I hope you don’t tell him that his face looks terrible.

You can get it from Skindoc or Benenden hospital. Or you could ask your GP for a in person NHS dermatologist referral, they can prescribe it but there may be a waiting list. They will also have lists of private dermatologists.

Roaccutane comes with a whole myriad of side effects so it’s worth talking through with the doctor first.

It’s around two thousand for a complete course, not including paying for appointments. He may need more than one full course, around 50% of people do.

bear in mind it might not work for him though.

Probably out of my price range. So a private consult is around 250 but I thought he could give us an nhs script? No I’ve tried so many things with ds - he’s given up sugar and dairy, he’s done the antibiotics and the special prescription creams. His friend got a referral straight away within a couple of weeks. I just worry it’s affecting him. He has started staying at home a lot and not meeting up with his friends. Even in school he tells me he goes to the library a lot rather than hang out in the 6th form centre. A year seems a long way off

I took him to a skin clinic when we found out it was a year to wait and they started him on a range called environ. Honestly though I’m not sure how much good it’s done. It was expensive. It’s a course of vitamins for gut health and then a skin regime morning and night. Had great reviews but can’t see a big change yet anyway

No, a private consultant cannot give an NHS script for anything.

They don’t give you NHS prescriptions but they can provide a letter for your GP with their consulting details and the information of the treatment prescribed. The GP can then issue the prescription. Have just done this for my DD (also can’t get NHS appointment for dermatology here either, so much so that even the private dermatologist has a three month waiting list). However, that is only for relatively simple contraceptive alternative, antibiotics and topical treatment. The NHS is not under any obligation to do so and Accutane is a very different thing and I presume they would want to do their own consult as it requires careful monitoring.

That’s not strictly true. A private consultant can ask the GP is issue an NHS prescription on their advice (if they are happy to). My private endo gets my GP to do an NHS prescription for meds. I’ve had two different private ebdis do this for three different medications. I do suspect it depends what the medication is though. .

For anything related to acne treatment* I should’ve said.

you will have to pay for roaccutane if given by a private doctor

I used Dermatica, it’s online - I found it very good. Worth having an online consultation with them anyway. Think it’s about £25 a month

I had a course of roaccutane a couple of years ago privately - in total is cost me just over £1000. It was the monthly blood tests and appts that bumped the price rather than the cost of the medication itself. I tried 5 different prescribed medications before roaccutane as well as every over the counter item and cutting out food groups etc but nothing else worked as it was hormonal acne. Best money I ever spent. Just be aware of the side effects

Sounds like it’s beginning to affect him mentally and I’m not surprised. Acne has nothing to do with diet. Go back to the doc with him and he needs to say it’s affecting his day to day life. Push for a prescription sooner I can’t understand if you’ve seen the dermatologist through the gp why they wouldn’t then do blood work and prescribe

Roaccutane is such a brilliant medication and my DS had the same problem in Y12. He sailed through it and had not had a single problem with bad skin since (now 25). Not helpful, but this was before the NHS became a total shambles.

It’s clearly affecting his MH

He is begging you to get him Accutane ASAP

You have to go private

His acne will be clear in 2-3 months

Please get it for him asap @coffeegirl73

NHS GP’s in UK cannot prescribe roaccutane themselves. OP will have to either pay to go private or wait on a waiting list to see an NHS dermatologist to prescribe it which may take a while as Op says. She hasn’t seen dermatologist, she’s had referral and is on waiting list. She wants it now she will have to go private.

In Scotland the prescription is only filled by hospital pharmacy and only 1 month at a time. Although that time frame might be female only as you require a monthly pregnancy test before each new prescription.

I was on it a few years ago.

Have you tried the online dermatologists like Skin&Me and Dermatica? They do a consultation with photos and it's around £25 a month.

Hi op we go to our gp in Dublin for my son. Slow process. Only thing costs fortune will only give him month of it then bloods again.. a money racket. As regards improvement he got told takes time.

We had it privately for my child as their acne was so bad-I think it was about £180 for each consult and £200 a month for the Roaccutane-worth every penny. I’d have gone into debt if I’d needed to

As OP has tried loads of topical stuff from GP, they’ve probably tried most if not all of the ingredients skin and me offer for acne.

I would do this if money is a difficulty

if he’s desperate maybe ask him for ways he can help you fundraise, eg car boot, mow lawns etc to help contribute

Don’t bother buying expensive vitamins and non-evidence based skincare routines. With acne this bad it’s not going to work. If you can possibly afford it then try and pay for roacccutaine. It only takes a few months to work and if it flares up again after that you will have the NHS appointment. This is worth sacrificing other things for if you can- it will be having such an impact on his confidence.

Oh bless him, acne is bloody horrible and especially as it is a teenage affliction when their self consciousness / ego can be delicate,
it’s well known how acne can affect mental health, and it is in the NICE guidelines that impact on mental health and social functioning is taking into the assessment and treatment planning for acne -
I would contact your surgery
ask to see the GP in your surgery with the best knowledge about treating acne,
GP’s can be very varied in how much they know about up to date treatment regimes -
get GP treatment
ask for that dermatologist referral - emphasis how it is impacting on his wellbeing and he is isolating himself from peers etc ..
look into going private,
they often have payment plans or do an interest free loan,

my DD has struggled with acne,
finally after phone appts and several GPs was seen F2F by a GP with special interest in acne -
he said all previous prescriptions were useless
she’s been put on Erythmycine 2 tablets twice a day,
Adapalene
and we were told to buy :
cerave skin wash
cerave moisturiser
clinisoothe skin purifier spray
and
panoxyl overnight patches -

would have referred for accutane but mental health has been problematic in recent past, so not suitable

we are seeing improvements !!

hope that helps x

Our DS started in year 11, GP was useless and we went private -14 months later and £1200 it’s completely gone and he looks amazing.

Apart from the look of it, my Ds said it was the pain and the feeling that there were mites running under the skin that made him feel unwell. When he finished treatment he was more confident and has very little scarring

our GP did the blood test for us

My child had both - a private prescription from a private clinic (we have health insurance through DH job) just around the time the NHS came through with the dermatology appointment. Private script would have cost around £100 a month for lowest dose. Child got the NHS prescription and it worked well, we can see improvement but unfortunately blood tests came back with raised fatty liver deposits (a possibility side effect) and they can't take anymore. Child disappointed but philosophical - a spotty face is far less serious than liver problems!

I'd look into tretinoin whilst waiting for the NHS referral. It is prescription only, but you can get it via Dermatica without seeing a doctor and they have various sign up offers which makes it relatively cheap. I think mine works out about £12 a month.