POSITIVE roacutane stories please

[mrssunshinexxx]

Seeing a dermatologist in a few weeks have suffered back acne for Aslong as I can remember tried all the creams and tablets. It either doesn't work or works for a few weeks then comes back in certain it's hormonal as only time it's clear is when pregnant.
Going to discuss roacutane with the doctor but would love some success stories as everywhere I look I read negative about it which is scaring me equally don't want to have my head in the sand but it must work for some people.
I know it's a 5 month course
Can dry your eyes / nose/ skin out badly

My questions are can it really work as in could I never experience acne again?
Could I go on holiday whilst taking it or is the sun going to be avoided ? ( hot abroad temps)

It worked miracles for me. My skin, lips and nose lining were incredibly dry and cracked. I couldn’t use any normal products or make up. It was so worth i would do it again in a heartbeat.

it. I absolutely had to be on the pill, but other reliable forms are also allowed eg iud and injection and ideally 2 forms of contraceptive. I’d be very surprised if they allow a barrier method. You have to have pregnancy tests before during and after. I see the NICE guidelines are now effective form of contraceptive that prevents human error - so injection or implant or IUD. So do expect to discuss this.

@JoeMaplin thanks will see what they say I really
Hope they will just
Go with the pill as I don't want something long term in me when the course likely will last 5 months

Yes they were a slightly lower daily dose and I only just reached the recommended mg/kg body weight over the course (which included me asking for an extra month). The third course I was well above that. With my two private courses, I met the recommended dose and to be honest looking back, my skin was pretty decent afterwards but I was a bit picky about it. I don’t think I’ve had a single pustle type spot since a few months into the first private course.

That's great thanks @Flamingo68 do you think I'm going to have a hard time getting them to put me on it in the first place?

They are very clear about contraception. I was celibate at the time and they sort of accepted that , but I was going privately and I had to sign a waiver that confirmed I fully understood. I was told at the time that I would be required to have a medical termination in the event of pregnancy.

@snackprovidersupreme I would be happy to sign a waiver I would not continue with a pregnancy whereby a child would have birth defects so bad it would have n o quality of life. To add I've been with my husband 10 years and we've never fallen pregnant outside the 2 times we were trying and haven't been on contraception the rest of that time

It saved my sanity. It absolutely did. I'd tried everything (as you have to before they'll prescribe it) but nothing made a difference.

Roaccutane took me from a self isolating bowl of lumpy scarlet porridge (which is exactly how I saw myself, although now I look back at photos I wasn't) to having the confidence to live my life.

For context, I was told several times by different people that I was the spottiest person they'd ever seen.

It took a couple of months to kick in, and my skin carried on improving for months after the course was over. I had completely clear skin afterwards - at 40 I think I've had maybe half a dozen spots over the last 25 years, if that!

Side effects: my hair thinned fairly dramatically, although it still looks normal. My joints aches, and I got a LOT of nose bleeds, until I started rubbing Vaseline up my nose with a cotton bud. And thrush, because everything dries up a bit. But it was so, so worth it. It genuinely changed my life.

It's amazing! I didn't have any problems being in the sun either as long as I wore sunscreen.

I’ve used it twice, both times I gave up after a few months because I couldn’t deal with it anymore.
It’s not necessarily 5 months course, it could be longer. You have to take a certain dose, that may be a low amount each day for a long time to get there, or a high amount for less time to get there. I personally struggled on the higher amounts and got depressed, in addition to all the pains and other difficulties. I underestimated the mood impacts of it, But I was fairly down about my skin anyway before hand so I would’ve taken it anyway. I do have some pains now that I hadn’t noticed before and worry about long term damage.
My skin isn’t perfect now, but maybe that’s because I didn’t finish the course. However I would say it’s a normal amount of spots (ie a couple of hormonal spots, or if I’m a bit run down, but never loads) and it’s not something I think about any more and perhaps I take that for granted now. I’m certainly a lot more confident now.

I would also say in hindsight I found I was doing absolutely everything wrong for my skin (ie rough soaps and cleansers, to strip oils that actually aggravated the acne) and now I treat it better, so I would look into that more too, with someone that really understands skin care. but I do think the accutane had long term impacts anyway.
when my skin wasn’t dry, it was glorious whilst I was on it, so that was nice too.
i know I’ve not been overwhelmingly positive here, but I have mixed feelings about it, I do think it’s easy to forget how much it used to impact me, so maybe in itself that’s evidence of what a change the medication made.

My acne was likely hormonal but still had roaccutane. It was magic. It was a tough 6 months ( I ended up reducing the dosage over a longer period as I struggled with the symptoms) but it was worth it. 7 years ago and my skin is still very clear, I am starting to get one or 2 around my period again now so I might look to do a second dose if they'll let me, I've heard it can take 2 doses to make it really stick.

I've got Rosacea, but the symptoms can be similar to acne, and the treatments are the same. About 15 years ago, after trying every single treatment available, I was finally prescribed Roaccutane. It was unbelievable! Within 3 days there was some improvement. In about 2 weeks, other people noticed the difference. Yes, I had dry nostrils, eyes and mouth - I Vaseline, used eye drops, drank lots of water and used lip balm. The results were outstanding! I'd recommend it.

Do not be forced to take a hormonal contraceptive for it, you're a grown woman and the pill has pretty serious side effects in itself that I refuse to put myself through ever again, I will be damned if a medical professional forced me onto a hormonal contraceptive for it. I had the coil and that sufficed (though I have no intention of getting that again either) this time DH is snipped, but it is MY decision what I go on, it's laughable how strict they are with roaccutane but how they give the pill out like it's a vitamin to children with very limited advice (because no one gives a shit about women's health, just pregnancies pissing off men!)

I took roaccutane at age 19 for horrible, cystic acne. Now age 40. Massively impacted my self confidence as a teenager.

Dry skin ++ as a side effect and no problems with mood for me.

It also made my hair curly (it is a known side effect!).

My skin isn't perfect by any means, still a few spots each month. But from where it was it's drastically better and I was probably at risk of significant scarring if it had carried on as it was.

Best of luck with it all.

My daughter had Roaccutane for 5 months when she was 16. As she was sexually active even though she was on the pill, she had to take a pregnancy test at the appointment before they would give her the next lot of pills. Her skin has remained blemish free and she's delighted. Her only side effects were dry lips and skin.

My son has just started and it's already working well, he only has dry lips as a side effect.

You do need to keep an eye on your mental health during the treatment but my daughter was fine and my son seems fine so far.

My dh was sterile after chemo and I had to do a pg test just incase I had another sexual partner who was fertile.

This really resonated with me. The psychological impact of acne is so important to consider as part of treatment. I really hated my appearance and remember vividly unkind comments made at school even 25 years later. I'm glad it worked so well for you too!

@DrLucyVanPelt the psychological effects genuinely cannot be overstated. You take your face everywhere you go.

My course was 16 weeks, incidentally, which at the time was the standard. Dosage based on weight.

@heetud I had the coil and that sufficed (though I have no intention of getting that again either) this time DH is snipped, but it is MY decision what I go on

You are absolutely correct, it’s 100% your decision. It’s also 100% the clinicians decision whether they are comfortable to prescribe it to someone. It’s not that they don’t give a shit about women’s health, it’s that they need to balance this with the many shits they give about potentially deformed babies and their duty of care in this regard.

Worked really well for me - now I get maybe 1 or 2 spots a year. But I do think you would have to give the holiday a miss.

While I normally agree about autonomy in women’s health, if you see the types of deformities isotretinoin can cause in babies, you’ll see why they are so hard-core about this.

@CormoranEllacott I know all about it, I've been on it, that is still not a reason to force hormonal contraceptives, we are adults; information, waivers, pregnancy tests all fine, but you simply cannot force a woman onto a form of contraception she does not want to, that is inhumane and treating her like a child. If it was the other way around they wouldn't force a man onto the male pill.

@HoppingPavlova no it's about not trusting women, if a woman says she is celibate that should suffice, WE ARE NOT CHILDREN, they wouldn't do it to a man if there was an equivalent situation and you bloody well know it. The evidence against hormonal contraceptives is pretty bloody awful too but they absolutely give no fucks, no one cares about mental or reproductive health in women.

Forcing hormonal contraceptives if a woman has said she doesn't require them and not allowing her medical care without forcing it is abhorrent, and I won't be convinced otherwise.

@heetud what rubbish. It would be exactly the same if men gestated babies, and I do know that. Contrary to your belief the medical fraternity is not anti-women and men can do no wrong. Personally, I wouldn’t prescribe to either sex if both gave birth unless there were other methods in place. It’s in no way about not trusting women. I’m a woman. I trust women. But I have also, professionally, come across a LOT of women who have surprise pregnancies who are super confused how it happened as ‘they had it sorted iron clad’. Most medical professionals will have had the same experience. So, it’s not about not trusting, it’s really a safeguard for the woman, a potential baby and yourself as the prescriber.

Again, no one is forcing you to take anything you don’t want. Don’t make out that’s the case. But clinicians do have a right not to prescribe if they believe there are risks.

I’m sorry if this doesn’t match with your ‘the medical fraternity hate women and pander to men’ bollocks.

By the way, I’ve also had a married woman who had given birth to four children, who were biologically hers and with no artificial assistance (ivf etc), tell me she was a virgin. And she believed it. I’m not ashamed to say I didn’t trust what she was telling me at all.

But mainly, as I said, I’ve just had way too many women who were genuinely surprised they could be pregnant given they honestly believed they had their birth control sorted.

I used it at 23, it cleared up my acne and I was on dianette pill as well as mine was hormonal. Came off the pill when I was 25 and my acne came back with a vengance. I now use estro-block supplements with a good liver supplement as well and this has cleared up my hormonal outbreaks.