Roaccutane

[SheStoodInTheStorm]

Has anyone been on Roaccutane?
Seems like people either rave about it or are very critical of it.

I've had acne for fifteen+ years and I have had enough.

Have they changed how Roaccutane is prescribed Liiinoo? I honestly thought that it was only available through a Dermatologist.... but its been 18 years since i was prescribed it....

Dianette and Yasmin are also good for clearing up acne, OP should you wish to look at an alternative.

As I remember it was her GP prescribed it but I could be wrong. Maybe it was the dermatologist. In which case it is more understandable he wasn't fully aware of her MH history. This was about 3 years ago.

lego sorry to hear that. It seems there is no acne treatment which doesn't cause severe issues for a small minority of people.

Isotretonoin has to be prescribed by a dermatologist and the screening is very thorough. They wouldn't ask about MH issues in the wider family though. AFAIK depression is not normally hereditary.

I have had 1 1/2 courses but the first course was the wrong dose (it was relatively newly available and my derm was very cautious) and for too short a period so it recurred but not as bad as before and after about a year. This course has been interrupted because of a fuck-up with my appointments so I haven't hadn't it for a few months which is very annoying. This time it cleared up after only 2-3 months but I've been off it for a similar time and am getting small ones back.
I had dry lips and nose but nothing I couldn't manage. I've felt a bit anxious but that's not unusual for me and I suffer from joint pains normally and haven't noticed them be much worse. It's such a joy being able to pop to the shops without makeup and to go swimming - I was too embarrassed before as I'd have to take my makeup off.
Totally worth it for me, main downsides have been practical - having to have monthly blood tests and appointments is really tricky when working FT.

I'm on it. My dermatologist increases it slowly and has you on it for longer- she reckons that way the side effects are better tolerated and the acne is less likely to come back. The maximum (which is the target) is 1mg/kg but they started me at 1/3 of that and increase by 10mg/month. If at any point the side effects get too bad we'll step back and stay on it longer. I expect to be on it for 6-8 months as this seems to have a longer term effect on the oil producing glands.
So far I'm on half the dose. Skin is a bit dry in a "been for a walk on a windy day" sort of way, lips the same. I only need to wash my hair a couple of times a week when I usually need to every day. AWESOME!

I was on it a couple of years ago, after seeing my sister go through a course a few years previously. I was already under the care of the MH team for depression and anxiety, but they were happy to support me through it.
The difference it made was amazing! I used to yawn and spots would burst, or be in tears when my baby scratched at my face. I'd had acne since a teen which got loads worse during pregnancy and didn't clear up.
I had minimal side effects, no MH side effects were noted, I had drier skin which was quite a novelty really, dry lips and nose, but nothing horrendous.
I do still get spots but we are thinking about a second child so will wait until after and see what effect pregnancy has this time.
I know have so much confidence than I ever did before, which in turn has massively improved my mental health. We were also made well aware, the the GP, the dermatologist and the hospital pharmacist about all potential side effects so if you have a good team there shouldn't be any surprises.

I had it aged 30. Best thing I ever did. Had been suffering with acne since age 11. I am slightly more sensitive to the sun but that's it. My skin was dry when I was taking it. I used dermalogica face products & different lip balm (a lot!) - q possibly blistex - but I reckon now aveeno blue cream would do the trick. I have clear skin all the time. Dsis had it at about 17. Her acne was worse than mine. She's q scarred on her cheeks. She swears by it too.

If our dc's have inherited our skin we will push for referrals to dermatologist instead of just letting the gp prescribe rubbish stuff that never worked. Dermatologist tried lots of different things for me before roaccutabe. It was a last resort but life changing.

I did have a bit of a bad back but it could have been the Mini Cooper I was driving at the time & it was really only when I did long drives to meetings & then drove back in the one day. Defo worth it. Xx

Should say I'm 44 & ds is 40 shortly. It's a well established treatment x

Ive had two courses of roaccutane but the acne always came back. My acne is hormonal and they only thing that has worked for me long term is a combo of BCP and spironolactone which gives me perfectly clear skin. Some people can use spiro on its own without the pill. Worth looking into if your acne is clustered around your chin and mouth as whilst roaccutane gives amazing results it could be a short term thing.

DD was put on Roaccutaine at 16 for dreadful acne. She got the usual very dry skin/lips and was anxious/self harming. It cleared the acne amazingly well.
The thing no one is too sure about though is that when she was 18 she started with what doctors at uni misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome. It took 5 years for her increasingly worsening symptoms to be correctly diagnosed as ulcerative colitis, which she has had ever since.

There is no history on either side of the family of bowel disorders and up to then DD was a very healthy teenager. There is a link between Roaccutane and inflammatory bowel disease and a lot of legal action in the US where it is alleged that the drug has caused IBD. None of DD's consultants can be sure that Roaccutane was or was't a trigger of hers or not but thought I'd mention it. because it has really had a devastating effect on her and she is now on immunosurpressant injections for it.

I've just started a course and looking forward to seeing the results! I've had no side effects so far but I'm only a week in so I expect that'll change.

I personally wouldn't do it unless it really was the last resort.

Having said that, I have a colleague at work who says it's great, she only takes it for a few months then she's acne free for at least a couple of years, then goes back on it again when the acne comes back. The only side effects for her are dry skin which is rectified by regular moisturiser in her case. Her skin is very clear although she has a lot of scarring so I am guessing it used to be pretty bad.

I wouldn't don't know how to put a link in but Google Jack Bowlby, tragically hanged himself links to taking this drug

I took it!
7 month course, 1 yr ago.
Amazing results. Still get some spots during period but much less and not as big/red/sore, and only limited to face rather than face, neck, back.
No depression (my doc did say there was no direct link, that some people suffer from depression and sometimes those people take roaccutane) however I did get terrible, horrendous joint pain that left me unable to move, and I put on a bit of weight as a result.

My dh and his brother both took Roaccutane in their teens, and my ds is taking it now, he's almost finished a 6 mths course. All 3 got the usual side effects of dry skin etc but that was it, and it worked brilliantly to clear up their skin. If you could see the difference between my ds back in March and now you would be astounded. It's a miracle drug in my opinion. Our dermatologist said that in 29 years of prescribing it he'd never had to take a patient off it for side effects.

it had to be prescribed by a specialist and there were many times that they strongly disagreed with the specialist's decision

Well they are GPs not dermatologists so why would they think they know better?

I took roaccutane. I'd suffered acne for over 10 years. Within weeks my skin was clear and has been since (15 years). I had one side effect - that I no longer had to wash my greasy hair every day. That's it, not a single other side effect for me.

Took it as a teenager and it was genuinely life changing. Aside from dry lips no unpleasant side effects. Had really terrible acne at the time. Almost 20 years later and it has never returned.

My (nhs) gp referred dd to a (nhs) dermatologist. She was more than happy to prescribe it. As I've said before she had only one patient in over 20 years who had to stop it. I would have no hesitation in taking it myself and wish it had been an option when I was in my teens!

It has and a lot of bad press and is only prescribable in secondary care and only dispensed from hospital pharmacies. the main reason for that is the very high risk of fetal abnormalities if women get pregnant whilst taking it. As a GP it is a drug we were traditionally taught was for the most severe, treatment resistant acne.

It is, however, important to differentiate between teen and adult acne. If you are a teen with mild to moderate acne which partially responds to treatment then it is important to remember that it will probably go away eventually and as such the risks of isotretinoin have to be carefully weighed against that. Mental health problems often present in teen years and teens with acne often have low mood. A causal link has never been established (and it isn't a new drug) but people are wary of it. As an adult, if it hasn't already gone away, or you've got it for the first time, there's no reason why it would suddenly disappear. First line treatments are less likely to work so isotretinoin becomes a more useful option. Having skin like a teenager when you are in your 20s or 30s has psychological effects too.

No one can say how it will be for you, what side effects it will have. You do need to have a conversation about the risks and weigh up what they mean for you in terms of potential benefit. There are a lot of people who say it has changed or saved their life.

Dd had to take antibiotics for 6 months before they would prescribe it. She took them for 18 months and nothing helped, it got worse and worse

Taybert - that's interesting. I first took Roaccutane around the age of 30 having suffered from the age of 16. And I mean suffered! I had it on my face, neck, chest and back and was on antibiotics for the best part of 14 years apart from the few I took off to dabble in homeopathic remedies (complete waste of time and money). Mine clearly wasn't going anywhere without radical intervention!

Yeah, if you've been on a treatment for 14 years and still have spots something needs to change!