Any parents with teens taking Roaccutane?

[Lullington]

Dd1 is due to start a course of roaccutane at the end of July. Despite pushing for her to have it, I am now feeling a bit wobbly and so is she. Her acne is moderate to severe so I think it's the best thing and the dermatologist agrees.

She does a lot of sport and we are most worried about the aching joints side effects.

It would be great to hear from parents with kids taking or who have taken roaccutane.

She's 15.

DS 1 and 2 both had it ( so did I), they both suffered with joint pain but the lack of energy was worse. Even with all the other side effects it really was worth it.

Thank you. We are worried about that as she does a lot of competitive sport. However she will be at the beginning of her gcse year so probably not a bad idea to cut back on that anyway. Did they regain their energy once they stopped taking it? I am glad to hear that you think it was worth it.

I took Roaccutane for years, it was the only thing that cleared my acne and improved my self esteem. The only side effect I had was dry lips.

Ds is taking it. He has had four months worth so far and his skin is looking so very much better. He is now on a reduced dose for a final two months. His side effects have been nosebleeds (mild but almost daily) and very dry skin and lips. Ds plays quite a bit of sport including rugby, football and cycling and the roaccutane doesn't seem to have affected his energy or joints.

Yes Op, their energy levels did return. It really, really is worth it, I promise????.

Thank you so much. Can you remember how long it took to see an improvement?

If I remember correctly it got worse before it got better, so prepare him for that. Sorry can't remember how long it took.

I didn't get joint pain or tiredness. I did get dry skin and very, very dry lips. Also tummy aches which seemed to be related to taking it without eating.....the first couple of weeks acne got worse, so much better after that.

DS took it last year, just out of his teens. He had horrible cystic acne and is now cured.

The only problems he experienced were high cholesterol levels (now returned to normal) and dry mucous membranes and skin, both remedied easily with vaseline up the nose, lip balm (he used Carmex) and a good thick moisturiser used daily all over. Even his ears got chapped and his fingernails chipped easily.

He had no lack of energy, no joint pain. He was in university and walking all over campus to classes all day while carrying a rucksack of books and laptop, staying up late to study, on his feet for labs -- no issues with joints or fatigue.

His acne got slightly worse before the meds started kicking in. DS was on it for 13 months, exactly what the dermatologist predicted. The improvement could be seen after three months.

(Fool, you are supposed to take it with food that has some fat in it -- spoonful of ice cream, dab of cream, bread and butter, rasher, etc).