acne

[Stockman27]

Hi has anybody tried the medication called ROACCUTANE /Isotretinoin. our 14 year old daughter has acne. She has tried the usual 1st and 2nd line treatments. Now this drug/ Medication. My fears were hightened when the pharmacy called me and asked me to come in to discuss this med. He went on to say about Pregnancy but we are assured that my daughter is not active in that area. But then the bombshell he informed me there has been a lot of instances where the patient get depression and self harm. Our daughter has been on the med for around a month and had just started the bigger dose. Her school called me and said that she has burst into tears in the class and wanted to end her life. That night was the same and
the next day. I have taken her down to the low dose and she is a lot better. I want to stop the med but she wants to carry on with the drug incase her acne comes back. The precribing DR has said he has never seen this efffect but suffing the net there are lots of reports of this meds causing problems and there has in the USA loss of life due to this med. any help regards john C

If you do a search on here there are quite a few threads about roaccutane/accutane/isotretinoin. I've done quite a lot of research into it. Unfortunately depression and self harm seem to be fairly common side effects. Hopefully someone with more experience will come along to reply to you.

Hiya - I’m sorry to hear about your daughter. Mine had quite bad acne on her cheeks. I am sure the acne itself drastically affected her mood and confidence so it’s hard to know whether the drug is too.
I’m afraid I’m not qualified to comment on the medicine but this is what my daughter did. She had a short antibiotic course at one point when infection bad on skin. She was prescribed an antibacterial face wash from doctors and she uses it religiously morning and night still. She went on pill - this also helped her moods. She uses a moisteriser called Fresh rose range but I think any non oily light one would work - but it is important still to use one. I bought her a light mask on Amazon and changed her pillow cases regularly. My mum bought her a silk one which seems to have also helped. Encouraged her to drink lots of water, eat well and cut down chocolate and a skincare supplement. I know it sounds a lot! But after 10 months it has pretty much gone. Just a few tiny marks on her cheek. Her mood as improved a lot too with it. She always said the acne never bothered her but she stopped taking pics with her friends and now it’s better she is different so I do think it had some affect. Hope there’s some ideas here that could help - good luck

Hi, I have no kids but can speak from the point of someone who took it about 30 years ago.

I had incredibly bad cystic acne and taking Roaccutane was an absolute game changer.

Very harsh drug but you're looked after by a dermatologist and have appointments regularly so you're monitored very very closely.

It made such a positive difference to my teenage years.

DD had it and it completely cured his acne, which was quite severe, when nothing else would. He was so glad to have had it. There are some side effects which they talk you through. They may require your DD to use contraception even if she assures them she does not require it. Depression is a rare side effect, but obviously a very worrying one. DS just had some problems with dry skin and weaker skin causing ingrowing toenails. Nothing too bad. Be aware that it takes a few weeks to work, during which time the acne gets worse not better, which is really tough. But it was so much the right thing for DS. He became so much more confident once he didn't look like a puss covered mess!