ds(20) had Roaccutane last year. He has been through the usual antibiotics and topical creams with the GP and was doing ok on DUAC when the GP changed him to EpiDUO and is acne erupted and switching back to DUAC didn't work either (GP said switch was needed due to antibiotic resistance, Pharmacy said it would have been due to cost as EpiDUO cheaper and not reason he couldn't have stayed on DUAC if it was working).
It happened really quickly and over a few weeks every inch of his face was covered in big red angry spots, his neck, shoulders, chest and back were bad too and one GP referred him to dermatology for roaccutane but said the waiting list was long.
We took the referral to a private dermatologist last October. Consultations were paid for by my work healthplan, we paid for the cost of the medication through private prescriptions. He had 4 weeks x 20mg and 18 weeks x 70mg and the total cost to buy the medication was around £500 (GPs cannot issue prescriptions for roaccutane, it can only be done by a dermatologist). He also initially had some steriods to reduce inflammation before starting and some cream for his lips which the private dermatologist sent to his GP to issue prescriptions for.
It is a long course, for him the side effects were significantly worsening acne until at least after Christmas, some dry skin which was ok, but on his lips it was really painful, they were cracked, dry and swollen, the corners of his mouth had large unsightly dry cracked areas. He looked terrible and I am so proud of his pragmatic attitude through the whole thing, still getting out there doing things when his face was such a mess. He never had any MH issues, but at one point did feel very tired and rundown, but that passed within a few weeks.
Around January/February we saw improvements and no new spots appearing, but the red scars were still there, and his lips continued to be dry and cracked.
His skin was clear of new spots by April when he stopped the treatment. It didn't take long for his lips to heal, he still has red scars on face and body, but he was been on holiday recently and has a light tan and his skin looks much better.
He finally got a call from the NHS to make an appointment with dermatology just last week - 10 months since his referral - which we declined. I dread to think what state his skin and the scarring would have been in if we had waiting and feel for the kids whose parents don't have work healthcare and/or the funds to go private.
Be aware if you go private there may be a waiting list. When we first tried in October the first appointment was in January, we called every day asking if there was any cancellations, once there was but someone else has nabbed before they could book it, and we managed to get a one a few days later. They told us there are so many people going private now because of the NHS waiting lists they are struggling to keep up with demand.