My Accutane Review

(Reblogged from literallyamurderer)

When this came up on my feed, I had to take a second and laugh at the sheer accuracy of this statement – this is totally the type of attitude I had when I was on Accutane and having to get my blood drawn every month.

It also got me thinking about Accutane and I felt like I should do a sort of summary and review of my experience with the drug. Hopefully this helps any of you who are thinking about taking it or are currently on it!

My Accutane Story:

When I first took Accutane, I was about 15 and had decided to go to the dermatologist after not having been for a long time. By this point in my life, I had tried multiple drugs and topicals to treat my skin, and nothing had worked. And, of course, my skin was getting worse because of my age and lack of experience dealing with the whole mess. When my derm suggested Accutane, I had no idea what it was, but he explained that it was the closest thing that modern medicine has to an acne cure. Unlike other acne treatments, Accutane is the only one which does not require maintenance – when it works, it does so by clearing your skin over a course of several months, and then you stop the drug: no indefinite prescriptions, daily creams, etc. Being a desperate teenager, I took the plunge then and there, and was taking the medication the next month (women have to wait one month to allow for blood work to be checked out).

After I did a full-dose, 6-month long course, my skin was clear, just as promised. However, a month or two later, everything started to come back. After struggling for a while, my derm and I decided to start a second course, which also lasted 6 months. Given how utterly stubborn my skin is, the results once again did not last, and I was back at square one.

So, speaking from these experiences, I bring you my general Accutane tips & advice!

• There are a lot of horror stories that go along with Accutane, but you will probably be okay. I say this because I know that people like to take to the internet to rant about Accutane and how it doesn’t work and how it gave them horrible side effects. All of these things may have been true for those people, but the drug is also relatively safe and the odds are that you will only experience minor side effects. Of course, talk to your doctor to make sure that you are aware of all of the possible side effects, that you aren’t predisposed to having worse side effects, and that the risk of side effects is outweighed by the possibility of a better quality of life for you in particular. Personally, I had very few side effects (chapped lips, dry eyes, etc.) and these were definitely worth taking a shot at the drug.
• Every day is your special day when you’re on Accutane. To minimize side effects while on Accutane, pamper yourself! Make sure you are drinking a ton of water, constantly applying lotion & Aquaphor where necessary, doing moderate/low pressure exercise, and you’re eating as healthy as possible. Talk to your doctor about the specific diet you should be on during Accutane to keep your triglycerides low and your body feeling better. Also, do not drink alcohol – even a little! Although you may think you can get away with drinking, just stick it out and your body will thank you for it later.
• The suicide/depression link is unclear. Although a correlation between Accutane intake and depression/suicide has been noted, there has not been serious study into whether Accutane actually causes depression. Since teens and adults with acne are more likely to be depressed as a result of anxiety and unhappiness about their skin, there is already a heightened suicide risk amongst them, and many dermatologists (including mine) think that there is probably no link between that and Accutane. That being said, make sure you have people in your life who are close to you and can support you if you find yourself in a tough situation and think that Accutane may be causing it.
• Your skin will not be happy, and it will not heal. Although actual blemishes and lesions may be disappearing from your skin real quick, that doesn’t mean that the redness and scars go away with them. In fact, Accutane will make these things worse by cutting down your body’s natural ability to heal. If your skin is scar-prone (mine, fortunately, is not), then you need to be especially careful. Even though my skin was entirely clear of any active lesions, I still needed to wear foundation every day because the dark spots left over on my skin were very noticeable and were not healing at all. For this reason, I never felt like I had really, truly clear skin at any point during or after my course. This isn’t the case for everyone, but keep it in mind as a possibility, and help your body out by eating foods that help its healing process (foods rich in Vitamin E and Zinc, for example).
• Think of it as neither a first resort, nor a last resort. Some patients and dermatologists approach Accutane as the absolute, final strategy for clearing their skin. Others don’t see this as being necessary, and will go for it before trying other options (seriously, some docs will try to prescribe it to you as soon as you walk through their door). However, I don’t think that either of these ideas are very good. For some people, waiting to try Accutane as a final result will mean that they have mangled skin by the time they take the drug, since they are very scar-prone. For other people, they might take Accutane even though a little Retin-A and a better lifestyle could take of their problems. When deciding when you should take Accutane, be realistic about your hopes and fears with it, weigh that against your current quality of life and other options you’ve tried, and then make an informed personal decision.
• Even though it’s strong, it’s not the strongest thing out there. Coming from someone who has taken two courses without any significant, lasting results, I believe that for some of us, Accutane is not going to be the strongest option. I’ve found that a clean, restricted diet and rejecting all topical medications has brought me success. Even though most people might think “If Accutane didn’t/doesn’t help me, then nothing will”, I haven’t found this to be true, so don’t put all of your hope into it as though there aren’t other options. Keep trying!

So, there are my tips. If you have questions about Accutane or any other issues, just shoot!