Accutane - Wwyd?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just do accutanr. It got a bad rap years ago. It's the only thing that works.

+1

[Anonymous]

My mother wouldn’t let me do it when I was begging for help. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. Finally at 20 I was able, but it was too late. My face is permanently scarred.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did you go to a dermatologist if you’re going to disregard what she tells you?

I came out thinking we'd do it. Then I researched it more and I am scared of side effects. I would not hesitate if his acne were truly awful and he were asking to do it, but he is on the fence as well. I also don't think he will be great about sunscreen.

Well then he shouldn’t use retin an either if he won’t do sunscreen!
I would strongly urge you to do it. I know a couple of people with scarring on their cheeks and it really sucks.
Yes there are serious side effects but you can monitor and go off if necessary. In a couple cases I would be hesitant (mental health problems or IBS/Crohns) but for a healthy child I think it’s worth it.

DS is a lifeguard (generally good about sunscreen) but we specifically chose to do Accutane during the winter. He did it December-May. 2 years later his skin looks great and the scarring is mostly gone. We put it off for years, and wish we had done it sooner.

[Anonymous]

Interesting how positive this thread is about Accutane when other threads were much more cautious as a whole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how positive this thread is about Accutane when other threads were much more cautious as a whole.

new poster to this thread here.
Are other threads about this much more cautious? I know that in past Accutane threads, I have related my sons' positive experience with it.
One of my sons is now 22, and he started on Accutane when he was 16. Like others here have said, I wish we had started him sooner. He does have some scarring. When his younger brothers also started getting acne, we started much sooner.

[Anonymous]

I was on accutane for 6 months in my 20s. The biggest pain for me was the monthly pregnancy test. My skin and hair also got much drier, but my skin was oily to begin with; so I didn't have to wash my hair everyday while on it (when before my hair would look greasy if I skipped a day). My lips got dry but I started using aquafor religiously and that worked well. My skin wasn't as oily as it used to be, so I didn't use toners, or retin-A while on it, just cetaphil cleanser and a good moisturizer with SPF.

I was told the biggest side affect was suicidal thoughts but that they were rare. I didn't have any.

That was it for me.

[Anonymous]

Do it. Just be prepared for the side effects and the fact that the acne actually gets worse before it gets better. But it does get much much better!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how positive this thread is about Accutane when other threads were much more cautious as a whole.

new poster to this thread here.
Are other threads about this much more cautious? I know that in past Accutane threads, I have related my sons' positive experience with it.
One of my sons is now 22, and he started on Accutane when he was 16. Like others here have said, I wish we had started him sooner. He does have some scarring. When his younger brothers also started getting acne, we started much sooner.

Yes, I did a search on here out of curiosity since we're considering for DD and there was more talk of depression, as well as other issues. On Reddit many talk about IBS, chronic dry eyes and skin for years...

[Anonymous]

The answer is Accutane. My lord why do parents fight this so much?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did you go to a dermatologist if you’re going to disregard what she tells you?

I came out thinking we'd do it. Then I researched it more and I am scared of side effects. I would not hesitate if his acne were truly awful and he were asking to do it, but he is on the fence as well. I also don't think he will be great about sunscreen.

Well then he shouldn’t use retin an either if he won’t do sunscreen!
I would strongly urge you to do it. I know a couple of people with scarring on their cheeks and it really sucks.
Yes there are serious side effects but you can monitor and go off if necessary. In a couple cases I would be hesitant (mental health problems or IBS/Crohns) but for a healthy child I think it’s worth it.

DS is a lifeguard (generally good about sunscreen) but we specifically chose to do Accutane during the winter. He did it December-May. 2 years later his skin looks great and the scarring is mostly gone. We put it off for years, and wish we had done it sooner.

I don't want to mince words, but he technically didn't have scarring if it's gone.
True acne scars cause pits in the face and they won't go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The answer is Accutane. My lord why do parents fight this so much?!

I think this is the type of statement easy to make in hindsight after a successful experience considering it is one of the most regulated drugs out there with serious side effects. Yes, it's a total miracle for acne so obviously people who did it without serious issues are going to be 100% thrilled and recommend. I would think most parents would not take the side effects lightly, if only because there is such a cumbersome process around it (birth control, monthly depression visits...) the side effects can't be ignored or pushed back from one's mind.

[Anonymous]

My son has Crohn's and did Accutane as well as an established Crohn's patient under treatment. His gastro said the causality between Crohns/IBS and Accutane is not proven---but many teens are diagnosed with Crohn's as mid-teens, which is also when most go on Accutane so it gets reported as a "side effect" when it would have happened either way. Said the same thing about growth plates, for most in puberty acne comes after the major growth spurt so people think the accutane caused them to stop growing when really, they were done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

What is he scared of?

The first thing the derm talked about what depression, and how rare it is but she has to warn us, and she spoke about that for a good 10 minutes. So of course we leave, and he is googling it and got completely spooked and worried about being depressed, losing interest in sports, not to mention the peeling, flaking, dry lips, muscle pains...It's a critical semester for him and he has a lot on his plate already between sports and school. I understand Accutane would be THE best course of action to entirely get rid of acne, but I also regret not asking more about alternatives on the spot because of the anxiety this is causing now even thinking about whether to do it or not. Maybe some derms are also quicker to prescribe than others because again (and I am not minimizing as someone says...) his acne is not severe, I'd say maybe a 4 out of 10 and very localized. Is it worth the potential side effects is what I wonder. I don't think it's weird for me to ponder this before jumping into something serious like this.

My nephews have a strong family history of depression. Two started exhibiting pretty severe mental health when they were on accutane, and described the thoughts, etc.

I am not sure the mental health thing runs down our line--more my BIL's side, but there is some mental health I think on my husband's side--father, older relatives.

That said, we are trying everything with our teen son. He is awful with compliance--sticking to a regimen. He is also pretty much a health nut and doesn't want antibiotics for acne or accutane. We literally read him fire and brimstone: you need to do the Clinamycin/face wash morning and the Retin-A every.single.day and NO PICKING your face.

We gave him 3 months to turn it around. We and the dermatologist stressed to him that Retin-A/skincare is not an overnight thing..it can take 6 months-12 months for full clearing. He hasn't gotten any new acne now (a few months later) and I explained how the retin-A will help cell turnover and those surface marks/discoloration will fade with time. I think it finally got into him.

On a plus-note Retin-a is wonderful for skin. I'm 54 and have used it since I was 20 (first acne I ever had started in college) and now I have zero wrinkles and really great skin.

[Anonymous]

This got embedded but it was to the poster who explained why they were hesitant:


Anonymous wrote:

What is he scared of?

The first thing the derm talked about what depression, and how rare it is but she has to warn us, and she spoke about that for a good 10 minutes. So of course we leave, and he is googling it and got completely spooked and worried about being depressed, losing interest in sports, not to mention the peeling, flaking, dry lips, muscle pains...It's a critical semester for him and he has a lot on his plate already between sports and school. I understand Accutane would be THE best course of action to entirely get rid of acne, but I also regret not asking more about alternatives on the spot because of the anxiety this is causing now even thinking about whether to do it or not. Maybe some derms are also quicker to prescribe than others because again (and I am not minimizing as someone says...) his acne is not severe, I'd say maybe a 4 out of 10 and very localized. Is it worth the potential side effects is what I wonder. I don't think it's weird for me to ponder this before jumping into something serious like this.

My nephews have a strong family history of depression. Two started exhibiting pretty severe mental health when they were on accutane, and described the thoughts, etc.

I am not sure the mental health thing runs down our line--more my BIL's side, but there is some mental health I think on my husband's side--father, older relatives.

That said, we are trying everything with our teen son. He is awful with compliance--sticking to a regimen. He is also pretty much a health nut and doesn't want antibiotics for acne or accutane. We literally read him fire and brimstone: you need to do the Clinamycin/face wash morning and the Retin-A every.single.day and NO PICKING your face.

We gave him 3 months to turn it around. We and the dermatologist stressed to him that Retin-A/skincare is not an overnight thing..it can take 6 months-12 months for full clearing. He hasn't gotten any new acne now (a few months later) and I explained how the retin-A will help cell turnover and those surface marks/discoloration will fade with time. I think it finally got into him.

On a plus-note Retin-a is wonderful for skin. I'm 54 and have used it since I was 20 (first acne I ever had started in college) and now I have zero wrinkles and really great skin.

[Anonymous]

My acne started at 8. I didn't start Accutane until 17 and wished I started years earlier. It was the only thing that worked for me too. Caveat, my much older half brother was part of the trial for Accutane in the late 70s / early 80s and had much worse acne than me.