Accutane

[Anonymous]

My DD took Accutane at age 13.

Yes, iPledge is required but it's hard. DD's dermatologist required monthly appointments in order to measure progress and determine proper dosage. We provided a photograph of a negative pregnancy test each month, uploaded onto the doctor's patient portal, and the doctor's staff did the necessary verifications on iPledge. Then I certified a few things on iPledge. It was easy. Buy a 6 pack of cheap home pregnancy tests.

My DD had to have labwork every 60 days I think? It was no biggie. You just pop over to LabCorp.

Dry lips were the biggest side effect. I bought a bunch of her preferred lip balm and she kept it in her school bag, pockets, etc.

Sunscreen was a must because Accutane makes child much more prone to sunburn.

Acne was gone in 6 months. Still uses generic Retin-A every other night at bedtime. All of the Accutane hurdles were worth it. We'd have done even more. Small price to pay for gorgeous skin. I only wish we'd done it sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, iPledge is required but it's hard.

Correction: Yes, iPledge is required but it's NOT hard.

[Anonymous]

Did Accutane worsen the mental health of any of your kids? There are reports of higher rates of depression and mood swings while on the medication. Are those reports overblown?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did Accutane worsen the mental health of any of your kids? There are reports of higher rates of depression and mood swings while on the medication. Are those reports overblown?

My dd had depression and anxiety FROM her acne, Accutane was hard at first - it didn’t work for a few months so she still had anxiety and depression but after her acne cleared up her mental health was so much better (while still on Accutane).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wondering how much lip balm went thru the wash cycle? Oh, and my kid was a swimmer so dry skin is a given in winter,

NP here. SO MUCH lip balm through the wash! But agree with everyone else, it was a game changer for my son.

[Anonymous]

Please do strongly consider it. I've struggled with acne since puberty. I'm now 40 and my face is terribly scarred. I wish my parents would have gone that route with me. (For reference I had about 10 years where I was either TTC, pregnant or breastfeeding so you definitely can't do Accutane then, plus some topicals are also supposed to be stopped. This period is when I had the most scarring take place).

[Anonymous]

Our Derm said they only need bloodwork the first and last month, girls pregnancy test monthly. Both my kids 16 and 14 have been on it. DS had dry lips, some sore joints the first few months. DD is currently on month 5 and the dry skin is gone as well as the joint pain. I do think her anxiety has been a little worse on it, but her anxiety over her appearance with the acne was worse. At 5 months both kids were 90% better. If your kids can get through it with minimal side effects it's so worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m starting a new thread specifically to hear about experiences with Accutane. My dd was just prescribed accutane since the minocyline did not work.

My questions are, did everyone have to register with iPledge, need blood work for liver function? How fast did you see results from using accutane?

I would like to hear about your teen’s experiences.

We tried everything before accutane but that is what "cured" my DC and her skin is beautiful now. Yes, a LOT of hoops to go through. But she had no side effects save fr dry lips. It was showing results in a few weeks and, 2 years out now, it's still looking great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did Accutane worsen the mental health of any of your kids? There are reports of higher rates of depression and mood swings while on the medication. Are those reports overblown?

My kid has anxiety and had no mental health issues from accutane and nothing worsening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Accutane worsen the mental health of any of your kids? There are reports of higher rates of depression and mood swings while on the medication. Are those reports overblown?

My kid has anxiety and had no mental health issues from accutane and nothing worsening.

Same. I was worried and held off for this reason but nothing was worse emotionally with my teen and I know he felt much better about himself once the acne was clear. We had decided if this acutane caused more emotional distress we would pay for the laser treatment but so far it looks like we won't need to go that route.