Anonymous wrote:Would never do this, can cause inflammatory bowl disease later in life that is totally debilitating

It is true if you have a history of Crohns or IBS, you should be more careful taking this.
Having severe acne is not without side effects, either.
Statements like yours aren’t very helpful.

Would never do this, can cause inflammatory bowl disease later in life that is totally debilitating

NP: Because one of the possible side effects may be slowing down or stopping long bone growth, we're waiting a bit for our son who is a competitive athlete (in a sport where height matters!). Once his doctor feels as if he's reached his maximum height, or at least they height they predicted, he is open to starting the treatment. I appreciate hearing all the positive stories.

Watch out for anger issues. My ex was on Accutane every time I was abused. Drinking made it 100 times worse, you're not supposed to drink on it, but even without drinking, he was quicker to be angry every time he was back on Accutane.

I took it in my early twenties. It completely cleared up my skin. Worst side effect was that the skin on my lips peeled (like in large chunks) for many years after I stopped taking it. My lips eventually went back to normal.

DS just got off of it. 30mg for 6 months. We timed it so he did it over the winter to avoid sun exposure (he is a lifeguard.) He has been off for 2 months and his face looks great. He has a little discoloration that is clearing up with a topical cream. And yes, he is still putting on a ton of sunscreeen.

He had the dry lips (he just carried Eucerin lip balm everywhere and made sure he had some in his backpack/sports bag/car/next to his bed.) He has muscle aches but it didn't prevent him from playing varsity soccer and swim - he just took Advil after the games.

We were so worried about the side effects, but the results were amazing. He is now confident to take off his shirt (he had horrible back acne) and feels better about himself. Plus, the cystic acne was painful.

Anonymous wrote:I took Accutane as a 19 yr old. No idea what my dose was, and I only had initial bloodwork done and then never again the entire time I was on it (shitty HMO - I told the dr I wasn't having sex so couldn't be pregnant (which was true) and he just said okay).

I've never been a beach person or someone who spends time in the sun purposefully but yeah, sun screen and hats and sunglasses. The only side effect I had was that I needed to use lip balm in the morning after brushing my teeth, after lunch, and before I went to bed.

It cleared up my cystic acne completely and I never got it again. Just would get one little zit here or there sometimes.

Same--it was a miracle for me. No idea about dose, but I took one 5-month course--and I had horrible cystic acne on my face and back. Skin was dry--def needed a lot of lip balm and stayed out of the sun. I felt a little achy as I recall from time to time. All very minor, and very worth it.