For those who have tried Accutane!
Hey Everyone!
I hope that everyone’s week is going great. I went to my doc today
and we discussed what types of other treatments I should try. One
that popped up was Accutane. Previously, I have read some articles
and some of the members’ posts about this type of medication. I know
that there are a lot of side effects, but no other method/medication
has really worked to clear my sd/acme. It would be greatly
appriciated if someone who has been on this medication can tell me or
describe what it is like. It is one thing to read what a medication
does and what to expect, but it is quite something else to experience
it first hand. It scares me to read about the frequent nose bleeds,
dryness ect ect. Any bit of information (no matter how small) would
help me decide if I should try Accutane.
Sincerely,
Sonia
May 26th, 2005 at 5:53 pm
for some strange reason i may believe accutane is what caused my seb derm in
the first place. I began taking accutane in highschool around senior year
for excessive acne. The medication severely dried my face, and gave me nose
bleeds. I was on it for about 6 months but could feel the side effects up
to 6 months after the medication. After that i dont think my face has ever
been the same, still flaking and has never stopped since accutane.
tony the baloney the one and only, and thats no baloney
if you want to, why dont you try eating a healthy diet, drink plenty of
spring water, take healthy supplements such as probiotics, Omega 3’s,
Vitamin E, and see whether or not you have a food allergy. Try nutrion
first. Even though accutane may work for you, the medication will eliminate
part of your natural intenstinal flora which will need to be replenished.
Future disorders may arise due to eliminating your intestinal flora (could
be years later till you really see the side effects)
May 26th, 2005 at 10:23 pm
Tony’s right. Accutane should be used to control severe cystic acne. I would
not use it for seb derm. Try diet and probiotics. I took minimyocin for 5
years for acne and seb derm/eczema. Even a mild antibiotic can cause liver
problems.
June 11th, 2005 at 3:42 pm
Hi,
I have been on low diet accutane, 10 mg three times a week since june
this year, combined with Elidel creme. I find accutane works well to
reduce sebum and to calm the seborrheic derm. Check out
www.drnase.com, the worlds leading expert on rosacea, he recommends
low dose accutane. In low dose the side effects are minimal, you
might notice some slightly dry lips. I will probably go off it when I
see my derm in november, and them hopefully the effects will last
well into 2005. Then later in 2005 I might take accutane for a few
months more.
Of course, reducing sugar and drinking water, getting omega 3 oils
through fatty fish etc is good for you, but it wont make an impact on
your seb derm as accutane would. I recommend you try Eilidel if you
havent tried it. It is an antiinflammatory cream with virtually no
side effects.
In sum I do not think, unless you are planning to get pregnant, that
a low dose acutane regimen will be a problem for you, and if you do
one or two of those, then in 2 years time from now there might be
better sebum reducing alternatives out there. They are in
development.
Whoever said that accutane should only be used for severe cystic acne
is wrong, there are several dermatologists who themselves have seb
derm who take accutane at a low dose level.
Take a look at this link to a study on low dose accutane and sebum
show it to you dermatologist. My dermatologist had no problems
putting me on low dose acutane as I told him that was what I wanted
and I knew what it was about.
best wishes,
Mads L Holvik, Norway
June 12th, 2005 at 10:08 pm
Hi,
With respect, I dont think you know what you are talking about. Low
dose accutane is recommended by Dr Nase (www.drnase.com) because it
has few side effects compared to a regular dose, it has sebum
reducing, antiinflammatory and temperature reducing (locally on the
facy) properties. Accutane does not have a rebound effect.
If you read the link I pasted in the last message, you would see that
low dose accutane is the only known way of reducing sebum output.
Do you have any basis for claiming that accutane kills off good
bacteria? I doubt it. Antibiotics does, hence the name ANTI -biotics,
but that does not have to do with accutane, which is a vitamin a
derivative.
Myself I eat youghurt with probiotic bacteria, because I think it is
good for me, I eat little processed food, I eat fatty fish like
sardines and I drink plenty of water and I work out.
You ask what to do when I go off accutane. Accutane has a lasting
effect as it alters the way some fatty lipids are processed, or so Dr
Nase explained, but I am not an expert here. But a low dose regimen
lasting 6 months may well have benefitial effects for years.
I also said in my post that there are other sebum
reducing "solutions" being developed, that may be on the market in a
couple of years.
Best wishes,
June 13th, 2005 at 12:10 pm
I dont give a shit whether or not accutane kills off bacteria. If that pill
can cause birth defects in pregnant women, You can only imagine how safe the
product is…
tony the baloney the one and only
June 13th, 2005 at 6:26 pm
My initial post was to a woman who had discussed with her
dermatologist what the alternatives to control seb derm were.
Low dose accutane is the only thing that will reduce sebum output, in
men, women can take hormones, but that is about it.
It is safe enough to be used in a responsible way.
theoak
June 14th, 2005 at 4:35 am
Hey Mads, have you heard that taking Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) in
moderate doses can reduce the sebum output? Recently it has been used
in acne treatment with great success. This success comes from the
sebum reduction properties of this vitamin. To achieve this you must
take B5 in large doses, but it is perfectly safe, because B5 is
water-soluble vitamin(it is used from the body and the rest it is
dumped, it is impossible to overdose). Do a google seach on it, i’m
sure you’ll find it very interesting.
BTW, I have found a safe way to contol SD. I use ciclopiroxolamine
creme on the face and it works amazing. It put down the symptoms in
four days.It is antifungal, but it differs from others( i have used
ketoconazole without success). It has unique mechanism of action and
most important it provides anti-inflammatory effect similar to 2.5%
hydrocortisone( clinical studies), without side-effects(because it is
not a steroid). To anyone, Do a google seach on it, i’m sure you’ll
find it very interesting.
Take care.
June 14th, 2005 at 2:44 pm
Hi,
The B5 hype stems from a study done by a chinese now living in USA,
Leung is his name. He did his study with mega doses of B5, up to 12
grams pr day, combined with a b5 (pantothenic acid) creme. He claimed
this was very helpful against acne. However, he did not conduct any
safety testing, and I would assume that at doses up to 12 grams, the
substance ceases to be a vitamin and the normal pathways are altered.
There is no basis to claim that it is safe long term, I do however
know someone in the USA who has been taking many grams of B5 every
day for around 2 years, with some success, but only some. The last
time I was in contact with him he was considering trying low dose
accutane, but he only wanted to try it if he found it safe enough. He
had previously tried to take large doses of emulsified liquid vitamin
A, but it gave him head aches.
I did try B5 a couple of years ago, but I feel it is not worth it
since b5 is not available in Norway is such doses, and getting it
from abroad it impossible due to high custom/postal taxes and general
expensiveness when taken in megadoses.
Good that you have found a cream that works. Elidel works nicely for
me at the moment, and it is also a non steroid creme, so it can be
used safely for a long time.
Best wishes,
June 15th, 2005 at 11:02 am
Tim
June 15th, 2005 at 9:11 pm
Did you noticed any side-effects while on B5?
June 16th, 2005 at 7:20 am
The only side effect I had was mild diarrhea for a week or so. The
site warned that this was a possibility. After that time, my body got
used to the B5, and I was fine.