Accutane No Long Term Side Effects - Great Results

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I am a male and wanted to share my Accutane story with others who are thinking of starting the treatment but are worried about the horror stories you read everywhere. I started my accutane treatment when I was about 24 (Maybe 23) and sought treatment to relieve the severe "bacne" more specifically cystic acne I had been dealing with since I was 16 y/o and not only did it make me very self conscious but they also caused me a great deal of pain as I would get these huge zits that that often times would not even form any type of white head and they were extremely painful. After years and years of every acne treatment under the sun (pills, creams, soaps, diet changes), I finally said enough is enough and went to my dermatologist to learn more about accutane. As I am sure many people reading this are currently experiencing, the desicion to start accutane can be pretty unnerving as it seems everyehwere you turn there is another horror story associated with its use and it is for this reason that I choose to post this story as I want to let people know it can work wonders with zero long term effects. It has been a few years since I finished my treatment (I honestly dont know if I have had a single cystic zit since finishing treatment). I cant remeber my exact dose but I want to say it was something like 20mg for a month or so, 40mg, 60mg or something to that effect. While I was actually on the medication I defintely experienced most of the side effects the dermotologist mentioned and while unpleasent at the time well worth it in the long run. Those side effects included upset stomach and appitite loss early on (nothing too crazy and if it means anything I have always had a tough time with pills upsetting my stomach), also had extremly dry skin and lips and had to keep some snowboarding strength chapstick on me at all times with most of my treatment being spent with cracks in the corner of my mouth. I would wake up in the morning and yawn while half asleep and bam, cracks on both side. The last thing that reallly stands out is how terrible my acne got while on the medication. It was unreal, but I looked at it as the medicine pushing all the bad stuff out for good. As a refernce I would say during my sever break outs before treatment I would have anywhere from 5-9 huge painful zits that really were cyst like in nature. I mean I would constantly have people respond with "whoa!". During treatment I would say that these numbers doubled and it was really tough to keep high spirits as I thought the medicine wasnt working for me. I wasnt until the last month or so that I finally cleared up but still had the lingering side effects. Now, it has been over 3 years since I finished treatment and it was the absolute best thing I have ever done. My world changed for the better in ways that I never thought possible. I literally have been absolutely clear with the exception of a black head/white head hear and there and it has been so nice to go swimming with the opposite sex and not be completely self conscious of the huge spots on my back and chest. Anyway, I am sure this post was long winded to say the least but I wanted to share a positive story for those thinking of starting accutane. This is probabaly insesnitve of me, but reading most of the negatice posts I cant help but wonder if the respective posters would have had tese problemes they blame on accutane whether or not they ever took the drug. I know for a fact that I would recomend it to anyone and my only regret was not taking it a couple years earlier. Dont get me wrong, I dont know that it is a good idea for someone in their early teens etc, for the pure fact that it is really hard on your body and if you are still developing I could see it be especially bad with the side effects. However, if you are like I was and still experiencing sever acne into your early/mid twenties then I would say do not wait because we both know our acne was there to stay. In retrospect if I could have started a few years earlier, i cant imagine it not being a good decision.

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1

So happy to hear something great!!! Accutane helped me so much!!! I am very thankful for this powerful drug. This medication did wonders for me! I had the worse kind of acne that all the doctors I went to have ever seen... (I went to many Dr's btw). I did all sorts of medications and over the counter and every home remedy you could possibly think of. I started to hate my life and God for that matter too! I attempted to commit suicide, but I was unsuccessful. I was finally prescribed Accutane and honestly, I felt better by seeing the amazing improvements on my body! Yes, I did have some side effects, but really... The side effects that I encountered were way better than not being alive. I would rather have these side effects than be in the ground. I am so happy with Accutane. but just like any drug... There are risks and side effects... You gotta just weigh what's more important to you I guess... I would not recommend Accutane to someone with normal acne. Accutane should be a last resort; mine was a last resort. Like I said, I had the worst kind of acne a person can have and Accutane has really helped me for the better. Like it or not, I'm happy with my decision of taking Accutane! :)

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2

I'm so glad to read positive experiences!
I got terrible acne from my pregnancy this past year. It actually got worse after I delivered my twins! It was so bad I was in physical pain, and couldn't sit back in a chair or sleep comfortably because of the awful acne. It was everywhere- face, neck (with cysts), chest, shoulders, upper arms and back.
I obviously couldn't do much about it while I was pregnant, so I saw a dermatologist afterward and she said this is the worst case of acne she's ever seen. (I was 30 during my pregnancy, just turned 31).
She put me on Prednisone for a month before I could even go on accutane because of ipledge. That helped a lot! Then I started accutane. About 2 weeks in I experienced really dry lips for a few days... They peeked a lot despite a ton of aquaphor. But luckily that stopped. They're still dry but not bad at all. Also my skin is a little dry, and it's 'fragile'.
My first month I was on 40mg/day.
I'm now finishing up month two and I'm on 80mg/day.
So far I'm really happy with the results! I only have a few 'active' pimples and never got an initial breakout or anything that a lot of people get. I'm also noticing a little hair loss, but my twins are only 4 months old and some women experience hair loss after pregnancy, so I'm not sure which it's from. I know a lot of people here talk about long term side effects, so I obviously wouldn't know if that's going to happen to me yet, but I can't regret going on accutane. My acne was so bad it was affecting my life.
I just hope these pink and brown spots left from old pimples don't stick around too long!
Also if you're reading this try to remember... Most people on here are having a bad experience and wanting a place to look for answers. There are probably a lot more people out there that have had a positive experience on accutane but don't feel the need to write about it. I have a few friends who took accutane years ago (one of them 10 years ago) and none have had any long term side effects.
Sorry this is such a long post!!

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3

Thousands of people complaining about the exact same problems after taking accutane- chronic joint and muscle pain, severe body wide dryness, headaches, eye pain/photophobia, ibs and more. Yes we would have gotten these problems anyway haha why do you feel the need to insult people who are suffering from long term accutane sides? Assuming your positive tane experience should be universal for everyone is ignorant. Everyone tolerates meds differently. Just be thankful you got away without these terrible long term problems.

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4

Give it some time and see how your body falls apart and chronic cancer pain from accutane.

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5

Give it time, if you took accutane you will become sick eventually. You sound like roche's misinformation department. Accutane was developed as a cancer drug, no wonder there are thousands of people who have been poisoned and Roche is waiting us out as we get sick and too sick to fight. There is a reason Roche settled a class action for 3 gastrointestinal diseases, because they knew they'd lose. Now the rest of us need a class.

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6

Sorry to rain on your parade , but you've only been off it for 3yrs . Be prepared , because it will happen . Your body will eventually start to fall apart at the seams . Do some more research , so that you know what to expect 10 - 20yrs down the track . Everyone I've spoken to that's been on this drug , does have serious side effects years later . Start to take good care of yourself now , to lessen the impact later .

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7

You are either stupid or someone is paying you! My husband developed Crohn's disease after a few years taking the cream version of Accutane (Retin A). Wait a bit and you'll see what happens. My son was given, without me knowing it, Accutane and now his personality has changed for good, and it's not a good change. He became cold, cynical, anaffective, depressed, angry, aggressive, thank to these criminals who prescribed him this crap.

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8

Become sick eventually? I have never heard of so much BS before in my life. I'm currently on Accutane and I have been on it for the last two months. I have had dozens of friends take Accutane and none of them have these supposed "long term", side effects. I guarantee, that these crazy long term side effects aren't going to happen to me either. You are right about the cancer thing because Accutane was originally developed to treat brain cancer, however, I have read about 5 medical studies that have all been published in the last few years. The people experiencing these long term side effects are extremely in the minority and there is zero evidence to suggest that Accutane is even the culprit in these cases.

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Re: Seeking recognition (# 3) Expand Referenced Message

Please, I big you , don’t take accutane
Its a silent killer , I’m suffering from autoimmune systemic vascuilitis from accutane
It has serious side effects which can be developed years later after finishing the therapy

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