Accutane Long Term Side Effects (Page 92)

I have a son that took accutane 60 mg a day for six months in a row three years ago. Now after many trips to doctors over strange medical problems, it seems accuatne is the culprit medication that has caused servere joint and muscle pain, severe dry lips, redness in face, eye infections of own immune system attacking itself, systems of osteoarthritis in both shoulders, both wrist and right hand, blood in stool, possible hair loss, abnormal liver function test results in AST and ALT. My son went from being a high school football and track athlete while taking this medication three years ago to someone that is in constant pain just washing a car. After I have researched this drug extensively, I can't believe that the FDA allows this drug originally made for cancer patients to be marketed for teenagers with acne. All one has to do is look online what vitamin A overdose does to someone and then you have the results of what this medication has done to my son. This drug needs to be taken off them market ASAP and the drug companies that make it need to compensate all teenagers that they have possible ruined their future. Shame on them! What is going on here?

REPLY

REPORT

Not sure. The retina-a cream is still prescribed and used sparingly on acne areas as too much can cause redness, skin peeling, and a burning affect where applied. I so wish I could find my paperwork and the release form that I signed when my son was placed on it. He was on the generic brand of Accutane that began with a c which is in pill form. Also wish I kept the letter from the lawyer in Texas that sent the legal information back in 2010. I also looked up the statue of limitations on personal injury. It is different for different states. Where I live it is 3 years. Guess I'm out on that one as it was 5 years ago. Unless there is a different legal suit with death resulting.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

We need another legal suit against Accutane makers.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 3

Oh man I don't know where to begin. I started Accutane back in my mid 20's for cystic acne. It worked great and did the trick, although I had to deal with the severe dryness, joint pain, and migraines at the time but I didn't really give it too much thought (youth! ahh to be so carefree now). Well now I am 47yrs old and I am totally disabled and no one knows why.

I lost my job about 4yrs ago due to repeated absences because of joint injuries, causing the need for bed rest, and severe depression. That totally devastated me as I thought I would retire from this job...such a slap in the face when you are an amazing worker but you still lose your job because of something not under your control. Well since then I have been severely depressed - I spend most my time bedridden as my joint pain is almost unbearable. I have been told I need 2 new knees (but they wont do the surgeries due to my age), I have a severe case of premature osteopenia (my bones are like those of a 70yr. old), I went through (unknowingly) premature menopause in my 30's so I haven't had children and I am no longer able to conceive (although with the severe dryness I was never able to have a decent sexual relationship due to the extreme pain I dealt with because of the total lack of moisture in my nether regions), I am almost totally blind at night that I no longer go out in the evenings, and with all of this I have severe depression and anxiety - I no longer leave the house because I am unable to even do groceries without losing my ability to walk..hence anxiety attacks because I know of the pain that is to occur. I haven't been able to walk through a mall in about 6yrs now. This totally kills me as I used to be very active - loved to dance, walked regularly, did lots of aerobics, had a great social life..yadda, yadda.

So I am now on welfare, living with my 93yr. old mother because I cannot live by myself due to lack of monies and because I cannot always care for myself. So tell me, what have I to look forward to in life? I don't even have a family of my own to rely on. Once my mother is gone it will be a cardboard box for me. This is ridiculous! I have no life now. Physicians think all my pain is because I am crazy in the head but yet they cant deny my injuries and my wasted bones. How am I to support myself for the next 30yrs? Is this really worth the clear skin I achieved back in my 20's?? Seriously, if anyone is considering taking Accutane really think hard about it. I took it and thought I was fine...years later I can no longer walk, kneel, climb stairs, have intercourse, stand, sit, ....really exist in all truth. Do you think if I knew what I know now I would have risked my life for clear skin? Back then the drug was new and they weren't certain of the long term effects....now they know...take advantage of our experiences and learn from them. Don't make the same mistakes we did.

On another note, there must be some kind of legal route I can take here....this drug has ruined my life, my career....I have no reason to even exist any longer...im a waste of space and oxygen. I wish here in Canada we had such open legal rights as the USA does to go ahead and sue for some kind of compensation. I seriously don't know what to do. If anyone knows anything I can do please feel free to reach out to me...I am so lost here. {edited for privacy}

REPLY

Was this helpful? 7

Please start taking 800-1200mg of natures made SAM-E and IP6 phytic acid. This will cause your body to start producing hyaluronic acid again...it will start producing osteoblasts and osteoclasts for your bones. it will promote water retention.

Start taking 2000-3000 mg of Taurine per day... this will help bind with metabolites in your liver. b12 and b6 to help with the recirculation and regeneration of methionine (SAM-E). 2000mg TMG will also help with your liver.

PLEASE START NOW!!!!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 3

Alison, I am very sorry for you. I wish you best of luck.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

this is all mind blowing. i cant believe the horrible affects im hearing about FROM AN ACNE TREATMENT!!! i dont think ive heard of a single other prescription that causes this kind of damage. i mean hell, CHEMOTHERAPY doesnt even cause all this, and we KNOW thats poison!! i really hope you guys can do something about this. im not someone who has been affected directly by this, but i do care what happens to you guys, so keep me posted on with what happens. i really, sincerely hope something gets done.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 5

kkh, isotretinoin, aka Accutane, aka 13-cis retinoic acid, was developed as a chemotherapy drug for brain cancer. It was discovered that it was also useful in treating acne. The rest is unfortunate history.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 3

wow. i didnt know. i was prescribed retin-A as a teen in the 80s. i have fibromyalgia now, along with digestive issues and cluster migraines. i wonder if the two are related.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

OMGOSH its like reading something I wrote.... My son now 30 too same dose for 6months....... He was 15. Biggest mistake I EVER MADE..... He is now 30 and is house bound with agoraphobia. It started a short time after takeing the drug, I have video of him every birthday, he was always laughing and full of life, extremely out going and confident...... I can see his birthday one year, we had to be silent, he didn't want to do anything, he was def depressed which very quickly turned to pannick attacks...even after seeing a physiologest for a short time, he got worse and worse till now like I said 30 and can't leave the house. He can't get disability as they say he can be treated with drugs ( yeah like he ever want to take MORE drugs... So we have to support him. Which isn't helping him.... I've had difficultly keeps jobs, as he may need me often to stay home, as his attacks were soooo bad.... He should be dating girls and having all the exciting times any young man would have had. And now he is a man I can't see any hope for him....... Now I'm depressed and upset, as a mother I failed to protect him and I can't help him..... I can't even afford to pay for professional help........... I know wat u r going through......... I HATE THAT DRUG AND HOPE NO ONE ELSE EVER GIVES THEIR CHILD IT....._

REPLY

Was this helpful? 5

in an earlier reply, i had stated that i was not directly affected by this drug. BUT, i did take retin-A as a teen/young adult. i am now in my 40s and i have digestive issues, fibromyalgia and migraines. anyone know or at least have a theory at to whether these things are related to using the retin-A? from what i hear, retin-A was a sort of precursor to accutane. there was retin-A, and then they got rid of that in favor of accutane, but that they are basically the same thing. VITAMIN A OVERDOSE in other words.

thanks

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Where is our attorney? Litigation?

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

My son was on this med also and he also having a lot of joint problems. I think we have a legal suit.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I would like this information please. My son took it years ago and now has ibs and joint pain. Courteous to know if accutane is the culprit

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

Yes to ibs and joint pain.

Sam-e

And COPPER. Your son has a copper deficiency from accutane. Get a rbc blood test done. 1.5mg Cu 2x a day.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I took accutane only few days and small dosage (5mg per day); i stopped it because i couldn't cope with the side effects (anemia, tiredness, joint paint...) some weeks after stop it i've begun to have facial flushing, over the month the flushs increase at a stage which they degrade my daily life deeply (imagine you can't talk to someone without turn red constantly...)

over the years the multiple daily flushs create a baseline redness by stimulating the development of blood vessels, the more i flush and the more i'm red and the more i'm red, the more i'm prone to flush and blush... it's a vicious circle...

i'm able to relieve my face by the use of laser (especially vbeam) but the flushs return always and i must do session every years

it has been 5years and a half and the flushs are always here and doesn't seem to decrease, they have strongly disable me and i can say my life will nothing to do with my actual life if i've not taken this POISON

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

You have a histamine intolerance that causes the flushing. Copper is needed to metabolize histamines. Anemia most likely because of the same copper deficiency. Please get a rbc blood copper test. Accutane up regulates ATP7A...depleting the cells and liver of copper.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I took retina a in the 80"s. Now I too have fibro, digestive probs, migraines and terrible joint pain. Humm. Could be related

REPLY

Was this helpful? 1

Ya, this isn't good. I'm really starting to think they are related.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

I took accutane & now have fibromyalgia & IBS. I never attributed it to Accutane until finding this websight. Nuts!!

On a side note, I chose to take that risk by getting on it! For anyone to say, "I'm appalled that this or that happened!" Is crazy to me. They handed me a HUGE BOOK of possible side effects that were possible. After I read it, I initialed and signed LOTS of pages! Long term it's sadly only helped my acne by maybe 40%!

REPLY

Was this helpful? 0

when I was given accutane, there was nothing to sign about the drug. This was in 1984 the drug had just been found to help acne in cancer patients as a chemo drug.If someone would have said that I would have to live with this pain or with someone elses kidney because of accutane I would have told them to shove it where the sun don't shine. I would have never taken it. The fact that someone had a chance to read the drug monograph and still decided to take the poison is crazy to me.

REPLY

Was this helpful? 2

I had Harvoni treatment last spring. I am not the same. My nervous system is a wreck. My anxiety problems have increased...

263 REPLIES

What are the long term effects of the brain and mood changes in people taking 30mg of oxycodone for years? Do they act w...

6 REPLIES

My wife has been using Nexito Plus for the past 4 years. She is doing good, but she feels sleepy in the morning time and...

3 REPLIES

my boyfriends complaining after taking large dosages prescribed by doctors for sleep that he feels loss of sight, blurre...

3 REPLIES

My doctor just prescribed me Tramadol for a chronic back pain issue. If I take this med every night, will there be any l...

2 REPLIES

I have been taking clopidogrel 75mg + atorvastatin 10mg + metoprolol 10mg + telmisartan 40mg for the past 3 years since ...

1 REPLY

I am 41 yrs male.For the past one month occasionally one or two of my fingers move sideways without my control and then ...

1 REPLY

My father has been prescribed ecosprin 75 along with Dytor plus 10mg, prolomat XL and cardace 2.5 by a cardiologist. He ...

1 REPLY

I was just prescribed this medication by my doctor, because of irregular periods. For the past 2 years I have had my per...

1 REPLY

Folks, like everyone else who has started MULTAQ, I am having second thoughts about it's effectiveness. When I first...

1 REPLY