Accutane Long Term Side Effects (Page 96)

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 After I have researched this drug extensively, I can't believe that the FDA allows this drug originally made for cancer patients to be marketed for teenagers with acne.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?

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Re: Josh (# 1891)

Josh, you really don't know what you are talking about. Your statement about Accutane being a highly concentrated form of Vitamin A is true but, any vitamin in high doses can be deadly. Do a Google search on Vitamin A overdose or poisoning and check it out yourself. Do you also know the origins of the drug? It was originally used as a chemotherapy drug for people with brain cancer. Have you ever seen people treated for cancer with chemo and how sick the drug makes them? The ones I have seen look all washed out and pale. The drug destroys the bad cells....and the good cells. You and your friends that have taken Accutane may not have experienced ill effects from it yet. I hope you don't. Every person is different. My experience with Accutane began in 1984 as a 24 year old man still fighting teenage acne. Looking back mine was not real severe. It just lingered on from my teens. I was told by my Dermatologist that Accutane was for cases of SEVERE cystic acne. You know, the kind that makes huge cysts on a person that are disfiguring. It wasn't supposed to be for "teenage" acne. That being the case why did he prescribe it to me? MONEY! If I could go back I would NEVER take this poison!! I, like you, had the short term side effects of the drug, i.e. dry skin and chapped lips that went away when I stopped taking the drug. I wish that was all I had to deal with since then. It caused me nose bleeds also. The first thing was sleep insomnia. Next came ulcers in my esophagus which led to severe acid reflux. Another is degenerative disc disease in my neck and back. This was diagnosed within 6 years after taking the drug. As a result of the health issues I became depressed. Most recently I have developed gluten intolerance and am VERY sensitive to dairy products. If I eat gluten products I turn red in the face. It feels like I am on fire! Think about not being able to eat foods with wheat in them for the rest of your life. Or having to be a on a special diet just to get through life! It ain't easy! I'm 57 years old now and I feel like I'm 80! Accutane continues to take it's toll on my body. I'm not as bad off as some of the people here. I only took Accutane for 3 months and 2 weeks. The side effects became too much for me to deal with anymore and I stopped my treatment before the end of the prescribed 6 months. I probably would be dead if I hadn't. Oh, btw, I still get acne periodically. I could go on and on. Did I mention "brain fog"? Having an inability to focus on thoughts, i.e. memory lapses. This can be bad at times. Listening to people talk and not really hearing/ comprehending what they are saying. There's more but, I'll stop here. Hope you think about this man.

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Re: Aija (# 1899)

Hi Aija! I myself havd been dealing w side effects after taking Accutane... you said you found a solution to ease your symptoms! I would love to know!! I'm desperate at this point :-(

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Re: Ernest (# 1901)

Ernest all I can say is , I totally sympathise with you and just hope you can hang in there and have some sort of happiness and normality in your life . My daughter is 40 and feels like a 60yr old Have you given Provigil or similar yet ?

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Re: Nettles (# 1903)

I feel the same way and have since I took it in 1993.

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Re: Ernest (# 1901)

"Most recently I have developed gluten intolerance and am VERY sensitive to dairy products. If I eat gluten products I turn red in the face. It feels like I am on fire! Think about not being able to eat foods with wheat in them for the rest of your life. Or having to be a on a special diet just to get through life!"

Are you sure the gluten and wheat intolerance are also due to Accutane? Here is a little more food for thought. I wish you well.

Source: "How GMO Farming and Food Is Making Our Gut Flora Unfriendly", greenmedinfo.com. Web. March 28th, 2013

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Re: Ferals mom (# 1905)

While taking Accutane and the whole first year I went acutely downhill after taking Accutane. The harmful Accutane sideeffects do not stop when you stop taking the prescription. I was super healthy before, just a little acne. It's super hard for me to understand why some folks have trouble understanding the correlation.

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What do you mean “how could it possibly be given to teens” because it works!!! Maybe it didn’t work for your son but it works wonders for many other people. Just because it didn’t work for your son doesn’t mean you should hold a grudge against it. If you read the packaging, it tells you what can happen, the internet can tell you it can have severe side effects. Yet you took the risk to take it. Things happen, everyone reacts differently

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Re: Devi (# 1907)

It's a nasty poison with horrible, debilitating side effects and the rest of us who had our lives cut short deserve a class settlement for pain, suffering, and disability...just like the other classes Accutane settle before it was taken off the market.

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Hmm I have just had a lightbulb moment... was diagnosed with sjogrens 2 yr ago.... but I think I have been suffering with it a lot longer.... I took roaccutane for acne several years ago.. i am devastated to even think I could have done this to myself....

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Re: NCC (# 202)

Hi!

I have been dealing with side effects of accutane for about 10 years now. Since then, I have always self diagnosed myself with "chronic dehydration" (extremely dry lips, face peeling, dry mouth, sensitive dry scalp and overall dry skin). Also, I have been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease that they cannot identify. Some of my skin cells are attacking themselves, specifically on my scalp. They thought it looked similar to signs of Lupus, but that diagnosis came back negative. After reading your article, it seems these are common side effects and that you have done an abundance of research.

I would be very interested in hearing about the supplements you use to battle these symptoms. I know this post is from a long time ago, so I hope to hear back from you!

-RR

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Re: Kathy (# 129)

You need to look into the evidence-based research on this medication, especially NIH - it has detrimental effects on the pituitary, endocrine and other critical systems that can hinder well-being; to include mental health. Thyroid, adrenals etc. - all are interconnected and have cascade effects. Depression can be caused by physiological conditions too so actual competent medical doctors are needed for a holistic approach. Also, NIH has research about these deleterious effects - to also include depletion of Testosterone. Find a doctor who genuinely cares and isn't burned out or has a complacent routine $$.

I took accutane around 2005/2006.

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Re: Ernest (# 1901)

I am a veteran that was on Accutane for 2 yrs straight during which time I was told that I was crazy that back pain and abdominal pain was all in my head. I now am fighting like hell with the Veterans Administration who are saying the same thing when my civilian Dr's are saying Degenerative Disc Disease and Chronic recurring depression with abdominal pains have always been there as well as insomnia. If you have any attorney that could help me it would be appreciated.

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Re: Ernest (# 1901)

Some people are more sensitive to medications than others, but I have never had that problem. I am about to finish my first course of Accutane and my biggest complaint is chapped lips and some dry skin. In fact, there was mix up at the pharmacy and they gave me less of a what I needed, so I ran out. For 2 weeks I was off Accutane and my chapped lips and dry skin completely went away. Accutane does cause some side effects, but all are temporary and there is not sufficient medical evidence to support that Accutane is the root cause of all these peoples problems. Millions upon millions of people have taken Accutane and they are completely fine. I have also had several friends who have taken Accutane and had zero issue. You can call me whatever you like, but I have done the research and there is no conclusive study out there that supports any of these claims. Next thing they are going to be complaining than Accutane is the reason they can't hold a job, give me a break.

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Re: Mandie (# 5)

Please don’t take accutane. I took it for 6 months in 2017 and now I’m suffering from very rare autoimmune disease which made my life so miserable. This medication is very toxic and can cause very serious long term side effects.

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Re: Dennis (# 2)

Can you be more specific about what happened to your back- what was the surgery for? Its been 2 years since i have finished taking drug consisting isotretinoin. I'm experiencing lower back pains and been diagnosed with intervertebral disc degeneration.. does it get better?

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Hi guys. I feel like I needed to make this post to help others because I know I’m not the only 1 who has suffered after taking Accutane. I suffered beyond belief after being on it for 6 months. I felt like my life was over. My hair had fallen out, I was clinically depressed, suicidal, I was sobbing & breaking down every day, could no longer eat certain foods, back pain, low libido. It was absolutely crazy & I knew something was NOT RIGHT. I went on like this for a year because none of my doctors could help me... They were just puzzled. So I did my own research. (Btw I now feel amazing) 1st of all Accutane DESTROYS your digestive system & obviously your mood & well-being & health all begin in your gut. So 1st things 1st you NEED to repair your gut & the way your body digests food. If you don’t your body isn’t absorbing certain vitamins that you NEED for health & getting better! After Accutane any time I ate anything with fat: Example... olive oil, coconut milk, nuts, etc. my stomach KILLED. Accutane leaves ur body without the ability to metabolize fat & therefore it’s just getting passed right into ur stool. You need to take a digestive enzyme to HELP your body metabolize the fat so your body can ABSORB it. So I’m gonna list what you MUST consider doing in order to feel better:

1. Digestive Enzymes (it can be found in any health store... get a potent one)
2. Strong Probiotics (helps heal ur gut immensely!!! I use Vibrant Flora Probiotics 100 Billion)
3. Taking gluten, sugar, & dairy out of your diet (which was SO hard to do for me but those 3 things are so taxing on ur digestive system as it is you literally cannot consume those things in order to heal your gut)
4. Milk Thistle (for your liver because Accutane is also so hard on ur liver & in order to rid yourself of toxins you need to give ur liver some love)

That’s it peeps! This is what worked 4 me & made me feel back to my old self & healthy again. Thank you for taking the time 2 read. Your health is everything!

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Re: Colleen (# 1121)

I believe Accutane permanently ruined my vagina - painful intercourse is a fact of life for me now. See web search results for “Accutane and vulvodynia” - it is a widespread problem.

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Hola Soy de Bogota. Yo tome isotetrinoina por mes y emedio y cai en una depresion aguda, luego de 7 años con la misma he decidio entrar en tratamiento, quiero preguntar sie esposible slair de esto y como puedo solucionarlo, ya que llevo bastante tiempo asi.

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Aija (# 1901) --

Please tell me - I am 10 years after and no answers. Dry everywhere and more issues.

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Hazem (# 1916) --

Actually I took accutane for 7 month and Then I was diagnosed with Wegener granulomatosis ( rare autoimmune disease )

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