ACCUTANE Reviews (ISOTRETINOIN)

Average Rating: 3.3 (746 Ratings)

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 DERMATOLOGICS

 Type: Brand name discontinued; available as generic

  

ACCUTANE  (ISOTRETINOIN):  This medication is used to treat severe cystic acne (also known as nodular acne) that has not responded to other treatment (e.g., benzoyl peroxide or clindamycin applied to the skin or tetracycline or minocycline taken by mouth). It belongs to a class of drugs known as retinoids. It works by decreasing facial oil (sebum) production. High amounts of sebum can lead to severe acne. If left untreated, severe acne may cause permanent scarring.   FDA Approval Date: 1982-05-07 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

Results are sorted by Gender males first.

Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

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More on ACCUTANE: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR ACCUTANECOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 5  Moderate Cystic Acne Dry lips, Sensitive/Dry Face, Occasional (But Severe) Hip Pain, Mild Hair Loss, Occasional Blood in rectum, Mild Flaring of Psoriasis, and lastly, and weirdly, Mild Curling of Hair (weird, right?) I started Accutane at age 18 after developing increasingly problematic cystic acne. I was hesitant to start, but now that I just finished treatment, I'm worried to stop! Unfortunately, there is the initial worsening of the skin within the first few weeks. However, as you stay on treatment, you learn to cope with the symptoms. As a college student, it was such a godsend to, for once, NOT have to worry about my skin, AND I could get away with not showering for a few days because of the lack of oils. To combat the dryness on my face, I used light soap and moisturizers (Cetaphil worked great). I was inseparable from my tube of Carmex. I finished my last month recently and I am now a bit worried about going off! It really has been a great treatment for me and I would highly recommend this product based solely on my experience. M 19 6 months
20-40 1X day
3/11/2010
 5  Cystic Acne Dry nose, occasional nosebleed A wonder drug! I had terrible cystic acne starting before puberty and did all the usual treatments without any effect on it at all. Finally I went on Accutane in my mid-30s and it was a wonder drug. The acne quickly vanished and aside from a dry nose, I had negligible side effects. It's been over 15 years and I'm still mostly acne-free with only slightly oily nose and forehead. I'd recommend this to anyone, and, as my 9 year-old has started to develop acne, I'm keeping it in mind for when he gets into his teens. M 48 3 months
unknown 1X day
2/24/2010
 5  Terrible Back and face acne. Joint pain, Extremely dry lips to the point i had trouble eating. Fatigue modd changes. It has dramatically removed my acne. But it does have its problems. Besides what I've listed i have had small twitches in several parts of my body. Not sure if this is or isnt a from accutane. M 15 6 months
100 1X day
8/28/2010
Email
 5  acne dry face, dry hands, cracked lips. I have been on accutane for almost 3 months now and I have had great results. Before I started taking it I had severe Acne on my face and chest. At first my Acne worsened and I was descouraged but towards the end of the second month my face began to dramatically improve. Now I have almost no Acne! M 19 3 months
40 MG 1X day
3/28/2011
 5  Acne Dry flaking skin on hands and inside nostrils. Whilst some people have had terrible experiences using this, I found it to be the thing that saved my life, as I was very insecure about the proliferation of acne I had. Five years on, and not a single outbreak has occured. M 16 5 months
30 1X day
5/5/2011
 5  Severed Acne Dry/reddish skin, dry lips (peeled constantly) After several visits to my dermatologist, I finally decided I'd had enough of my acne nightmare (I was still in high school, need I say more). I switched doctors, and the new one immediately put me on accutane. Approximately 2ish months later, my acne was gone, completely. I've never had a problem with acne since, and I'm now 33. This was like a miracle drug. M 33
2X day
8/16/2011
Email
 5  Cystic Acne I suffered from severe chapped lips and sensitive skin. I have suffered from acne since I was 13, through time, it progressively got worse and I was diagnosed with cystic acne. How it was explained, the cells in my body which produced sweat was somehow mutated and produced it at 2x the normal rate. The excessive amount of sweat caused oil to often fill up my pores and cause cysts all over my body. I was told cystic acne was incurable, my dermatologist suggested Accutane. At first I was hesitant because of the immense waiver I had to sign, but I had reached my limit and willingly signed. This drug changed my life. I suffered from chap lips and sensitive skin, but after 1-2 months, it reduced the production of cysts on my body about 95%. I am not saying this cured my cystic acne, but dealing with a bad cyst 2-3 times a year, is better than dealing with a cyst 3-4 times a month. This helped my self-esteem immensely because having such a severe case of acne causes unwanted attention constantly. "Did you get punched in the face?" , "Did you try to pierce your ears?" My dermatologist mentioned side-effects such as depression, and wanted me to notify him immediately if I had any feelings of increased depression. What anxiety / depression that occurred during the period, it was caused by having the acne for so long already, and in my opinion, had nothing to do with the drug and did not increase during the treatment. I would highly recommend this drug. M 24 3 months
30mg 2X day
1/12/2012
Email
 5  Acne I was 14 when I started taking it and I had really bad acne! In about a month I could see my face a lot better as for side effects contrary to what people say... I had none... No mood changes, nothing... My face did got a bit drier but nothing noticable and it happend just on the 6th month M 16 6 months
20
8/11/2013
Email
 5  Because its the best solution I have chapped lips and dry skin but easy to fix with lotion an blistex. I do feel pain but only from my knees down. M 17 1 years
40 mg
4/19/2012
Email
 5  bad acne very chapped lips, lower back pain, pain in tail bone, dry and tired eyes, red face, sun burn easily, sore muscles in butt and groin area after hard running i first got acne in the 6th grade and each year it got significantly worse, i tried all other solutions but none worked. accutane is a miracle drug, it works, im on my 5th month of this drug and i have perfectly clear skin. this drug is great. although there are some bad side effects, it gets rid of your acne. if u play a sport, dont take accutane while ur sport is in season, u most likely will not be able to play with the side effects of accutane M 14 5 months
12/11/2005
 5  nodular acne very dry lips and skin on face i have had moderate to severe acne on my face for the past 7 years and have tried all of the treatments available. i diddent want to take acutane at first beeacuse of all of the horror stories that i read about on the internet. (this was a very bad decision) after the first week i could see an increadible improvment that is continuing. i know that alot of people may experience depression as a side effect, however the exact opposit is true for me. i was depressed before taking the drug, and now i would say that the depression has gone away due to the increased self confidence and image that accutane has provided to me. i would recomend this drug to anyone who is having problems with acne, but be sure to consult your doctor M 22 2 months
1/26/2006
 5  Mild/Moderate acne very dry lips, dry skin, flaking skin, flailing and dry hair, crusty nose (from bleeds), back pain, and temporary ringing in ears in 1st month---all these side effects were ok to deal with This sh*t really is a miracle. I can honestly say that it was like this drug removed a "mask" from my face to reveal my true face. When I started on this drug, I was at the lowest point of my life. I quit school because of the acne problem, tried everything else available, and had enough. I thought, whatever the side-effects of Accutane, I don't care. So, I took the drug and was quite disappointed in the first month. My skin was flaky, dry, and horribly itchy. I had thoughts of suicide at the time, but quickly realized it was probably the drug at work and set those thoughts aside. The girl I'm in love with (we're only friends yet) started getting irritated at me while I was on the drug, presumably because the drug caused mood swings. BUT...here's the good part. I think for anyone who really hates their life because of acne, like I did, Accutane is THE answer. After about 4 months, the girl that I like said "Wow, you look really different, your pretty hot". So that d M 18 4 months
9/1/2006
 5  Acne Vulgaris Dry lips, dry face, dry scalp, vaginal dryness, chest pains, slight hair loss, joint pain and mood swings M 23 5 months
5/24/2006
 5  cyctic acne Severe chapped lips. If I could have sucked Carmex lip blam with a straw it wouldn't have helped. Fortuneatly the skin peeled in layers and didn't bleed or crack so it wasn't painful. Had zero mood problems. Cholesterol shot up to 500mg/dL but came back down slowly after treatment -- it's around 200 now +/- 30. I've had full bloodwork done and it's not a concern as it's the "good stuff" that's high. Hair thinned slightly on top but came back after a year. It was my last straw after everything else. Doxycyclene gave me acute gastritis, ulcerated my esophagus, and a hospital visit. As with any drug, if you system can handle it, it's worth it. If you can't, please don't tell people to avoid it but educate them. They may not have the same reactions you did but it does help to share information. M 33 4 months
1/3/2006
 5  Acne Accutane completely cleared y acne within a few months. I experienced dryness nosebleeds and sore joints, but they were mild and the side effects are so worth it. i'm not done with accutane yet. i still have 4 weeks to go. hopefully the acne won't come back. M 20 20 weeks
1/5/2007
 5  moderate to severe acne; 20 + yrs currently severe/acute joint & back pains In response to the opinionated, narrowminded & naive comment about accutane "NOT" contributing to depression (or in the least, mood changes); simply because YOU haven't experienced the side-effects doesn't mean other people will not. Medications affect each individual differently (due to physiology, genetics, metabolism & biochemistry) and it's COMPLETELY erroneous to make a bold statement like that. M 36 2 months
11/10/2006
 5  Adult Acne, Cystic Acne DRY DRY DRY... skin, scalp, lips. Itchy scalp. Side effects stopped as soon as I stopped aking the drug. I suffered from persisant acne since I was a teen. I had tried every over the counter med, nutritional and herbal remedy, but nothing helped. Even prescription topicals and anti-biotics were no help. Accutane cleared up my acne immediatley and it never came back. I am now 10 years clear! M 48 3 months
4/3/2007
 5  Severe acne, canalizing cysts I have experienced many of the side effects mentioned here but I am not sure if they can be blamed on Acutane. Some depression, dry eyes, intestinal problems, difficulty concentrating. All of these symptoms even 20 years after taking the drug. This is a miracle drug and I can live with the side effects. I felt cursed with horrible acne for so many years that I inherited from my father and grandfather. It was not unusual for me to discover 2 or 3 new cysts everyday on just about any part of my body. I always had horrific bleeding and puss filled canalizing cysts on my face, back, chest and buttocks. It was painful and embarrassing and seeing dermatologists throughout my teenage years yielded no results. I went through dozens of different treatments from antibiotics to lotions to UV therapy and the doctor freezing off cysts. It is a wonder to me that I could have any friends and even meet a woman who would accept me as I was afflicted but somehow I made it through all that. When I heard about acutane (around age 27 in 1986)I immeadiatley went for the treatment, willing to pay any price. It was a miracle to me that in a few short months 90% of my acne was gone. I opted to not go for a 2nd treatment 5 years later. I can live wit M 47 90 days
12/11/2006
 5  Severe acne While actively taking the medication, I experienced very dry lips, very dry skin in general, some fatigue. I can honestly say that this drug saved my life. Before Accutane, I had severe, cystic acne on my face( not really elsewhere) and was anxious at the thought of socializing with anyone outside of my family for even a few minutes. I also had fleeting thoughts of suicide on several occasions because it felt like a hopeless situation that I had no control over. Its not like obesity because you can control that. Severe acne came to dominate my every thought when I was outside of the house. I first tried all the topical treatments like Oxy(what a joke) because I really didn't know what worked. Then I tried Retin-A which I hear is a decent product but it really isn't meant for SEVERE ACNE. It was at that point that I decided to take the step and try Accutane because I heard from some high school classmates that it worked for them and I really had to try something, ANYTHING, to get rid of this crap that was on my face and ruining my life. Well, long store short, I love the results even th M 29 4 months
12/12/2006
Email
 5  Mild/Moderate acne very dry lips, dry skin, flaking skin, flailing and dry hair, crusty nose (from bleeds), back pain, and temporary ringing in ears in 1st month---all these side effects were ok to deal with This sh*t really is a miracle. I can honestly say that it was like this drug removed a "mask" from my face to reveal my true face. When I started on this drug, I was at the lowest point of my life. I quit school because of the acne problem, tried everything else available, and had enough. I thought, whatever the side-effects of Accutane, I don't care. So, I took the drug and was quite disappointed in the first month. My skin was flaky, dry, and horribly itchy. I had thoughts of suicide at the time, but quickly realized it was probably the drug at work and set those thoughts aside. The girl I'm in love with (we're only friends yet) started getting irritated at me while I was on the drug, presumably because the drug caused mood swings. BUT...here's the good part. I think for anyone who really hates their life because of acne, like I did, Accutane is THE answer. After about 4 months, the girl that I like said "Wow, you look really different, your pretty hot". So that d M 18 4 months
9/1/2006
  

ACCUTANE  (ISOTRETINOIN):  This medication is used to treat severe cystic acne (also known as nodular acne) that has not responded to other treatment (e.g., benzoyl peroxide or clindamycin applied to the skin or tetracycline or minocycline taken by mouth). It belongs to a class of drugs known as retinoids. It works by decreasing facial oil (sebum) production. High amounts of sebum can lead to severe acne. If left untreated, severe acne may cause permanent scarring.   FDA Approval Date: 1982-05-07 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

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