ACCUTANE Reviews (ISOTRETINOIN)

Average Rating: 3.3 (746 Ratings)

Filter Results

Compare ACCUTANE with similar:
 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 Date added.

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

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38


More on ACCUTANE: Reviews Summary  |  Drug Safety Information

RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR ACCUTANECOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 4  Face Acne, very mild back acne I have bad acne on my face and nothing else worked to clear it up. I finally decided to take Accutane. I have had zero bad side effects, but i am super healthy. I workout 6 days a week to stay active. I have not lost any weight, or had any joint pain so far. This medicine did make it worse the first month i was on it, but it seems to finally be clearing up this week. I think the depression side effect is a load of crap. I believe everyone who claims they got depressed from it probably already had a mental issue. I would also like to know about everyones diet when they were on accutane. If you treat your body like a temple it will stay healthy and repair it self. M 24 50 days
40Mg 2X day
5/8/2012
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
 4  Severe acne since age 14 Mild joint pain. Dry lips and very sun sensitive skin, especially arms. Got a severe sun burn on hands that took more than a month to heal. Just stay away from Sun - hat, hat hat!!! and Sunscreen too. Just avoid any optional trips that will expose you to sun. I had a horrible burn just with the sun rays falling on my hand while travelling in a car for few hours. I have had acne problem since age 14 - tried various medications and stopped going to the dermatologist since 2002. Finally decided to do something about it in 2011. The pain of having acne was so suicidal - there was not a day/night that I was not conscious about my face. I felt so horrible and my self esteem was so low. I was terrified to meet people, go to weddings etc. I moved from US to Australia and was suggested to go to this derm in Sydney. It has been 4 months since I have been on Accutane. I still have the scarring from years of damage. But except for 1 breakout, my skin has cleared up. I have a habit of picking, so some dry spots on the face is taking time to heal. I can look myself in the mirror now, take close up pictures and no longer get scared to meet people. My dermatologist said because my condition is severe, I might have to be on the drug for another few months. But I already feel so much confident. My acne cleared up so much and with little make up, I can totally look nice. I did think I was depressed/had a lot of joint pain in the beginning. But I try to stay hydrated, active and confident and not to think about the side effects. Having Acne is more suicidal than the cure by accutane. So, I am glad that I am taking this drug. This was my last resort and I am glad it is working. For a period of 2 weeks, I had stopped the medicine, as I did not get a refill. Believe me, the chapped lips got better and my face was much smoother. I have heard that on F 37 4 months
40 2X day
4/14/2012
Email
 1  acne, open pores. I took isotroin 30 mg (cipla), 20 capsules [oct/2008], at the age of 20 for acne as recomended by my dermatologist. Even today [ie jan 2012] after 3 yrs, i am not the way i was before taking isotroin (in terms of energy level,concentration and many more aspects) ->side effects i suffered- lack of concentration, unresponsive muscle, often get angry, pain in gums sometimes, nose bleeds during cold, heart beats too fast some times with difficulty in breathing, poor night vision/ takes time to adjust in dark, rarely sptos are seen when i blink, skin heals in a different manner, dry eyes / red eyes, thin skin/hair, nails break easily, very very very painful acne with colourless gel around jaw with bad smell which was not earlier, bleeding while passing stools, not able to memorise easily, face,voice keeps on changing, loss of patience, sleeping rate keeps on changing, cant work for a lo it is much much better to have acne rather than living horribly due to side effects. 23 20 days
30mg 1X day
1/22/2012
Email
 1  Light acne I had some acne, not lots, but acne that wouldn't go away. I was prescribed this drug by doctors (outside the US) who are incented to prescribe it because there is probably a majority rate of success, and in their perspective the benefits outweighed the risk. I started getting depressed but not realizing it was from the accutane which is not as highly monitored overseas. I started trying to figure out ways to committ suicide as everything irritated me. I began to hallucinate that there was a man inside my apartment and needed to stay with friends. I began having severe memory loss where it disrupted my daily activities. For instance, I'd leave the house, forget where I was going and have to go back home but I'd realize I'd forgotten my keys and locked myself out and couldn't remember phone numbers etc. I'd forget whether I'd already taken my accutane that day so I'd have to write it on post it notes ie date and dosage. I'm sure I'd taken multiple doses on days I'd forgotten to write it down. My brain felt like Swiss cheese. I couldn't remember names of people. I eventually did commit suicide and woke up in the hospital. This is in addition to severe weight loss ie my shoe size went from an 8.5 to a 6 and I had dry chapped lips and still do to this day. I lost years of my life from this drug since even after stopping it, my memory didn't immediately return. There are still times I wonder what happened when I went out with friends or on a date- I imagine it must be like getting F 22 1 years
30 mg
1/20/2012
Email
 5  Horrible acne for 7 years Starting off I only had very dry lips, but after the 4th month my nose got horribly dry and my skin started to get very very dry and red almost like a rash that burned badly in areas (mostly my arms and neck.) My face got dry as well although there were no "burns." You have to suffer through the dry skin and chapped lips, but in the end, for me at least, it was well worth the clear up of my acne. I used to have it on my back, chest, face and neck. It was completely cleared up except for tiny bumps that would come up once in a great while. F 17 6 months
120 MG 1X day
1/18/2012
 4  Hidradenitis suppurativa Dry lips/nose/eyes; slight loss of vision due to dry eyes; difficulty walking; extreme (to the max) fatigue; very bad back ache; joint ache; heartburn; loss of appetite; nausea My HS lumps are finally drying up -- i am no longer leaking blood and fluid out of my lumpy areas. Some areas are even clearing. However, the drying effect comes with a price (dry skin, nose, lips, eyes). Recommend for bad hs not curable with antibiotics or surgery F 36 3 months
120 mg 1X day
1/16/2012
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  REALLY bad acne I started taking Accutane because my acne had reached it's peak. My doctor said I'd see a difference after two months, but it worked after the first two weeks. I had severe dry lips and I was VERY sensitive to sunlight(when i was unaware of this i had gotten 2nd degree burns on my face and back.) But SUNSCREEN and LIPCHAP worked to help these side effects. Now, if you feel side effect that a normal over the counter drug will help, don't complain about it, lol. Also may I add if you know about the side effects and stress about it your head can impose those side effects and it would be all in your head, it's not necessarily the drug. F 17 6 months
30 MG 1X day
1/7/2012
 1  Nodular Acne Severe Panic Attacks, Heart Palpitations, Speeding Heart Rate, Severe Anxiety, Suicidal Thoughts, High Blood Pressure, Bloody Noses, lack of balance, nausea, twitching. Started taking Accutane last October. After 4 weeks of minimal side effects my doctor doubled my dose to 30mg twice a day. Big mistake. Five days later I had a severe panic attack. Since then I have been to the those attacks almost every day in addition to constant anxiety, heart palpitations, irrational fears and suicidal thoughts etc. I been to the ER 3 times and am now seeing 2 cardiologists, a psychiatrist and a primary doctor. Very miserable, hopefully it will get better. M 32 5 weeks
30mg 2X day
1/5/2012
Email
 5  Acne - facial, chest & back Very sevre chapped lips, back pain on right side really bad and dry skin, I'm still taking accutane nearly at my 2nd month now but I am noticing changes its a very good tablet F 15 6 months
25 MG
1/4/2012
 5  mild acne even after tetracyline Extremly painful back pains sice the first week. I'm on the 2nd month of my treatment now and its unberable, I can't even study without pain. Even when I go get a massage it hurts as soon as she puts slights pressure on my back. My joints have always hurt a bit as I have mild artheritis but with Accutane they clicked much more. F 18 6 months
35mg
12/27/2011
Email
 4  Mild Acne on face neck back chest Dry, peeling skin. Red, watery eyes. Frequent nose bleeds. It sure has cleared my skin up! However, as with any medicine, there are some adverse side effects. I've been suffering from back pain since being on the medicine, and my eyes are constantly red. My skin peels so bad that it looks terrible with makeup on. I still would recommend this drug to anyone who wants to rid their acne. This is my last month on the medicine and i can't wait to be done with the full results! F 15
30 MG 2X day
12/23/2011
Email
 4  excessive oil pockets in skin Slight hair thinning. Severe chapped lips. Loved how it made my constantly oily hair not oily at all. The skin on my face was thick with clogged pores and trapped oil. Although I still have visible acne pit scars, my skin is now a normal texture not overly thick and dense. F 48 6 months
80mg 1X day
12/6/2011
 1  acne severe dry eyes, eye irritation due to lack of oil in tear film, dry tight facial skin, weight loss. Accutane cured my acne but I have been left with life long troublesome side effects. Most of them are due to the lack of oil produced in my skin and tear glands. Accutane works by shutting down your oil glands in your skin but also your eyes. Some doctors will tell you that you don't need the oil (sebum) but obviously god gave us this for some reason and I know why. My eyes are constantly irritated by environmental and other factors because I have no oily tear film and none of my meiobiam glands secrete oil. I can't even put into words how upset I am about this. I know accutane works by reducing the oil being secreted but I was never told that it was also happening to my eyes at the same time. I also know something happened to my digestive system or hormones because I lost 25 pounds while on accutane and have never been able to put on the lost weight in 18 years. So for me definately wouldn't take it again. Basically you are trading your health for clear skin. M 44 5 months
80 mg 1X day
12/6/2011
Email
 5  mild acne I have very dry lips and thinning hair. i also have some bumps on my hands.... not sure if its because of accutane. it cleared up my acne....hoping that it does not come back again. F 24 5 months
20 mg 1X day
11/30/2011
 3  Persistant Acne Chapped lips, feeling dehydrated, just overall dry Here is the thing. If you have tried everything else for acne and nothing works then I would consider using it. Just know that everyone will react differently. About a year after i stopped treatment i began having panic attacks. I still have panic/anxiety disorder. I cannot say that the panic was induced by the meds but if i had to bet what caused it i would say accutane. Use as your own risk but you will have a significant reduction in acne. M 30 5 days
40 2X day
11/14/2011
 1  Acne Permanent side effects that I still have 10 years after the drug: total loss of sexual sensation, vaginal numbness, painful intercourse, loss of libido, low mood, anxiety, joint pain, food intolerance, cognitive problems, lack of energy, lethargy, tender spleen off and on, floaters, horrible night vision. I would give, LITERALLY, an arm and a leg to get my health back to where it was before I took Accutane. It sure cleared up my acne permanently. So if you want to risk it, you'd be insane. F 36 6 months
20 md 1X day
10/24/2011
 1  acne-father insisted M 26
30 mg 1X day
10/20/2011
Email

Patient History
 5  Acne None to speak of. I have had cystic acne since I was a teenager. I tried EVERYTHING. Nothing worked. I am very uncomfortable taking any prescription medication but I am glad I took accutane. My skin cleared up for the first time in 20 years. I dream I have acne and I am so happy when I wake up and see my skin. F 35 6 months
30MG 1X day
10/12/2011

Previous Page       Next Page

BACK TO TOP