ACCUTANE Reviews (ISOTRETINOIN)Average Rating: 3.3 (746 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ACCUTANE with similar:
Type: Brand name discontinued; available as generic
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Results are sorted by Gender males first. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) 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 | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ACCUTANE | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 3 | Acne | Very dry lips, dry skin (very dry on face, rest of body is dry too), rash on back of hands that comes and goes, ears are dry and peel a little, vaginal dryness, occasional nausea for no other apparent reason - am now in my 5th month and getting little red spots (like small bug bites) on my legs and butt, assume this is some kind of a rash | I've been on 40mg twice a day for almost 5 months - Accutane has certainly helped my skin a lot, but so far not to the extent that I had hoped. Also, these newer side effects I am having (vaginal dryness, rash) are more worrisome and can be ebmarassing in certain situations. I haven't had any depression, but have had occasional bad days when I've broken out again and feel hopeless. I am hoping within the next month and a half my skin continues to clear up and the acne doesn't come back - my best friend took it a couple years ago and has said she would never have recommended it to anyone while she was on it because she was so miserable but now that she's so happy with the results, she would - she hasn't had a single pimple, 2 years later. So I'm hopeful that in the next few months it will prove to be worth all of these side effects. Taking this medicine is NOT a decision to be taken lightly - do your research, be prepared for the side effects and do it only if it's worth it to you | F | 23 | 5 months | 3/24/2008 | 3 | severe acne | extremely dry skin; difficulty healing minor wounds; itchy bumps on the neck which, when scratched, get bigger and bleed; tiny itchy bumps on forearms; irritability; dry mouth, eyes, nose (sometimes resulting in nose bleeds); increased appetite; strange pain on bottom of feet, particularly heels; fatigue; and reduced sex drive. | I am SO HOPING that these symptoms are worth it. I can take it for now, and I have an incredibly supportive partner, but I'm on my third bump-up in dose and the symptoms are becoming more pronounced. My acne interfered with my self-confidence at work (I do a lot of public speaking), and these side effects are interfering somewhat now, as well, in both my work life and my personal life. I'm going to power through this thing and take the advice that someone offered earlier: take better care. Pay attention to the sex drive stuff, drink more water, and take vitamins. | F | 40 | 3 months | 2/27/2008 | 3 | Acne | Severe dry lips, rectal bleeding, coughing up a very small amount of blood, very light nose bleeds, mood swings, depression, no energy, weakness; very itchy tiny bumps popping up all over my body..I've had them for about 5 days and not sure when they are going to go away, acne is a little better. | This medicine really henders your relationships with people. I wouldn't recommend it, there are also too many side effects. These rash like bumps all over my body and are 10 times worse than having acne on my face. If you have any more questions, feel free to write me at [email protected]. thanks. | F | 25 | 5 months | 1/31/2008 | 3 | cystic acne | dry lips, lack of energy, severe joint pain, high cholesterol and high triglicerides the last month of treatment | The first year and a half after discontinuing accutane was wonderful. No cystic acne and the oily skin was gone. Then, overnight, the oil production increased and I was back into a full blown cystic acne nightmare. Don't be lulled into thinking that accutane is the be all end all to your acne problems. Most likely they will return. If they don't, you are one of the lucky few. My dermatologist had told me that the results would be life long....My new dermatologist said that is never the case. It only helps to control the acne. I will never regret taking accutane..but the results were not permanent. | F | 38 | 6 months | 11/9/2007 | 3 | Stubborn Acne | Dry skin (especially my nose) and lips. Vaginal discomfort. Fatigue | I have experienced some vaginal discomfort while on this medicine. I havent heard it discussed before so I thought I'd mention it. | F | 16 | 1 days | 10/30/2007 | 3 | acne | i had a rash on the back of my hands and arms during the winter months. it left my lips and nose very dry and I would get severe nose bleeds all the time. Also, while i was on it, my period seemed to disappear. It dried my skin up as well. | It has been a year and a half since i took this and I feel pretty satisfied. the acne is not nearly as bad as it used to be, although it still flares up when my period comes. it has left my nasal membranes, lips, and eyes pretty dry, but my skin is still oily, like before. after getting off of it, my period returned to a normal cycle. the rash went away as well. | F | 17 | 6 months | 8/1/2007 | 3 | resilient acne | FREAKING DRY LIPS, mood swings, lots of crying for no reason, a lot of back pain (lower when getting up from sitting) and (upper when going to bed), dry skin (but not flaky or peeling), dry eyes, lots of knee joint pain (after running you're really shaky), and I always want to sleep (I can never seem to feel rested) | This stuff is hardcore, you have to be sure that it is worth all the side affects for clear skin, because as much as I want clear skin and to feel great about myself, it sucks to wake up everyday feeling tired, dried out, sore all over your muscles and bones, and upset. Your healthy and general happiness is definately affected, because you never feel yourself, there is always some nasty side-effect holding you back, so all i have to say is make sure it is worth it to you :) get in contact with me if you agree with any of this, I've barely started treatments and I would love to talk to someone my age going through the same thing. | F | 14 | 3 weeks | 5/12/2007 | 3 | Acne | Chapped lips, acne got much worse. | It's been only 40 days that I'm on Accutane. At first, my skin looked great! But after a week, I started getting this huge zits all over my face (not on the forehead though). Now, I'm looking pretty bad, and I even started taking some antibiotics to help treating this breakouts. I'm hoping this medication will finally cure my acne. Although I do get sad with the fact that my skin got much worse, I'm still on my normal mood. Not depressed at all. | F | 27 | 40 days | 5/31/2005 | 3 | Acne (Adult acne) | Sex drive is nada (watch out!!), dry lips | I left a comment on September 9th (about 2 comments before this one) and would like to update. I have been on Accutane now for roughly 6 months. For the last 2 months, I've been on 80mg and 40mg, every-other day. Since then, my sex drive has basically left me. On top of that, I have gained weight since taking Accutane. About 15 pounds infact. I'm going to the doctors in a few days and just may stop Accutane. I'm really not satisfied with it. But, I just wanted to warn some about the possibility of sexual side-effects. | F | 24 | 6 months | 10/23/2007 | 3 | cystic acne | VERY BAD hair lose. My lips have been cracked and my skin and scalp are very dry. If it weren't for the hair lose it would be great. I could tell a difference in my skin a week after I started it. | F | 27 | 3 weeks | 2/21/2005 | 3 | deep cystic acne | i def. had dry dry lips. im constantly putting on lip balm. (aquaphina is a god sent). headaches, back pain, especially when going to bed. dry hands. good side effect is that my hair isnt as oily.i would have def. mood swings, happy then sad. i would cry about nothing. always wanting to sleep, and i've had more breakouts than what i orginally had, but i think its bringing it all to the surface. | make sure that accutane is your last resort. that you've tried everything else. it is a very harsh drug. has alot of side effects, even though im not even done with my treatment i think people should try it. it will improve your skin.. | F | 18 | 3 months | 2/6/2007 | 3 | moderate to severe acne | Just about everything the book warned of - tiredness, sore joints and dry skin, painful eyes, painful bowel movements, stomach cramps, general sense of exhaustion and lethargy, and heartburn - I could feel food crawling down my dry throat and oesophagus. However, the whole time I was on it, I did not have one pimple! | The treatment hasn't cured my acne, but it's made it a lot better. I've gone from ugly, huge, cystic welts to a smattering of pimples. I had to give up martial arts and weight trainign after a while, and I think I have done quite severe damage to my joints. Was it worth it? At the time, yes. I was paranoid as hell about my face, and it was affecting my career (who wants a spotty employee in a high end professional job?). However, I fear that in the long term I may well change my mind. | F | 28 | 12 months | 12/23/2004 | 3 | Moderate to severe acne | Dry Skin, lips, irritation to sunlight, joint pain, pretty much everything they warn you of, When I went back on the pill after a 3 year break, to clear up the lingering acne, I experienced "increased brain pressure" and the doc told me I would have died had I not come in. I still have acne to this day. | When I started Accutane, they didn't know many of the long term effects. Before reading this, I never put two and two together, but 9 years later, I wouldn't be surprised if Accutane has played a role in my knee pain, IBS, fatigue and vision problems (sensitivity to light). HOWEVER, I agree with the person that wrote on Sep 1, being that I had no idea it was related to Accutane, I've just found ways to adapt. Live life, don't complain about it. You'd be amazed how much of all this is mental. (Except maybe the hairloss...) | F | 21 | 5 months | 10/28/2008 | 3 | cistic acne | dry lips, skin, and severe redness and burning of my eyes. This drug is not worth the side effects. | This drug is only now working after 5 months of being on it. In addition, I am taking 2 other drugs to help. I hae taken accutane when i was younger and saw no difference, but did not get the side effects. This is a rotten drug! | F | 20 | 5 months | 9/13/2004 | 3 | progressive acne | complete absence of oils in my skin and hair. No earwax for about a year. Sweating in my eyebrows. Extremely painful bowel movements due to lack of normal body lubricants. | My acne was completely gone for about a year then started to progress, although not as badly as when I went on to Accutane. I am now using Proactiv to control my acne with very good results, and no side effects. I would not do it again. | F | 33 | 6 months | 11/19/2004 | 3 | scarring acne on face, back, chest | Migraine headaches! dry lips, dry eyes, extremely sensitive skin, joint pain, changes in hearing | I was only on brand name accutane at 60mg a day for two days. About an hour after taking the first dose I developed a headache. Pain relievers did not help it. After two days on the drug my headache was so painful I was in tears. Light affected me and any noise seemed extremely loud and hurt my ears. My joints ached when I moved. My skin was so sensitive and my body so dehydrated that if I clutched anything tightly in my hand, the imprint of it stayed on my hand for an hour later. It hurt to open a water bottle. I stopped taking the drug and my doctor told me I had had a migraine. I have never had a migraine before in my life and my family has no history of it. It was extremely painful and I may not be able to take the drug, even on a lower dosage. I did notice immediate improvement in my pimples, which shrunk in size. I guess this drug just wasn't for me. It causes different side effects in everyone who takes it and it may cause side effects not listed. So beware of what it's doing to | F | 21 | 2 days | 9/20/2006 | 3 | acne | dry/cracked lips, nosebleeds, dry/peeling skin on face | I took acne at 2 different times, both times for about a year. I liked it because it cleared up the majority of my acne. I still got a few pimples on my face but it was better than having my face covered with them. But each time I started taking accutane I would wish I wasn't taking it because of how dry it made my skin, lips, and nose. My face would burn, sometimes even if I put lotion on to get rid of the dryness it would burn. My nose would bleed, and my doctor told me to get saline spray for the dryness, but it did not work. All the saline spray did was give me a sore throat. My lips were so dry that no matter what I bought for dry lips, nothing worked. I tried Chapstick overnight, neosporin for lips, Blistex severe, nothing worked. The whole time I took the drug all I wanted was to be off of it. But once I stopped taking it my acne returned IMMEDIATELY. My doctor said it was only supposed to be a one-time treatment and then my acne would never return. He was very wrong. | F | 21 | 1 years | 6/14/2006 | 3 | cystic acne | CHAPPED LIPS, stomach ache, tailbone always hurts, dry skin. | I haven't really noticed any change yet. For the amount I paid for the medication, it better start working soon!!!! I am disappointed so far, but hopefully it will change. I would pay more if I knew it was going to work. So if it does make a difference it is well worth the cost and the side effects. | F | 26 | 4 weeks | 8/26/2005 | 3 | mild to moderate acne on face | Severe knee pain - found it hard to walk up and down stairs or sit for periods of > a few minutes, dry, cracked lips and corners of mouth, ugly red itchy rashes all over my body (worse on hands, wrists and arms), severe tiredness, reduced immunity, general joint and muscle aches, sweaty eyebrows, sensitive, fragile skin, dry skin all over, red, inflamed and peeling skin on areas of acne, dry sore eyes, peeling skin in ear crevices and around nasal passages, increased cholesterol levels. | I am extremely unhappy with the side effects and am hoping that they will pay off in the end. My acne is still there mainly around my chin and jawline but has gone on my forehead. The lesions arent as painful but seem to take a very long time to heal. I am still experiencing breakouts that are extremely depressing to the point where I dont want to leave the house. My side effects have really worsened since increasing the dose. | F | 26 | 2 months | 9/1/2005 | 3 | severe acne | very very very painfully chapped lips! like i wake up and my lips are so dry and chaped that they crack and bleed. i've used everything from kheils to carmax to burts bees to chanel. nothing helps my lips! also it's made me have mild exzema, but my dr. just gives me a cortazone shot and it's gone by the next day. | i'm still on accutane, and i still have acne. it's gotten better, but still not what i expect. when i wear make-up, my skin looks almost perfect, but as soon as i wash my face, i look a wrek! it's still all red and has scars and i still have a few zits. i really really really would like to just wake-up and have flawless skin! | F | 17 | 3 months | 1/30/2006 |