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 Date added. 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 |
| 5 | acne | dry lips, dry scalp, vaginal dryness | I'm only on day 12, no major changes in my face or back, but I was using Proactive so it was under control. | F | 28 | 12 days | 7/22/2006 | 1 | acne | less serious: dry/chapped lips, dry skin more serious: blood infection and staph infection | My dermatologist informed me that both my blood infection (very serious) and staph infection were caused by accutane. He also informed me that I had one half of one percent of a chance that this would happen to me. I never see these listed, however, in the possible side effects. I believe its important for people taking this drug to know this. | F | 21 | 4 months | 7/17/2006 | 5 | Cystic Acne | Chapped Lips Dramatic weight loss Dry eyes Hair Loss | I suffered from cystic acne from the age of 15 to 20 when I couldnt take it anymore. I had tried absolutely everything to treat it and nothing worked. Accutane was a blessing. I dealt with the side effects really well by drinking heaps of water, piercing a vitamin E capsule every night and smothering the oil on my face (I swear by this) carried a blistex chapstick in my pocket, car, bag and just about every room in the house and put it on so much that in the end I would do it and not even realise I was applying it! I also bought some natural tears from the pharmacy and put these in daily. Doing these treatments kept my skin and lips in great condition, the doctor couldnt believe how soft my skin and lips were while on accutane. I did however lose a dramatic amount of weight in a matter of weeks which was scary as I was already quite slim, and I did lose a bit more hair than usual but nothing to worry about. The only mistake I made while on it one night was I got drunk & when I w | F | 32 | 7 days | 7/13/2006 | 5 | acne | My side effects were actually minimal, mostly dry lips (don't lick your lips; it makes things worse) and slightly flaking skin. No depression. My triglicerides shot up through the roof, which resulted in my doc taking me off Accutane before the full 3-month course of medication (I was on for 2 months). | Accutane was a god-send for me. I struggled for 20 years with mild acne, the kind that creates large, painful pustules under the skin. Within 2 months of taking this medication, I was cured -- and that was 8 years ago. Wish they had Accutane available when I was 15. | M | 37 | 2 months | 7/10/2006 | 4 | moderate acne | I have chapped lips. I also have minor joint pain in my fingers when I play guitar. | I have lived with acne since my teen years and now I'm 30. I told my doctor I can't see having acne and wrinkles! I had these little bumps all over my face and it made me feel dirty. I would also get a huge pimple, then it would go away, then I would get another, and it would go away.... So I would always have at least one huge leision on my face. I still have one large pimple on my neck, but the little bumps are disappearing and my skin is so much smoother. So far, so good! | F | 30 | 10 days | 7/7/2006 | 1 | cystic acne | Headaches, dry/chapped lips, MASSIVE HAIR LOSS - HASN'T STOPPED IN 12 YEARS - DON'T TAKE THIS DRUG. | It's terrible how they push this drug on vulnerable teenagers desperate for an acne cure. 12 years later I'm still sorry I took it, and I still get cystic acne. It's poison. | F | 31 | 2 months | 6/22/2006 | 1 | Acne | chapped lips, nose bleeds, hip pain, dry eyes-Now have Type 1 Diabetes, IBS, Arthritis, High cholestrol (all associated with this medication) | i took this medication in my early twenties. At that time,(1988) the only caution from my dermatologist was DO NOT GET PREGNANT, can raise triglycerides and cause some joint pain which will go away when medicine is discontinued. Within months of finishing my round of Accutane, my pancreas started dumping too much insulin and I suffered severe hypoglycemia for months. I then developed insulin dependant diabetes. In my mid thirties my skin begin breaking our again. My derm put me on 40mg daily and gave me a BOOK of cautions and side effects. A BOOK! Among them was "notify your physician of diabetes in your family" can cause IBS, pancreatis (which can lead to diabetes) depression, suicide, and on and on. When I spoke with my dermatologist she said there was no proof and to keep taking it, I stopped immediatley. For the month I was on it, my hair fell out, my blood sugars went out of control. I spoke with my endocrinolgist about it and she agrees that is caused my diabetes. Th | F | 39 | 9 days | 6/21/2006 | 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 | 5 | facial acne | dry skin, lips, eyes; joint and lower back pain; tiredness; some weight loss | accutane worked great for my acne - for the first time, i am actually getting complimented on my skin! but there's a reason this stuff is prescription only; my skin was sensitive and dry, and i was constantly tired and achy. but nothing was so unbearable that i couldn't do all the things i normally would if i wasn't on the medication. unfortunately, my doctor didn't tell me about all the "minor" side effects; be sure to ask him or her about everything and do your own research before starting. | F | 25 | 5 months | 6/9/2006 | 4 | Acne | Dry, peeling skin and very chapped lips. Decreased night vision. Back and chest pain. | Accutane does have some serious side effects, and is not for everyone, but if you can stand the dry skin, then it is a great drug! Completely cleared my acne! | F | 25 | 4 months | 6/7/2006 | 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 | 4 | cystic, chronic acne | VERY dry lips even with applying copious amounts of Aquaphor, dry and bleeding nose, substantial joint pain (I feel like I'm 100 years old) and one other major side effect that has twice caused me to have to abandon the drug before my course was up: serious infections around the fingernails. | I have done two partial courses of Accutane (see side effects) and two full courses in my 20's, and I'm back at it again. I am losing hope that my skin will ever be 'normal.' | M | 34 | 3 months | 5/9/2006 | 3 | persistant acne | chapped lips, dry skin, thin skin | it was a mircle worker for the first 9 months then my acne came back worse | F | 15 | 6 months | 5/8/2006 | 4 | chronic acne | dry lips, joint pain, rash on the backs of hands and arms | i'm in my 4th month (of 6) on the medication and it's doing wonders for the problem acne i had on my face. unfortunately, it comes at a cost: i hardly had any side effects in my first 3 months when i was on 10-20 mgs a day. but my skin freaked out when my derm increased the dosage to 40 mg/day - that's when this rash, which is pretty unsightly, started appearing on my hands and arms. also, i'm a runner and so the joint pain in my knees is starting to effect that a little. my face is doing great though - a stray pimple maybe that disappears almost as quick as it came. i'm told the rash is temporary and my derm recommended cerave lotion and cleanser to help. oh and very dry lips - i think i've been through 5 sticks of chapstick already! but the side effects are only temporary, and the results will hopefully be permenant. | F | 25 | 4 months | 5/4/2006 | 5 | Severe cystic acne | Slight dryness, Rash on hands, (both disappeared) | The slight dryness and rash were both completely eliminated by applying moisturizer. The accutane really started taking effect at the 2.5 month marker. Completely got rid of the acne. This stuff is a miracle - don't believe all the bad press. If you have severe acne, don't wait a minute longer. | M | 20 | 5 months | 4/25/2006 | 4 | acne on face,back,and chest | Loss of appetite,dry lips,dry skin,skin would cut very easy just by hitting something,messed with my head creating alot of depression. | i broke up with my girlfriend while taking this drug and was a jerk to alot of my friends.You got to be up for anything for ppl like me it worked well i still have to see if the acne will stay away. right now my face,back, and chest are great so i still have to see if it will come back. I have tough skin so i could take it but for ppl with delicate skin be careful i have friends that have been left with scares on there face. | M | 18 | 3 months | 4/24/2006 | 1 | yes | extreme scaling on face around nose with severe irritation (redness). Used to try and alleviate seborrheic dermatitis but accutane ended up exacerbating the symptoms | accutane has great clinical ratings for seborrhea but unfortunately did not work in my case | M | 28 | 2 days | 4/6/2006 | 5 | chronic acne | Constantly chapped lips. Cracks inside my nose (very painful). Rash on backs of hands that spread up to elbows before treated with medication that had to be used the whole course of treatment. Worse acne than ever the whole treatment. Back pain. Slight mood changes at the start of treatment. | I know for most people their acne clears up quickly with the Accutane treatment. However, for me it got much much worse the entire course of treatment (that left some discoloration that I'm waiting to deal with). When I stopped taking Accutane after 4 months it took only a week for my skin to entirely clear and for my lips to go back to normal so I'm happy I went through it. My doctor wanted a longer treatment, but problems occured with the introduction of iPLEDGE so it was abruptly stopped, but it seems to have been enough for now. | F | 21 | 4 months | 4/3/2006 | 1 | acne | i wasnt the one who took it | i know a young girl who had a baby with defects (was missings a kidney) and the doctors said it was because of accutane although she got pregnant 2 years after going off the medication :( i have acne but would never take accutane after i heard of her baby..really scary medicine and my fiance does not want me to take it because of birth defect side effect ..he said its too risky ..plus you cant be 100% sure of not getting pregnant..even with two types of contraceptives also the thinning of hair side effect is really scary .. i love my hair and wont take any risks..i heard sometime the thinning does not stop :O i hope there will be a better alternative to accutane with better results soon..lets pray for that! ;) | F | 22 | 6 months | 3/22/2006 | 5 | Chronic cystic acne | 1. Dry lips - To this day they're still very dry (not to the degree they were when I was taking Accutane), but using Vaseline lip balm takes care of it. 2. Dry, flaky skin on face - Didn't turn red, didn't hurt, & wasn't anything I couldn't live with. Went away around month 3 & don't experience problems now. 3. Dry skin inside my nose - It didn't bleed, but was mildly painful. I rubbed Vaseline inside my nose & it helped greatly. This went away immediately after I stopped taking the drug. 4. Mild back pain - Only hurt when I got in bed at night, & faded away within 10-15 min. It was like my back had to adjust to the new position. Went away after stopping drug. 5. Poor night vision - Unfortunately this one persisted, but has improved greatly. Not sure that I can attribute it to Accutane, but started during the time I was taking it. 6. Changes in hair texture - My hair used to be sraight - it's now very, very wavy. I've never been pregnant (heard this happens | Accutane has been a wonder drug for me. I took it the first time for 5 months, then my acne came back within 6 months & I took a 2nd course of it for 6 months. It's been over 5 yrs & while I do still have an occasional breakout, it's primarily the very small, mild acne that clears up w/in 3-4 days. RARELY ever get a cystic pimple, & even those heal much more quickly. Prior to Accutane, my skin was extremely oily. Today it's still oily in the T-Zone area, but nowhere near the extent that it was. Yes, this is a very strong drug. Anyone who takes it should be fully aware of the potential side effects, & shame on any doctor who doesn't disclose that info. I fully believe that it should only be taken as a "last resort" b/c there are so many other drugs to try FIRST. That said, I have zero sympathy for any woman stupid enough to get pregnant while taking it - every box is CLEARLY marked in about 10 different places, telling you not to get pregnant. Is it | F | 26 | 6 months | 3/14/2006 |