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 |
| 1 | moderate to severe acne | None really while taking the drug. Right after treatment ended, I had a few minor seizures and noticed getting really tired sometimes. I just ignored it. Two years later all hell broke loose. | Accutane cleared the acne. A couple years after treatment, I started having bad joint pain. The doctors were puzzled. Finally, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. It was horrible and I could barely walk or use my hands. At the same time, I developed Blepharitis (red eyelids) with recurring Chalazions. Now I find out I have decreased bone mass. After treatment with chemotherapy, the joint pain subsided and the Rheumatologist says he doesn't understand and says he doesn't know if I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. The Blepharitis continues though I don't think it's as bad as it was. Now, what is interesting - there is no family history of these problems. None. I was healthy and then at age 21 started feeling like I was 75. The only thing that I did differently than any other family member was to take Accutane. Stay away from this "drug". Forget what the FDA says. This stuff is dangerous. | M | 26 | 180 days | 12/30/2005 | 1 | acne | Everything in the book and many more. My health was devastated. If you care about your health, don't take it. If you are embarassed about acne and want to take it for vanity reasons, I wouldn't take it either since it made all my hair fall out, my posture hunched and weak, my complexion grey, caused dandruff and grey hair and wrinkles and poor health. Not exactly a freaking beauty improvement. | F | 28 | 7 months | 12/27/2005 | 1 | blemishes | 1.Swift & immediate extreme hair loss which became permanent. Also permanent unpleasant change to hair quality & texture (more coarse,dry,wiry,"old"). After taking it, hair now grows in more slowly than ever before. 2."Aging" effect, sudden appearance of wrinkles and grey hair practically overnight. Appeared to have aged 5-10 years in that many months! 3. Extreme joint pain/arthritis, temporary. Some joint pain/arthritis, permanent. Tendon damage & fragility, bone loss. Muscle soreness, fatigue with anxiety. 4. Although it did clear up awhile- my skin looked beautiful-, my fleeting experience with near-perfect looking facial skin brought no relief since I felt terribly weak & sore & achy and my hair looked like a gnarly baldy brillo pad. Pain made it difficult to continue exercising as much as I did before. At times, was too dispirited to get out of bed. Accutane cures acne like a fatal heart attack cures cancer. It just swaps it for something e | 7.Giant patches of skin (inches across at times!) flaked off around nose & scalp & ears especially. Still on ears over 6 yrs later:red, raw, flaky.8.Worsening of overall skin resilience & tone throughout body. Brittle nails, fragile skin tears easily, etc.Felt unexplainably "brittle", as if my "bounce" is gone. 9. Chronic, mild irritated, dry eyes. 10.To be fair, I was not traumatized EVERY day. I truly believed the troublesome effects would go & no serious harm was coming to me, as docs said. I had hope, so wasn't 100% dejected. Before, I was a happy girl, healthy, energetic & excited about resolving long- term acne. I was enthusiastic about living a great, suc- cessful life. I was NOT depressed & anxious by nature. I worked out, ate health food, & was a picture of vitality aside from frustratingly persistent acne. I had no idea what I was in for, in terms of years of physical problems afterwards, for the sake of self-improvement. I woul | F | 36 | 6.5 months | 12/27/2005 | 5 | cystic acne | very dry lips and inner nose. Flakey and peeling skin for the first 2 months | I had ugly acne all through my teenage years and early 20s. I tried all kinds of prescription and over-the-counter topicals and other acne drugs. My skin is completely clear now. Who'da thought? | F | 25 | 5 months | 12/16/2005 | 1 | Home | digestive problems, dry skin, headaches, heart palpitations, agitated sleep, nervousness, very tired | After only 2 pills of 40 mg, I had some weird side effects. I only took 4 pills and after reading all the comments I decided to quit. This drug is very strong. I am usually a very happy and optimistic type of guy. I go to the gym and I take care of myself. After only a very short period of time, this drug really affected my mood and my energy level. My sister took it with no side effect, very different story for me. Beware of this drug. | M | 31 | 4 days | 12/16/2005 | 1 | mild acne | digestive problems, dry skin, headaches, heart palpitations, agitated sleep, nervousness, very tired | After only 2 pills of 40 mg, I had some weird side effects. I only took 4 pills and after reading all the comments I decided to quit. This drug is very strong. I am usually a very happy and optimistic type of guy. I go to the gym and I take care of myself. After only a very short period of time, this drug really affected my mood and my energy level. My sister took it with no side effect, very different story for me. Beware of this drug. | M | 31 | 4 days | 12/16/2005 | 4 | nodular acne | very dry skin AND chapped lips, facial skin turning red. Sore joints in hands and back. dehydration. | I quit drinking cokes and have been drinking plenty of water and fruit juices. This seemed to help with the dehydration. Only been on it a month so far and face is clearing up. Well worth the side effects. This is the only thing that seems to be working after 10 years of fighting with acne. Will update when my treatment is over. | M | 32 | 30 days | 12/15/2005 | 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 | 4 | mild acne since early teens | VERY DRY lips, peeling skin, nose bleeds ( that started after my doc prescribed me stronger version), itchiness, increased tiredness | My skin is definitely clearing up- I'm in my second month of the medicine and all my acne has pretty much faded away. | F | 20 | 50 days | 12/10/2005 | 3 | Nodular/Cystic Acne | Extremely dry eyes and mouth. Severe acne flare up during the first several weeks of treatment. Joint and bone soreness. | I have been off Accutane for about a year. The first six monthes following the treatment was blissful - my acne was completely cleared up. However, I did have to get my tear ducts plugged because the "dry eyes" symptom never went away and the night blindness persists as well. Now, a year later my hair is just as oily and smelly (if not worse than before) and I have cystic nods pretty consistently. My skin has also gone back to being greasy and oily again. I am considering taking a second treatment of Accutane but I had such a bad experience with the side effects before; I am very concerned about pursuing such aggressive treatment again - I don't think my body can take it. This is a very powerful drug - although I was initially pleased with the results, I am not sure the severity of the side effects is worth it. | F | 23 | 6 months | 12/4/2005 | 3 | acne on face and chest | dry nose, eyes, lips, hands, ears, mouth, and more.. kidney infection, loss of appetite, always tired, horrible joint pains, loss of weight, redness in skin, acne got worse for first 3 months, easily cut skin, ...pretty much everything | if this doesn't work I will be furious | M | 17 | 4 months | 12/4/2005 | 2 | acne of course... | all of them...it was brutal DO YOUR RESERACH, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD THIS DRUG IS SERIOUSLY CRAZY. | 120mg per day do not take this drug lightly...DON'T TAKE IT UNLESS THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION AND YOU CAN'T STAND YOUR ACNE ANYMORE!!! this drug is frickin' insane, it will mess you up. | M | 17 | 6 months | 12/4/2005 | 5 | moderate but persistent acne | The usual dryness, skin flaking (especially eyebrows for some reason). Arms and legs itched like crazy because of the dryness--DOVE moisturizing soap was recommended by my dermo and helped a lot, highly recommend it. Tons of lip balm, sensitive skin facewash. | It's rough at first because you feel like your skin is shedding, but the results were worth it--my skin is completely clear, it's amazing. I never thought it would happen, I tried EVERYthing. I'd absolutely recommend it. | F | 21 | 5 months | 12/3/2005 | 1 | moderate to severe Acne | During Use - very dry skin, minor cuts and scratches left nasty scar tissue, skin pigmentation changes; After Stopping - horrible anxiety with multiple panic attacks per day, severe diarrhea/bowel inflammation which was later diagnosed as Crohn's Disease, chronic dry eyes... all of which have never gone away | This drug cured my Acne 100%. I didn't have a single pimple anywhere. But I've been off the drug for 4 years now and I still have Panic Disorder and have just been recently diagnosed with Crohn's Disease which I think is attributable to the Accutane. Crohn's is a hereditary disease and yet no one in my family has had anything like it. I think it was the second 6 month course of Accutane that did the real damage. Stay away from this drug... it is very dangerous. Some side effects never go away. | M | 30 | 12 months | 12/3/2005 | 3 | acne | really dry lips, dry eyes (contacts), bloddy nose, sad or crazy moods | Accutane cleared my skin about 75% in the 2 months I was on it. I was really happy with how it was working and the side effects are easily tolerable except they aren't kidding when they give warnings of depression! My sanity is worth more than my vanity. Also, not many people mention how expensive the whole process is! From getting on the pill to blood work to office co-pay's...this is an extremely costly process, at least it was for me. | F | 24 | 60 days | 11/28/2005 | 2 | moderate acne | very dry skin all over, SEVERELY reduced scar and acne healing capabilities, left horrible dented scars all over (on face and legs where previous scars were forming before drug), | I know alot of people had good experiences with accutane, but everyone needs to have a long talk with their derm before you consider the drug. For me, my skin has never been worse after accutane, even when I had moderate breakouts that didn't respond to topical treatments. It left pitted scars everywhere on my face where I had breakouts (many of which came from taking accutane). I had very itchy rashes on my hands and on my face that was a result of the side effect, and the acne healed sooo slowly throught the treatment (more than 2 weeks, even 1 month for most). They also turned into scabs as they were healing, which made my face even worse. So if I had to tell someone about accutane, i'd say don't ever take it based on my own experience. But since it's different for everyone, just make sure you know everything about it before you start and not blindly jump into it thinking it'd be a miracle drug. | F | 20 | 5 months | 11/19/2005 | 5 | Nodular acne, multiple areas | Very slight facial peeling, once. Lips dried up like mad suddenly on day 5. Using lip balm every couple hours during the day still. Got a cold sore the first week. It's so worth it so far. | Start lip balm right away before they dry out! This stuff is unbelievable. I wake up to no oil slick. My pores on my nose were so large and now are almost closed. I can clean my face and still be fresh 3 hours later. My makeup doesn't run. My skin glows. No mood changes except I'm confident and happy. | F | 36 | 14 days | 11/14/2005 | 1 | Nodular cystic acne | During exposure and still 10 years after: chronical tiredness, mood-swings, tinnutus, worsening vision, headaches, depression, problems with concentrating, decreased potency, decreased sexual interest, joint aches, itching in hands and feet, increased need for sleep | The substance should have been removed from the market a long time ago. When I took it I had no idea that such a rat-poison ever could pass through the medical authorities, and therefore I still suffer. It has taken away a large part of the things I once enjoyed in life. | M | 30 | 4 months | 11/6/2005 | 4 | Lifelong acne | blepharitis (inflammation of eyelids), hair loss, dry eye, dry lips. (I'm the 58 yr. old woman who did the earlier posting, when I was only several weeks into therapy. Here's the rest of the story.) | I took Accutane for 4.5 months. I had to reduce the dose after about 2 months, when the eyelid inflammation flared up. I went from 40 mg. down to 20 mg. day. I've been off for about 1 month and I still have the eyelid inflammation (although it seems a little better, but not much) and the hair loss continues. My skin is still clear and I am very happy about that. The acne is completely gone -- no breakouts at all on my face, back, neck, chest. Some mild oiliness has returned to my face -- but it is definitely within the normal range. Overall, I am satisfied -- but I had, and continue to have, definite side effects. So you need to be aware there are risks connected to this drug and some side effects may continue after you stop the drug. I'm certainly hoping that the eyelid inflammation and the hair loss cease with the passage of time. Who knows? | F | 58 | 4.5 months | 10/30/2005 | 4 | Sudden severe acne at age 38 | Dry & cracked lips, pain in toe joints, slight pain and stiffness in knees and other joints. Not sure if pain is due to accutane. Seem to have less taste. Back aches...not sure if related. | Antibiotics didnt work after 1 year. The drug cleared my acne after getting worse initally. My extremely oily skin is much, much better and more comfortable. Not sure if there are hidden side effects yet to come. I am very cautious especially since doctor advised me to go on drug for a year. Will consider seriously long term use. | 100 days | 10/23/2005 |