Mine was cleared up very nicely with Zineyt lotion. It came in a weird bottle with a dabber on the end that was used to treat the offending areas. That probably took under 6 months, and my spots were quite bad at times.
Roaccutane / accutane
- Thread starter Drossla
- Start date
Hey,
There's loaaaads to know, and I was on it for several months in my last year of uni.
A good start is http://reclaimyourskin.co.uk/ - I myself wrote a little blog on there for people like you to read and add to when you start on the drug.
It can have bad side effects but this will be explained to you (extreme dry skin, dry scalp etc.) it basically reduces dramatically your skins ability to produce oil and therefore stop the acne.
I did have a lot of submissions on that site, but it seems they've redesigned it and my content isn't there anymore.
My skin used to be pretty bad and therefore I lacked confidence! Wish I went on it before uni, it wasn't until my skin was clearing up a fair bit that I actually met someone (probably a mix of improved self confidence and nice skin!).
Before (I have very few photos of my skin before it got better!)
Now:
How old are you and how serious is it?
I tried all sorts of creams etc, various antibiotic tablets (oxytetracyclene), and none worked.
I met a dermatologist through the NHS and had my bloodtests, then went onto a course of tablets.
In a nutshell, these were the phases;
1-2 weeks - nothing much, skin starting to dry by the 2nd week
2 weeks onwards - incredible dryness of skin, lips cracking, random nosebleeds where the skin inside your nose just randomly cracked! (had about 5 in total).
You get a phase of really nasty spots, but this clears and it was suprising how fast my skin lost its redness and cleared up.
6 months seems like a long time, but it really flys by and is well worth doing imo.
that cleared up well! does your skin permanently not make oil now, like could you get acne again in the future ?
It's still fairly oily in the t-zone kinda area, but washing in the morning / eve and a decent oil free moisturiser seems to keep it okay. I get the odd white head, but never really had anything to the same depth/degree as I had before roaccutane.
I used to get deep spots on my back, chest, neck (especially near my jaw line) and my cheeks. Now I get the odd tiny white head, which I could probably prevent if I didnt sleep some nights without washing my face. Never had the deep & painful ones since though.
I used to get deep spots on my back, chest, neck (especially near my jaw line) and my cheeks. Now I get the odd tiny white head, which I could probably prevent if I didnt sleep some nights without washing my face. Never had the deep & painful ones since though.
Soldato
- Joined
- 24 Apr 2006
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Best thing ever, I should have been put on it years before.
Took it in 2002 and haven't had a spot on my face since.
Took it in 2002 and haven't had a spot on my face since.
I know roche, the makers spend every other week in court being sued for the stuff and I believe it no longer can be used in the US.
There is mumbling here in the UK as well about a suit for the-
depression
suicide
arthritis
liver issues
psychosis
pancreatis
damaged eye sight
erectyle dysfunction
side effects.
When I was on it for a month I had, my lips weld themselves shut each night, eyelids glue themselves closed (with blood). Also used to throw up, pass blood in my urine suffer cramps, muscle and abdominal and suffered poor eyesight which took several years to return to normal.
Also a year after being on the stuff I developed chronic leg/muscle pain* which has been with me for a decade now.
There are also long term issues regarding weakened bone and muscle structures and early onset arthritis. A issue also under investigation is birth defects for those who had been off the the drug for some years but still conceiving defective embryos.
*now a known side effect, wasnt at the time.
It cured my acne certainly, but is possibly responsible for a chronic pain for a decade now and may have even more long term side effects. not worth it.
There is mumbling here in the UK as well about a suit for the-
depression
suicide
arthritis
liver issues
psychosis
pancreatis
damaged eye sight
erectyle dysfunction
side effects.
When I was on it for a month I had, my lips weld themselves shut each night, eyelids glue themselves closed (with blood). Also used to throw up, pass blood in my urine suffer cramps, muscle and abdominal and suffered poor eyesight which took several years to return to normal.
Also a year after being on the stuff I developed chronic leg/muscle pain* which has been with me for a decade now.
There are also long term issues regarding weakened bone and muscle structures and early onset arthritis. A issue also under investigation is birth defects for those who had been off the the drug for some years but still conceiving defective embryos.
*now a known side effect, wasnt at the time.
It cured my acne certainly, but is possibly responsible for a chronic pain for a decade now and may have even more long term side effects. not worth it.
I'd never ask another girl to get that jab again tbh. An ex of mine went for it, started piling it on and decided to come off it after about a year.
Associate
- Joined
- 23 Nov 2009
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- 1,195
This times lots.
I was on it for 4 months and know other people who have taken it. For all of us, it was the Holy Grail. I'd been on umpteen different antibiotics for ages, but and at the first appointment with the dermatologist she said I had cystic acne so antibiotics wouldn't work but roaccutane should work a treat. It did. I still have scarring left (the acne was on my shoulders mostly, some spots were massive) but the spots themselves cleared up and never returned.
Plenty of info in here on the side effects, so make sure you are happy with them. I only had dry skin (but **** was it dry). I carried around a tub of vaseline and was putting it on my lips and nostrils many times a day. Just after I came off roaccutane, there was a study published linking the drug to several suicides.
Associate
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- 20 Oct 2002
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- Northampton
Before:
After:
Sorry they arent the best pictures but as you can see before i had large cysts on my face, there would always be between 5 - 10 large ones at the same time which made my life hell for 10 years.
Now i dont get any large spots at all, i get 1 or 2 small ones here and there but im very happy with the results. I only took the drug for 6 months on a large dose.
However the side effects i had at the time put me off thinking about taking it again if my acne comes back, i had nose bleeds, aching joints, very dry skin, constipation and bad indigestion which i still get now a year later.
Like others on this thread id say go for it but be prepared for some nasty side effects.
After:
Sorry they arent the best pictures but as you can see before i had large cysts on my face, there would always be between 5 - 10 large ones at the same time which made my life hell for 10 years.
Now i dont get any large spots at all, i get 1 or 2 small ones here and there but im very happy with the results. I only took the drug for 6 months on a large dose.
However the side effects i had at the time put me off thinking about taking it again if my acne comes back, i had nose bleeds, aching joints, very dry skin, constipation and bad indigestion which i still get now a year later.
Like others on this thread id say go for it but be prepared for some nasty side effects.
I was on it when i was 16/17 for about 6-12 months. It was living HELL before. I think we all know how bad it is when you have it.
I had really dry lips, like really dry!!!! i must have looked so stupid! my lips were cracking really badly.
However it totally cleared EVERYTHING up. I'm 24 and dont have a single problem now. I get the odd spot every now and again but thats nothing.
I have a question though.
So since we all took those tablets and it made all the acne go away whats stopping it from ever come back again in a bad way? Does the contents of those tablets stay inside you for along time? I can understand as your taking the tablets thats stopping new spots from coming up then and there but whats stopping them from appearing after you come off it?
I had really dry lips, like really dry!!!! i must have looked so stupid! my lips were cracking really badly.
However it totally cleared EVERYTHING up. I'm 24 and dont have a single problem now. I get the odd spot every now and again but thats nothing.
I have a question though.
So since we all took those tablets and it made all the acne go away whats stopping it from ever come back again in a bad way? Does the contents of those tablets stay inside you for along time? I can understand as your taking the tablets thats stopping new spots from coming up then and there but whats stopping them from appearing after you come off it?
Soldato
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- 3 Jan 2009
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- In west London
i currently got a mild acne on my face. My doctor has just recently put me on tetralysal and also differin cream adapalene 0.1%. Before I was using zineryt but it failed to cure and control the spots. fingers crossed this will help my skin.
May I ask what does you were on mate? As mentioned before, I got it presbribed roaccutane back in December and plan to start taking it (now that my life is sorted out) shortly. I was presbribed 90mg a day which seems high
Your skin can produce vitamin D in sunlight, and it doesn't need all that much exposure to produce sufficient amounts of it. Still, eating something like sardines, a food unusually high in vitamin D (and other good stuff!) weekly is certainly not a bad idea!
Vitamin E, however, can be almost completely absent from a persons diet and I would guess most people don't get nearly the RDA of it. The primary source for many will probably be fortified spreads like Flora! The only food I know of that has a good amount for reasonable serving size is hazelnuts. Since vitamin E is important to maintaining healthy skin, and can so easily be lacking in a persons diet, I wonder if anyone with skin conditions has reported improvement after taking supplements (Alpha tocopherol)?
Your skin can't do it with light from a window (it blocks the rays needed) it also can't do it in winter (and a lot of the rest of the year in the UK) because the sun light isn't strong enough.
It only takes about 10 mins for the skin to produce as much as it needs on bright summer day. It then will chemically change to stop it and start protecting itself more from damage.
There is a chance it isn't the Vit D that is the issue thou. The temp and humidity could play a role too. Having said that eating oily fish once or twice a week is good for you anyway and is about the only real source of vit D outside of sun exposure. If you really can't stomach it a vit D supplement is ok but you don't need to take it everyday as the liver can store fat soluble vitamins like D.
Associate
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- 20 Oct 2002
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- Northampton
May I ask what does you were on mate? As mentioned before, I got it presbribed roaccutane back in December and plan to start taking it (now that my life is sorted out) shortly. I was presbribed 90mg a day which seems high
I was on 80mg, they seem to go by your weight when i was perscribed, but i know some people have been on half a dose over a longer period of time.
Acne for me was in a feedback loop, i got acne, i messed with it, which made it worse. Did this roccutane at 16, never had it since. 22 now. I pretty much have perfect skin now, clearer than most other peoples skin but thats because crazy skin care i do which i got into habbit of at 15.
Last edited:
Associate
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- London
+1 im using the 10% 1 atm. very good
Hi i've been following this thread for a few days.
Accutane sorted me out when I had acne, dry skin as said was the only side effect. I really enjoyed not having a greasy skin aswell! Anyway a couple of years later I get the odd annoying spot and it annoys me a lot, plus the greasy skin
I read on this thread someone had purchased some Quinoderm, so I jumped on Amazon and the reviews were ok. Then I saw a product called PanOxyl, pretty much the same ingredients, so I bought some and put it on yesterday (more positive reviews). I went straight for the hard **** (10%)
Anyway this morning my skin wasn't greasy at all apart from a little patch on my nose that I deliberately missed. I'm chuffed. It's also like a gel that absorbs instantly and isn't greasy. No new spots either of course!
Enjoy!!!
Accutane sorted me out when I had acne, dry skin as said was the only side effect. I really enjoyed not having a greasy skin aswell! Anyway a couple of years later I get the odd annoying spot and it annoys me a lot, plus the greasy skin
I read on this thread someone had purchased some Quinoderm, so I jumped on Amazon and the reviews were ok. Then I saw a product called PanOxyl, pretty much the same ingredients, so I bought some and put it on yesterday (more positive reviews). I went straight for the hard **** (10%)
Anyway this morning my skin wasn't greasy at all apart from a little patch on my nose that I deliberately missed. I'm chuffed. It's also like a gel that absorbs instantly and isn't greasy. No new spots either of course!Enjoy!!!