Can Accutane get rid of hormonal acne? I have researched it for a year. I'm trying BCPs right now, but I'm never clear. I've been on Yaz for 6 months and also been on Differin gel for 13 weeks. When left untreated my acne is cystic and leaves scars, not to mention is painful. I just want to be done with acne arrrrrrr!
I know Jessica Simpson had acne around her mouth area (totally hormonal) and took Accutane and hasn't had a problem since.
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you do."
I'd recommend consulting with an experienced dermatologist if you are considering using accutane. If there is indeed cystic acne, then that is a consideration, if you are willing and open to considering the possible side affects.
The way accutane works is by controlling oil/sebum production, so it has very intense possibility for side affects. Please read all literature and release forms they provide you. My sister had a seriies digestive reaction to this drug, which might have been prevented had the doctor who prescribed it properly educated her prior. (She was asked to join the class action against the manufacturer, as for a period of time their literature was not properly communicating some of the dangers.)
On the other hand, I also know two individuals who used the drug, and had tremendous success.
Are you having any other PCOS symptoms? I had hormonally driven acne which I have cleared using diet and nutrition, along with detoxification. (You can read this on my link below.) I never used BCPs, although when I was in college I tried retinals and antibiotics, both of which I feel were a mistake in hindsight.
If you can get your homones in balance, the acne should clear, at least that is my experience. Are you considering either medications or integrative therapy to address the entire hormonal balance, which is can be the cause of the 'acne symptoms' related to PCOS?
Cassy
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I have never been able to find anything to work for my hormonal acne except certain birth controls. I went through an accutane trial and had no miraculous results. It never hurts to give it a try though.
I used accutane when my acne was at its worst and it really helped. it was the best my skin has been. but my eyes are like permanently blurry vision because of dryness . its been 7 years and my eyes are still dry. I did 6 month treatment. now i only get like 2 cysts around the time of my period and mild acne, little bumpies near my jaw.
Please don't quote me but I think Jessica Simpson actually used Proactive.
Also, I've also heard that taking Accuatane can cause birth defects if you get pregnant. Not sure how true that is though.
Hope I helped! :o)
Yeah, Jessica Simpson used Proactive. She's on all the commercials for it.
I've never had cystic acne, but I have acne with THREE causes: dirt, hormones, and genes. So, I still get a break out before my periods, I still get acne when I don't wash my face regularly, and sometimes I just have it.
I'm twenty right now, but since I was 8, I've had acne. Before Accutane, I had tried almost every treatment for acne besides birth control. Now, things have changed, so there are newer treatments I never tried.
I did a 5-month course of Accutane when I was 13, and it cleared up my acne VERY well. For a year or so, I had no acne. A year later, I had a little bit. A year later, it was back, although not nearly as badly as before. I haven't gotten acne on my back ever since. At that point, I had started the pill, and it helped, but only for a few months. So when I was 17, my dermatologist decided to put me on a 6-month course that got cut short to 5 months. It cleared my skin for a while, throughout the rest of high school and the beginning of college. Now, it's coming back a little, but never as badly as before. It's much more manageable, and much less serious (more often, it's just a little pimple, and I make it worse).
If you and your dermatologist decide on Accutane, you will have to read a bunch of forms and sign/initial them. In the years between my Accutane courses, some new stuff was implemented. Now, you HAVE to be on the pill before they'll let you take Accutane, unless you are married and your husband has had a vasectomy, or something like that (that's why my mom didn't have to use the pill, although she didn't mention to her doctor that she was filing for divorce and seeing other people). If you get pregant while on Accutane, your baby WILL have serious deformities. It's hard to forget that you're not supposed to get preggers. Not only will you be going to the blood lab once a month to get a blood test (which confirms that you are not pregnant, and also tests kidney and liver function), but in order to pop a pill out of the pack, you have to pop off a perforated tab with a symbol on it that looks like a pregnant woman and the red NO symbol (like, no smoking). Also, in the forms you have to initial, you have to agree to use two forms of birth control (such as the pill and condoms) if you have sex.
Jah, so don't get pregnant. And if you do, don't pretend you didn't know you weren't supposed to. Seriously, it's ALL over the package of pills.
I only dealt with one side effect during my first treatment. My eyes were so dry I couldn't wear contacts, and my lips were cracked to the point where I lost principal seat in the flute section of my band. The plus side was that I was sweating so much less that my hair stayed clean for longer! During my second treatment, my eyes stayed moist enough to keep wearing contacts, but my lips were brutally dry again (musically, I overcame this setback). In addition, I started getting joint pain in my lower back. A friend of mine whom I met while on that second treatment suffered from that same symptom. It took a couple months for the pain to go away, and I still experience it sometimes. The joint pain has only ever occurred when I lie down on my back; I have to support my lower back and slowly move it down to the mattress. But it's very infrequent (once or twice every six months).
Another thing to know if you take Accutane, which is something I didn't know, is that you are not supposed to take Accutane if you are on antibiotics. I don't know why. But the reason my last month of treatment was cut short was because my dermatologist removed a wart from my foot, and it became increeeeedibly infected. In order to give me antibiotics, he had to tell me to stop taking the Accutane. I did notice when I was on Accutane that I would get bad infections, especially in my fingers. Any mild, tiny, insignificant hang nail would turn into an infected finger.
Accutane is not something to take on a whim, but I will say that its benefits outweigh any problems I ever had when on it. When people I know sigh over their acne, and I begin to talk about my acne to cheer them up, they look at me and say, "What acne? You have no acne."
Well, not anymore.
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@};- Stephanie (21)
PCOS since 2002.
Yasmin since 2003 (switched to Yaz in 2008).
Running since June, 2008.
R.I.P. Lady, my best friend:
August 5th, 1993 - June 27th, 2008.
You will never be forgotten.
That's what makes me so mad about Jessica Simpson. People think she used Proactiv to get clear because she promotes it on infomercials, but in reality she revealed a couple years ago, to Allure magazine, that she in fact used Accutane. I hate how celebrities are not honest when endorsing a product. Proactiv may work for some but I found it hurt my skin more than helped. The ingredients are pretty harsh on the skin.
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you do."
I've never used Accutane, but watched my brother go through two rounds of it. It was something that I was never willing to put myself through. There are major risks of birth defects with the drug as well.
I have roseca which makes my acne look alot worse than it actually is. My family doc referred me to a dermatologist who put me on tetracycline for 2 months, and then benzaclin cream. I had stage 4 ace (i believe acne is rated on a 11 stage scale), with some cystic acne. I saw results very quickly with the tetracycline, and now only use the benzclin cream, any my acne is gone.
Tetracycline may decrease the effectiveness of some oral contraceptives; another method of birth control should be used while taking this drug.
Tetracycline also can be known to cause birth defects. at the time i was on it, i wasn't in a serious relationship, and therefore didn't mind the side effects from this.
Accutane 
