Hi there
I'm doing my second round on accutane and i wonder if it will be the relief from acne this time.The other time i used it was 4 yrs ago and acne came back after 6 months..Later i tried to take control with bcp, however i cudnt take them anymore..Now i am back on accutane again..I wonder about ur experience with it..Could u be able to get rid off it forever ? I hate its side effects of dry lips/skin and menstrual irregularities..I heard somewhere that it could even cause hirsutism problems..
Good bye and best of lucks with acne and damn pcos!
I used Roacccutane for 2 years back in school and about 2 years ago again (I'm 27 now).
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I wonder about ur experience with it..Could u be able to get rid off it forever ? I hate its side effects of dry lips/skin and menstrual irregularities..I heard somewhere that it could even cause hirsutism problems..
I hated the side effects as well (especially the sensitivity to the sun, as I live in South Africa which is a pretty sunny place!) plus it is REALLY $$$$ here.
My endo switched me over to an anti-androgen called "Androcur" which is the same as Spiro in the states/europe. It has exactely the same benefits of accutane (suppresses your male hormones and thus lessens the acne) with the added benefits that you have no dry skin/lips plus it combacts hirsutism as well. (Especially if it was your hormones that caused it in the first place)
Oh and it's about 3 times cheaper than accutane, and i only drink it for 10 days in a cycle and not every day like accutane.
So my suggestion would be to check out the threads on soul cysters about Spiro and then chat to your doc/endo/gyno/derm about alternative treatments.
Good luck!
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~I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once~
Thanks for reply lipchick..Yeah i know there are alternatives out there,i have thought over thme all..My thought is that since my most disturbing symptom is acne ,once i can get rid off it to some degree,i wont need to take stuff that messes with hormones and then make me live on them forever..Coz what i know about bcps and androgen blockers such as spiro,once u stop using it,you gain nothing and on bcp,there is even a possiblity that u get worse acne/hair etc.. So i am gonna deal with the hormonal part with nutrition and stress management..What i leant over was accutane could work or atleast lessen it to a great degree that i can deal with it easier. At the moment i am not good with the idea of a hormone treatment remembering what happened at the time once i was off Yasmin(bcp)..Worse acne than ever!
Anyone else has tried Accutane for PCOS related cystic acne? And how long did it keep you acne-free after the treatment? Did u have to go for pcos medications to keep it under control once u stopped accutane or did it keep you clear for a long time and perhaps permanent? Btw,it is my 2nd term with it..And the side effects suck..But a hope that i will get finally clear,dunno.. Oh, any idea is appreciated. Thanks!
Anyone else has tried Accutane for PCOS related cystic acne? And how long did it keep you acne-free after the treatment? Did u have to go for pcos medications to keep it under control once u stopped accutane or did it keep you clear for a long time and perhaps permanent? Btw,it is my 2nd term with it..And the side effects suck..But a hope that i will get finally clear,dunno.. Oh, any idea is appreciated. Thanks!
I did this back when I was 25 (I am 38 now). I had really super bad, scarring, deep, cystic acne that even hurt and kept me up at night. I finally went on the Accutane and hated the experience. Hair falling out, skin peeling, lips horribly chapped, mood-swings. I just could not take it anymore and quit.
My skin stopped being as oily. I used to have skin so oily, it would literally drip oil. I mean my nose would be so shiny...it was gross. That stopped! I have oily skin even now (at 38) but it has finally gotten to be more t-zone type. At 38! (pushing 40 now!)
I will never go back on that again. I just live with some acne. I have it pretty much under control with OTC products. I laugh at people's ignorance who thought my problem was my fault. It wasn't. It was a living nightmare that ONLY Accutane helped. I never suffered that way again.
I have had 2 procedures for the scars. I STILL have some scarring. My nephew asked about them the other day, as kids do.
But I don't suffer cystic acne that keeps me up at night, purple blotches that itch...sometimes ooz. That never pop for months and months...then leave a big ol icepick scar. And get the wonderful lectures about how it is somehow my fault for "picking them". Dumb@$$ ignorance.
the only saving grace is I look rather young for my age. I guess all this oil and staying out of the sun did me good. I am interested in yet another guy too young for me (30 to my soon to be 39). And I think he thinks I am his age from conversations we have had and how he acts.
Which is good. Maybe as it says in the Bible, God is restoring what the locusts ate. I have a second chance at this point after the procedures to have a sort of beautiful face. And I enjoy it. Even with the scars. And wearing only tinted Moisturizer.
I would say that if you can stomach a second time, go for it. But only if you are still getting just as much scarring type acne. The 2nd time I heard never is as good as the first. But that may have just been that doctor's opinion.
Best of luck to you.
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i have had a huge problem with ance since i was about 15, i'm now 24. this is also my worst pcos symptom, and i'm also doing my second round on accutane. i've done three months and i had to stop because of stupid ipledge. but the first time i did it, it was 60mg for five months and for the first time i had beautifull clear skin, no marks or anything. after about 2 months, it all came back.
have you had your hormone levels checked? do you know your testosterone levels, and insulin levles? i have been so frustrated and depressed over my acne all these years. even though i still have the ance, i feel so much better now that i know what's causing it. i can go on accutane as much as i want, and it will probably keep coming back. the acne isn't the problem. it's a symptom of something else. my insulin is too high, this elevates testosterone levels, which causes the acne.
i need to lose weight, and get my insulin levels down, also going on met has drastically helped. people complain about the met side effects, but it's nothing compared to accutane. once my insulin is low enough - the ance is gone.
i don't know if this is the case with you, i've been told that many people need to do a second round to get their skin completely clear, but the fact that it came back after the first round probably means it's hormonal.
are you on any other meds to specifically treat pcos? have you been to an endo to deal with pcos, or just a dermatologist for the acne? have you had you glucose levels checked?
i hope that helps, wish i had known this about my body 9 years ago!
Thanks to all of you for giving me ideas.* hugs * Well,i think most of pcos women who suffer from other symptoms from PCOS don't know what a serious problem acne can be. Acne does play with ur self-respect cruel. Can as well be a reason for depression, think how severe it can get!
Yeah,after my dermo visits and one accutane course,when i finally made my own diognasis from internet, i took my breath at doctor's and wanted to have a hormone test done.And yeah,no surprise,my testesteron and prolactin was higher than normal.Needlessly to say,doctor put me on pill and said "come back next yr".. heh..I think this is one stage almost all pcos women face at the start point of the journey..Well,i didnt know much about BCPs and symptoms masking stuff. I started to use it (Yasmin)..Within 6 months,i was completely clear and great skin.It was even better than accutane times since i didnt have to deal with dry lips,skin etc. By the way i took a 6 months course of accutane before trying Yasmin and it kept me clear for another 6 months after stopping it.And later , acne started to come back not that severe.Anyway..Yeah yasmin made me clear but by the end of the 9th month i started to develop weird side effects and had to stop it in the 12th month due to shortness of breath.Yeah i was on pill for a yr with completely clear skin. And then u wonder what happened? Just like many women shout out here, BCPs just mask your symptoms,it actually does nothing with pcos and after my experience,i believe it might even make it worse! 3 months after stopping yasmin,i got the acne which was as bad as pre accutane. I've been a nutrition freak by this time.I do low carb,eat right food and drink my green tea with cinnamun and doing gym .All those inspite of my thin frame...And i am on the 2nd course of accutane now,in the 3rd month and my skin is clear again.I think doctor will put me on it for more than 6 months this time,anyway,we will see..I hope pcos behaves me a bit merciful this time! I'll keep u updated about my accutane experience till the end.Thank you and God bless you all ladies!
Oh and yeah,i have been having my tests all this while.Always had my insulin and glucose levels checked and it doesn't show IR.And in the last tests,my testesteron wasn't high either.But DSH (dhydro-testesteron) was at the upper limit for women,probably that's the culprit.I will continue good nutrition and exercise anyway..
well that's good news that you don't have to deal with IR/diabetes. i also have high prolactin, which met is supposed to help with. there are non-IR people on met, i wonder if it would be helpfull for you in balancing your hormones and prolactin? it might be worth a try, it's ok to take met at the same time as accutane (i was- and got the ok from doctors) but i really think you should see an endo who deal with pcos and can give you a more specific diagnosis and treatment.
Roaccutane 
