Did you know acne is the most common skin disorder in the United States, affecting 40 to 50 million Americans?
Nearly 85 percent of all people will have acne at some point in their lives. It can generally begin in the teen years, with more than 40 percent of adolescents being affected due to puberty and hormonal changes, and although it is generally seen as a teenage phase, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
More than 90% of clients I work with struggling with acne are over 30 years old. For some it does go away, and for others it stays, and for many, the first time they experience acne may not be until later in life, from late 20’s to even 50 years of age.
Acne affects individuals not just physically, but emotionally as well. The notion that acne is just a “cosmetic problem” is very off base. Acne is a reflection of something greater happening in the body that is not being corrected. Therefore, the skin continues to lash out in an effort to communicate that there is an imbalance, deficiency, or the mechanics within are just not working as they should be. But this takes time to figure out, and unfortunately, our conventional way of addressing acne tries to do this immediately with topical treatment and/or pills.
Though no matter what age acne occurs, the one thing everyone will feel as a result is pain and embarrassment. Acne affects an individuals confidence, mental outlook, and can greatly impact one’s social life. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, one in five U.S. adults also suffers from acne, and for them the psychological toll is often no less severe.
So the question then becomes: How far would you go to get rid of your acne?
Would you compromise your health for clear skin? Would you gain more weight, lose your concentration, vision or appetite? How about put your unborn baby at risk for severe health consequences? Sounds crazy right? If you have ever experienced acne, you know the desperation one feels, literally being at your wits end to find an answer.
Once the topical products and treatments stop working (or may never have), it’s quite normal to start looking for other options. Go to your doctor or dermatologist, like most people, and you may find they prescribe a little drug called Accutane.
Accutane: The Most Dangerous Drug Ever Created?
Actually, this is no little drug at all, and definitely not something to just accept and take lightly.
The generic name is sold as, isotretinoin, and formerly marketed as Accutane (Roaccutane outside the United States). Other generic forms of Accutane are Claravis, Sotret and Amnesteem. Accutane is part of a class of medications that were originally marketed as chemotherapy drugs. The generic versions of Accutane are just as dangerous as the original.
The medication is a synthetic derivative of vitamin A and works by controlling the oil in the sebaceous glands for those who have not responded to antibiotic treatment.
In 1975 American researchers for Hoffmann-La Roche began studying the chemical, isotretinoin, and found it to be an extremely powerful antidote to acne, unmatched by any other treatment. They found that 85% of patients who took Accutane achieve full remission after a typical course of treatment (about five months). FDA Consumer Magazine pronounced it as “the biggest breakthrough in acne drug treatment over the last 20 years.” It was, and still is seen as a “miracle drug”, but at what cost?
Accutane Side Effects
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated:
All patients treated with isotretinoin [Accutane] should be observed closely for symptoms of depression or suicidal thoughts, such as sad mood, irritability, acting on dangerous impulses, anger, loss of pleasure or interest in social or sports activities, sleeping too much or too little, changes in weight or appetite, school or work performance going down, or trouble concentrating, or for mood disturbance, psychosis, or aggression.
Other side effects include:
- Diminished night vision
- Increased bone injuries and concussion risk due to weakened bones
- Severe joint and muscle pain
- Liver damage
- Autoimmune disease
- Red, cracked or sore lips
- Brittle nails
- Unusual hair growth or hair loss
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Increased reaction to UV exposure
- Nosebleeds
- Peeling skin
- Bleeding or swollen gums
- Slow healing of cuts or bruises
- Dry eyes
- Muscle aches
- Increase susceptibility to colds
- IBS
- Depression
- Aggressive Behavior
- Suicide
- Guaranteed birth defects
Drugmaker, Roche, who created the original version of Accutane has had 13 lawsuits from users who developed inflammatory bowel disease as a result of taking Accutane. In addition, it has been showed in brain scans that there was a 21% decrease in brain activity, leading to depression, suicide and aggressive behavior.
Accutane, which is currently no longer on the market, was only meant to be used as a last resort to treat acne, but prescriptions of its competitors and generic versions are just as health damaging and are being offered for even acute cases of a few spots.
Accutane Heavily Overprescribed Under Different Names
Remember, generic forms of Accutane are still on the market and heavily overprescribed. They are listed as Isotretinoin (originally Accutane), Claravis, Sotret and Amnesteem and are just as deadly.
According to Jennifer Hansen, a 21 year-old taking Accutane who keeps an online Accutane journal, “This medicine has given me my life back. . . . I am now confident, happy and very excited about life. I no longer feel inferior and can actually look people in the eyes.”
This statement sounds like a contradiction knowing the dangerous potential that Accutane has to destroy lives. If Jennifer had tried other natural methods that addressed her real cause of acne, she may have truly gotten her life back, both in clear skin and health, but unfortunately for those who have used Accutane, the consequences may not come until later in life.
Accutane: FDA Pregnancy Category X
The deadliest side affect of them all was announced when the FDA slapped the strongest warning available, as an FDA Pregnancy Category X rating, GUARANTEEING that whether you are pregnant or will become pregnant, taking Accutane can cause birth defects, miscarriage, and death in babies.
According to Julia Green, who wrote the article, “A History of Accutane Regulation in the United States” through Harvard Law School, “One quarter of babies born who have been exposed to Accutane during gestation have major congenital deformities. Those babies born without major malformations frequently develop severe learning disabilities.”
Is this not reason enough to avoid this drug?
According to the FDA’s iPledge system:
There is an extremely high risk that severe birth defects will result if pregnancy occurs while taking isotretinoin in any amount, even for short periods of time. Birth defects which have been documented following isotretinoin exposure include abnormalities of the face, eyes, ears, skull, central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and thymus and parathyroid glands. Cases of IQ scores less than 85 with or without other abnormalities have been reported. There is an increased risk of spontaneous abortion, and premature births have been reported.
Dr. Edward Lammer, a medical geneticist and consultant to FDA, states,“There is no other medication that poses an absolute risk anything remotely close to this, even medications used to treat cancer during pregnancy”.
Profits over Health
In addition to it’s life threatening side effects, Accutane has been one of the most profitable drugs on the market. It has brought in over $700 million a year for the Swiss company’s creator with 12 million people worldwide having taken it. In 2000, Accutane sales totaled $759.4 million, which accounted for 8% of total prescription drug sales.
It’s no wonder Accutane is as easily prescribed as it is, even in the most acute cases. Think about who profits with this, or any drug when it offers the easy option to treat symptoms only. It’s not the patient!
Get to the Root Cause of Your Acne and Say No to Accutane!
The answer isn’t as black and white as we’d like to think. If we take a step back and look at acne for what it is, like almost every health condition, it is inflammation at the root. Since there are many causes for inflammation, getting to an individual’s cause of acne is a bit of an investigation. It starts with a whole foods anti-inflammatory diet to encourage healthy digestion. This process includes looking at possible yeast infections, pathogenic bacteria and parasites as possibilities. Strong immunity, balanced hormones, blood sugar control, and stress management is also important. In addition, undergoing a comprehensive and supportive detoxification program can help tremendously. At the simplest level, following a nontoxic, noncomedogenic skin regime works from the outside to compliment your internal work.
Sources:
FDA Drug Safety Information
A History of Accutane Regulation in the United States
I took accutane for 5 months and it cleared up my horrible acne that I had suffered from for almost 20 years. The only thing I regret is not taking it sooner because I read all of the ridiculous horror stories like this. My only side effects were dry lips and skin and feeling extra tired, all of which dissipated after I finished my course.
How much did you get paid for this comment? I don’t believe one word
Don’t get me wrong, I completely agree isotretinoin is an intense drug, which should only be taken when your acne is seriously messing with your psyche and has little to no chance of disappearing on its own (i.e. parents, dont feed your 12 / 14 / 16 y/o accutane after he has his first breakout…MOST people get lucky and their pimples start dissipating in their late teens and early 20s). Yes, it sucks to have acne as a teenager and you may not be prom queen but neither will 150 of your peers, so your not alone. As another poster pointed out, the whole idea of this drug is to induce vitamin A toxicity (albeit, a mild form of such) to achieve certain desired effects, like permanent (hopefully!) changes in one’s skin. However, when your deliberately overdosing on vitamins over the course of 6 months, it’s not particularly surprising when you have a couple of other things happen to your body, right?
In regards to all these terrible side effects that are REMOTELY possible while using the drug, yeah…we don’t exactly know what’s going to happen when you take 100000x the recommended mount of vitamin A. I don’t doubt that some people’s lives really have been changed (although hard to say if these are really permanent…drug’s only been around since the early 80’s), but I really feel that 90% of these horror stories stem from an unrealistic expectation that we’re all gonna be happy and healthy for the rest of our lives.
Let’s put this in perspective: MILLIONS of people have taken accutane; I recall reading 12 million worldwide somewhere. This number is not really surprising considering how many people are cursed with the acne plague and I’m sure millions more will continue to take it until Merk medical finds us an alternative. Now consider the general rate at which some of these “side effects” occur. Studeis indicate IBS impacts between 1/100 to 1/50 people. So you took Accutane when you were 18 and you developed IBS at 28? Seems like a bit of a stretch to blame that on all that vitamin A from 10 years ago, doesn’t it? Sorry sunshine, you probably just won the IBS lotto because sh*t happens to people! My girlfriend had horrendous stomach problems (which cleared up on their own when she was in her early 20s) and she’s needed to do anything for her skin other than splash warm water on it once a week. So we have a couple of hundred reported suicides on accutane…out of how many MILLIONS of teens who are still alive today? Is that really so much higher than the general rate of suicide among that demographic that we’re going to label Accutane deadly??? I’ve read posts about people blame CAVITIES on accutane courses they did a decade earlier, which is obviously the only answer because they’ve always “had great dental hygiene”……..uuughh..are you kidding me. Not all bald people you see on the street are former accutane users, guys! We can’t all be Brad Pitt and we’re not all going to live to 120 without some medical complications that follow us. Maybe it was the accutane, but, more likely than not, your just like 99% of the rest of us.
I worked for a dermatologist from 1985-1993 and only TWO times in that time period did he put someone on accutane. Neither were female and he made both of the young men sign releases saying he had advised against the use of accutane, had warned them about the dangers of it, and had generally advised them not to take it. He also made 2 of the medical assistants stand in the room as witnesses while he explained the dangers and made us co-sign the waiver after the patient signed it. My boss seriously, seriously hated accutane!!
I have often wondered about these young men and how their health is today.
I am looking for something natural for rosesa any ideas I am a 55 and it is awful
I was on Accutane for 4 month in high school and before that a long period of antibiotics to clear up my acne. Accutane worked wonders for me and I loved it! My fine blonde hair was no longer greasy in 8 hours and my face cleared right up! The only side effect that I noticed was dry eyes, which was something I could deal with if it meant I had clear skin!
Fast forward to age 20. I was in college at this point and I began to notice stomach pain almost every time I ate. It didn’t matter what or when I ate, my stomach would always be in pain almost to the point of crying every time I would eat. After going to countless doctors to try to figure out what is wrong, no one could give me an answer. This was the one time I was hoping the doctors would give me bad news just so I had a diagnosis. It’s been 6 years and no hope. I stay away from stomach irritants like gluten, dairy, and soy, but not much has helped. Ive been on the fermented food and drink kick, but have not been on it long enough to know if it is helping.
I truly believed that the combination of antibiotics and accutane killed my gut. It was great while it lasted but sadly, it was short lived and I am still living with acne. But it sounds like many of you out there have experienced similar situations.
How do I know the discussion above is genuine and reliable!
You know, it’s crazy, as a teen or young adult you think you’re invincible to drugs and their side effects. I know I did when I was introduced to accutane by me dermatologist at 18 for mild acne. I never heard of it and regret visiting a dermatologist for acne till this day. She basically put me on 40mg of accutane for mild acne without talking to me about other treatments for acne. I remember signing a waver to get it and the huge ass pamphlet of the side effects. I assumed nothing would happen as I always took medicine without getting the side effects. Well boy was I wrong. The major side effects didn’t happen while I was on it, rather slowly developed after taking it to a point today where they seem to continue to get worse and worse. Just when I think they can;t get worse they slowly do.
I am now 23 and have been loosing my hair, having back pain, erection problems, and it affected my vision, to name a few. These side effects are indeed related to accutane as I saw hundreds and thousands of others suffering from the same issues after taking it. I was completely happy healthy and normal before and even during taking it. Boy do I regret ever taking it!
You don’t know how bad I wish I could go back in time to never had taken it!
Sorry for this depressing story, but it is a very real issue and something really and truly needs to be done for the thousands suffering life altering side effects from taking accutane and its generic forms!
We just have to continue to spread the word and get more and more studies done on this and maybe one day something will be done about it!
my friend took it in his 20s. he had the worst cysts i have seen. it cleared up his skin.
he did have dry lips while on it.
he claims he had no _permenant_ side effects that he is aware of.
but he has had developed a slew of problems over the years for no good reasons (the doc concluded he was “aging” duh): like back injuries –> surgeries, eye fluid, benign tumor in adrenaline, sleep deficit, high BP, etc. i dont’ know if they’re related. mmm, just makes one wonder.
Just wanted to share that I took Accutane for 2 cycles, then had stomach problems for 4 years without a diagnosis. They kept telling me it was IBS. Well, by eliminating foods for years, i finally figured out that Legumes bothered my stomach, and once I stopped eating them, I haven’t had a stomach ache or bloating or sharp pains for 6 years!! I think the accutane destroys your ability to create the enzymes necessary for digesting these foods. Anyway, I love sharing what helped me with other people. So far it has changed the lives of 15 people I have told. Worth a try in my opinion! If I am ever craving Hummus or Peanut Butter, I just take the proper digestive enzymes right before I eat, and my little indulgence doesn’t bother me one bit! Best wishes!!
Wow. I took Accutane when I was in Middle school. I was so heartbroken about my skin- they never said it was cystic but my terrible dermatologist put me on it. Back then my parents didn’t know anything about it. All they said was I would have to get blood tests every month to make sure I wasn’t pregnant b/c the baby would have severe abnormalities. I lost my finger nails…. they disintegrated on my fingers half way down. It was disgusting! I now have very clear skin- extremely dry and have Ulcerative Coltis and depression that comes and goes. I really feel it is caused by the Accutane. I was approached about the lawsuit but felt I needed to just get past it… in other ways and waiting for money to never come was not what I wanted. So now I take meds for Colitis, try to eat healthy and go back & forth between Gluten free & Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I’d like to get off the meds.
OK sorry if I shared too much. Was good to hear other’s stories.
Just wanted to share that I took Accutane for 2 cycles, then had stomach problems for 4 years without a diagnosis. They kept telling me it was IBS. Well, by eliminating foods for years, i finally figured out that Legumes bothered my stomach, and once I stopped eating them, I haven’t had a stomach ache or bloating or sharp pains for 6 years!! I think the accutane destroys your ability to create the enzymes necessary for digesting these foods. Anyway, I love sharing what helped me with other people. So far it has changed the lives of 15 people I have told. Worth a try in my opinion! If I am ever craving Hummus or Peanut Butter, I just take the proper digestive enzymes right before I eat, and my little indulgence doesn’t bother me one bit! Best wishes.
Lindsey