For those with SKIN PROBLEMS - this drug is amazing

[Scary_Tiger]

This stuff is powerful. It'll dry your face out like crazy though.

[danvh]

Will it moisturize my situation?? I have to maintain the sexy.

[2+2 wannabe]

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Will it moisturize my situation?? I have to maintain the sexy.

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wow this is great!

[NeedsMoreNuts]

I took this for a while. It pretty much gets rid of all of your acne. That said, my entire face and arms were completely dried out tfor about 6 months, so you'll need lots of chapstick.

[surfinillini]

[ QUOTE ]
I took this for a while. It pretty much gets rid of all of your acne. That said, my entire face and arms were completely dried out tfor about 6 months, so you'll need lots of chapstick.

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you use chapstick on your arms?

[CD56]

it's a very powerful drug, clears up acne well, but the side effect profile is severe, women should not get pregnant within 3-4 years of having taken the drug if that gives you some idea of its possible toxicity level

[dun_noo]

I used it as a teenager. Amazing results. However, my lips have been permanently chapped for years. Have to carry around chapstick, even in the summer. Other than that, was fine.

[ScottieK]

I was on Accutane in college...doctor said if I have so much as a headache, I should stop and come in. There are a lot of potential side effects and symptoms. My eyes are usually bloodshot and my skin's usually dry. But I've got great skin! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Sure beats tetracyclene and sandblasting, which is what my older brother did.

ScottieK

[Freakin]

Doctors will prescribe accutane for nearly any case of acne now. It's a great drug, but it's really overused. When it was first developed for severe acne, there were less than 50k people who would fit into that category (i think it may have been as low as 10-15k) and now there are hundreds of thousands of people who take it every year unnecessarily. It's got all sorts of bad side effects, weak bones, depression, and liver damage to name a few. It used to be that they'd make you get mandatory blood work done every month if you were taking it, but I don't even think they do that anymore.

If you're going to take it, make sure you need it, and not just cause you read a thread on a message board about it. There are many steps you should take before trying accutane.

That being said, it worked miracles for me. My lips are still much more dry than they were before I took accutane (like 9 years ago) and I was bone dry when I was on it (I still have to use moisturizer on my face). It was so bad that if I had a single drink, I would usually get a nosebleed the next morning from how dry my nostrils were, and I'd sometimes get nosebleeds just from sneezing too hard (and previously I'd only had nosebleeds when I bang my face into something).

So yeah, it's great, but not for everyone.

[Randle]

Great points Freakin.

I had mild acne up till about age 23 and I was always able to control it quite well with simple salicylic acid(stuff you can find in any drugstore in Clearasil or Neutrogena, etc.).

Don't go on Accutane unless your acne is SEVERE. The risks aren't worth it.