Many of you reading this now have either been on accutane or have given it thought on whether you should try it. If you’re on accutane now, STOP! If you’re thinking of getting on it, DON’T! I myself was one of the first people in the country to go on accutane even before it had FDA approval. At the time I had been seeing a doctor who had been approached to do a pilot study. When I first heard about accutane I was told it was a new prescription drug that would be prescribed to patients with severe cystic acne that did not respond to any other treatments.

To give you a little background into my experience with the drug, let’s start from the beginning. I of course had cystic acne it was not nearly as bad as the other subjects, but I was not having any luck with other treatments. I was asked if I wanted to take part in a 22-week program for a new pill that had been developed for cystic acne. It all sounded good to me, so I signed on! There were about ten of us that went on the program, only two others were from the same doctor I had. They brought us all in one day at the same time to sign some forms and to see a video presentation. From what I remember it was a pretty uncomfortable situation being in this small room with nine other people who all had cystic acne. Looking around the room I remember thinking to myself my problem isn’t that bad.

One guy in particular that I remember every inch of his face was covered in cysts. I mean this guy had cysts on top of cysts…It was a mess. That was the last time I was in the same room with all those people. We were all given blood tests had pictures taken and all given a two-week supply of accutane and sent on our way. I will have to say when I walked out of that office that day I was pretty excited to say the least. I felt like I had the cure for acne in my pocket and it was just a matter of time until my acne problems would be gone forever!

Now I don’t remember specifically at what time frame I was seeing results but I think it was around a month or so into the program. After being on accutane for 22 weeks my skin was clear. The only side effects for me were very dry lips and dry eyes. As far as I was concerned I was cured! Once the FDA approved it, I found myself going up to people I did not even know who had acne and telling them that they need to get on this right away!

For almost three years I could not get a breakout if I tried. My skin was clear! Being that I was in the first group pf people in the country on accutane they could not tell us what to expect in the years to come. I then started to get breakouts again and of course became concerned. Then over time it got worse! I then called the doctor that had put me on accutane three years earlier and told him what was happening. After going into his office for a consultation he suggested that I go on another 22 week cycle asap.

Well, I did just that and after 22 weeks I was again clear. Well I’m sure you can see the pattern starting. Yes, just about every two to three years I would go back on accutane. All in all I think I did six or seven 22-week cycles over the years. Now as I mentioned the doctors could not tell me if there would be any long-term side effects. And of course I signed my life away with all the legal documents they made me sign before starting the program. About five years after the first cycle I started getting pains in my joints around my knees. At the time I had no idea that it was a side effect from the accutane. Now years later the pain is at the point that some nights I can’t sleep, and I even have trouble walking. Now I’ve had a few people tell me, well if you had only went on accutane for the one cycle you probably would not have the problems your having today.

The people that have told me that I think are probably right. Well, here’s the flip side to that. Besides the chapped lips and dry eyes like I experienced there are more serious side effects like depression and even suicide, there are over 60 documented cases. And many of these suicides were while the person was on the first cycle. For women there have been hideous birth defects and many times they have happened long after the cycle has ended.


The reason we really went into this is because there are a lot of people that are just looking for that quick fix. I am sure you’ve seen the television commercials that are on all the time promoting a pill for just about every health problem you can think of. Then at the end of the commercial they always mention a half a dozen side effects like it’s no big deal. I hope now you understand that doctors that prescribe accutane and the manufactures really don’t care about your health. For me I knew I was taking a risk, I put myself up as a guinea pig. But now the medical industry as a whole knows all to well about the serious side effects of this poison they call accutane.

Has the FDA pulled it from the market? No. Are dermatologists who know all to well the devastating side effects refusing to prescribe it to the fresh group of acne patients that come in daily? No. Why is that? Yes you got it, MONEY! And doctors all over the world prescribe this. The bottom line is, accutane has serious and as I mentioned in some cases permanent side effects. On top of that the drug does nothing to address the true cause of acne.