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Old 06-07-2008, 01:50 PM   #1
sadskingirl
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: usa ny
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Unhappy Got Accutane Script & Went From Excited To Petrified! Hairloss Mentioned :( HELP BTDT

hi everyone, my name is shelly, iam new here. yesterday after all the blood tests and the ipledge thingy, and HOPE for a nice complexion, i got my script for accutane in hopes that my pores will shrink and oil dissapear and i can live a normal life, (i get breakouts and have a bumpy texture to my skin, like maybe there are zits under there, but my breakouts are not severe, thats not why they put me on it...2 derms agreed i should try it for my uncontrollable over-productive oil glands, and ever enlarging pores that are all over my face, causing me tremendous distress, embrassment, and i see noone in the world with them like this, but ME, and it didn't used to be this way, so iam DESPERATE to try and keep that oil at bay and prevent further scarring and look decent its a major source of depression for me. welp iam going CRAZY right now. iam stressed beyond words and worried sick, and i have not even taken the medicine yet. did i do too much reading, is my dr right? should i trust him...plz you all seem to know so much about it, any experiences and advice is greatly appreciated. i know this is supposed to be for nodular acne, but we've exhausted every other medicine and treatment, lasers, a few levulans w/ blue light, and then one w/ v-beam to no avail, almost daily these scars are gettin worse and worse. very hard to explain.

ok iam at the point now, where...forget the other side effects, iam so desperate i was very reluctant but finally willing to take the small risk, of the BIG health stuff, that is quite frightening (and i have very bad luck and all), to try and lead a happier normal life and be a much better more sane, mom and wife, but, despite my derms. wishes, i kept readin this morning about the many patients who have had alot of hair loss from it, and it's all over the internet, i hate that i research things like this, but if i didn't and somethin awful happened i would hate myself more, but he assured me to not worry about this, but how can i not? i already suffer hair loss (will explain later) (32 now), was assured it would grow back at the time, and never did causing me great distress naturally, i already had low self esteem, but at least my skin was decent, but you don't appreciate what you had until its gone, so iam teetering on the brink here. i was excited to pick up my script till i read all this stuff, and now iam freakin and unsure...i mean damned if i do or don't, but i need ur input.

i never expected to find soooooooooo many stories of men and women who have bad problems w/ permenat hair loss from this drug and websites stating this as an even common side effect, and the own company that makes it admitting its a side effect, yet i saw my derm yesterday, he told me, this is going to change my skin for the better so much, make it like porcelin, and he's one of the very best derms out there, in manhattan, and i wanna trust him, BUT....he says i'll be happy cause i won't be such an oily holey mess, which i was really excited to pick up my neds today but now so deathly afraid i can hardly breathe.

i already have thin hair, and the diffuse thinning, especially in my crown area....now called alopcia, by my last derm. accelurated by chemical damage from a botched dye job. they assured me it would grow back but 7 yrs later, here iam w/ now labeled alopecia...like the balding i would have had at 80 was sped up due to damage. not sure if i ever bought that one...i think it just killed my follicles and that was that but it never grew back and never will and its been hard to cope w/ that all these years but its seemed to remain the same and not get worse, and i just barely am able to get by as is, w/ a spray on cover up product 2 actually good looking hair and dermatch, hence i have no hair to spare to lose, soooo if i were to lose more on top, we are talkin, total physcological anielation, no cover ups like now, it would be too apparent, as it is i must style it a certain way to and plaster it down, in some pics i can see the dye color underneath but nothing i can do, i have become sort of accepting that this is life, and am too afraid of a transplant, plus could never afford one, but now, most people never notice i hide it very well but cannot go for worse in that area. extensions can help with the rest, just got some actually but the top...no room for any error, and i was assured that it would not ever come from there but iam reading different today, and i need to know the cold hard truth.

i did a search online, and there isn't seemingly in just 'rare' cases, it is all over the internet, and seems pretty darn common from what i can SEE, but thats a big part of why i came to you all, to see if its all true and its happened to alot of people here who take or did take the drug. when questioned, my dr told me not to look anything up and drive myself batty, in thousands of scripts he's never seen any horrible things happen, but above him telling me you could shed alittle on the sides or back but it won't touch the crown area, nothing would be enough to be noticeable, and it would definately grow back, well i didn't do as he said i did read, and how can i believe one derm. over ALL OF THE STORIES AND WEBSITES ON THE INTERNET?? if they are true which hard to believe that many stories could not be real.

iam already in a super vunerable position here hair wise, my skin makes me so miserable it sickens me, ruins my every day, every second actually...but this isn't a permenant cure even for the oil, he can't make me promises, nor can u be on it forever, so i don't even know that i'd be trading one thing for the other (perfect poreless, oiless skin), i don't have acne as a mega issue, and the low dose i thought he was gonna start me on was not the case (we originally talked like 20, but now he's saying he meant 20 2xs a day, which would be 40 but ended up with a script for... 60mg! (too scarey high for me to start at)

i think that is way too much to jump into for my issues, but he said to me 'you wanna see results right? you want a great complexion' and i was so ready to pick this up and get started until i freaked myself out and read all this this morning. plz keep in mind, i got no hair here to spare, so iam not starting with a full head, and i dont' want another horrid regret under my belt, and at the same time, my skin ruins my life, and there are just no alternatives, i have been thru them all, so what in God's name should i do?


iam sooo freakin paniced and sick to my stomache...no way i can start this medicine today, plz help me you all, even if you never took it, and you didnt even know bout accutane until now, if in my situation as described above what would u do? my skin makes me miserable on a daily basis, however results are not usually permenat, i'll likelu return, and i can only hope it'd shrink the pores that have quickly become scars and continue on doing so, so ..iam not gettin a life long result, but could have hair loss as a life long result, and i already have alopecia, plz tell me, whats one to do?

the increasing oil in my skin continues to stretch out my already huge pores, (he admited i was right on that that is whats goin on w/ me), and forms large scars, and this just keeps gettin worse and worse all of the time. iam so desperate i was willing to risk all the awful side effects but i thought the hair thing was very rare but do a search it so isn't, plz help...iam sure u can tell how freaked iam, and i know he said not to read and sometimes u can look into something too much but there are sooo many websites, this isnt a rare thing...iam so frightened, idk what to do

thanks for allowing me this vent, i really needed it, and value your opinions.

sorry so very long and redundant, my head is still spinning...iam hoping for positive stories. if i use the script...if i do, i'll definately not start on the 60...1/2 that maybe....just to scared and he talked about maybe raising it next time??? sounds like alot for 5 mo treatment and no cystic acne, i guess he's the expert, 2 great, respected, derms, told me this is the only way they can help me, (& know about my hair loss), and i've spent sooo much money trying, its like damned if i do or don't HELP. i wanna believe i can get normal or close to normal looking skin and more time looking normal in my makeup then an hour a day, its just plain gross, and keep my hair but this one...its a toughie. thanks again, shelly

Last edited by sadskingirl; 06-07-2008 at 01:53 PM.
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Old 06-07-2008, 09:00 PM   #2
sadskingirl
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: usa ny
Posts: 5
Re: Got Accutane Script & Went From Excited To Petrified! Hairloss Mentioned :( HELP

plz help me...iam so distraught and desperate...i need some info on the truth about accutane w/ this as a side effect and if i should pick up the script, iam so scared but was so optomistic, my reading has made the light inside my soul go out, i wanna know if there is hope that maybe i could be alright and benefit and not lose hair. thanks, shelly
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Old 06-07-2008, 09:09 PM   #3
TMSton
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Location: Grafton, MA
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Re: Got Accutane Script & Went From Excited To Petrified! Hairloss Mentioned :( HELP

I don't mean to discourage you, but I haven't really heard anywhere near the number of good stories about Accutane that I have bad stories; I know you're desperate, but there are side effects worse than hair loss. Ulcerative Colitis and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases have been associated with Accutane, and I'd advise against taking it.

It's obviously up to you, too. But just keep your head up, try to relax and talk with your dermatologists about side effects aside from hair loss.

To be blunt, I wouldn't take it if I were you. But obviously, I am not, and if it really means this much to you, the choice is yours.

Hope everything turns out okay.
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Old 06-07-2008, 09:31 PM   #4
aussiejono
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Join Date: Feb 2008
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Re: Got Accutane Script & Went From Excited To Petrified! Hairloss Mentioned :( HELP

Accutans is worth the risks in severe nodular acne, for oily skin, I'm not so sure.

Have you tried topical Retin-A cream?
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Old 06-08-2008, 12:38 AM   #5
simtek96
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Re: Got Accutane Script & Went From Excited To Petrified! Hairloss Mentioned :( HELP

Before I continue with this...what I am about to say is simply my friends experience with this scrip. It is not my intention to scare you with this, just letting you know what he went through.

A very good friend of mine was given a scrip for Accutane about fifteen years ago. The way he explained it to me was it makes your acne positively blow up in the hopes that it woud essentially burn your pores out and they wouldn't generate pimples anymore (not quite sure how this works, but there's a reason i drive a truck, lol). It did precisely what he said it would do...his acne just took off at first, just as soon as he got rid of one, another would show up. But after a few months, they began coming back slower and slower until they just stopped returning. He now has a clear complexion, and on the odd occasion that he does have a pimple show up, it shows up alone and quickly goes away

I hope this didn't scare you, I don't know if this is typical. This is simply my friends experience
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