Thanks Tooth. Follow up on what you posted. The statistics seem to be a bit driven on the younger age groups. I'm 29 and as we know our brains don't peak rationally until young mid twenties. Do you think there is any correlation there with personality changes when it comes to accutane?

There's not enough data to say much at all, beyond pointing out a reasonable to high likelihood that Accutane will cause not insubstantial brain damage, possibly sufficient to alter your personality. I don't believe the brain damage is age related - accutane was designed to be a chemotherapy (i.e. cell killer) at any age.

That's kind of how it works in your skin - it's almost chemotherapy for your skin. It kills off and slows down the growth of skin cells, and makes them highly vulnerable to damage. But your skin cells are very, very similar to your brain cells. They derive from the same line in the embryo.

In fact they're so similar that scientists can turn adult skin cells directly into adult brain cells without using stem cells.

So the thing that slows and kills your skin cells, helping your acne permanently (the changes are permanent), is probably doing the exact same thing, permanently, to your brain. None of this is really age related.

Like I said it's up to you, but I don't think this is even a slightly difficult decision.

Appreciate you taking the time truly

Dr. T Sayer - Just wondering what you medical background is?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4473493/

I have no medical training whatsoever. Accutane is one of a few things I've researched deeply for friends.

I took this for about four or five months when I was 15. I had no negative effects or problems, and it worked wonderfully. Then again, that's 21 years ago, so I do not know what changes have been made to the drug since then and if it's become more problematic.

The guy who played the quiet accused Marine in A Few Good Men claimed accutane ruined his acting career.

Seems like the drug affects people differently; that's true about most drugs. For OP, is it worth the risk; for you it sounds like it might but I would just pay serious attention to the side affects and understand them on the front end as best you can.

No experience with taking the drug personally, but a childhood friend killed himself a few years back, and in what was essentially his suicide note, blamed Roaccutane for his depression entirely. There was a documentary about it called Dying For Clear Skin. Scary stuff, but he was obviously in a tiny minority.

If I do ultimately decide to take it alcohol is no longer a part of my life for the duration I'm on it. One drink, twenty drinks doesn't matter not a drop. I have the appointment set for the blood work this week. Still going through with that and see what they say once it comes back and make a final decision from there.

i took accutane and it cleared my acne perfectly. a year later i developed irritable bowel syndrome and i've been dealing with it for the last 10 years. i have no idea if it is 100% related but other people who have taken accutane have developed serious digestive issues as well. IBS makes me miserable and if accutane was the cause I wish I could go back and not take it.

What are the chances it gets better or goes away after a few years on it's own?

I took a **** ton (6-8 capsules/day) of tetracycline 35 years ago from 17 to 21 for facial acne. Upon cursory look it's still a thing, DGBG has it been mentioned as an option? It did mostly clear my issues but nothing worked as well as the sun. So much so I found I didn't need it in the summer. I'd explore all options around this methodology. As for short term side effects I remember dry mouth and having to eat when taking the pills but nothing more. I'd like to blame my hair loss issues which coincided with my treatment but that doesn't seem to be a thing either. I've had never had any serious illnesses and everything still basically works. I have stayed away from all medications as much as possible since then though.

Ironically about halfway through my treatment my Dr. brought up the subject of switching to Accutane as it had just come out. There was much side effect talk even at that time and in the end I decided against it as the tetracycline was mostly working and it was a devil I knew by that point. Accutane's IBS and brain tissue issues would have me exhausting all other possibilities.

Also one good thing about naturally oily skin is that it doesn't age as fast as dry. You could jump into the crevasses in most of my friends faces, while I have barely a wrinkle. (link below to some science) Still not quite payback for some tough teen years but I'll take it. In another twist of irony I popped nearly all of mine, the couple of noticeable scars that were left in the end were from the ones I didn't pop. GL with whatever you choose DGBG.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/newsevents/new...st-ageing.aspx

It was a miracle drug for me. I tried dang near every other prescription and nothing helped. I did one 6-month treatment of accutane and it worked amazingly well for me.

My liver levels were tested every month, and the last month they did reach nearly to the limit, so I think the Dr. would have taken me off the drug the following month, anyway. The only side effect I had was the lip peeling - it was very bad and very noticeable. That cleared up quickly after the 6 months. I didn't have pain or cracked skin anywhere else.

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Edited to add, I only knew about the skin/pain/liver side effects, obviously I didn't do enough research as the talk about brain damage / IBS potential is new to me.

I took it in high school in the 90's and it worked wonders. Dried me out but no other side effects. Don't recall doing blood tests or being warned about some of the stuff mentioned here. Maybe I was lucky?

I'm not sure which is less surprising about the OP's posting this, that he has crippling bacne, or that he is willing to risk his brain and body function to cure it.

Count me in the "tried everything else, took it in my teens and it cleared me right up" camp.

They told me I needed monthly blood test to check my triglyceride levels, which were fine.

Dunno about any possible dain bramage though

In general, I believe people should do everything possible to avoid taking any medication at all until there are no other choices.

Acne may suck but in my opinion it probably is not worse than the list of potential side effects of that poison.

You don't have to always have your fists up bro

Seems like a good way to die.

Most drugs are worthless when not net harmful.

For example, the mentally ill have far better outcomes in the third world than they do in the West, with all of our psychoactive drugs, training, and money we throw at the problem.

Cancer treatments are worthless outside of a few specific cancers which can be treated well; 52% of cancers spontaneously remit while 54% do so with chemotherapy. When you include selection bias and exclude the handful of specific cancers where chemo does work well, they're worthless and probably net harmful.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15630849
Prostate cancer testing is worthless, and the treatments used as a result of it are incredibly harmful and permanently life changing for no meaningful gain.
I could list 20+ examples of widespread mainstream medical practice that is unjustifiable and net harmful.

Medicine is absolutely wonderful for acute conditions, but most chronic conditions are rarely worth treating with drugs. It's not terribly different to cult beliefs or quack alternative therapies -there's a narrative that drugs mostly work and a drug for everything, while spontaneous remissions, which are very common, provide confirmation bias that the drug works, when the data doesn't support it.

When you consider side effects, you're simply better off staying away, usually.

Not that this applies to Accutane - it's highly effective in getting rid of acne.

I assume your Nobel Prize is in the mail.

On the contrary, lots of well respected researchers are far ahead of me. My guess is you didn't even read the links.

Antibiotic prescription rates for non-indicated conditions with zero clinical basis for prescribing are a simple proof of doctor incompetence and widespread harm when it comes to drugs. You think they're managing to screw this up, but somehow getting it right on far more complex and uncertain diagnostic situations when deciding to give drugs, or not? lol man.

At least you're humble.

Well l, I've ultimately decided after careful consideration that I will not be taking accutane. Even if rare the potential side effects through extensive research are simply not worth it. I'll be looking into potential alternative solutions paired with a continued lifestyle change that'll hopefully kick this in the butt. Thanks to everyone who took the time to offer any help.