My Accutane Treatment

Like many teenagers and young adults today, I suffered with pretty severe acne. It probably started when I was about 10 or 11 with just a small breakout on my forehead or chin and quickly became worse. We started seeking treatment when I was about 15 but soon learned that generic topical creams would hardly do much good. At 16 I went to an actual dermatologist for the first time. She mentioned Accutane at our first visit, but explained that that was an option if the topical creams and antibiotics didn't work.

I tried probably 3 or 4 different creams, many of which seemed to work at the beginning, but lost their effect after 3 months or so, and the acne always came back. Even while the acne itself was gone, it left (what looked like to me) a battlefield of scars on my face. None of the creams or antibiotics helped with this issue. 

So this past winter I had had enough, and I marched back into that dermatologist office and said "Give me Accutane." Maybe it didn't happen exactly like that, but that's how I like to think it did. I had a few friends who had done it and they had seen amazing results. So even before I went in to talk to the doctor about it, I researched everything myself. 

Accutane is the brand name for Isotretinoin. It is a form of Vitamin A that slows down the secretion of oils in your skin and helps to replenish your skin more quickly. Its a pill that you take orally usually for only 4-6 months. I ended up being on it for only 5 months. 

The biggest concern with Accutane is that is has been proven to cause VERY severe birth defects if you were to get pregnant while on the treatment. The drug can affect an unborn baby's heart, brain, and even cause facial deformities. It's some pretty strong stuff. Because of this severe danger, the packages are loaded with pregnancy warning labels like this picture: 

It's a big deal, I'm not going to lie, and there's a lot of risk you take if you decide to take Accutane if there is a chance you could become pregnant. Because of my Christian beliefs, I knew this would not be a concern for me because me and my fiance had decided to wait until we are married to be intimate. Otherwise, you have to "pledge" to be on 2 forms of birth control for your entire treatment. You CAN choose abstinence (don't let them tell you otherwise!) and then you would not have to put a second form. 

This is what the iPledge program was developed for. It connects patient, doctor, and pharmacy together while the patient is undergoing the treatment. The iPledge program was put in place to make sure that patients understood the risks of Isotretinoin. You cannot take Accutane without signing up with iPledge. 

What the program makes you do is your doctor has to put in your information and set up your account, entering in your 2 forms (or just abstinence) of birth control. Each month before you get your prescription, you then have to go online, sign into your profile, and reconfirm your forms of birth control and answer some questions about the drug and the treatment process. After you have answered your questions, THEN you can go and pick up your prescription. You will only get a 30-day supply and a time. NOTE: The doctor sends in your prescription and then you only have 7 days to answer your own questions and pick up the prescription, so make sure you understand WHEN your doctor sends the prescription so you don't miss the deadline! 

Your doctor has to then make sure each month that you are not pregnant. I had this done 2 different ways. Accutane has many other side effects (just like any other drug), many of which they need to monitor with blood work (like cholesterol). So before I even started the treatment, I had to go get blood work done at LabCorp so they had a way to see any change in the next few months as I went on the treatment. They also tell whether or not your pregnant from these blood works. So they will check it once before you start treatment, and then once after you've done the first month. If the doctor ever chooses to bump up your dose, you will have to go back to get more blood work to make sure than the increase isn't causing adverse effects  after you've completed a month of the increased dose. 

If they decide they don't need to get blood work, your doctor may have you do an in house urine pregnancy test that they can confirm right away and send the prescription in. 

You have to visit your dermatologist each month in order to get a new prescription because they do not come with refills. This can add up, so be aware of how much your regular visit costs and make sure you are ready to pay that once a month for 4-6 months. 

Since I never had to deal with the biggest side effect of Accutane (the birth defects), there were many other smaller side effects I personally had to deal with. Within the first couple months, my skin was dry and my lips were excessively chapped. I would wake up in the morning and not be able to smile, and I couldn't go but 10 minutes without reapplying chapstick. My dermatologist was able to give me some sample medicated chapsticks, but after losing them (like I always do) I ended up buying Aquaphor healing ointment which helped a lot. 

Another big side effect for me was severely dry eyes. I wear contacts and those already sometimes irritate my eyes, but the Accutane made it a lot worse. My eyes were also VERY sensitive to light. It would be cloudy and rainy and I would have to have sunglasses on, it was that bad. This was a big issue and was the reason I came off Accutane a month early. While I was on vacation to Cape Canaveral, Florida with Charlie's family, my eyes were really bothering me, especially because it was so bright and sunny there. Charlie's mom helped me by getting me lubricating eye gel drops (Refresh Celluvisc) instead of just artificial tears and also an eye ointment (Refresh P.M.) for at night. The gel drops were amazing and I could take those with my contacts in. The ointment was to keep my eyes moist over night, and helped tremendously, but I had to take my contacts out for that (which I probably should do anyways). 

Another very important thing with Accutane is that it makes your skin very sensitive to light, and it is very important to ALWAYS wear sunscreen! You will get burned just from walking to the car, so always protect your skin! 

Those were the biggest side effects for me, but make sure to read up on the other side effects that it can cause and let your doctor know if you have pre-consisting conditions. I know that the drug can increase depression if it runs in your family and affect cholesterol, so make sure to tell your doctor everything! From what I know, the side effects go away once you're off the Accutane and it usually only takes a month for it to be out of your system. 

However, even through all the discomfort of chapped lips and dry eyes, I couldn't be happier with my results! My skin is not only clear, but looks healthy and feels amazing! The most amazing thing to me is that most of my scars have healed as well. I'm so excited that something has finally worked. There is a slight chance that the acne could return, but my doctor told me that because of how well I reacted to it, she doesn't think it should be an issue. Check out my before and after pictures below!