The Miracle Drug

So, I’ve been battling acne for a few years now. However, recently my acne went from mild-moderate, to moderate-severe. I moved into my dorm at ECU, and everything was going great the first few days. I was loving it. But I began to notice something; my face began creating more and more bumps.

Mid-Spring I was prescribed Menocycline. Menocycline is an antibiotic designed to treat serious cases of acne. After my body seemed to get used to the drug (just like everything else that I’ve tried for my acne) I visited a dermatologist, and he prescribed Tazorac, and a refill of the antibiotic. Tazorac (In my opinion) is a waste of time. It is a gel form that you spread on your face every night before going to bed. After only three nights of use, I noticed my face burning; and when I say burning, I mean BURNING.My face also began to peel heavily.It eventually got to a point where I couldn’t take it anymore. The gel was making my acne three times worse, and on top of that, burning my skin, making it red, and peel. I googled the drug, and read people’s experiences with it. I decided that I would wear the gel for 10 minutes, then wash it off. This worked for around two weeks, however, it began to burn again.

Frustrated, and defeated, I returned to the dermatologist, almost demanding a different treatment. I kind of knew he wanted to prescribe me Accutane, but just like every 90s-00s kid, I’ve seen the MTV: True Life stories of people going on Accutane, and becoming depressed, and suicidal. However, after weighing my options, and risks, I decided to take the drug. I started a generic form of Accutane two weeks ao today, and I could not have made a better decision. With my insurance, I pay ten dollars for a month’s supply.

After only five days of treatment, I saw a considerable difference in my acne’s condition. All of the annoying small bumps, and blackheads are now gone. My face isn’t nearly as oily, and even the acne scarring is disappearing. I can’t wait until it begins removing the postules.

The most shocking part of this treatment-to me-is the process I had to go through to get the medication. In order to recieve a prescription for Accutane, a female must first have a blood test taken, and be put on two forms of birth control. TWO. After thirty days of birth control, the patient recieves another blood test to make sure she is taking it. After the dermatologist clears her, she then registers with an online federal program called, “iPledge” who’s motto is, “Commited to Birth Control” That should tell youi something. Men however, only require one blood test a month. The reason for such dire measures, is the fact that Accutane is one of the most dangerous and volatile medications in pharmacies today.

The drug is Vitamin-A derivitive, and causes your oil glands to stop secreting oil. Needless to say, a pocket-sized moistorizer is essential. However, when Roche Pharmaceuticals first introduced it’s new acne “miracle drug” in the early 80s, it recieved a patent for the drug, and the rights to soley make the pills.

The company used that to their advantage as they monopolized the drug’s market. They new that higher prescriptions meant more pills, which means more money. They influenced doctors, and dermatologists heavily for big doses. These large doses of Vitamin-A can cause serious mental health issues, and is likely common with doses that are too large. So, if you ever are on the fence about this medication due to the fear of your mental health, no worries. Late in the 90s, Roche lost it’s patent, and generic methods of the drug were then allowed to be produced. Doses were shrank, and success rates went higher, while depression rates plummeted.

However, the birth control aspect is very justified. While Roche held it’s patent, it had very loose watch over preganancies while on the drug. Many women became pregnant while on the drug, and 85% of those women aborted the baby, and among the 15% that had their babies, 100% of the newborns, either died before birth, right after birth, or were barely alive due to severe, grousome birth defects. That is the reason for the big deal over pregnancies.

I’m excited about my prescribed 4-5 month process of Accutane, and cannot wait to see the final results. According to my dermatologist, the drug has a 95% success rate, and most of those patients never have a breakout for the rest of their lives.

God Bless.

Caleb

How Safe Is Accutane?

Accutane, which contains Isotretinoin as active substance, is the drug which can treat acne in an effective manner. Yet, this drug should not be taken by pregnant women, as they can experience serious side effects, among which birth defects. In spite of this counter indication, studies completed in Britain and Israel have shown that this drug is not as dangerous as we used to think.

When acne occurs the liquid oils produced by the sebaceous glands turn into a solid and white substance which is trapped inside the skin pores. This process affects the skin which eventually becomes reddish and inflamed. What Accutane does is to reduce the amount of oil produced by the sebaceous glands, by attacking some of them. In only three or four months you will see how the skin condition gets better. This is the reason for which many patients have declared that Accutane is the best acne treatment they have ever tried. No serious side effects of this drug have been reported. The only change that patients felt in their body was that their sweat didn’t evaporate so fast, thus they weren’t feeling so cold in the wintertime. Lack of oil does not affect the skin. When the skin gets dry is because it hasn’t got the necessary amount of water, while if it’s getting old is because it hasn’t got too much collagen.

The Study which has taken place in Britain has reported that 90% of the patients which were treated with Accutane had no side effects. Yet, there were people saying that they have dry mouth after the treatment was over (5%) and some reported muscular pains (2%). In addition to that, a small group of people (under 1% of the total) experienced eye drying and pain in the joints. When people were put to take a higher dose than the one recommended, they didn’t experience an aggravation of those side effects. This lead researchers to say that Isotretinoin, the substance contained by Accutane is a safe one, which doesn’t cause serious, long term side effects. Still, Accutane should not be taken during pregnancy because it does provoke birth deficiencies.

The study performed in Israel Also shows that Accutane is much safer than thought initially. Doctors avoid the prescription of Accutane for fear of side effects such dramatic increase of triglycerides and heart attacks. Yet, during the study, only 1.5% of the patients had the triglycerides beyond the level of 400 mg and they continued the treatment, having no further problems. 3.5% of those taking Accutane express the need of taking another treatment.

One thing that must be kept in mind is that Accutane causes birth deficiencies, so that women taking this medicine should take increased precautions so that they don’t get pregnant. After three months since they haven’t taken Accutane, women can get pregnant as there is no risk of birth deficiencies.

It is recommended do some liver test and blood test and if they are alright take 40 mg of Accutane twice a day for 14 weeks. The liver is tested from four to four months, and if something is not OK the treatment is stopped. After two weeks from the completion of the treatment, the liver test is taken again, and if no changes have appeared, the treatment is restarted. The percent of those cured by this treatment is 82%. If acne reappears, take 40mg of Accutane four times a day, for four weeks.

Week 5 Roundup/ Beginning of Week 6

This week has been varied, to say the least.  My dosage was increased to 60 milligrams, 20 more than I had been on the previous month.  So far, I’ve noticed that my face is drier, my nose is drier, and my lips are drier.  I haven’t experienced any headaches, however, or anything like that (knock on wood ).  I think the increased dosage has helped the quality of my skin already, because I’ve noticed a change.  Take a look at the pictures below and tell me what you think!

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Day 33: Dermatologist Appointment #2 (Oh, and yes, I'm still alive)

Hey everyone, sorry for dropping off the face of the earth.  I’ve been crazy busy preparing for school to start and for all my extracurriculars to start.  I’m going to take a set of pictures on Friday, and I’ll skip last week’s (there wasn’t that much of a change anyways).

So, today was my dermatologist appointment.  They said the blood tests were good, but my bilirubin levels were elevated.  That means that I could have Gilbert’s Syndrome, which, if you’ve been following my blog, my dad has.  It’s completely benign, and it can be hereditary.  So, the doctor thinks it’s probably just that, but she wants me to call my primary care physician to make sure.  She said that I’m responding very well to the medication, and she wants to increase my dosage.  I guess that the higher the dosage taken, the more lasting the clear skin will be.  So, since I’ve only been having minor dryness and pain and all that stuff, I said sure, why not.  I’m on 60 mg now, taken in 3 20mg capsules.  I went to CVS to fill the prescription, and somehow it’s going to take an hour to collect three boxes, go on iPledge, and put the three boxes in a bag.  I’m going to go back later on tonight as I’ll be in the area anyway.  But, I’m happy that the dermatologist thinks my skin is doing well, and I’m glad I’m reacting well to Accutane!  (By the way, they scheduled the appointment correctly this time, so I have the next appointment 30 days after this one!)

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