Hello

I am currently under my doctors for my spots and he prescribed me some tablets the other year for my spots and recently they have gone I still get the odd one but they're not as bad as usual. Therefore tomorrow I am going back to the doctors (hopefully if they can get me in) and he said he will refer me to a dermatologist to get my scarring sorted out - yay!

Well I was reading Cosmopolitan about 2 minutes ago and there's a womans diary on page 223 (if anyone has it) and she means two things -
the drug roaccutane and laser resurfacing treatment.

So first of all I was wondering if anyone could give me any more information on roaccutane and let me know how people got on with it if you have used it? It sounds really good and cleared up this woman's spots in just 3 days. However, there must be some side effects? I will look this up but I prefer knowing people's experiences instead of just what the internet says.

And secondly, I believe the LRT is what I will be having to remove my scars and I was horrified when I saw the picture! This lady's skin has been ripped off and she just has raw skin! Also to make it worse, she was made to rub products into her skin that made it terribly sore up to 8 times a day to stop infection. It didn't make it clear in this article as to whether or not this was a bad reaction or what actually happens. So I was wondering if the laser actually just rips your skin off and leaves it raw? Also, has anyone had this? Does it work, does it hurt etc?

Any help would be appreciated so much! Sorry this post is long lol.

Thanks

Don't know much about it to be honest, but one of the girls at work is on roaccutane, and she's got to have regular blood tests because of it.

Just checked the British National Formulary about it, funnily enough it says on here:
Counselling:
Warn patient to avoid wax epilation (risk of epidermal stripping), dermabrasion, and laser skin treatments (risk of scarring) during treatment and for at least 6 months after stopping; patient should avoid exposure to UV light (including sunlight) and use sunscreen and emollient (including lip balm) preparations from the start of treatment.

About the drug, in a few words it says:
Oral retinoid for acne (the family drug for roaccutane)

The retinoid isotretinoin reduces sebum secretion. It is used for the systemic treatment of nodulo-cystic and conglobate acne, severe acne, scarring, acne which has not responded to an adequate course of a systemic antibacterial, or acne which is associated with psychological problems. It is also useful in women who develop acne in the third or fourth decades of life, since late onset acne is frequently unresponsive to antibacterials.

Isotretinoin is a toxic drug that should be prescribed only by, or under the supervision of, a consultant dermatologist. It is given for at least 16 weeks; repeat courses are not normally required.

Side-effects of isotretinoin include severe dryness of the skin and mucous membranes, nose bleeds, and joint pains. The drug is teratogenic and must not be given to women of child-bearing age unless they practise effective contraception (oral progestogen-only contraceptives not considered effective) and then only after detailed assessment and explanation by the physician. Women must also be registered with a pregnancy prevention programme (see under Cautions below).

Although a causal link between isotretinoin use and psychiatric changes (including suicidal ideation) has not been established, the possibility should be considered before initiating treatment; if psychiatric changes occur during treatment, isotretinoin should be stopped, the prescriber informed, and specialist psychiatric advice should be sought.


I saw laser treatment on the odd extreme makeover programme, it looks really nasty and painful, but you do see the difference afterwards. I don't know what kind of treatment is recommended, maybe microdermabrasion could be a first port of call?

Roaccutane sounds really drastic. I have just been reading a review and this girl said she never thought the suicidal thoughts would be as bad as they was and she just wanted to kill herself. She says that 3 years after taking it she still sits and cries for hours on end and sometimes its so hard she passes out from it! I know it's a side effect and it may not happen to me but it does sound pretty bad. Also you mentioned the 'warnings,' they sound bad to. It's pretty hard not to be exposed to sunlight and although I wear SPF everyday, it's still hard to know whether there's some sunlight shining threw it. I guess for this, I'd have to speak to my doctor and find out about the percentage of suicidal thoughts because that's the part that scares me the most.

Yeah the pictures look awful! And I've done a bit of research and it happens to everyone so it wasn't just a bad reaction for this girl. I can't take pain very well either so it wouldn't be a good idea. I've had one microdebrasion and I loved the way my skin felt but the thing is, you need a lot to remove the scarring completely and it can get expensive (mine was £45 a time yet I got it for £20 or something like that) and with the laser, it would've been done threw the NHS I believe as I'm under 18 (if they'd let me have it because I'm a bit young).

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated

Hi, I haven't used it myself but one of my close friends used it a few years ago. It cleared her spots up really quickly and drastically improved her skin, however it was used as a last resort after all other pills had been tried unsuccessfully.

You need to go on the pill when you take it as I think it causes serious birth defects, so there are other possible side effects associated with the pill, such as weight gain etc.

My friend used to suffer from dry skin a lot while she was taking it and was constantly using creams like E45 all over her face. She also couldn't wear much makeup because of the changes in her skin.

There has been a lot reported about depression and suicidal thoughts associated with Roaccutane, however she didn't appear to be affected by this. I guess it depends on the person.

As I said before, it is usually only prescribed as a last resort - my best friend had very bad acne but was never prescribed it.

I think we ought to get BeautyJudge to apply for a free set of Skin Culture 4000 face peels for you to try and review ?!
It really is meant to be good and you can do it at home rather than go under the laser.
I would seriously think about these pills, they sound risky.
Anyway, from your photos I think you look gorgeous and I can't see the problem myself xxxxx

They have tried me with the cream to start off with because I can't take tablets and that was just terrible, it made me breakout so much more.

Oh yeah the tablet thing, I have to undo the capsule and pour the little beads into a yoghurt and drink it - it's horrible! So for me, even though the pill is small, I would have problems taking this as well as the roaccutane and 2 tablets a day would make it a lot worse.

I also don't like the thought of applying lots of heavy creams :/

And yeah I have looked into the skin culture 4000 peels and they look so amazing! But they're way to expensive and I'd never be able to afford it unfortunatly.

Thanks teenspirit I'm not though, bit of editing haha