Accutane scares me. Need Help!

Hi everyone,

My Story:
          Ive been struggling with some moderate back acne for two years now (14-16). My facial acne before seeing a dermatologist was actually very minuscule, i could keep it under control using Clearasil. Early in 2009 a "regular" doctor proscribed Tretinoin (Retinoid) cream for my back. I started taking it in March, after my freshman year of swimming was over with.
          It was very slow to start working, but my back eventually peeled away most of the (ugly) acne. Then in June i went to Maui and slowly tanned my acne away. Over the summer my tanning helped reduce and cover what was left of my back acne. I stopped using the Tretinoin, because the sun worked better and i didn't want to be red all summer long.
          Then the damn back acne returned when school started, since i had to wear a shirt again. The Tretinoin this time just didn't do the trick. I decided to seek help from a dermatologist in mid-October and he prescribed doxycycline for my back, and said he'd make my face "perfect" with Tretinoin.
           The doxycycline worked beautiful for the first month, my back was bearable. Tretinoin wrecked my face. I wented from have tight small acne which would show up in one spot every other week to red rashy painful acne all over my face and neck. It burnt sooo bad and my face looked like snake skin. He changed my face acne prescription to another retinoid and it made my face worse again!! Meanwhile my back acne started to become resistant to the doxycycline.
           I just saw my dermatologist last week and he said i need to start accutane. As he started to list the common side effects i became scared.

My FEARS:
           My first fear is the ever so common dry lips. I am a first chair trombonist in a state champion marching band. The second HUGE fear is joints. I'm on a really good swim team and im one of the top swimmers. I swim over 5 miles a day and swimming is already hard on joints. I'm close to making state in freestyle and i don't think i can afford joint pains, so id start my treatment in March.

MAIN ?'S :
           How bad are the lips? Could i still play my t-bone? Do dry lips last after quitting accutane? How bad are the joints? Are joint pains bad if you are a good athlete? Are there any good swimmers that have used accutane and still been able to improve? LASTLY ARE THE JOINT PAINS PERMANIT?!! That's my biggest concern. I love swimming and can put it over embarrassing painful acne. Im only a sophomore and im close to D-1 high school times. I want to still improve my times over the next two years also, I'm on tract to swim in college.  

Final thoughts:
            My acne isn't horrible, but the back seems resistant to all the drugs ive tried, however the sun seemed to help. My face is bad now, but ive stopped all retinoids  and i'm going back to Clearasil to get my face back to almost perfect... hopefully. So do you think accutane is right for me? My dermatologist is an Indian "Brains but no Experience" type and i don't think he understands how crucial joints are to swimming. He says ill be fine just maybe a little more sore then normal. I dont trust him. Would do you think?

Thanks, Mitch
  

[mck_rocks]

sorry for my grammar lol, *What do you think i should do?

[loiloi]

Hi. Virtually everyone experiences dry lips whilst on Accutane. For this I recommend liberally applying Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream. Not everyone gets joint and muscle pain. Accutane is out of your body 5 weeks after your last pill, so side effects should not continue after this. Also, many side effects lessen as your body gets used to the medication.
It is not possible to say how you will react to a medication you have not taken before. My advice would be to try Accutane, you can always lower the dose or stop taking it if necessary.
Accutane is your best hope of a long term remission from acne. It virtually always results in total or excellent skin clearance after just one course lasting 16-24 weeks. 80% of patients never experience acne again. The remaining 20% may warrant a second course, or find that standard treatments which previously didn't work (like antibiotics) do work after Accutane has shrank the sebaceous glands considerably.
Best Wishes, Eloise.

[RachelVaughn]

Hello,

Dry lips really is not that bad if you use Aquaphor. Your lips will never ever crack or anything while using this. My dermatologist gives it for free. I personally had joint pain and I worked out 3 days a week. So it may be uncomfortable if you even get it- but totally livable. No doubt it does change things. My dry lips and joint pain subsided 2 months after stopping Accutane. I think it worth it and if your healthy its not that bad.

[Lynsy333]

I was on Accutane about a year ago - finished in May '09.  I had persistent, moderate acne and really oily skin.  

I agree that Aquaphor helps with the dry lips.  Use it several times a day and the dry lips aren't really a problem.  I didn't have joint pain or any of the other "scary" side effects.  I did have REALLY dry skin, especially on my face, and had to put lotion on several times a day.  The dry lips and skin got better almost immediately after I stopped taking accutane.  I also had a pretty bad break out a couple weeks after I started that never seemed to go away.  This was maybe the most frustrating part.  Towards the end of my accutane course this got better and when I finished the treatment and my skin healed from the dryness it was completely clear.

I would recommend trying it.  It is a commitment and you have to stick with it, even through the crappy side effects, but it WORKS.  My skin is totally clear and healthy now - and that's a really, really great feeling.  

Also, if you aren't crazy about your dermatologist ask for a referral for a second opinion or have a consultation with another one on your own.  I've had both bad and good dermatologists and having a good one, that you LIKE, makes the process that much better.