I was on accutane when it was fairly new (1985). It worked great for me. I did not have a growth arrest. Honestly, as bad as my skin was, I would not have cared.
Best luck!
I was put on Accutane after antibiotics did not really work. (Tried many things) I was 18 and not worried about growth. I started at like 1/4 of a normal dose for about 1-2 mo, then jumped to 1/2 dose. My acne went away virtually overnight. (Usually it is supposed to take a long time) Once that happened I had the normal side effects - dry skin/eyes, etc. But once I jumped to 1/2 dose I got bi-polar depression, and that was not fun at all!
I was taken off right away once we figured out what was going on. My dermatologist retired and the new one 3 months later said "Have you ever tried accutane?" and I said "Did you even look at my medical history?".
I did not go back.
If anyone has taken accutane during the growing years and has had significant growth after treatment, please post. Thanks!
Growth arrest, as you note, has been reported. However, it's very rare. There just isn't enough data to make firm recommendations about X-ray monitoring. I can tell you that it isn't standard practice to obtain such X-rays. As to how reliably predictive they are of side-effects, I simply don't know.
Dr. Rockoff