My daughter has been on 60mg. of Accutane and is in her third month. In the last week, she has developed a very bad cough with odd brownish sputum. I am concerned that perhaps the doctor will order a TB skin test and some websites recommend not having this test while taking an immunosuppressive med. I know Accutane is not considered to be this type of drug but other websites suggest that Accutane may have this effect. Should she have an x-ray instead? Also, if she does test positive for TB, would Accutane have to discontinued for a certain length of time before it would be safe to take the TB drugs?
I would have a chest x-ray done and test her sputum for routine, fungal, and acid-fast bacilli (AFB) cultures. She should be treated appropriately if this testing is positive. If she has a risk factor for tuberculosis (TB) the skin test won't help if it is negative. Many people with TB have a negative skin test.