The Accutane side effects were annoying but tolerable. My skin got
very dry and I had to use lotion on it (and my lips) 4 or 5 times
a day. My gums got very friable and bled easily, even though my
oral hygiene is good. I got quite grumpy. (This was remarked on
by my wife among others.) My skin also got very thin and tore
easily. (Scraping it against _anything_ caused bleeding.) I was
also sun sensitive and had to hide out for the four months.

All of the side effects are going away, with most now below the
annoyance threshold. All in all, I would call it well worth it.

The stuff is labeled as being "retinoid", so the folks in other
countries may be able to track it down by that.

Chris "another satisfied Accutane customer" Kostanick
chr…@gomez.stortek.com

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>I’m thinking about switching from my current acne medication, Minocycline
>(200mg/daily), to the more powerful drug, Accutane.

>My dilema is that Minocycline is not working any longer for my skin
>and for a couple of years now I’ve switched back and forth bwtween
>Mino and another, Tetracycline. Both have worked and I have had
>much success in controlling my acne, especially with Mino. However, I want
>to ELIMINATE my acne now, not just control it moderately. I have heard
>that Accutane is the drug of choice in this case.

>So, my question:

>     How much more risk am I taking in switching to Accutane, as far as
>side-effects are concerened (both short-term and long-term) In short: is
>it safe to make the switch? I understand that long-term anti-biotic
>therapy is generally not a good idea, but as it stands now, I will be on
>Minocyline an additionaltwo years anyway, so how much more risk am I
>putting myself under by making the swich to Accutane? Do I have anything
>to lose?

>any input on this issue would be greatly apprecitaed. And also, if anyone
>has success stories and/or horror stories from taking Accutane, please
>let me know. Oh, and I am a male, so Accutane’s pregnancy side-effect is
>not at issue. Thanks is advance.

Sorry, I don’t have an answer for you, but as Mincocycline doesn’t work
for my skin either I’m interested in this *Accutane*. What it the active
substance in it? (I live in Germany, so I don’t know much about the
names of your medicine).

BTW: I take Benzoylperoxide-Gel since almost 2 years now and after a period
of 3 or 4 months(!) where it didn’t help, it does a great job for me now.

–
Andreas Schroeder