Accutane Dose - what to do? what to do?

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Ok, so I FINALLY get on accutane a couple months ago (had wanted it for years, dr. finally agreed end of last year). Anyway, was thrilled to be on..started at 30mg/day, then upped to 70mg/day. Had the usual dry lips - i can live with that though. But now that I'm almost two months into it the dryness is killing me. As I posted in another post, not only are my lips dry (totally expected), but the skin around my mouth is all dry and red and chapped and falling off, leaving basically a red ring around my mouth that looks awful! I feel like Ronald McDonald! My acne was only mild (but persistent) in the first place so I can't bare to go on looking like this when its sooo much worse than the original condition!

Obviously I'm goign to talk to my dr. about this when i go in next, but im wondering what others here think - should i suggest a longer term low dose? I've read that its just the cumulative dose that matters anyway, so instead of the 70/day for 5 months as i was doing, cant i do 40/mg for like 9 months or whatever it works out to? Have others tried this?????
 
hi! long time reader, but your question hit really close to home so I finally decided to come out of my shell! I'm finishing a 6 month low dose accutane course in 5 days and I couldn't be happier. If you do a literature search you'll find that low dose accutane for longer durations does work almost as well as regular dosages. You do have a higher chance of relapsing though and requiring a second course, although, if I remeraber correctly, that chance is not overwhelmingly higher than the full dose. I took 20 mg/day for about 3 months and then 30 mg/day for the remaining 3 months and I weight around 125 lb. I had more severe acne (nodulocystic, scarring), refractory to all the topicals (OTC and prescription) and antibiotics thrown at me. The only side effects I suffered were dry lips, dry eyes, and occasional nose bleeRAB. Of course, this doesn't rule out the chance that others may have some of the more serious side effects of accutane, even on a low dose.

hope this helps!
 
i was on accutane for awhile and i noticed a lot of hair thining...i have pretty thick hair so it wasn't to much of a big deal but i lost a lot of hair while i was on it, and for about four months after....hang in there though. i have finally noticed that my hair has got back to normal.
 
Do you mind me asking how old both of you are? I am about to start accutane and I'm a 31 year old female. I have mild but persistent cystic acne. I want to be off the medication by the end of June (for my fall wedding) and I'm really worried about the potential hair loss/thinning.
 
no problem. I'm 25. I didn't notice any increased hair loss, but then again, I was on the low dosage.
 
thanks for the responses!

im 28 and am now taking 40mg/day (still need to talk to dr next week about it)...i havent noticed any hair thinning, just that hair isnt as oily/greasy which is wonderful!
 
Hi, I wish i knew more about it... I have only been on accutane for 8 days now. I am on the 40mg/day dosage.
It would make sense to reduce dosage, as you seem to be getting the worst side effects and for such a long term.
Talk to your doc. Wish I could offer more help.
 
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