How hard is it to get an accutane prescription?

[FFFFFFF]

I'm 22 and have suffered from acne since puberty. My acne affects my entire body, but is most severe on my back, chest, shoulders, and neck. I also have relatively minor acne on my face and arms. Luckily I can manage to hide most of it with long sleeve collared shirts, but I'm tired of being afraid to take off my shirt in public or even in private with another person. I want to be able to go swimming, wear t-shirts again, work around the house or on my car with my shirt off, and just have fun in life without be so self-conscious all the time. Also, I work out and my body is in good shape but it's extremely frustrating not to be able to show off my results and feel good about myself for once due to this disgusting affliction.

In the past I sought help from general physicians and they always prescribe me these strong topical creams that burn my skin and cause massive pealing without doing anything to affect the severity of the acne. After all these years I know my acne is due to some internal problem which won't be fixed by external agents.

Anyway, I'm hesitant to go to a dermatologist since I'm afraid I will be prescribed the same topical creams that didn't work before. I just want a product that actually works. Something that will get rid of this acne for good. I don't care about the risks, I have nothing to lose.

(Sorry, I didn't mean for this to go on so long. I just have years of bottled up tension because I can't talk to anyone about my acne problem since I'm trying to keep it a secret.)

 

[Caligirl]

After suffering for years with bad bouts of acne and useless topicals and antibiotics I finially went to a dermatologist and said, "I want Accutane. And if you won't give it to me, i'll find someone who will because I know that I do not have to keep living like this." And within 10 minutes I had my prescription, You are correct when you say that topicals do not touch the cysts that develop under the skin. And antibiotics might work for a limited time but as soon as you stop taking them the problem returns and often with an even greater intensity. So I would not wait for the doctor to suggest Accutane after you drop a million hints. Just come out and state how the problem is affecting your life and what you would like. Best of luck to you!

 

[Xasthur]

Hey man, sorry to hear about your acne problem but I definitely feel your pain. I have the same symptoms that you have in the inverse- i.e. I have moderate/mild acne on my shoulders and back but my face is a complete train wreck. When I was in high school I had severe acne on my face and I went to the dermatologist and he put me on a 6 month course of Accutane but not before trying just about every topical and anti-biotic under the sun. It did have very good results however, by the end of it my acne was almost completely gone.

However my acne started to resurface during my sophomore year in college and has gotten progressively worse since then, and I'm 23 now and it sucks to be the only person in a bar that looks like they're 14.. I've actually had people ask me what high school I go to . It's awful and because of it I'm completely depressed 100% of the time. Needless to say because of my affliction I've never had much luck on the dating scene and this only makes it worse- jumping in front of a mack truck doesn't seem like a bad idea on most days.

Anyway in regarRAB to your question- I recently went to a dermatologist and pleaded to get back on Accutane and found out that this drug is WAY more regulated than it was when I was on it years ago. There's some program called "iPledge" now that you have to be on when you get a prescription- you can only get a 1 month supply max at any given time and you have to go to your dermatologist monthly to get blood work done and to have your supply renewed.

However it is a bit easier for guys to be on it- women have to get a pregnancy test done each month in addition to the regular blood test as the drug can cause birth defects- the only thing you should have to worry about is a rise in cholesterol and triglycerides that the drug can cause, and if you're healthy it shouldn't be a problem. They will do blood work on you to check for all these things before prescribing it. So go to your dermatologist and tell him/her that you've tried everything and nothing works and ask to get on Accutane, and you'll probably end up getting it. It is much more of a pain to take it now but the results are worth it, believe me.

For some odd reason I have an abnormally high triglyceride level now, and my dermatologist refuses to give it to me without permission from my regular doctor, so my most recent experience with getting it has not been a good one. I don't know what I'm going to do if I can't get back on as I have tried literally EVERYTHING out there and even blown money on Pro-Active... guess I'll just have to resign myself to being a disfigured freak for the rest of my life.

You however, probably won't have the same problem, so go to a dermatologist and see what they can do for you. Good luck.

 

[AnnD]

Sometimes there is a reason they can't give you the pill form so first find out what that is. Sometimes blood work results keep them from using...could be your age? hard to say unless you know?

 

[Xasthur]

Now they take blood from you before they can even put you on it, as well as make you take some survey asking a bunch of questions about mental health and whatnot.

Last time I was at the dermatologist they wouldn't give it to me- I've heard of liquid accutane but I was never offered anything else after they told me I couldn't get the pills. Whatever is in the pills will be in the liquid form anyway.