Is accutane permanent?

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ShadyLady482

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I've never been on Accutane personally, but my bf was a year and a half ago (he's 20 now, so he was 18 when he started). Since he's been off, his skin has stayed flawless... like some people have said, it can come back even after 2 yrs, so we'll see, but so far so good.
 
My esthetician told me that accutane doesn't have permanent results. So, let's see if she was right or not. Anyone here who has compeleted an accutane treatment plz post if the results were permanent or not or any other comments regarding accutane's permanency.
 
It wasn't permanent for me...but it did last 9 months. Keep in mind, however, that the people that it did work for probably won't be following this board anymore...they will be out enjoying their acne-free skin, or maybe looking for the forever non-existent scar-fading miracle.

Take Care and I hope it works for you...



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--^Carol^--
 
I took Accutane for 5 months, 40 mg. My acne was moderate, non-cystic but I had some scarring and it was persistent. I was clear for 1.5 years, now I am breaking out again. I think whether Accutane is permanent is not depenRAB on the type of acne. Mine is hormonal, so Accutane was not permanent, since my hormones are raging like a teenager! For cystic acne, I had frienRAB that found a permanent cure. Hope it works for you.

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Peace!
 
I'm 32, I went on Accutane for ONE month about four years ago. It lasted 8 months. And to be honest, it was the only 8 months I've ever had in my adult life with really really clear skin. Finally I was able to go without wearing cover-up! Then it slowly started coming back until eventually I was back where I started. So here I am trying it again for a full treatment course. Oh and if you are curious, I took it for only one month cause I moved to the US from canada and figured, why stay on it? I've been cured! p.s. my acne didnt get better until after I stopped using accutane for that one month.

[This message has been edited by novatadpole (edited 02-27-2003).]
 
I am 32 years old. I know 5 people who took Accutane as teenagers and never had acne again. As swissmiss pointed out...you won't catch them posting on this board because acne is the last thing on their mind. It really does work for some people. If you just read this board, you'd think Accutane only works for a few months. While I'm sure that is true for some...I think the vast majority are cured by Accutane.
 
I read somewhere that 15% acne comes back in the first year and 25% comes back in 2 years+ and accutane doesnt work in general for about 10-15% of people who try it.
 
Well, one month of treatment is probably a guarantee that it won't last.

I got this off some random website:
"Eighty-two percent of those who follow this regimen are cured of acne for life"

Ack, who knows. To each their own I guess. But, I won't ever go on antibiotcs again. They turned my skin blue and made my acne even worse after that!
 
not permanent for me...I had beautifully clear skin for about 9 months.

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Kim C.
Loving mom to Logan (7yrs), Luke (5yrs), & Sierra (2yrs)
 
Well, 75% acne free is still pretty good..
But it's true no one here is probably cured ..yet..
 
i took it for 5 mos. 20mg twice a day. i had severe cystic acne in my teens (22 at the time i started accutane). it lasted a good month before i saw the oiliness come back. i didnt really break out badly tho, but still oily. i wish i had insurance to stay on it or go back on it, if anything to keep the oil away. i dont have pimples anymore but still, oily skin is hard to control. u can wash all u want and use the best moisturizers, if u got oily skin it will always come back after a few hours.
 
I was on accutane at 18 y/o. I had only an occasional breakout for about 6 months afterwarRAB then I gradually started breaking out more again.
My acne is definatly not as severe as before the accutane. I used to break out ALL over my face with large cystic acne and my chest and back was covered.
It got rid of my back and chest acne perminatly except for the occasional small pimple. I now usually only breakout out with cysts on my chin and jaw line. And I get occansional small pimples on the rest of my face.
So for me accutane did help with the severity but I am definatly not cured.
 
Oh, I also want to add that my stepbrother was on accutane as a teenager, before I knew him. He is now 25 y/o and I've never seen him with a zit!
 
85% of people are permanently cured by accutane, and of the other 15% in pretty much eveyr case, any re-lapse is only half as bad as it was before the accutane. Someone made a very good point that people need to consider- all the people who it cured aren't going to be on this site! Acne doesn't concern them anymore. I've been on accutane for 6.5 weeks now, I dont really like being drawn on how it's going because everyone knows what it's like- acne kicks you in the teeth! However *touch wood* I think I'm going to see a good improvement. I still got 2 or 3 NEW whiteheaRAB a week and still have some old ones, however a load of them disappeared ie. flaked off as dry skin. Still even so I get very down about it, I'm sure I'm not the only one on here who was thoughy 'why me'? Only 15% of people get 'troublesome' acne in their lives for a start, so the percentage who are so bad they have to go on accutane must be tiny. I just wish I knew how my face is gonna look in another 6 weeks or so when I'm coming to the end of my course. As regarRAB permanent effects, people who continue to take maintenance doses every couple of days seem to do well, and also IT IS IMPORTANT TO DO THE FULL COURSE. Just because your skin looks fine doesn't mean you can stop taking it. By the end of the course you should have taken roughly 100mg for every kg of your bodyweight. So I'm 68kg hence I shouldve taken about 6800mg in total by the end.
 
Dont hate me people but i am one of those people who it has worked for (so far), cant remeraber details but i know i was perscribed a high amount for a long time for a particularly bad case. i was about 16 or 17 and can vaguely remeraber being really down about it,i'd had them since i was 10 or so, my mum encouraged me to take it because it had really affected her when she was young and didnt want me to go through it for the rest of my life, anyhoo long story short i took it, the acne cleared up and it hasnt been an issue since then, i could count on one hand the nuraber of spots i've had in 7 years and i escaped scarring somehow too, even if it did eventually come back i'll have been grateful for having my young adult life without it, as for any long term side effects none as of yet but the same applies! sorry i dont want to be the douche who's life is great as a direct result of accutane but it is
 
for accutane ppl, After you were done with your treatment and your acne went away,did your blemishes eventually start to go away too?
 
Make sure you are under Dr's supervision with Accutane. My sister and her husband both used it and have had cancer. My sister is in remission, but her husband has pancreatic, not so lucky. The National Institute of Health has asked people who used it or are using it to register so they can study its long term effects better because there are so many people getting it online and using it wrong and NIH is trying to determine if the high incidence is related to unsupervised use or not.
 
I was on accutane 80 mg a day for 6 months. I go by my skin oilness, since the less oil I have the less acne I have. Anyways, I was oil free for about only 3 months! :( After 3 months my oil came back and so my acne. I am on my second course now. My derm plans to push me all the way up to 120-160 mg a day. Right now I am on 120 mg a day. She said the more courses u do, and the higher the dosage, less likely ur acne will come back. She also plans to put me on 40 mg 3 times a week once my 5 month course is over. According to her that will keep me clear forever. I am crossing my fingers! :)
 
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