Product description:Accutane is a powerful drug used for severe acne treatment. 4-5 months of isotretinoin treatment usually leads to clearing of acne for one year or more after the medicine is stopped. Most other anti-acne medicines are only antibacterial agents which must be used daily to be effective. However, Isotretinoin has significant side effects. See the the percentages ratio of users who received noticed the side effects:
- Chapped lips 90%
- Dry skin and itching 80% (the use of daily alpha hydroxacids will help prevent this side effect)
- Dry nose, mild nosebleed 80%
- Irritation of the eyelids and eyes 40% (vitamin E 400 IU each day may reduce this side effect)
- Joint and muscle pains 15%
- Temporary hair thinning 10%
- Rash 7%
- Intestinal symptoms 5%
- Urinary symptoms 5%
- Headache 5%
- Increased sensitivity to sunburn 5%
- Decreased night vision <1%
- Depression, thoughts of suicide <1%
Isotretinoin may increase the level of blood fats, sometimes to risky levels. Occasionally it may affect the liver. That's why regular blood tests are necessary when you are taking this drug. The most damaging side effect of isotretinoin is serious birth defects if taken during pregnancy. That's why this drug should never be taken by women while pregnant, and should watch not to become pregnant while taking it. Some people develop headaches while on Accutane. If you develop a persistent headache while on Accutane, call your physician right away. A persistent headache, which will not go away while on Accutane, can be dangerous and you should stop the medication. Accutane rarely causes depression and thoughts of suicide. If this were to occur stop the medicine immediately and call your physician.
How does isotretinoin work?
Isotretinoin decreases the amount of oil produced by the skin's sebaceous (oil) glands. It may be as long as two months before you see improvement in your skin. There's no medicine we can add to speed up isotretinoin's action. In fact, sometimes acne gets worse during the first month or so of treatment. Side effects, such as lip dryness, begin before the acne starts to clear.
How to take Isotretinoin:
Take the medicine with food, you can take the entire daily dose with supper, this increases the absorption of the medicine.
Long-term Results:
Isotretinoin isn't a permanent cure for acne, although it often buys time until nature clears your skin. Your skin may stay clear for months, even years, after isotretinoin is stopped. In about one person in 10, acne comes back after one year. About one person in four has acne again after two years. If your acne returns, antibiotics may work, or you may be treated with isotretinoin again. The use of daily alpha hydroxyacids will help prevent small flare-ups after a course of Accutane.
Unblocking the openings of the sebaceous glands Accutane also suppresses the production of skin cells which block the openings to the sebaceous glands. As a result, the quantity of comedones, or blackheads, and milia, or whiteheads, is reduced. A decrease in comedones in turn causes a decrease in the development of suppurations, or pus-filled acne pimples, whose formation we seek to prevent.
Anti-inflammatory activity It has been found that Accutane decreases inflammation in laboratory trials, yet the clinical significance of this discovery remains unclear.