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I'll tell you about my Accutane experience, but let me just reiterate that this is MY experience and opinions on the drug, I'm not discounting anybody else's thoughts on it.
I had pretty horrible acne from age 15 to 22, when my dermatologist finally recommended Accutane. I took it for 6 months. It didn't cause depression. It REMOVED my depression...because it was getting rid of my acne!
Before I took it, I asked my dermatologist about the million possible side effects that were listed on the box. He told me that side effects like nausea, depression or suicide were listed by law because of discussions with patients during testing. After a few months of being on the drug, the doctor would ask, "so how are you feeling, Jimmy?" And if Jimmy answered with "well, I'm feeling depressed" or "I've been nauseous all month," then those were listed as side effects- just to be safe. What were my side effects? Same as many users of Accutane: very dry skin, super chapped lips, and a bunch of nosebleeds. Yeah, it definitely sucked. But it was a good trade-off for clear skin.
I don't know too much about the technical aspects of the drug and what it does to the chemicals in your body, but I am sure that it affects your emotions in some ways. (I do know that it's a "retinoid" which treats acne by altering genetic expression to loosen up skin cells, but how they do it and to what extent is generally unclear.) There were days when I didn't feel great. Did I attribute it to Accutane? No, not really. I attributed it to life. But I'm a pretty cheerful person and tend to believe I can get out of any bad situation with a positive attitude.
It's really only recommended for people with severe cases so this may be irrelevant to what Tom24 really needs. But I just felt the need, since Accutane was being discussed, to put in my opinion.
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You have to laugh at yourself...because you'd cry your eyes out if you didn't. - Emily Saliers
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