<p>All the testimonials of how wonderful Accutane is - and it is, don’t get me wrong here but…no one has mentioned iPledge or the dangers of Accutane for women of childbearing age. Your doctors are requiring iPledge - right?
Women and girls MUST agree to use two forms of birth control - a primary and secondary form; even if they are not sexually active. Accutane has been PROVEN to cause serious birth defects -by the time the required pregnancy test comes back positive it’s too late.</p>
<p>UMDAD - you are right - our kids are lucky that there are so many good treatment options for acne today.</p>
<p>Just to throw my 2 cents in … my son was on numerous topical treatments, both over the counter and prescribed. Nothing worked until he went on anti-biotics. He took Doryx for 6 months and it made a big difference. It didn’t make his face completely clear, mind you … it just was a big improvement over what he had before. He has to stop taking the Doryx at the end of this month and I pray the acne will not come back. We shall see. The dermatologist said she would only give him a 6 month regimen since it is not good to be on any antibiotic for too long. We’ll take a a wait and see approach if it comes back.</p>
<p>Regarding what a previous poster said about the cost of these creams and washes – I completely agree. What a racket!!! I paid THOUSANDS out of pocket for this crap that never worked. One prescription face wash was $90 a bottle. One small tube of prescription cream was $240! Yes, I HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE!!! What a joke! I finally learned to beg for samples!</p>
<p>I had terrible acne in my teens and well into my 20s. The kind where strangers stop you on the street to offer remedies. One friend said “you’d be pretty if your skin cleared up.” (Thanks SO much.) </p>
<p>When I finally found a remedy, my mother cried when she saw me.</p>
<p>What was the remedy? Zinc oxide ointment, applied in a thin layer once a day at bedtime. (I also stopped using soap entirely, using a clean washcloth with hot water (and wrung out) to “polish” my face. I continue this regimen to this day, and now people ask me what I do for my skin “because it’s really lovely.” About ten years ago I added a light moisturizer for daytime use.)</p>
<p>When I met my husband, he had bad acne on his back and shoulders. The zinc oxide ointment worked for him too. It worked for my children during their very brief acne stage. </p>
<p>Oh, and it’s $6.99 for a tube of Bert’s Bees, non-prescription, and completely without side effects (except for the bad mime look).</p>
<p>My two kids have also used a regimen like the one in the original post, with pretty good results. The acne hasn’t gone away, but it’s much less, at a level where there’s really not any risk of scarring. We think it’s good enough, balanced against the downsides of Accutane.</p>
<p>Doryx is another me to drug. Regular doxycycline costs a fraction of Doryx. Doryx came out because regular doxycycline went generic.
One retinoid is generic and that is treitnoin (Retin-A). It costs about $20-$30 for a 15 gram tube.</p>
<p>The Accutane posts are enlightening. I know several friends who had daughters using it! I’m about one step away from the derm for S3. He is the only one who battles acne. He’s also active in the contact sports (unlike S1 and S2 who chose non-contact sports) and S3 is just a kid that is always covered in dirt. Fortunately, now that he’s 15 he’s discovered that being clean is a better thing to be. Because of the sports he showers a couple times a day. I gave him Prell, which will strip every ounce of oil out of your hair, and Pro-active and as long as he is religous about using the stuff he keeps things under control relatively. If he “mans” it one weekend without showers/face washing/hair washing…he’s a mess and has to get on top of it again. I do like the Proactive stuff - it did work better than the Oxy products although the ingredients are basically the same. I really hope we don’t need to go the route of antibiotics/drugs/etc…but I’m watching carefully and would try the OPs regime before Accutane, I think.</p>
<p>Getting in to see a dermatologist around here can take almost 6-9 months! When D2 started with small breakouts I just took her to her pediatrician who started her on antibiotics. We stayed there until ped went on year long sabbatical. She gets small to moderate breakouts and takes Doryx daily (never goes off because she breaks out when she quits taking it), washes her face with derm’s personal daily cleansing acne pads, uses clindimiacin (sp??) rolled directly on face (morning and night) and also Differin cream at night. Uses Cetaphil moisturuzer occasionally. I bet we spend close to $150 a month on everything. :eek: Her skin is good but not perfect. She has the type of skin that scars easily. I always wonder how long she will need to take all of this stuff!</p>
<p>I wanted to add that we would have gone the accutane route if all else had failed. We did years of every remedy you’ve ever heard of, rounds of antibiotics, changing laundry soap, and so on. But it is drug that requires monitoring and it does not work for everyone. </p>
<p>Just a few tips we picked up along the way:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Take your kid to see their doc or a derm sooner rather than later. </p></li>
<li><p>Doctors have their own biases about what “should” work. If it’s not working on your kid, then it’s not working. </p></li>
<li><p>It’s very easy to wind up with too many products in a daily routine. If the routine is becoming burdensome in time length, it’s time to cut back or try a new plan.</p></li>
<li><p>There is a lot of other stuff besides the active ingredient in most products. Compounding pharmacies can make very pure products. The only regime that has worked long term from S is two products from the compounding pharmacy that are kept as pure as possible. It’s more expensive per bottle but it also lasts a lot longer and, best of all, it works!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Patsmom: yep, the zinc oxide rubs off on the pillowcase. However, if you use as little as possible and spread it as thin as possible, it’s not so much that it doesn’t wash out. I just put a fresh case on every three or four days and wash the sheets in hot water.</p>
<p>My three sons all used Accutane after months of other treatments by the dermatologist.
They all had blood work done monthly. They also had dry lips and sunburned more easily which was a pain since they played high school varsity sports outdoors as well as brass and woodwind instruments in numerous school ensembles. The Accutane made so much difference for all three. The negative reports on the side effects of Accutane came out after they were treated so I’m not sure what I would have done if I knew about that beforehand.</p>
<p>A follow-up to my original post:
S2 has been following the regimen (Cetaphil wash, Duac CS gel in the morning, Tazorac 0.1% cream in the evening and Solodyn 135 mg orally once per day (and 50mg of zinc – my addition)) for exactly 2 months now and the results are amazing. At the one-month follow-up appointment the dermatologist was very pleased as well and after the next appointment in two weeks will likely discontinue the oral Solodyn. Other than some initial drying of the lips and a little redness overall, there have been no side effects.</p>
<p>Glad that he did not need to go the Accutane route, especially since its now off the market.</p>