@LKnomad My son used it when he was a teenager. At least I think this is what he used. He used it in a form of facial cream. He had severe acne at the time and nothing else worked. It got it a little bit under control, but not much. The break thru was a use of tea tree oil facewash from Trader Joe’s. Or maybe he just overgrew it. He still uses tea tree wash for body and his face. DD used it as well. Hope it helps.
@momofsmartdancer and @readingclaygirl Thank you!
@LKnomad We’ve never used Accutane, but the charcoal soap from Lush was helpful for both kids’ acne. If you go to the store, you can ask for a sample to try. A homemade mask made with dissolved unbuffered aspirin and raw organic honey also helped.
Yes. I did a spreadsheet with the costs and made adjustments for details relevant to each university. For example, I looked closely at their meal plans and and how likely my d would want to eat at other places not on the meal plan. Things I included in this assessment are info I gleaned from posters here on cc about the quality of the meals, how varied the meal selection was, and how close the facilities were to the dorm (very relevant if your child goes to school in a cold weather state). Since d wants to be in a sorority I included the costs for that as well. I had to do a lot of digging to get that info as it seems to be somewhat guarded. However, I did find a very large difference in the cost of dues at different universities. I also factored in different travel costs based on the distance and whether she would have the cost of airfare back and forth. Lastly, I looked at their study abroad programs because that is something we are likely to pay out-of-pocket (not covered entirely by scholarship). Of note is that study abroad costs also varied greatly by university.
@Ballerina016 this is a heavy duty pill that requires monthly blood tests, signed forms, and special permission from our pediatrician. I think we are taking about different medication.
Good Luck to those interviewing.
Sorry for the prolonged stress @lvmjac1
@LKnomad - S16’s dermatologist was fairly conservative. Started with topical creams, eventually took Acticlate for a short bit & that seemed to work. Never ended up having to take Accutane.
@LKnomad I don’t exactly remember the name of the medication, but I think it comes in the form of the pill or cream and by prescription only. My kids are 11 years apart so I might forget these things.
@LKnomad D16 just started taking Accutane. She has been on it about 2 weeks. So far, a little dryness on her hands and dry eyes. It really hasn’t done anything for her acne yet, it has remained stable.
I just arrived home and there was the package from USC at the front door. Now how am I going to be able to wait 3 more hours for son to get home.
Huge congratulations @collegemom2boys
@collegemom2boys Congratulations!!! <:-P
Congratulations @collegemom2boys !!
Wow a lot of USC applicants on the board. Congrats @collegemom2boys!
@collegemom2boys Congratulations for USC Scholarship.
@LKnomad DS18 had to have two courses of Accutain, DD16 just finished her taking it and DS20 will start soon. It is much easier for males than females! Females require two forms of birth control and monthly PG testing along with the other monthly blood work. The worst side effects my kids had was very dry lips but the results are worth putting up with dry/cracked lips for a few months! I just wish it was chearper.
@sophomore1 would be interested to hear how it goes. S20 has been on doxycycline for 3 months and we have seen vast improvement, but because the state of his skin was so bad, it was not enough. He is only 13 and has already started to get acne scars. The doxy at least allowed a bit of clearing, in that we can now see actual skin under the acne. But I am really worried about permanent scars.
Getting the drug is surreal. They just called because in order to put him into the system for accutane, they need not only blood work monthly, pediatrician approval, but the last 4 digits of his social security number!
@LKnomad - this is just my 2 cents. DS, who is now a junior in college, took Accutane in 10th grade b/c his acne was so severe he was starting to get pimples on top of pimples & we were worried about scarring. It did work for him, but it took several rounds. DD17 also has bad acne, not as bad as his was, & the same Dermatologist has completely stopped prescribing Accutane. She feels the possible side effects are to great & even if we begged her for it for DD17 she would not prescribe it.
Oh and dealing with the iPledge program is a royal pain!
@3scoutsmom - do they require the double birth control for girls who are not sexually active. I was wondering that in the doctor’s office today. What if you have a really young teen. Do they still have to be on birth control?
@Kat2013 Did the doctor give any kind of an explanation. Our doctor said a lot of the hype was political, because there was a politician’s son who took accutane and then committed suicide. But her said there is no scientific backing to a lot of the concern.
Oh I haven’t even considered the cost!
I’ve had patients whom a dermatologist had prescribed accutane. In my experience, results were amazing.
Problem is using accutane is associate with a large risk for birth defects, so there’s additional paperwork and assurances that the patient won’t get pregnant while on the med.
@ChicagoSportsFn Yes, I was thinking how much easier this will be since my kid is a boy - but with the exception of pregnancy testing, we still have to do the blood work, paperwork etc.