Accutane (also known as isotretinoin) is the most effective acne treatment available. Dr. Jacob Inda covers everything you need to know including Accutane cure rate, side effects, contraindications, and controversies. Find out if isotretinoin might be the best acne treatment option for you!
Hey guys dr indy here today we’re going to talk about accutane which is the most effective acne treatment option available there’s a lot of misleading information out there about accutane including that this medication is only intended for patients with severe forms of acne which is just not the case this video is intended to give you the facts on accutane and
Help you decide if this might be the right acne treatment option for you now we’re going to start by covering the basics what exactly is accutane and how does it work next we’ll discuss several of the advantages accutane has over other acne treatments out there such as topicals oral antibiotics or spironolactone then we’ll review the most common side effects
Of accutane and how to treat them we’ll finish by talking about some of the controversies surrounding accutane and what every patient considering this medication needs to know just as a reminder don’t forget to hit that like and subscribe button as it really helps out the channel so first things first what is accutane accutane is a pill that’s taken daily with
Food that helps with the treatment of acne the medication is best taken with the meal as this helps lead to better absorption a typical treatment course lasts anywhere from five to seven months it just depends on how quickly it takes for your acne to clear up in my dermatology practice i treat patients until they’ve been clear of new acne lesions for at least
One month sometimes acne can worsen for the first couple months of treatment but usually by months three or four there’s been a pretty significant improvement another important thing to know is that monthly follow-up visits are required for all patients taking accutane for the first three months laboratory monitoring is required as well and specifically for women
Taking accutane this medication has been associated with severe birth defects and for that reason monthly pregnancy tests are required as well as two forms of contraception while you’re on the medication as a side note accutane is just a common brand name for the medication the actual medicine itself is called isotretinoin and there are many different brands out
There all with the same efficacy usually the exact brand of isotretinoin that you’re prescribed will come down to which brand is best covered by your specific insurance next let’s move on and talk about some of the advantages accutane has over other acne treatments available such as topicals oral antibiotics or spironolactone first accutane is the most effective
Treatment option available it’s very effective for both milder and more severe forms of acne in the past accutane was only used for the most severe forms of acne and i think that’s given patients the wrong impression that this medication is somehow dangerous or high risk and that’s just not the case the reality is that this medication is well tolerated overall
And i’ll often use accutane for treatment of patients even with more moderate or even mild forms of acne the second advantage to accutane is that it’s really the only acne treatment we have with the potential to reliably cure acne about 50 of patients who complete a treatment course are cured of their acne long term about 30 to 40 percent or so notice dramatic
Improvement in their acne but the occasional pimple here or there and a small percentage of patients about 10 percent or so may require a second course of accutane at some point in the future it’s important to understand that many of the acne treatments out there such as topicals or oral antibiotics really only help your acne while you’re taking those medications
If you were to stop them there’s a good chance that your acne would come back compare this to accutane where in many patients who complete a course of accutane their acne is cured long term even after they stop the medication the third advantage to accutane is that it’s the only acne treatment you need all other acne treatments can be discontinued while you’re on
This medication this obviously simplifies your skincare routine quite a bit because instead of having a complex morning and bedtime routine to take care of your acne all you need to do is remember to take a pill one time a day now that we’ve covered many of the benefits of completing a course of accutane let’s talk about some of the side effects that nearly all
Patients tend to experience while on this medication overall accutane is very well tolerated and most patients are happy to power through the side effects for a few months in exchange for permanently getting rid of their acne the side effect that everybody experiences when taking accutane is dry skin and dry lips this medication works by reducing the activity of
Oil glands in the skin so it makes sense that patients will have drier skin during treatment to help prevent and treat dry skin i recommend applying a moisturizer at least two to three times per day for the lips just plain vaseline tends to work really well i also recommend the use of a gentle soap without fragrances or any active ingredients because this will
Help prevent the skin from drying out my final tip for preventing dry skin is remembering to hit that like button it’s not actually going to help prevent your dry skin please consider liking and subscribing to the channel if you’re finding this information to be helpful in addition to dry skin many patients also develop dry eyes while taking accutane in addition
Accutane makes you much more susceptible to sunburns so it’s important to wear a moisturizer that’s at least spf 30 or above and reapply every couple hours when you’re outside muscle lakes are also a possible side effect especially following exercise if this happens you might want to reduce the frequency or the intensity of your workouts while taking accutane it’s
Important to know that these side effects are only temporary after completing the treatment course the side effects will go away too i very rarely have to discontinue accutane due to these side effects the reason is that many patients experience such dramatic improvement in their acne they’re more than happy to complete the course and put up with the side effects
For a few months in exchange for getting rid of their acne in addition if any of these side effects become intolerable we can always lower the dose of accutane as well a dose reduction would extend the treatment course by another month or two but if the alternative is discontinuing the medication altogether in some instances this is an option worth considering
Before starting accutane your dermatologist is going to make sure that this medication is safe for you to take there are several contra indications for this medicine that you should know about as mentioned earlier it’s very important that female patients not become pregnant during the treatment course this is because there’s a very high risk of accutane causing
Severe birth defects to help prevent unintended pregnancy during treatment all women must use two forms of birth control such as oral contraceptive pills and male condoms in the united states there’s a government mandated program called the ipledge program that requires monthly pregnancy tests as well as monthly follow-up visits while on treatment the main goal of
The ipledge program is to help prevent unintended pregnancy although the frequent follow-up visits and laboratory monitoring can get a little bit inconvenient most patients are happy to put up with this for a few months in exchange for getting rid of their acne when considering a course of accutane your dermatologist will also probably ask you about any recent
Or upcoming surgeries this is because elective procedures are best avoided during accutane treatment as this medication can lead to abnormal scarring during the healing process if something unexpected does happen and you need emergency surgery the procedure can still be performed it’s just that the scar may not heal quite as well but obviously in an emergency
Situation that’s not so big of a concern anyways in addition to avoiding unintended pregnancy or elective procedures while taking accutane it’s important not to donate blood or plasma while on treatment you should also avoid taking doxycycline or vitamin a supplements while on accutane as these can interact with the medication and lead to potentially dangerous
Side effects there are also a couple other controversial side effects for accutane that we need to talk about specifically the possible link between accutane and depression and inflammatory bowel disease the reason i say these are controversial is because no firm link has been established in large clinical trials let’s start with the possible length of depression
The american academy of dermatology position statement reads as follows a correlation between isotretinoin use and depression anxiety symptoms has been suggested but an evidence-based causal relationship has not been established remember again that isotretinoin is the generic name for accutane the statement goes on other studies give evidence that treatment of
Acne with isotretinoin was accompanied by improvement of both depressive and anxiety symptoms as well as improved quality of life for patients with acne so basically this is saying that there’s no firm link that’s been established and in particular i want to focus in on the second half of this statement acne takes a large emotional toll on many patients and it’s
Important to recognize that this can lower self-esteem as well as increase the risk of depression by treating a patient’s acne it makes sense that their mood is most likely to actually improve over the long term in patients with a history of depression i do monitor them carefully for mood changes during treatment but in my clinical experience most patients with
A history of depression are able to complete a course of accutane just fine and at the end of treatment they’re glad that they did in the long run this tends to help improve both their acne and their mood as a result the second controversy that we need to discuss is the possible link between accutane and inflammatory bowel disease such as crohn’s disease or
Ulcerative colitis again no convincing link has been established to date between accutane and inflammatory bowel disease current evidence is insufficient to prove either an association or a causal relationship between isotretinoin use and inflammatory bowel disease in the general population while some recent studies have suggested such a relationship further
Studies are required to conclusively determine if the association or causal relationship exists and or whether inflammatory bowel disease risk may be linked to the presence of severe acne itself again i want to focus in on the last part of this position statement in my clinical experience patients with crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis do tend to have more
Severe forms of acne and because they’re more likely to have severe acne they’re also more likely to need accutane i think that this is the actual reason for a possible link between inflammatory bowel disease and accutane but research in this area is still ongoing even though i suspect that a link between accutane and depression or accutane and inflammatory bowel
Disease is pretty unlikely i still counsel all my patients that this is an area of ongoing research and also monitor them for possible symptoms during treatment overall accutane is the most effective acne treatment available and it’s also the only acne treatment out there with the potential to cure acne and most patients who complete a treatment course i again
Want to emphasize that this medication option is well tolerated and it’s not limited just to patients with severe forms of acne in my own dermatology practice i frequently use this medication in patients with mild to moderate forms of acne that haven’t responded well to other treatments so if you’ve been struggling with acne i’d really encourage you to talk about
Accutane as a treatment option with your dermatologist what questions do you have about accutane let me know in the comments section down below as always if you found the video helpful don’t forget to hit that like and subscribe button as it really helps out the channel have a great day and until next time
Transcribed from video
Accutane cure rate and side effects | Isotretinoin treatment for acne By Jacob Inda MD
