Started low dose accutane \ isotretinoin for rosacea

[peterabc]

Many people have had bad reactions from using Accutane, especially at higher dosage, I feel safe with 5mg. a day...

Low dose Accutane (10 mg every 3 days) has worked as a miracle drug for me and worked much better than the tetracyclines. Especially with extremely oily skin and nose, accutane was the solution I had waited for all those years struggling (so I thought). Still my nose remained red and my face as well, but at least the skin was smooth. In all my happiness about the good effect of accutane, I ignored those pesky small lettered side effects. The dry lips and skin, mwah, I can live with that. However, I have experienced two heavy side effects: tooth decay and delayed wound healing.

I have a very good set of teeth and only 1 cavity in my 27 years on this earth. After my first year of accutane, I suddenly had 5 cavities. That dryness in your mouth is not just annoying, it means no saliva is protecting your teeth from rotting.
Also, whenever I have a small scrape, it used to go away in 1 week but now does not heal and leaves a scar.

All in all, very upsetting and so I have chosen this week to go back onto doxycycline. But, as we all have social interactions to endure, if the symptoms become unmanageable again, I will dive head first back into accutane. The choice between your teeth rotting away, or your face rotting away is clear. You need your face more to survive the rat race.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up on these side effects (tooth decay, delayed wound healing) which I do not see mentioned at all in the discussions on low dose accutane. Dry lips and skin is all I read, but that is not the whole story.
If you have any advice, apart from brushing your teeth twice per day and using mouthpicks, how to prevent tooth decay (fluor mouth water?), I am all ears.

Sorry to mention prozac popping inducing side effect no one wants to hear, but I hope I can save some dental work and bad scarring for people. Damned if you do, damned if you dont sort of thing. The "curse of the celts" really is a good description.

[Claudine]

I was on accutane low dose for about 8 years. It helped a lot for clearing my face but my flushs went from bad to worse.
But therefore my teeth did not suffer.
I stopped the accutane last summer and sice January I stuggled agains new p&p outbreak.
I have started the treatmend with the Zz cream three weeks ago and since yesterday my skin is clear. I hope that I have finnaly found a help against my Rosazea.
This could also be a possible treatmend for you.

[flying_er]

Low dose Accutane (10 mg every 3 days) has worked as a miracle drug for me and worked much better than the tetracyclines. Especially with extremely oily skin and nose, accutane was the solution I had waited for all those years struggling (so I thought). Still my nose remained red and my face as well, but at least the skin was smooth. In all my happiness about the good effect of accutane, I ignored those pesky small lettered side effects. The dry lips and skin, mwah, I can live with that. However, I have experienced two heavy side effects: tooth decay and delayed wound healing.

I have a very good set of teeth and only 1 cavity in my 27 years on this earth. After my first year of accutane, I suddenly had 5 cavities. That dryness in your mouth is not just annoying, it means no saliva is protecting your teeth from rotting.
Also, whenever I have a small scrape, it used to go away in 1 week but now does not heal and leaves a scar.

All in all, very upsetting and so I have chosen this week to go back onto doxycycline. But, as we all have social interactions to endure, if the symptoms become unmanageable again, I will dive head first back into accutane. The choice between your teeth rotting away, or your face rotting away is clear. You need your face more to survive the rat race.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up on these side effects (tooth decay, delayed wound healing) which I do not see mentioned at all in the discussions on low dose accutane. Dry lips and skin is all I read, but that is not the whole story.
If you have any advice, apart from brushing your teeth twice per day and using mouthpicks, how to prevent tooth decay (fluor mouth water?), I am all ears.

Sorry to mention prozac popping inducing side effect no one wants to hear, but I hope I can save some dental work and bad scarring for people. Damned if you do, damned if you dont sort of thing. The "curse of the celts" really is a good description.

Tooth Decay ...... It never dawned on me but I got several cavities while on accutane and I hadn't had any cavities in years. I've been off accutane for a year and my last dental visit I had no new cavities.

-Dave-

[DukeCity]

No cavities for at least the past 10 years for me

[peterabc]

No cavities for at least the past 10 years for me

Hello Duke,

to clarify, could you kindly reply on below questions:

- Did you suffer from dry mouth or any other side effects?
- Wat is/was your dose of accutane?
- What is your dental care regime?


Reading this topic it seems there are others with tooth decay:

http://www.topix.com/forum/drug/accu...9IFHR6UE7CUGHL

[peterabc]

No cavities for at least the past 10 years for me

Hello Duke,

feel free to answer or not ;).


- what is your dose?
- you have been taking accutane for 10 years?
- what is your dental care regime?
- do you experience any side effects from accutane?

Especially the delayed wound healing I am baffled that no one encountered this.

[DukeCity]

I'm on 5mg. per day since 4/1/11, and have been on low dose before in years past, have been on higher dose, 20mg or 40mg. per day before that, can't remember. I have had side effects at that higher dose, dry lips, very dry patches of skin on arms and legs, so annoying that I couldn't wait to get off the Accutane. But on this dose of 5mg. it's been excellent for me, I also plan on lowering it again probably at the end of Summer to 2.5mg a day and staying on that indefinetly.
-
Now I have only occasionally dry lips and use a chap stick to help, I brush my teeth twice a day and use a mouth wash, - I go to the dentist twice a year for a cleaning and exam. Slow healing is definitley a side-effect, but much more so at the higher dosages in my opinion, that's why I stopped the Accutane before I had two surgeries some years ago. Accutane is not for everyone, but at low dose I believe it can do wonders for diminishing rosacea.

[Snegovik]

Peterabc, I had 4 surgeries in my feet to remove damaged nerves after running. 1 was before I tried accutane, and the 3 others after. I stopped taking accutane 2-4 weeks before, every time. I also went back on accutane 2-4 weeks after surgery.

This surgery include a cut from the bottom of the feet, leaving a big scare just in the area my foot is landing when walking. Crutches for 3-4 weeks after, and the healing take 8-12 weeks at least.

I had no healing problems, and there were no difference as I could see, from the first surgery and the 3 last ones. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe we react different. My dermatologist and the surgent, did not seem to worry about the low dose accutane. We did discuss it, and they checked the relevant litterature they could find. I was on 5mg a day on average, 10mg in periods.

As for cavities, I would say I felt no difference. Just fixed some of the old stuff while on accutane. No new ones that I can remember. Seeing my dentist once or tvice a year.

Side effects that worried me was the ups and downs. I could be a bit depressed in periods, and especially if I uppered the dose to 20mg a day. It went away fast when I lowered the dose, or went off it. Have been off it for a couple of months now, and use ZZ cream for the moment.

Regards
Snegovik

[peterabc]

Peterabc, I had 4 surgeries in my feet to remove damaged nerves after running. 1 was before I tried accutane, and the 3 others after. I stopped taking accutane 2-4 weeks before, every time. I also went back on accutane 2-4 weeks after surgery.

This surgery include a cut from the bottom of the feet, leaving a big scare just in the area my foot is landing when walking. Crutches for 3-4 weeks after, and the healing take 8-12 weeks at least.

I had no healing problems, and there were no difference as I could see, from the first surgery and the 3 last ones. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe we react different. My dermatologist and the surgent, did not seem to worry about the low dose accutane. We did discuss it, and they checked the relevant litterature they could find. I was on 5mg a day on average, 10mg in periods.

As for cavities, I would say I felt no difference. Just fixed some of the old stuff while on accutane. No new ones that I can remember. Seeing my dentist once or tvice a year.

Side effects that worried me was the ups and downs. I could be a bit depressed in periods, and especially if I uppered the dose to 20mg a day. It went away fast when I lowered the dose, or went off it. Have been off it for a couple of months now, and use ZZ cream for the moment.

Regards
Snegovik

Thanks for responses!

The only difference I see with both you and Duke, is that I take 10mg while you take 5mg. Though I take it once in three days (10/3 = 3.33mg per day) which is even lower than your average perhaps the higher initial blood concentration causes the damage. If the doxy has no effect (too early to tell but I have my doubts), I will request my doc for 5mg pills (if available). Did you also do some DIY to get the 5mg dose or are these pills available for you?

[Snegovik]

Thanks for responses!

The only difference I see with both you and Duke, is that I take 10mg while you take 5mg. Though I take it once in three days (10/3 = 3.33mg per day) which is even lower than your average perhaps the higher initial blood concentration causes the damage. If the doxy has no effect (too early to tell but I have my doubts), I will request my doc for 5mg pills (if available). Did you also do some DIY to get the 5mg dose or are these pills available for you?

I took only 20mg pills. Started with one every day, lowered to every second day, every fourth day and so on. At times I was down to 1 pill every 8-10 days, but then the effect went away, and I went back to 5mg a day. I have hear they sell 5mg pills in Italy and France, but in Norway I could only get 10 or 20mg. I took 20mg, based on my derms recommendation.

I remember my dermatologist mentioned something about theet/mouth and side effects when I was on tetracyclins long term. Are you sure it is not the antibiotics that caused these extra cavaties?

Regards
Snegovik