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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 18 of 18. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Noa on January 10, 2002, at 7:39:16
Just heard yesterday that the kid in Florida who crashed the plane into the office building had been on accutane for acne.
Posted by MB on January 10, 2002, at 8:55:34
In reply to In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane, posted by Noa on January 10, 2002, at 7:39:16
> Just heard yesterday that the kid in Florida who crashed the plane into the office building had been on accutane for acne.
Accutane made me really depressed. Severe acne an also be depressing...the drug works great though.
Posted by OldSchool on January 10, 2002, at 10:03:17
In reply to In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane, posted by Noa on January 10, 2002, at 7:39:16
> Just heard yesterday that the kid in Florida who crashed the plane into the office building had been on accutane for acne.
Accutane has ruined the lives of many. Its a drug that can induce nasty mood disorders in those who previously had no psychiatric conditions. It probably should be taken off the market, or at least heavily curtailed in usage.
Whats a more serious condition to live with? A severe mood disorder induced by Accutane? Or severe acne? Id take severe acne anyday.
Old School
Posted by Rakken on January 10, 2002, at 15:54:59
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane, posted by OldSchool on January 10, 2002, at 10:03:17
I took it and it worked great. But I was depressed whenever I was on it. It seems odd that something like that can cause depression. It's very similar to vitamin A. It permanently reduced the amount of some acne causing fluid in the skin. Cebum maybe - shot in the dark. Do you think it causes some other permanent change?
Posted by IsoM on January 10, 2002, at 16:31:08
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane, posted by Rakken on January 10, 2002, at 15:54:59
My youngest son took it & he was depressed before he took it. Never seemed to make the depression worse but his nose bleeds became unmanagable so it was stopped before a full treatment. Nevertheless, it made a difference so that his skin cleared.
Even after two years though, his skin is more fragile. Simply scratching himself hard when he's got a real itch will tear the skin & bleed. He has to be much more careful of how he handles his skin. It took a very long time for his eyes to become accustomed to bright light again too.
> I took it and it worked great. But I was depressed whenever I was on it. It seems odd that something like that can cause depression. It's very similar to vitamin A. It permanently reduced the amount of some acne causing fluid in the skin. Cebum maybe - shot in the dark. Do you think it causes some other permanent change?
Posted by Noa on January 10, 2002, at 16:39:34
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane, posted by OldSchool on January 10, 2002, at 10:03:17
Well, I wonder if it has to be a choice between the two--aren't there other medication options for acne besides accutane?
Posted by OldSchool on January 10, 2002, at 17:53:32
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane, posted by Rakken on January 10, 2002, at 15:54:59
> I took it and it worked great. But I was depressed whenever I was on it. It seems odd that something like that can cause depression. It's very similar to vitamin A. It permanently reduced the amount of some acne causing fluid in the skin. Cebum maybe - shot in the dark. Do you think it causes some other permanent change?
Um...yeah. It causes some other damage. It messes up your brain in some cases, causing severe clinical depressions. Sometimes resulting in suicide.
Old School
Posted by alley on January 10, 2002, at 21:10:03
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane, posted by OldSchool on January 10, 2002, at 17:53:32
is it possible to take accutane while on antidepressants or...moodstabilizers...or other types of medications?
Posted by adamie on January 10, 2002, at 22:00:46
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane » Noa, posted by MB on January 10, 2002, at 8:55:34
severe acne can lower your self esteem and make you sad but it CANNOT cause true depression. Clinical depression and sadness are two completely different things. Accutane should be off the market. The drug has nearly killed me. I went from perfectly happy to constant mind torture. Every day a DAMN struggle. It disgusts me how so many people dont understand true depression. "Clinical Depression". Oh dear I have acne, boo hoo.
Posted by adamie on January 10, 2002, at 22:08:02
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane » MB, posted by adamie on January 10, 2002, at 22:00:46
with all the knowledge we have now about accutane I dont know how someone could actually take the dirty drug. It can cause perminant changes in one's brain, perminently damage your skin (sure acne can go away but your skin is more fragile and rough), change your hair, and various other things. The drug is disgustingly dangerous. It even severely weakens bones. An average dose of accutane is equal to taking 40 times the daily recommended amount of vitamin A which has been proven to cause severe mental problems. With such knowledge how dare anyone take a drug like this? I wish I knew about all this before I was urged to take the drug by my mom. One would have to be extremely shallow to be willing to suffer perminant brain damage and depression in exchange for clearing up their acne. be grateful for what you have. true mental illness is beyond devestating. I cant so much as lay in bed relaxed because the mind torture is always there. Accutane should be off the market.
Posted by bob on January 11, 2002, at 14:42:06
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane » adamie, posted by adamie on January 10, 2002, at 22:08:02
People can never truly know what extreme depression feels like until they have it. I personally couldn't imagine spending all day in bed ruminating about suicide, then I experienced it. Explaining that to someone else who is healthy is practically impossible. It's like explaining emotions to someone who is incapable of feeling them. There's no way to get there from here.
That's why people are willing to try accutane. I guess part of it might be the, "It'll never happen to me attitude."
Posted by Bekka H. on January 12, 2002, at 2:53:11
In reply to In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane, posted by Noa on January 10, 2002, at 7:39:16
> Just heard yesterday that the kid in Florida who crashed the plane into the office building had been on accutane for acne.
QUESTION: What is in Accutane? What's the generic name? Is it the same compound that's in Retin-A? Is Accutane taken orally or is it topically applied (i.e., directly to the skin?). Does topically applied Retin A cause the same problems as Accutane?
Posted by MB on January 12, 2002, at 11:06:31
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane » adamie, posted by adamie on January 10, 2002, at 22:08:02
> with all the knowledge we have now about accutane I dont know how someone could actually take the dirty drug. It can cause perminant changes in one's brain, perminently damage your skin (sure acne can go away but your skin is more fragile and rough), change your hair, and various other things. The drug is disgustingly dangerous. It even severely weakens bones. An average dose of accutane is equal to taking 40 times the daily recommended amount of vitamin A which has been proven to cause severe mental problems. With such knowledge how dare anyone take a drug like this? I wish I knew about all this before I was urged to take the drug by my mom. One would have to be extremely shallow to be willing to suffer perminant brain damage and depression in exchange for clearing up their acne. be grateful for what you have. true mental illness is beyond devestating. I cant so much as lay in bed relaxed because the mind torture is always there. Accutane should be off the market.
No one explained the possibility of depression when I tried Accutane in the mid-eighties. They just said don't drink on it, don't get pregnant...which was easy since I was a boy (still male, just not a boy anymore < g >)...etc. I didn't know that it could cause depression. However, there is major depression, bipolar disorder, and many other mental illnesses that run in my family, so it's hard to say if the Accutane *caused* the psychiatric problems or if it merely coaxed a latent problem into presenting itself. Accutane has a nasty, nasty side effect profile, but I'm glad it was there for me. I developed cystic acne (more than 25 cysts at any one time) when I was in the sixth grade and it continued into my early 20s. It was so bad I had to go through three full Accutane treatments to get results, and even then, it didn't clear it up completely. I still have nightmares about it today: I go to the mirror and there's this horrible cystic acne, and I start picking at it and my face starts comming off. Maggots and worms crawl out from under my skin as I rip it off, and I just keep pulling and pulling until there's only a skull. I haven't had acne for ten years and I still dream about it...that's how traumatic it was for me. It was worse in middle and highschool when friends were dating and the possibility of a girl even looking at my disgusting pus-oozing face was a non-reality. I was so disgusted with myself I wouldn't go out of my room...just sit there in the dark so no one would have to look at me. I felt like the elephant man. So, I beg you to reconsider calling me and people like me "extremely shallow" for wanting relief from something that was torturing us...especially when we didn't know that depression could be a side effect.
Posted by bob on January 12, 2002, at 15:10:22
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane » adamie, posted by MB on January 12, 2002, at 11:06:31
MB:
I'd say that even today, people with severe acne like you've described would risk the depression side-effect for the chance to have no acne -- especially if they'd never experienced depression before. It's hard to understand someone else's pain unless you've experience pain that was similar in some way. Your story was heartbreaking to me, but I'm 33 years old and have been considerably softened by my mental illness. I doubt when I was in high school that I would have been able to relate to your pain very well. I think that it might be an evolutionary defense mechanism: the less we can truly empathize with the depth of another's pain (especially non-relations), the more it protects us from being dragged down. I've often found in times of depression that I'm overwhelmed with sorrow for others' plights. When I'm not depressed, these things do not bother me so.
Posted by MB on January 12, 2002, at 21:20:37
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane » MB, posted by bob on January 12, 2002, at 15:10:22
> MB:
>
> I'd say that even today, people with severe acne like you've described would risk the depression side-effect for the chance to have no acne -- especially if they'd never experienced depression before. It's hard to understand someone else's pain unless you've experience pain that was similar in some way. Your story was heartbreaking to me, but I'm 33 years old and have been considerably softened by my mental illness. I doubt when I was in high school that I would have been able to relate to your pain very well. I think that it might be an evolutionary defense mechanism: the less we can truly empathize with the depth of another's pain (especially non-relations), the more it protects us from being dragged down. I've often found in times of depression that I'm overwhelmed with sorrow for others' plights. When I'm not depressed, these things do not bother me so.
I agree. When I'm depressed I can't even imagine what it's like to be happy...and then when I'm up, even though the *fear* of crashing is there, I can't remember the actual *feeling* of crashing; it's so foreign. I just started medication again, but for the past year and a half, I've been on nothing. During that time, I would tear up at the drop of a hat: AT+T commercials, animal shows where the lion eats the gazelle, anything. It's strange. Sometimes a past full of pain can make one more empathetic, and sometimes it can turn people into bullies. I've been either one or the other at different times. I wonder what makes the difference. Rage vs. depression, I guess.MB
Posted by Rakken on January 13, 2002, at 18:27:31
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane, posted by Bekka H. on January 12, 2002, at 2:53:11
the brand name is "isotretinoin". its the same thing in retin-A. however accutane is a pill. not a topical thing like retin-A. im not sure if retin-A causes the same things.
i was on accutane twice. i never really thought it made my depression worse but I think I could have been overlooking what it may have done. now that i read these posts I'm getting very worried. maybe it did do permanent damage to my brain and my skin or more. < :`-<
Posted by noa on January 14, 2002, at 16:39:45
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane » adamie, posted by MB on January 12, 2002, at 11:06:31
THank you for that. I agree. It is not fair to say that people who take or took accutane are shallow. I do wonder, however, what the odds are of getting the severe depression and/or other bad side effects, and whether people are apprised of these risks, and whether other medication options are offered.
Same could be asked about our psych meds, too, I guess.
Posted by MB on January 14, 2002, at 20:07:27
In reply to Re: In the news: Fla suicide pilot was on accutane » MB, posted by noa on January 14, 2002, at 16:39:45
> THank you for that. I agree. It is not fair to say that people who take or took accutane are shallow. I do wonder, however, what the odds are of getting the severe depression and/or other bad side effects, and whether people are apprised of these risks, and whether other medication options are offered.
>
> Same could be asked about our psych meds, too, I guess.
There are other treatment options and Accutane is reserved as the last and final because of the severe side effects (nose bleeds, fatigue, increased triglyceride levels, peeling palms). I tried benzoyl peroxide, tetracycline, topical clindamycin, Retin-A (kind of like a topical Accutane), some weird topical dicarboxylic acid, cortisone injections into cysts and probably more before trying Accutane. The most helpful of the topicals was the Retin-A. It causes the skin to "shed" at a faster rate, and for new skin to be formed. I consider it a wonder drug: because of it, I have no visible scaring. It wasn't enough, however, and it wasn't until after years of failed attempt to clear the problem up that I took the Accutane. At that time the only serious side effects they new of (supposedly) were those of birth defects in babies born to mothers taking Accutane and increased triglycerides in the people taking Accutane. Also, I had to get a liver panel done every few weeks. I knew it was serious medication, but I was never warned about depression. In fact, when I started to get fatigued, the doctor wasn't even sure it was the Accutane.MB
This is the end of the thread.
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