Have a friend who has taken it off and on for several years. She has not mentioned any side effects. I know some MD's in our area require females to be on birth control pills before they will prescribe it. I know it is very effective. The teenage years are so difficult. I know this is a tough decision for you guys.

I know this may sound gross, but what about him doing a colon cleanse? out with the old, in with the new.

five years sounds like an awful long time to be on this medication. Sometimes side effects show up years later. Just my opinion.

I remember that " The Doctor's" did a segment about it, and they didn't say bad things about it...maybe look it up on their website.

My three sons all were on it with no side effects other than dry skin and some redness while using it. #1 so had acne something awful, no diet , antibiotics helped him at all. Accutane was fairly new then, so we tried it and it worked great. He was scarred so badly he even had dermabrasion later on to get rid of the scars. What a difference it made for his personality!! For sons 2 and 3, we just skipped the antibiotics completely and went right to the accutane, didn't want to have them go through the dermabrasion, it was awful. By getting an early start with them, they didn't have the same scarring and skipped the embarrassement. When GS started with problems, Dad started him fast. The dermatologist like to try all the other stuff first, (More money for them) but he did as we wished. Of course, they were checked monthly !! None had any problems during or after and all have clear skin. To me, after seeing how #1 son suffered, and the change in his personality, it was worth any risk .

My son took it for 20 weeks...the usual time is 16 weeks, but his was very bad so they gave him the extra 4 weeks. Our doctor also told us that you can repeat it, but not for 2 years.

I would say that it cleared up about 90% of his acne. But he had that last little bit that wouldn't seem to clear up.

Then after about 9 months it started getting bad again. Since I knew we couldn't repeat the Accutane just yet, I bought him ProActive. He used it for about 2 months and it finished clearing up the rest of his acne that the Accutane didn't take care of! That has been about 7 years ago and his face is still clear!

He had no serious problems from the Accutane but he said the dry mouth was REALLY annoying. His skin did get a little dry, but some light moisturizer took care of that.

To do it over again, I think we might try the ProActive first. Then if that didn't work we'd try the Accutane. The ProActive is definitely cheaper and has no side effects as they include a moisturizer for the dry skin it may cause.

Not affiliated with either ProActive or Accutane...just our personal experience.

Edited to add: We tried the antibiotic route before the Accutane and it didn't work for him at all.

My GF's daughter took it and it worked. I did not hear of any ill effects. I assume he has tried the topical stuff that everyone raves about?

Interestingly for me, I had bad acne as a teenager and tried all the Clearasil products on the market. It just kept getting worse. Come to find out many years later that I am allergic to Benzol Peroxide which is the active ingredient in Clearasil. DUH! Now salicic acid works like a charm (because at middle age, the acne is back. LIFE IS CRUEL!)

You have all been a great help. Im still not sure what we will do yet. I do know that the dr. will do blood work every month and from what the nurse said she is very careful. Im just worried about effects later down the road. Im afraid of stomach problems later.
If anybody else has any input I would love to hear from you... especially if you know of anybody who has had bad side effects from this drug.
Thank you all so much,
Judy in Ohio

my daughter was on it last year for 6 months. It has cleared her face up. The doctor was most diligent about monthly blood tests. like others, she did have some dry skin, but that cleared up once she was off the med.

My Dh is currently taking it. He's been on it for 3 months now, I think.
He has suffered for 37 years with severe acne but couldn't take it when he was still flying for the Navy.
It is doing a good job of clearing up his skin. He's dry and his lips are cracking but it's working so far.
He has to go in and do blood work each month before the will refill his RX.
I am praying this will work for him. Poor guy is a swimmer but when he swims he only takes off his shirt right before going in the water because of all the scars on his back and chest.