Victorine - Diary of Life

It’s something that I have always want to write about, ‘Roaccutane’ (Isotretinoin).

I didn’t have the pic of roaccutane that I bought, so I googled and pasted it here.

Not all people know what it is, it is a kind of medicine that u take to solve ur acne skin problems. Me, myself took it for about 2 times in a different year, each times took about 2 to 3 months. I took it based on prescription from two different dermatologists. The first time I took it was when I was still in university, at that time I didn’t know what it was for. But it did well on my skin, it became dryer and not much pimples anymore (Actually my skin is not that bad, only too oily and few pimples, but my skin is very sensitive, easy to get red so I always go for doctor to solve my skin problem before it get worse).

The second time I took it was about 3 years ago, it was prescribed by a doctor in North Jakarta. At first I rejected to use the same medicine, I told the doctor that last time I used roaccutane, my skin got very dry and my lips skin also peeled a lot. I asked whether this medicine had side effect and whether it was a right choice to use it again. And you know what’s the answer I got, she said in an annoying voice,  like this ” So, u want to cure ur skin or not, or u want to to use contraceptive pills?” Me and my mom were shocked by the answer but comment nothing coz we thought she’s a professional so she must know what she’s doing.

So once again, I took the medicine for about 3 months (this roaccutane was surely not cheap and costed me a lot), but then I felt something’s not right with me. It was once again worked on my skin but I started to complain the other things. Then after some time, I started to doubt whether it was caused by roaccutane that I was taking.

Then I googled around and search for the side effect of taking Roaccutane (pasted from here), and here is the summary of the side effect:

• Dry skin (causing inflammation, scaling, itching, increased skin fragility)
  
• Dryness of the mucous membranes, eg lips, eyes (causing irritation, conjunctivitis), nose (causing nosebleeds) and throat (causing hoarseness)
• Headache
  
• Increased liver enzymes
• Disturbances in the composition of the blood (eg increased cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar; decreased red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets)
• Pain in the muscles and joints
  
• Mood changes, strange or abnormal thoughts, anxiety, depression, suicidal feelings
• Hair loss (alopecia)
• Visual disturbances (eg blurred vision, cataracts, colour blindness, decreased night vision)
• Inflammation of the surface of the eye (keratitis)
• Breathing difficulties due to a narrowing of the airways (bronchospasm)
• Nausea
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
• Abnormal reaction of the skin to light, usually a rash (photosensitivity)
• Bone disorders

Text in blue color was what I really had and felt at that time, at least those were the effects that can be felt physically. Just hope it didn’t take any side effects inside me. I often got headache and my vision often got blurred, especially in the evening (I am a programmer, that’s why it was really annoying).

I was so angry to know that, I was sure my skin condition was not considered severe at all, I only wanted to prevent it from getting worse, I just didn’t understand why the doctors just gave me that prescription without explaining what it was for and what were the side effects. I think as a patient, we need to know what are we dealing with. And the worse was the doctor didn’t even try to know their patient’s condition before giving me the prescription. How if I was pregnant at that time? (this medicine is strictly forbidden during pregnancy, please refer to here to know who can use it) How if I was having mental illness? (Hey, it can also cause depression and suicidal feeling).

Roaccutane really did well to treat severe acne but the point is not every people really need it. Tips before u started to take a medicine: “Googling  and re-think whether you really need it”. At least, u have to know and learn what’s the side effect first before u decide to take it. Just remember, take it at ur own risk!

I might not reveal which doctors that I went to, they should have their own ethic code. Just beware and think twice if the treatment is using oral treatment. Now, I don’t use any medicine anymore and use facial treatment instead. And I do feel it is more reliable than taking pills that ‘might’ take ur life too.

Anyway, this is based on my own experience and I only want to share it with u all