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Description:

Isotretinoin (trade name: Accutane) is a powerful drug used in the treatment of acne. Four to five months of isotretinoin treatment usually leads to clearing of acne for one year or more after the medicine is stopped. Most other acne-controlling medicines are antibacterial agents, which are effective only if the medicine is used daily.

Isotretinoin decreases the amount of oil produced by the skin's sebaceous (oil) glands. It may be as long as two months before you see improvement in your skin. There's no medicine we can add to speed up isotretinoin's action. In fact, sometimes acne gets worse during the first month or so of treatment. Side effects, such as lip dryness, begin before the acne starts to clear.

Isotretinoin isn't a permanent cure for acne, although it often buys time until nature clears your skin. Your skin may stay clear for months, even years, after isotretinoin is stopped.

In about one person in 10, acne comes back after one year. About one person in four has acne again after two years. If your acne returns, antibiotics may work, or you may be treated with isotretinoin again. The use of daily alpha hydroxyacids will help prevent small flare-ups after a course of Accutane.

Side Effects: 

- Chapped lips
- Dry skin and itching
- Dryness of nose, mild nosebleed
- Irritation of the eyelids and eyes
- Joint and muscle pains

The most damaging side effect of isotretinoin is serious birth defects if taken during pregnancy. It is critically important for women not to take isotretinoin while pregnant, and not to become pregnant while taking it. Women who are, or expect to be, sexually active while taking isotretinoin must use an effective method of birth control. This usually means oral contraceptive pills and one other additional method of birth control such as a condoms for the male partner. A woman who does get pregnant while on isotretinoin must be prepared to have an abortion and must state this in writing before many physicians will prescribe isotretinoin for her.

A women who has taken Accutane should not get pregnant until one month after stopping the medication. After that time, it's safe to become pregnant. Because the birth defects caused by isotretinoin are so serious, it's important not to share the pills with others.

We don't know whether isotretinoin taken by men can cause birth defects, so it's best not to get a woman pregnant while taking isotretinoin. If she is not using birth control, the man should use a condom.