QUESTIONS ABOUT CLARAVIS (ACCUTANE)

I'm surprised nobody has commented on this yet. This topic has been brought up before with lots of responses. You might want to try doing a search.

Anyway, about 8 years ago I was put on Accutane. I'm pretty sure it was actual Accutane, but it was a while ago so it could have been the generic stuff. I've heard stories of people suffering depression, soreness and fatigue while on it but none of that ever happened to me. The only side effects that I experienced was that my skin really dried out and the acne got worse before it got better. The dermatologist informed me of both these symptoms prior to giving me the prescription.

Although I did not experience any soreness or fatigue, it was my first year of college and my school did not have an xc or track program (I later transferred). I was only running 30 mpw to stay in shape so it is possible that you will feel the fatigue and soreness running 75 mpw.

My situation was a little bit different than yours, but I am glad I took the medication. My acne was pretty bad. Not bad enough to be in one of those commercials, but bad enough that it really hurt my confidence in social situations; especially when talking to girls. Since finishing the treatment I rarely, if ever, experience a breakout. And when I do, it is only one pimple and it is relatively small. My skin is otherwise very clear. Hope this helps.

Everyone reacts differently to Accutane. I'm on Claravis right now and I do feel like my muscles get sorer than usual, but it could just be mental.

One thing is my skin is dry as f*** 24/7. Lips too.

But it DOES work. It didn't work the first 2 months I was on it but then it just disappeared. Hasn't come back either.

Yeah. I thought this was a pretty good topic too. My appointment is at noon tomorrow! (more feedback would be nice).

But thank you for the response. I still don't know what I want to do. I have been thinking about it a lot. I still have a run tomorrow morning to think it over.

DO NOT TAKE ACCUTANE.

I took accutane in high school, and I will be the first to admit, the shit works.

But frankly, you will be in a physical and mental depression for the duration of the medication (a course of it can last well over a year). If you at all value your current shape, or have any aspiration to improve it, accutane will not serve that interests. Consider not taking accutane a sacrifice for the sport, like not getting drunk before race nights, going to bed early, eating right, etc.

The worst part about accutane, judging from my experience and listening to two of my brothers, both of whom took accutane, is that for the rest of your life (or at least 10 years later, in my case), you'll have dry, itchy spots on your skin like a menopausal woman, which the dermatologist who originally convinced you to take accutane will have a plethora of topical medications to fix.

if you really 'need' to get rid of your acne, accutane will work, but know you will pay a price. i'll always wonder how much faster i could have run had i not taken that medication. i dont know the chemistry behind it, but taking the meds feels like its just wearing down your body so much that it loses the ability to break out

if it helps, i was taking a 20 mg pill twice a day

oh god.

If my muscles start to ache, can I just stop taking it?

That was my plan.

Accutane will affect everyone differently, although almost universally you will experience a degree of fatigue and cutaneous dryness accompanied by itching.

It seems you're already apprehensive about taking the medication, and its likely that while you are taking it, you will attribute unusual soreness and fatigue to the chemicals in your bloodstream. You may or may not be right in this situation, but consideration of it will be undue stress. If you're already slightly stressed about taking the drug, the course of therapy will magnify these feelings.

Accutane is like chemo therapy: its likely to solve your problem locally, but will exact a holistic price

I really don't care at all about any other symptons besides the soreness/fatigue.

I have experienced really really bad dryness with the other medication. It really doesn't bother me too much.

I am just going to talk to the dermatologist about it. I am going to ask him about athletes taking it, and then I will ask him if I can just stop taking it if I don't like the sideffects.

Don't go on Accutane or even the generic form, it has bad side affects (feeling unclear, foggy, mental slowness). You may not think this is a big deal but when you are in school or are used to being sharp it is a bad feeling. Your body chemistry is most likely going thru a huge shift. Mine was bad on my back, ugh! This happened to me when I was 16, I have some light scarring on my face, but the horrible siege passed. Take a lot of showers and wash your face w/ cold water after sweating profusely.

Have you tried a VERY low carb diet?

You don't care about depression? My friend became suicidal on accutane. Thankfully she's still alive today but I was seriously concerned for her. PS-you're not supposed to get pregnant on accutane or the babies will end up real f*cked up.

Well. I didn't do it, and I walked out of there feeling very good about myself.

That made me so happy. You did the right thing. Good luck to you in everything you do!

You do realize that most of the people on this thread have no idea what they're talking about, right?

You're a lot better off doing searches for old threads about this stuff and looking at the experiences of people who have actually taken it rather than go off the "my next door neighbor took it and got depressed" anecdotes.

I used this during my last year of college and I have to say it's one of the best things I ever did. Like you I would get the cyst type acne, so I was never a "pizza face" with lots of red bumps, but I'd have one big place on my cheek or neck and it hurt like hell and looked terrible.

Acutane clearned it up and it hasn't come back and that was 15 years ago.

I decided to do it because I couldn't imagine going into the work place or for a job interview with a big cyst. The confidence I have w/o having to deal with acne is huge.

I say do it now.

btw you will need some lotion because it does dry out your skin really bad during the treatment. but it's well worth it, also I never felt any effects on my training while taking the medication.

no way. I didn't just get advice from the people on here. I read a lot about it, not on forums and things. I talked to my family doctor, and I talked to other people in the medical field. I just went on here because I go on this site a lot, and I was just wondering what other runners had to say.

It also would have been hard for me to actually be on the medication. My dermotologist told me I had to see him once a month, and I had to have blood work, all which would have been hard for me to do being 4 hours away and no car.

Bottom line. I left thinking to myself that I made a good decision.

Yes, I was worried and stressed about taking the stuff, and I know I would have been for the entire 6 months I was on it. Not worth it.

That was my post above, just a different name (i switched computers).

Ok, I understand why you made your decision. Personally, I would try to find a dermatologist that's closer to school, but that's your choice.

I stressed about the decision too, and was stressed for the first 3-4 weeks, and then I got over it. All of the stuff I read scared me, but once I realized the only side effect for me was just dryness, I stopped thinking about it. If I had gotten any of the worse side effects, obviously I would have been more stressed.

For me, it was worth taking. The worst part by far for me was not being able to drink much alcohol. However, I wasn't running for a collegiate team when I took it, so the timing for you might be wrong.

I'd also like to add that it does make your skin more sensitive to the sun. So, if you do decide to take it, it might be a good idea to wait until the summer is over.