Virginia Beach Accutane doctors

There is a strong possibility looming that the lawyers, with their thousands of court cases filed and pending, will be able to do what some in government failed to do, delegate Accutane to the trash bin of once useful drugs. Dermatologists, being a resourceful breed, are searching for another solution for severe, cystic acne. It may come in the form of a "me too"  Accutane. Trials are pending for a new Accutane drug which reputedly has less of the GI drawbacks.

Another area of promise, which I would recommend to you is in the area of photodynamic therapy. Using high dose and intensity blue and red light, with prior activation by Levulan, we are able to achieve results comparable to Accutane. Dr. Rox Anderson, the dermatologist who is probably the leading figure in laser research, recently pronounced this treatment virtually as effective as Accutane in providing a sustained acne remission. It does so, by destroying the sebaceous glands.

However, you have to be prepared for a few days of absolute facial disfigurement. Your face will be red, blistering and look a mess. We have tried this treatment on  two patients in our office, one intentionally,  and I can attest to that. However, afterwards their acne was gone, their face was clear, and their acne has yet to return. 

The parameters have yet to be solidified and of course, this is an off-label treatment. It is also not paid for by insurance companies.

However, if you are willing to stay house bound for a few days, it might be worth it.

I realize there has been an avalanche of advertisements from the trial lawyers about Accutane, little of it based on medical fact. However, the decision on whether to use Accutane, as in so much of medicine, one has to weigh the risks and benefits.

 Since pregnancy is not an issue, you might be treated with a fairly low dose for 6-8 months rather than the typical 4-6 month course. This would molllify the concern over side effects, though not obviate the need for laboratory testing. Nearly all the side effects associated with Accutane are does related.

  With that said, I did have an older male  patient  ( with acne 39 is old!) a few months ago, whose triglycerides became markedly elevated on a low dose. More interestingly, many years ago I had a very mild-mannered computer professor, who called me up a few days after starting low dose Accutane, saying he felt like killing someone. He named nobody in particular, but, of course, I stopped the drug and called him for the next two days. Two days later those evil thoughts had evaporated. I did call Roche and they informed me  that my case was the second report they had of such a side effect. It is now a black box warning for Accutane ( more properly termed Iso-Tretinoin since Roche stopped manufacturing Accutane due to liability losses and a procipitious drop in market share after the drug went generic). I have seen this gentleman in the ensuing years and he has never had murderous thoughts since, even when stuck in traffic.

   Since you sound v very distressed about your condition I would probably follow your dermatologist's suggestion and go for it.

  Most likely your dermatologist will merely tack on another three weeks to your treatment, but you should ultimately enjoy the same gratifying result.

  Due to the rigors of I-Pledge we are seeing more of this sort of thing in our female patients. If the prescription is not filled within a week we are obliged to wait another three weeks before writing another one. 

  One of the interesting things about Accutane is that it seems to work for a number of weeks off the drug. In other words, there is still improvement even though the patient is no longer taking the medication. The scientific rationale has not been fully explained.