Does the monthly blood test for Accutane have to be fasting or not?

Thanks for your question.  If your dermatologist is checking your lipids or cholesterol, the labs should be done fasting for about 12 hours with only water to drink to be accurate.  What you eat should not affect the liver function tests or pregnancy tests.  Check with your derm to be sure, and best of luck!

In general, the labs your physician obtains while you're taking Accutane will include a lipid panel (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.), a complete metabolic panel (CMP), and a complete blood count (CBC). For female patients, a monthly pregnancy test is also required. For your lipid panel, you really should be fasting. That being said, not all physicians will require monthly labs (or even all of the labs stated above). Personally, there is only good evidence to check labs before initiating treatment and two months into treatment. If my patients are doing well at those two time points, I generally don't check labs for the rest of their treatment unless something comes up or their labs are abnormal on the initial checks. Hope that helps!