Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group accutane

Hi everyone, hope everyone is good (relatively speaking, of course!) ....here's a question for you all...has any one taken accutane? With arthritis meds? I might be starting a small dose soon, not that I have TERRIBLE skin, but it has always been bumpy and very rough, and under my jaw and on my chest and shoulders I always break out. At the age of 34, (and very happy with myself otherwise), it is very annoying to constantly deal with what I hoped I'd grow out of. I am on minocycline right now, but in doesn't help that much, and I can't take it forever! Anyhow, I'm on methotrexate (20mgs injected), Remicade, and Mobic. My derm. couldn't find any indication not to take it, but I would like some real field reports. Can anyone help? Thanks,

Aimee

Scott, Aimee, Hallie, Caitlyn and Gabriel

First and most importantly BEAUTIFUL pictures of your kids.

As for the accutane. I believe I took it (I did) 20 or so years ago. Obviously my persnal experience was not overseen by any scientific mind or done with a control and a ranom sampling of one has ...well...only so much or more likely so little scientific support BUT when I was on accutane my AS accelerated worse than any other time in my life.

I was in my early 20's and my AS was already aggressive but my right hip fused in record time while I was on accutane. I offer this not to scare you but it was one med that (for me) offered a lot of risk and minimal reward.


 
stevec-they also serve who stand and wait

Aimee, about the time my AS started I started getting bumpy spots and a red rash across my chest. Dr. said it was a type of dandruff, but prescriptions never helped much. I just lived with it for yrs. Then I happened to start a supplement called MSM, aside from helping the pain the rash also disappered. Over the yrs I stopped taking it a time or two and the rash and skin problems would come back. It might be worth a try in your case. J.R.

Steve
thanks for the compliment re the kids....have some really good ones from the summer at the ocean...got to switch them out. hoooo boy....not so good with the pain on accutane, huh...do you remember the dose? they say it's dose related. my doc said he will start me at the lowest, if I decide to take it.

J.R.--- what is MSM? It sounds familiar....my skin is not that bad, not like the bad scarring pix you see, but it is like a topographical map to me...when I wear makeup no one can tell...but I have to feel it every day! Was yours like that??

Scott, Aimee, Hallie, Caitlyn and Gabriel

Go to google and click on accutane and read side effects. Aside from the depression/suicide scare, when I took it 20 years ago the issues were inflammation of the gut (real bad for AS), visual issues dryness (not good if you've had iritis) and bony changes--- this was the scare back then and I beleive in my heart the accutane accelerated my fusion.

 
stevec-they also serve who stand and wait

Aimee, it is a dietary sulfur that has among other things antiinflamatory properties. It occurs naturaly in the soil, and most people used to get enough of it in their diets. The soils are getting depleted from repeated farming and a lot of people are having to supplement it. If you are interested a co. called Home Cure has good quality, they have a website. No affiliation, I just think theirs is a good pure product, a lot of store brands have a lot of filler in them. In answer to your other ? I never had any scarring, just bumps and rashes and dry itchy spots in the winter. The MSM takes care of that. J.R.

Regrading Accutane:

Although DISH and AS both involve severe excess calcification, they have different causes.

Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that accutane can cause or worsen DISH:

"DISH is typically found in middle-aged men, 80% of whom appear to have adult-onset diabetes.
It is also seen as a side-effect of isotretinoin (Accutane) and excessive fluorine intake"
- quoted from page 72 of "Modern Medicine", volume 60, September 1992, as seen in a photocopy sent to me by the National Institute of Health around 1995.

So one possibility is that Accutane can worsen AS in the same way that it can cause or worsen DISH.

Another possibility is that the Accutane was causing DISH to develop in addition to the AS.
Like developing osteoarthritis in addition to rheumatoid arthritis.

- Morris the DISH

Whats DISH???

Aimee,

I took several cycles of Accutane when I was a teenager and possibly into my early 20's. I wasn't diagnosed with AS until my mid 20's. The main side effects I had were dry/cracking skin and bleeding noses.

FYI - I found that Accutane never really worked for me when I went off it. What finally got my complexion under contral was a sulphur drug, although I am not sure of it's name anymore.

I hope this helps,

Trevor

I see that old posts about DISH are no longer found when searching the new software's archive, so I will create a new thread with details for poster's future reference.

The severe calcification and rigidity of DISH is sometimes mistaken for the similar appearances in AS, but it has an entirely different cause.

Basically, DISH is a cousin of Osteoarthritis while AS is a cousin of Rhematoid Arthritis.

They both fuse the body with excess calcification until the body becomes rigid.

There are still some doctors who through ignorance will mistake the 2 and make a wrong diagnosis.

- Morris the DISH