I am considering taking accutane, but am 13 years old and need help?

Accutane can be a good medicine for acne symptoms. I would recommend it as a last resort but I do want to warn you that it carries a heavy suicide risk. Before the Drs knew this was so, (It is now a black box warning) I had two cousins, one on each side of the family, commit suicide while taking Accutane. I watched my Aunts and Uncles lives be nearly destroyed and the repercussions were very strong throughout the whole family when these very talented, beautiful 17 y/o boys took their lives. It nearly crushed the whole family. If you have tried everything else then go ahead and try the Accutane BUT be sure that you and everyone in your circle of friends/family know the signs of depression and impending thoughts of suicide.

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If you, yourself, EVER begin to feel worthless and feel like harming yourself or that you would be better off dead, seek help immediately!!! Be sure your family and friends observe you for unusual thoughts and signs of depression and heed their advice and see a psychiatrist. You may even want to establish a psychiatrist going into Accutane therapy. I NEVER want to see this med take another young persons life and future!!! Dont get me wrong, Accutane can be a miracle drug for some and some never have any problems but for those predisposed few it can be a nightmare so just be aware and prepared. I dont mean to scare you. I just want you to know this can be very serious stuff! Good Luck-keep us posted.

I have battled acne for 45 years, and have been through many acne products including Proactiv.( The Proactiv refining mask is amazing, awesome for healing acne, but the rest of it made my face worse!) The only things that have relieved my acne has been "Acne free sulfur mask for 15 mins on face @3x a week, and a perscription cream daily called Clindamycin-benzoyl perox GEL (Clindamycin Phosphate and benzoyl peroxide gel, 1%/5%). Only a doctor can give you this perscription and it can be expensive depending on insurance. I also found initially that a 10 day script for clindamycin(from doctor) started the healing quicker, then continued the cream. I threw away all the scrubs and anything with Salicylic acid( made my face soooo much worse!). Benzoyle peroxide washes without the scrub does ok for washing, but the cream is what worked best for me. I use glycolic face wash, perscription cream and a sulfur mask once in a while and have minimal, if any, acne.

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It took me YEARS to find what worked for me. Salicylic Acid made my face sooo much worse(most acne products have it as the main ingredient.). Keep your hands off your face as much as possible, keep your hair clean, wash 2x or more a day with really mild acne cleanser and If you can, talk with a doctor. Bring these ideas with you and see what they think. Each person is different, I hope this helps.