Accutane and diabetes

[type 1]

i am sure accutane causes diabetes. the medical journal says so. i saw it with my own eyes.(updated in 2004). i started taking accutane when i was 19, i was on it for months, and naturally, the doses were increasing, then one day i started feeling the symptoms really hard core..i called the doc and they said it was just the side effects, but i was constantly peeing, couldn't stop chugging gallons of water, milk, pop, whatever was liquid and within reach. it got to the point where i couldn't sit in class, couldn't go to work. i couldn't put my hair in a pony tail due to lack of energy. i finally went to a doc, and we found out my blood sugar was 560. this happened very soon after i reached the highest dosage of accutane.(by the way, i was eating super healthy at this time in my life, weighed about 130 and was 5'3" so, plus i took the test that determines if you are type 1 or 2, and i'm type 1)i stopped taking it of course, but diabetes is not reversible. i don't have any relatives with type 1, i was shocked. this was all before 2004 mind you. the doc that diagnosed me with diabetes called my dermatologist and asked if she knew of any correlation between accutane and diabetes, she said no. case closed. then, a few years later, after 2004, i went to a naturalpathic doc and she showed me in her big giant medical book under accutane "may cause diabetes." there you have it folks, the fda said it themselves.

[Irene]

My now 52 year old sister, from Bakersfield CA, developed type 1 diabeties about 3 yars ago. Accutane is believed to be the reason. There is no history of diabetes in our family. Patty is a size 2-4, exercises (marathons), and eats very well. I took it when I was 42 with no side effects. When my son took it at 21, he had severe mood swings. My sister, Patty, took several rounds, I took only one, and my son took several rounds, too. All but one od my six brothers and sisters have taken it. We all had very very severe forms of acne. But my sons was by far the worse case of acne I have ever seen.
I wonder how the strength of the dose and number of times someone takes it factors into diabetes?

[Steve Higgins]

My son was a normal healthy 17 year old when he started taking Accutane after 4 months on the drug he had Type 1 diabetes. There is no family history of diabetes and we were told that it was coincidence. Judging by the number of postings here and elsewhere there have been a lot of 'coincidences'. Proper independent research needs to be carried out on this because it is my belief that this drug is ruining the lives of some young people.

[silverado]

Steve Higgins wrote:

My son was a normal healthy 17 year old when he started taking Accutane after 4 months on the drug he had Type 1 diabetes. There is no family history of diabetes and we were told that it was coincidence. Judging by the number of postings here and elsewhere there have been a lot of 'coincidences'. Proper independent research needs to be carried out on this because it is my belief that this drug is ruining the lives of some young people.

Wow,

This is something else that is new to me. I just got through reading all these posts on this thread and had no idea how many people are developing diabetes during/post accutane.

So I reviewed the warning list.

http://www.rocheusa.com/Products/accutane/pi....

sec. 1030 "elevations of fasting blood sugar"

Thats not good.

Sec. 964. "Alterations in blood sugar"

Also a section on pancreas.

It doesnt matter if a doctor is monitoring blood work. It is doing damage to the body.

Accutane was designed initially as a chemocancer drug and they found it altered sebum glands so began marketing it through dermatology where it is now being abused by the industry because it is highly profitable.

For those of you on accutane now you had better decide if you want to end up with diabetes, chronic hair loss, spine/joint problems, mental problems, chronic dry leathery wrinkled skin, skin infections, etc.

It is not worth it. Do not use accutane.

[silverado]

Ive just read all of these posts here about diabetes earlier and have combed the web searching.

This is outrageous the number of people I am finding all over the web with diabetes to occur while on accutane.

You people on accutane need to head these warnings of this particular thread.

Diabetes is serious, permanent and leads to many complications.

I dont care if they are monitoring your blood work, this drug is damaging people's internal organs.

[father]

My son took accutane some years back but as far as I know was never tested for blod sugar before, during or after the course. His acne cleared up, but for years he has been tired and thirsty, and now he has diabetes. It didn't seem to happen as fast as some of these examples, but there is no family history, he has never smoked, rarely drinks, eats good foods, is slim, etc etc. I suspect accutane, but what can you do?

[Brian]

Does anyone know if there is a class action lawsuit against the manufacturers of accutane for the claim that it causes diabetes? If so can you please send me information on it. Thanks

[Philip]

Patrick wrote:

I took Accutane at the age of 12. I am 24 and was diagnosed 3 weeks ago with Type 1 and a half diabetes. Before you react, do your homework. The pancreas still produces some insulin. I have no doubt that Accutane is the culprit. Check out the manufacturers (Roche) own Medication Guide. "Accutane may cause blood sugar problems including diabetes". It can also cause panreatitis which attacks the pancreas where the insulin comes from. Problem is that nobody has connected all the dots. I have been active,never obese,eat healthy and work out on a regular basis.

I took it at the age of 12 aswell for a short term course. Did you notice any stunting of bone growth?

[Brett]

I was on Accutane for about four months and was diagosed with type 1 and had to stop taking it. I was 24 years old and have *no other* family members with diabetes. Kind-of strange.

[sharon]

Brian wrote:

Does anyone know if there is a class action lawsuit against the manufacturers of accutane for the claim that it causes diabetes? If so can you please send me information on it. Thanks

I would also like to know if there is a class action suite already initiated. My son was on Accutane for about 4 months a few years ago and low and behold found out he was a type 1 diabetic while he was on it. That stuff sure works fast....

[Tim]

I took accutane a few years ago when I was 15 for months. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a year and 3/4 ago now. No family history. Ate healthfully, played sports for my whole life. Tip top shape. Diabetes came out of the blue.

I'd also be interested in knowing if there is a class action law suit? Or more importantly any independent research being pursued that would link diabetes and accutane?

[jdd]

I'll add YET another story to the mix.
I took accutane a few years back, got off after a few months, thought everything was fine (other than the fact that the accutane didn't help whatsoever).
A couple years later, guess what? Active, in shape, no family history, no terrible eating habits, and a diagnosis of Type 1 out of the blue. I never would have blamed this on accutane, but after reading story after story, "coincidence" after "coincidence", the trend seems to be clear. For sure, there are lots of people that took Accutane and didn't develop diabetes. Still, there must be a correlation between accutane and type 1, right? I"m shocked there have not been studies on this.

[RN-C]

There is a causation between the two, see www.nurse4nuese.us

[Mike Couture]

Ricky wrote:

I had just turned 15 when i started taking accutane. On my sixteenth birthday i was diagnoosed with diabetes. No one in my family has had diabetes as far back as my great great grandparents including all of my aunts and uncles related by blood. I was and still am in peak physical condition and an avid athlete and neither ate junk food or candy. There is no doubt in my mind that this drug cuased me to have diabetes

Hey i see there is other people with the same story as me i would like to talk to some of u please contact me at [e-mail] thanks

[Mike Couture]

Tim wrote:

I took accutane a few years ago when I was 15 for months. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a year and 3/4 ago now. No family history. Ate healthfully, played sports for my whole life. Tip top shape. Diabetes came out of the blue.
I'd also be interested in knowing if there is a class action law suit? Or more importantly any independent research being pursued that would link diabetes and accutane?

please contact me regarding class action suit @ [e-mail]

[tim]

I have had all sorts of acne for years and even the scaring acne which was very dissapointing , Proactive or Accutane didn't even work, now im living life again , don't miss out on this!

All Natural Cure For Stopping Acne In 3 Days!

http://www.acnezine.com/...

[Duncan]

Hi,
I am 42 with Type 1 diabetes and have never worked out how I got it or what the trigger was that brought it on (if it is genetic). No one in my family has it or ever had it, as far as we know.
On my last check up, I saw a pharmacist friend of mine whose son has recently been diagnosed as Type 1. Again no history of diabetes. He mentioned to me about the Roaccutane link he had seen on the web and a penny dropped.
I took Roaccutane when a year or two before I was diagnosed and so did his son.
It seems that this is not a coincidence, although my doctor told me that it was when I mentioned it.
[e-mail]

[Jaime]

I took 2 rounds of Accutane, one when I was 18, and again at 20. At 26 I was diagnosed with Type2 diabetes. I'm a 5'9 female, 135lbs, and Ive been Vegan for 16years, I'm slim, healthy, I don't drink, and have no family history of Diabetes, needless to say I do not in anyway fit the profile of a type2 diabetic, my Dr was shocked too. I've wondered if there is a correlation between my T2 and the accutane I took. Accutane worked well, taking my grade4 cystic acne down to the occasional blemish which I'm happy with. What upsets me is that my dermatologist never suggested any natural, homeopathic, or herbal suggestions. I now work as a nutritional counselor and have had a lot of success working with clients to cure acne naturally. One particularly successful suggestion is in acne caused by horomones. In women try: Vitex (aka Chaste berry, chaste tree), and Red Clover- 2 herbs that help to balance testosterone/estrogen/progeste rone balance. In boys/men try: Saw palmetto to balance testosterone. Acne is aggrivated by the male horomone Testosterone which is present in all women and men. Fyi- some fat burners, ginsing, and energy drinks can raise testosterone levels slightly. Burdock Root is an herb thats a blood purifier and can help acne. Milk thistle cleanses the liver. Dandilion root cleanses the kidneys. The last 3 can be used by men and women. I would highly suggest trying these natural products,(available at Whole Foods, your local healthfood store, naturesway.com , or hi-health.com ) before you try accutane or if accutane didn't fully "cure" your acne. Hope this helps.

[Tessa Bialkowski]

I just got thinking in the bathtub tonight that there could have been a relationship between these two HOT topics. I too took large quantities of Accutane in the mid 80's. At 27 years old and in my 4th month of my first pregnancy I self diagnosed myself that I had diabetes. I do have a vast history of this disease on both side of my parents families but that still doesn't mean I would become Type 1.
Is there any legal proceedings in regards to this,
or we all too fucking doped up to cause a stir with all these pharmaceutical BIG WIGS. I want answers because I know for a fact there was no mention of sugar levels or Diabetes in the literature given to myself and my parents.

[Paula]

I am 24 and have been on Roaccutane for 6 weeks. I was diagnosed with IBS 3 years ago and have necrobosis lipoidica diabeticorum diagnosed 4 years ago. I am genetically pre disposed to diabetes (family history) and the necrobiosis is very rare to have in a person who isn't diabetic but does mean I will get it.

Diabetes is very hard to diagnose and I have suffered the effects of diabetes for about 7 years without a diagnosis. If Roaccutane brings on diabetes, it will be a welcome relief to have it diagnosed and treated properly.

Side effects I have suffered so far from Roaccutane is dry skin, dry lips, eczema and sometimes cry for no reason. Only 6 weeks in and the dry skin has dramatically reduced, lips aren't as bad and eczema has all but cleared itself up with no treatment. Skin is looking much better.

I can understand everyone's concerns about Roaccutane but look at what I just happened to have diagnosed before I took it. The Roaccutane may be bringing on IBS, Diabetes etc for some people, but if you actually sat down and thought about the symptoms of what you've been diagnosed with before taking Roaccutane, you might just find that you had some of the symptoms prior to Roaccutane. It may just have highlighted the problem more and therefore has got you a diagnosis and a treatment for your 'new' medical problem. You may have spent years of being unwell with vague symptoms and no diagnosis if you hadn't taken Roaccutane.

Just another way of looking at it people.....