In the past few months, there has been a bombardment in news flashes and media talk about the connections between Crohns disease/Ulcerative Colitis and acne medications. So, I thought I would do some research to try to figure out what the hype is all about.
I myself have not tried Accutane, but I have several friends who most definitely have, and my guess is that others who follow the site might be in the same situation. Accutane is a medication that is the brand name for isotretinoin. Basically, isotretinoin is an antibiotic and works against acne, and the scarring that so many young people deal with growing up, and the rest of their lives.
Many of the studies have stated that this medication is very effective in treating acne, but on the downside, there is an increased risk of developing Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis. There was a study performed by a dermatologist with a population of 94,487 patients. The results of the study concluded that from the total population of people there were 207 cases of inflammatory bowel disease. From this group of 207 people, 152 of them had a history of taking one of the three commonly prescribed antibiotics for acne(Accutane etc…).
What has developed over the past few months is tons and tons of sufferers of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are beginning to wonder if their IBD is linked to previously prescribed medications to treat acne.
Although I am sure my UC was not caused by Accutane, I really can’t imagine what it would be like to be wondering if my UC was potentially caused by a prescribed medication to treat another health issue. If you are one of those people, and I know that many of you are, as I’ve received quite a few emails about this topic, please try not to be frustrated and angered. First and foremost, you are not alone. Secondly, there appears to be legal measures that you can take if you want to.
I am trying to contact a law office right now to get more ideas on what options there might be for you if you’re in this situation.
If you’ve read most of my postings, you know I am way anti medications, and I hope that everyone reading really asks their doctors about medications side effects when a new prescription for anything is being written up.
I started site shortly after being diagnosed in October of 2008 with severe pancolitis (when my whole colon was inflamed).
For me, it was a very rough start with severe symptoms. Getting bounced from medication to medication was not easy or too helpful. But, I did meet another UC’er, changes several parts of my diet, and of course the rest is history.
Leave a comment, ask a question, take advantage of our past experiences here, use the search boxes, they are your friends to0:)
I’ve written 2 different ulcerative colitis ebooks, you can check them out here.
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