My experience with Accutane (and dermatologists) sadly is that it frequently damages your eye glands leading to dry eyes and that dermatologists won’t warn you about this. I asked my dermatologist point blank what the risks of the drug were (and even paid extra co-pays for 2 office visits to discuss it, too, because I was so unsure about Accutane) and he warned me about the pregnancy risks (for which I had birth control), the possible liver enzyme abnormalities or liver damage (for which I was reassured could be managed with monthly blood labs and a “low dose”), possible risk of night blindness (I was told was very rare) and some temporary side effects which, if they happened, would go away after stopping the drug. The only “permanent” side effects I was warned about were fetal malformation (if I got pregnant), liver damage (which was basically impossible with monitoring at the dose I was taking, I was told…) and night vision loss (1/10,000 risk, I was told). I was also told about pseudotumor cerebri which is something that can also happen with tetracyclines so I was told to not use them together and if I followed instructions the risk for that would be essentially nill. In other words if I took the precautions it sounded like it was a safe drug to use at the dose I was prescribed. He actually said that it was “safer than doxycycline” which looking back is a joke, but I was 20 years old and I trusted him - he was a professor and well respected after all!! He NEVER told me about all the permanent side effects, which are common, and can happen to you after you stop the drug! Never once was I told that accutane can cause MGD, permanent dry skin and lips (I was told it was “temporary only”), permanent hair loss (I was told if it happened it was temporary), permanent muscle and joint damage (I was also told, if it happened… it would be temporary). And guess what, ALL of those things happened to me. From a LOW dose of the drug. And out of every single person in my life who I know and who took Accutane, ALL of them have permanent eye dryness, light sensitivity, and damage. This is a scandal, doctors aren’t telling people the truth, we aren’t getting informed consent. I checked the Accutane/roaccutane package label recently and guess what, “MGD” / dry eye disease STILL 👏🏽isn’t 👏🏽listed 👏🏽there 👏🏽 it just says “eye dryness” may happen but doesn’t warn you that the dryness is happening because your LITERAL EYE GLANDS ARE DYING
Yep. I'm one of the unlucky ones. In my mid-twenties and now my eyes look and feel horrible and probably will for the rest of my life. Permanent MGD. Going on accutane is my absolute biggest regret. I am devastated.
OMg what... your hair loss and dry eye were PERMENENT? I was on accutane for exactly 3 months and stopped cause my hair started falling out.. flash forward 4 months later - I have lost 50% of my hair and the derm did zero tests just said its Telogen effluvium and will grow back... and it has been growing back in some areas but nothing yet on the crown which is where its the most thinned out, i had VERY thick hair and its devastating I was on a low dose to, 20mg then 30mg for last 2 weeks... this is permenent???????
@@shan22777 yes, for me it was unfortunately…and my dermatologist told me the same exact thing! I was misinformed and it’s so unfair and upsetting that they are lying to people about the risks.
@rnisma92 I got the same issue, permanent dry eyes and also strabismus! Sometimes I can‘t imagine to deal with that the rest of my life its so destroying my mental health and life quality. I‘m only 28, isotretinoin should be forbidden. Many people I know got longterm sideeffekts from isotretinoin… don‘t take it, you will regret it. It‘s not worth the „clear skin“. And I also tool a very low dose 😢
Hello from New Jersey 🥰! Have learned so much from you. My dry eyes are improving “slowly” from the retinol eye cream I was using but I know will take time because I had dry eyes before I started retinol treatment 😕. Thank goodness I saw your video before things got worse. So sad your so far, wish you could treat my eyes- but grateful I have you here on the Tube. 😃👍
How do we put and end to this shit. Accutane and Tretinoin cream Gave me permenant dry eye and made me suicidal. We can’t let other people ruin their lives.
YES thank you for putting this out there! I was on Accutane when I was in my early 20s and while it really did wonders for my acne and self-esteem, it totally dried out my mouth and eyes (and I never felt they were the same afterwards). Now as a cornea specialist, I see burned out meibomian glands from Accutane and these patients aren't candidates for LASIK or PRK :(
Yes! We need to get the word out about it! I’ve started doing a high risk medication visit for my patients starting accutane including meibomian gland imaging so that we can monitor. Early intervention with IPL has helped get the glands back.
@@EyeSchoolwithDrD That is so good to know! I'd love to hear more about your experience with IPL. We are thinking about getting IPL in our clinic at some point since we see SO much dry eye down here in Arizona!
Dang :/ this seems to be quite the common story! Why don’t dermatologists warn people that this drug *commonly* damages the meibomian glands and sebaceous glands, permanently?? Everyone I know says they weren’t properly informed about the long term eye dryness effect, as well as many others. When you used Accutane, were you aware that eye dryness and meibomian gland damage post Accutane is shockingly common?
@@EyeSchoolwithDrD my suggestion for this would be to warn patients that the damage accutane can do to the eyes doesn’t necessarily happen while on treatment. There can be delayed onset effects too. I was on accutane years ago and my eyes felt totally normal and fine during my 5-month low-dose course (20mg daily) but it wasn’t until several years afterwards that I developed dry eye problems. Nobody in my family has these problems with the glands in their eyes, and the only explanation is past exposure to Accutane! I have other long term side effects as well which never went away, but it took several years for the glands in my eyes to develop damage from Accutane use…my guess is that it kills some stem cells in the meibomian glands and then that damage doesn’t express itself until later in life. I’ve encountered multiple others with this problem.
Why do most dermatologists refuse to accept that Isotretinoin can cause permanent MGD? All of them, even the official academy of Dermatology in America, say that the side effect of eye dryness is “temporary”. The package insert for the drug also doesn’t list MGD or permanent eye dryness anywhere. It mentions that eye dryness can be an effect but does not say that it is permanent or long term. Seems like a potential lawsuit.
Oh I know. It seems like we’re on the front end of figuring this out. Because we now have the ability to actually image the meibomian glands I think the damage is becoming more apparent. And going beyond the Rx options, it’s really appalling to me how many cosmetics and eye creams have Retinol derivatives in them.
it's so true, i've had this experience as well, every single derm i've asked about it says that the eye dryness is permanent and they've "never heard" of it being long-term / permanent..probably because they aren't checking peoples' eyes months and years later! That's what optometrists and ophthalmologists do!! It's so beyond frustrating. What they are doing should be malpractice honestly. There should be a lawsuit already because nobody was warned about the long-term MGD. Not in the FDA package insert, not in the doctors' appointments, nowhere. Are you the "Blake" from the Accutane long term side effects group on FB who posted this video by chance??
@@georgiareed7743 I’m not 100% sure where dermatology stands on it at this moment. I can say that in Eyecare this is still very much emerging knowledge. It makes sense that it would harm MG’s because they are sebaceous glands but our ability to image and evaluate them is rapidly improving. But MG imaging is still not standard in all Ophthalmology & Optometry practices.
My only criticism of this video is your pronunciation of isotretinoin. It's isoTRETinoin, not isoRETinoin. But besides that, it's informative and accurate.
I was on 20mg Accutane for 9 days(1 each day). I never got warned by dermatologist and I was on contact lens. My eyes became bloodshot and dried af. I stopped using the drug and lens. Yet it took 2 to 3 months of medication to heal from it
I have never suffered from dry eyes but just last February 2021 I started accutane for the second time I stopped in August 2021, it’s now June 2022 and I suffer from very dry eyes I can’t even open my eyes in the morning cause of how dry they are, I use eye drops constantly cause my eyes feel so dry, and my eyelids get flaky. I really hope this isn’t permanent , idk what to do anymore, my eye Dr prescribed these steroid eye drops because I was having pain in my left eye and the eye drops did not work, really bummed out.
I have got recurring uveitis, keratitis, a lot of floaters & fortunately these damages are permanent & i have got these from the use of accutane for only 6 weeks. Thanks to accutane😊
I use isotretinoin and I have severe dryness and redness in my eyes and my doctor told me to put systane ultra drops three times a day but I put two drops each time meaning six drops a day but the dryness and burning continues and this makes me unable to study I want to know what kind of eye drops are good and the max For the number of drops per day
Dear Mohamed. I am also a sufferer from dry eye after I took Accutane when I was 25 (and I am now 62! ). Luckily, there is a new drug, an eye drop that can hep heal the permanent damage of dry eye caused by Accutane; it is called Restasis, and in a higher dose it is called Cequa (the latter is made in France). After so many years of suffering and trying everything, including acupuncture, these drugs prescribed by my optometrist really helped. Unlike the over the counter drops, that just work for a moment, Restasis and Cequa change your tear composition, adding the lipids it can no longer produce. These drugs are quite expensive (I am lucky to have my insurance paying for them), but they saved my eyes! I really recommend that you ask your optometrist about them.. And tell all the universe to avoid taking this poisonous Accutane drug. Other things that help your dry eye is to lower your consumption of alcohol, coffee and hot foods, because they generate heat in your liver that in turn dry the eyes even more---that I learned from my acupuncturist, and it also helped a lot. Thanks also to the Dr. for posting this educational video.
How is your eyes now? What did you do for them? I think i have the same symptoms like you but the ophthalmologist said i have conjunctivitis and i he prescribed eye drops for me but still there is no improvement i still have the redness and itchiness in my eyes
@@maryammd7 I went to have my eyes checked and it turned out that I have astigmatism and that the medicine weakens my eyes more, so I put on glasses and went to the dermatologist I follow with and told him to reduce the dose of isotretinoin and I used eye drops called high fresh and it was reasonable, after wearing the glasses and reducing the dose of isotretinoin and using the new drops I felt better, But do not worry, after you finish taking isotretinoin, all side effects will disappear. I pray to God for you to get well soon
I saw a patient today who was on Accutane because her dermatologist was concerned about her developing papilledema. It was really interesting! I never knew how much a skin medication could negatively affect the eye!
How common are these permanent side effects, though? Granted we'll always hear from the small portion that have them, but I think for the masses - most of us will be OK. I was on this in my teens and am about to go on it again (aren't genetics lovely?) but am having second thoughts. Maybe I'll just continue to deal with some outbreaks. Hell I'm married, my wife doesn't care how I look.
Rare. There are no scientific studies showing it is a common problem. Either way, everyone going on isotretinoin should first analize the eyes, before and during the treatment.
Hi Dr I am certain I have MGD from an Accutane treatment that I was on 4 years ago (I also work long hours on the computer so that probably doesn't help). Would you say IPL is a better treatment plan for Accutane induced MGD? Or do more traditional treatments like warm compress and gland expression also work effectively? Edit: the home remedies got my TBUT up from 4 seconds to 6 but this wasnt ideal. I started IRPL and currently sitting at 9 seconds. Close to normal. Hoping a few more sesssions will help (more than 50% of my glands are gone)
My experience with Accutane (and dermatologists) sadly is that it frequently damages your eye glands leading to dry eyes and that dermatologists won’t warn you about this. I asked my dermatologist point blank what the risks of the drug were (and even paid extra co-pays for 2 office visits to discuss it, too, because I was so unsure about Accutane) and he warned me about the pregnancy risks (for which I had birth control), the possible liver enzyme abnormalities or liver damage (for which I was reassured could be managed with monthly blood labs and a “low dose”), possible risk of night blindness (I was told was very rare) and some temporary side effects which, if they happened, would go away after stopping the drug.
The only “permanent” side effects I was warned about were fetal malformation (if I got pregnant), liver damage (which was basically impossible with monitoring at the dose I was taking, I was told…) and night vision loss (1/10,000 risk, I was told). I was also told about pseudotumor cerebri which is something that can also happen with tetracyclines so I was told to not use them together and if I followed instructions the risk for that would be essentially nill. In other words if I took the precautions it sounded like it was a safe drug to use at the dose I was prescribed. He actually said that it was “safer than doxycycline” which looking back is a joke, but I was 20 years old and I trusted him - he was a professor and well respected after all!!
He NEVER told me about all the permanent side effects, which are common, and can happen to you after you stop the drug! Never once was I told that accutane can cause MGD, permanent dry skin and lips (I was told it was “temporary only”), permanent hair loss (I was told if it happened it was temporary), permanent muscle and joint damage (I was also told, if it happened… it would be temporary). And guess what, ALL of those things happened to me. From a LOW dose of the drug. And out of every single person in my life who I know and who took Accutane, ALL of them have permanent eye dryness, light sensitivity, and damage.
This is a scandal, doctors aren’t telling people the truth, we aren’t getting informed consent. I checked the Accutane/roaccutane package label recently and guess what, “MGD” / dry eye disease STILL 👏🏽isn’t 👏🏽listed 👏🏽there 👏🏽 it just says “eye dryness” may happen but doesn’t warn you that the dryness is happening because your LITERAL EYE GLANDS ARE DYING
Yep. I'm one of the unlucky ones. In my mid-twenties and now my eyes look and feel horrible and probably will for the rest of my life. Permanent MGD. Going on accutane is my absolute biggest regret. I am devastated.
OMg what... your hair loss and dry eye were PERMENENT? I was on accutane for exactly 3 months and stopped cause my hair started falling out.. flash forward 4 months later - I have lost 50% of my hair and the derm did zero tests just said its Telogen effluvium and will grow back... and it has been growing back in some areas but nothing yet on the crown which is where its the most thinned out, i had VERY thick hair and its devastating I was on a low dose to, 20mg then 30mg for last 2 weeks... this is permenent???????
@@shan22777 yes, for me it was unfortunately…and my dermatologist told me the same exact thing! I was misinformed and it’s so unfair and upsetting that they are lying to people about the risks.
@@shan22777 wow really,? is you dosage a low dose? like 10mg or 20mg? Did it grow back in recent months?
@rnisma92 I got the same issue, permanent dry eyes and also strabismus! Sometimes I can‘t imagine to deal with that the rest of my life its so destroying my mental health and life quality. I‘m only 28, isotretinoin should be forbidden. Many people I know got longterm sideeffekts from isotretinoin… don‘t take it, you will regret it. It‘s not worth the „clear skin“.
And I also tool a very low dose 😢
Hello from New Jersey 🥰! Have learned so much from you. My dry eyes are improving “slowly” from the retinol eye cream I was using but I know will take time because I had dry eyes before I started retinol treatment 😕. Thank goodness I saw your video before things got worse. So sad your so far, wish you could treat my eyes- but grateful I have you here on the Tube. 😃👍
I took Accutane as a teen and now I'm in my early forties with quite severe dry eye. Can it take that long to cause dry eye?
Yes it has happened to a lot of people. Were you warned about permanent eye dryness?
How do we put and end to this shit. Accutane and Tretinoin cream
Gave me permenant dry eye and made me suicidal.
We can’t let other people ruin their lives.
YES thank you for putting this out there! I was on Accutane when I was in my early 20s and while it really did wonders for my acne and self-esteem, it totally dried out my mouth and eyes (and I never felt they were the same afterwards).
Now as a cornea specialist, I see burned out meibomian glands from Accutane and these patients aren't candidates for LASIK or PRK :(
Yes! We need to get the word out about it! I’ve started doing a high risk medication visit for my patients starting accutane including meibomian gland imaging so that we can monitor. Early intervention with IPL has helped get the glands back.
@@EyeSchoolwithDrD That is so good to know! I'd love to hear more about your experience with IPL. We are thinking about getting IPL in our clinic at some point since we see SO much dry eye down here in Arizona!
Dang :/ this seems to be quite the common story! Why don’t dermatologists warn people that this drug *commonly* damages the meibomian glands and sebaceous glands, permanently?? Everyone I know says they weren’t properly informed about the long term eye dryness effect, as well as many others. When you used Accutane, were you aware that eye dryness and meibomian gland damage post Accutane is shockingly common?
@@EyeSchoolwithDrD my suggestion for this would be to warn patients that the damage accutane can do to the eyes doesn’t necessarily happen while on treatment. There can be delayed onset effects too. I was on accutane years ago and my eyes felt totally normal and fine during my 5-month low-dose course (20mg daily) but it wasn’t until several years afterwards that I developed dry eye problems. Nobody in my family has these problems with the glands in their eyes, and the only explanation is past exposure to Accutane! I have other long term side effects as well which never went away, but it took several years for the glands in my eyes to develop damage from Accutane use…my guess is that it kills some stem cells in the meibomian glands and then that damage doesn’t express itself until later in life. I’ve encountered multiple others with this problem.
@@rnisam92 I was told it would make my eyes dry but I had no idea it might be permanent. Agree with Dr. D that awareness is helpful!
Why do most dermatologists refuse to accept that Isotretinoin can cause permanent MGD? All of them, even the official academy of Dermatology in America, say that the side effect of eye dryness is “temporary”. The package insert for the drug also doesn’t list MGD or permanent eye dryness anywhere. It mentions that eye dryness can be an effect but does not say that it is permanent or long term. Seems like a potential lawsuit.
Oh I know. It seems like we’re on the front end of figuring this out. Because we now have the ability to actually image the meibomian glands I think the damage is becoming more apparent. And going beyond the Rx options, it’s really appalling to me how many cosmetics and eye creams have Retinol derivatives in them.
it's so true, i've had this experience as well, every single derm i've asked about it says that the eye dryness is permanent and they've "never heard" of it being long-term / permanent..probably because they aren't checking peoples' eyes months and years later! That's what optometrists and ophthalmologists do!! It's so beyond frustrating. What they are doing should be malpractice honestly. There should be a lawsuit already because nobody was warned about the long-term MGD. Not in the FDA package insert, not in the doctors' appointments, nowhere. Are you the "Blake" from the Accutane long term side effects group on FB who posted this video by chance??
Yup they just don’t warn people. I don’t know a single person who used this drug who was told about the eye gland risks!
@@georgiareed7743 I saw this video posted there, too! 👋
@@georgiareed7743 I’m not 100% sure where dermatology stands on it at this moment. I can say that in Eyecare this is still very much emerging knowledge. It makes sense that it would harm MG’s because they are sebaceous glands but our ability to image and evaluate them is rapidly improving. But MG imaging is still not standard in all Ophthalmology & Optometry practices.
My only criticism of this video is your pronunciation of isotretinoin. It's isoTRETinoin, not isoRETinoin. But besides that, it's informative and accurate.
Ahhh I’ll get it right next time. Thank you 🙏
Tomato tometo bro, jesus💀
I was on 20mg Accutane for 9 days(1 each day). I never got warned by dermatologist and I was on contact lens. My eyes became bloodshot and dried af. I stopped using the drug and lens. Yet it took 2 to 3 months of medication to heal from it
After 10 months of taking iso.. my right side eye became bloodshot. The veins in the inner corner became visible. It was not like that before
Wow, this is amazing information that needs to be WAY MORE well known. Definitely thinking twice now about trying isotretinoin
I have never suffered from dry eyes but just last February 2021 I started accutane for the second time I stopped in August 2021, it’s now June 2022 and I suffer from very dry eyes I can’t even open my eyes in the morning cause of how dry they are, I use eye drops constantly cause my eyes feel so dry, and my eyelids get flaky. I really hope this isn’t permanent , idk what to do anymore, my eye Dr prescribed these steroid eye drops because I was having pain in my left eye and the eye drops did not work, really bummed out.
Has it been permanent for you?
I’m in the same situation as u
My friends daughter permanently lost her vision to the point of being legally blind.
Ohh..was she on isotretinoin?
I have got recurring uveitis, keratitis, a lot of floaters & fortunately these damages are permanent & i have got these from the use of accutane for only 6 weeks.
Thanks to accutane😊
Gözlerdeki uçuşmalar hala varmı
How are u doing now?
I use isotretinoin and I have severe dryness and redness in my eyes and my doctor told me to put systane ultra drops three times a day but I put two drops each time meaning six drops a day but the dryness and burning continues and this makes me unable to study I want to know what kind of eye drops are good and the max For the number of drops per day
Dear Mohamed. I am also a sufferer from dry eye after I took Accutane when I was 25 (and I am now 62! ). Luckily, there is a new drug, an eye drop that can hep heal the permanent damage of dry eye caused by Accutane; it is called Restasis, and in a higher dose it is called Cequa (the latter is made in France). After so many years of suffering and trying everything, including acupuncture, these drugs prescribed by my optometrist really helped. Unlike the over the counter drops, that just work for a moment, Restasis and Cequa change your tear composition, adding the lipids it can no longer produce. These drugs are quite expensive (I am lucky to have my insurance paying for them), but they saved my eyes! I really recommend that you ask your optometrist about them.. And tell all the universe to avoid taking this poisonous Accutane drug.
Other things that help your dry eye is to lower your consumption of alcohol, coffee and hot foods, because they generate heat in your liver that in turn dry the eyes even more---that I learned from my acupuncturist, and it also helped a lot.
Thanks also to the Dr. for posting this educational video.
How is your eyes now? What did you do for them? I think i have the same symptoms like you but the ophthalmologist said i have conjunctivitis and i he prescribed eye drops for me but still there is no improvement i still have the redness and itchiness in my eyes
@@maryammd7 I went to have my eyes checked and it turned out that I have astigmatism and that the medicine weakens my eyes more, so I put on glasses and went to the dermatologist I follow with and told him to reduce the dose of isotretinoin and I used eye drops called high fresh and it was reasonable, after wearing the glasses and reducing the dose of isotretinoin and using the new drops I felt better, But do not worry, after you finish taking isotretinoin, all side effects will disappear. I pray to God for you to get well soon
@@MohamedAshraf-ph1vv Thank you so much
Mam i am facing dry eyes due to isotretinoin. Can i use tobramycin eye drop. And how many times should i use it.
i get little spurts where i cant focus and my eyes blur up. it also hard to keep eyes open often
Can you recommend a better mask than the Bruder one? Thanks!
Great video! The constant subscribe popups and annoying though.
I saw a patient today who was on Accutane because her dermatologist was concerned about her developing papilledema. It was really interesting! I never knew how much a skin medication could negatively affect the eye!
I saw a couple of pseudotumor-esque papilledema cases in residency from accutane! Thank you for sharing!
@@EyeSchoolwithDrD I just remembered the patient also reported that she has dry eyes, but she associated it with working in the dry hospital setting.
Aren’t you guys supposed to learn about that in medical school?
@@EyeSchoolwithDrD did you see any cases resulting in permanent vision loss?
How common are these permanent side effects, though? Granted we'll always hear from the small portion that have them, but I think for the masses - most of us will be OK. I was on this in my teens and am about to go on it again (aren't genetics lovely?) but am having second thoughts. Maybe I'll just continue to deal with some outbreaks. Hell I'm married, my wife doesn't care how I look.
Rare. There are no scientific studies showing it is a common problem. Either way, everyone going on isotretinoin should first analize the eyes, before and during the treatment.
Hi Dr
I am certain I have MGD from an Accutane treatment that I was on 4 years ago (I also work long hours on the computer so that probably doesn't help).
Would you say IPL is a better treatment plan for Accutane induced MGD? Or do more traditional treatments like warm compress and gland expression also work effectively?
Edit: the home remedies got my TBUT up from 4 seconds to 6 but this wasnt ideal. I started IRPL and currently sitting at 9 seconds. Close to normal. Hoping a few more sesssions will help (more than 50% of my glands are gone)
Were you ever warned accutane causes permanent dry eyes?
@@francesgold6649 not at all. I was also told that symptoms would be temporary and I should only expect dry skin and lips (my skin is still very dry)
@@biancacapazario9247 ok so in other words, you were lied to?
Great to hear IRPL was helpful
@@biancacapazario9247 ur dryness cured??