Pharmaceuticals and prescription drugs, which can cure acne

Does different acne medications, pharmaceuticals & prescription drugs against acne make you confused? Let us help you to the best treatment.

Author Mads Timmermann

Mads has 14+ years of experience as a skin expert and has written/read this article.

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Question: “Pharmaceuticals and prescription drugs, which can cure acne”

Hey Mads

I’m desperate! I’ve tried almost everything against my pimples – and I really have a lot of pimples in my face. The last year I have attended a dermatologist who has tried with all sorts of different creams. My dermatologist has categorized my acne as a really severe attack of acne – and the next step is now to start taking pharmaceuticals and prescription drugs against pimples so I can cure my acne.

It should be said that I have never tried Danish Skin Care products, but have tried everything else before I started with my treatments at the dermatologist. However, I would love to hear about your experience with medicines and pills for treating acne.

I just want to use the right products form the start, so I really hope you want to help me with some advice.

And thank you for a really informative website!

Maria

Answer to: “Pharmaceuticals and prescription drugs, which can cure acne”

Hello Maria

Thank you for your question! Of course I would like to help you! :-)

And I really understand your great frustration over being violently plagued by pimples. Of course, I would have liked you to write me a lot earlier, so I had had the opportunity to help you get started with my amazing products a lot earlier – just as I would very much like to advise you on alternative measures that could speed up the treatment process.

There is really much that you can do before you start on pills and medicine against pimples, acne and unclean skin.

In regards to the comment above, is to say that medicine is always a very violent approach to the treatment of pimples and acne. And drugs are always associated with major side effects, as with medicines for acne there are no 100% guarantee that they will cure your skin problems.

But of course there are situations where skincare can not help – such as in very severe acne and cystic acne.

Now you do not write anything about your acne scale, but if you would like to hear more about alternative treatment methods – without all the side effects – then you’ll have to return and I’ll be happy to help you. But now you are wondering and asking about what pills can cure acne – and you say you’ve talked to a dermatologist and she diagnosed you with severe acne, so let me try to describe the different pills and medications.

First and foremost, treatment of acne can be divided into two types of treatments:

  • Means for external use which include creams applied to the skin.
  • Tablet treatments that involve pills and medicines eaten over a long period of time.

Your doctor has already prescribed some of the different means for external use, without any results. And I understand why you didn’t see any results. The medicinal products for external use, like creams, that a doctor can and will prescribe is really not very good.

And a general disadvantage of all the creams prescribed by the doctor is that they only focus on the pimples. They completely forget to care and treat the skin, which is a huge disaster in comparison to getting rid of the pimples. In addition, many of these creams against pimples are hugely aggressive and irritating to the skin, so even if they may remove some of the pimples, there is a great risk that you provoke new outbreaks – which of course is not the intention.

Compared to the different types of acne pills (accutin, tetracyclineisotretinoin and roaccutan, available on the market today I will try to describe the individual pills below.

Overall, Accutin, Tetracycline, Isotretinoin and Roaccutan are the same – just the same product from different manufacturers. The effect on the body is the same, the treatment time is the same and the side effects are the same.

The latter – the side effects – are those you really need to be aware of!

You should be careful about the side effects and be aware that you are dealing with a drug that is associated with long-term side effects! So first get to know the side effects and then make your thoughts from there.

Having said that, let me describe the different products.

TETRACYKLIN

Tetracycline is an antibiotic. Tetracycline is used for a long range of infections that can be treated with antibiotics – Acne vulgaris, which is the Latin term for acne, blemishes and pimples, is just one of many things that Tetracycline is used for.

Mainly, tetracycline is used for very severe cases of acne vulgaris. Tetracycline is therefore used when the patient has a lot of pimples and should only be used after trying other means first.

Unlike penicillin, which has no effect on pimples, Tetracycline is much stronger. In fact, Tetracycline is so strong that it is often used for patients resistant to penicillin or those who aren’t experiencing the penicillin’s effect quickly enough. In continuation of this comes the first disadvantage of tetracycline and antibiotics, which you must really be hugely aware of!

One disadvantage of tetracycline and similar antibiotics is that the bacteria can become resistant after a while. It might be a little bit different in your current situation, if you just want to get rid of your pimples. The problem is, of course, only if you later need to get antibiotics against another serious infection – but you are resistant to one of the most aggressive antibiotics, as it is namely, tetracycline.

When treating pimples with Tetracycline, the dose is dependent on how seriously you are bothered by it. However, the dose is usually between 250-500 mg a day, and the treatment often lasts several months.

When you start on Tetracycline, you will always start slowly and with a very small amount that gradually rises over several months. Throughout the entire treatment period, it is important that a monthly blood sample is taken to check the amount of tetracycline in your blood – and also to measure the effect on your liver. All kinds of antibiotics, of course, also Tetracycline, has a violent effect on the body and especially to the liver. So to avoid destroying the liver – and also avoiding cirrhosis – blood and liver rates are measured continuously to control the dose. And to know how much more you can turn up for the treatment. With antibiotics it is important always to lie right on the border so that the bacteria that cause infection in the skin are killed before they cause acne breakouts – or become strong enough to counteract the treatment.

SIDE EFFECTS FROM TETRACYCLINE

Always be sure to read the pamphlet in the package and have a thorough talk with your doctor about the side effects before starting Tetracycline. There are really many side effects associated with antibiotics for the treatment of the bacteria that create pimples.

The most common side effects of this antibiotic cure with tetracycline, which almost all patients will experience are: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache and fatigue. In addition, many nose bleeds and sore muscles are also very common.

The far more serious side effects I will not get into here, this you should talk to a doctor about.

However, it should be emphasized again that tetracycline is an antibiotic cure and there is a risk of resistance to the product, and Tetracycline should never be used by women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, nor should children under the age of 12 use Tetracycline, as Tetracycline may damage teeth, bones and the like.

ACCUTIN

Accutin is a strong vitamin A cure that is used to treat severe cases of acne.

The treatment works because Accutin lowers the production of fat and oil in the sebaceous glands, thus inhibiting the development of pimples.

Like with Tetracycline, Accutin should never be used until you have tested other forms of treatment, as Accutin is also a very severe treatment.

In relation to Accutin, it is also important that you talk carefully with your doctor or dermatologist about the side effects before you start taking Accutin, as there are many really serious side effects – exactly as there are tremendously many side effects with Tetracycline.

Therefore, both Accutin and Tetracycline are prescription drugs and can only be issued by dermatologists.

The active substance in Accutin is Isotretinoin, why Accutin is often called an isotretinoin cure. And to make the confusion complete, there is also a product from another manufacturer (than Sandoz, which produces Accutin).

The other company that produces isotretinoin pills is Actavis, they work in exactly the same way as Accutin. The active substance, isotretinoin, is the same in both cases.

However, the confusion does not stop there, because Actavis is also known as Roaccutan.

In short, Accutin, Actavis and Roaccutan are all the same! They all contain isotretinoin and are all an isotretinoin cure that is a strong vitamin A cure.

Even for all: Accutin cure, Actavis cure, Roaccutan cure or isotretinoin cure are therefore the same! None of these treatments should be used before trying alternative treatments and these pill cures should only be selected as the last option when all other methods and means are attempted. In other words, Roaccutan treatments are offered only in severe cases of acne.

You can or should not take Roaccutan or Isotretionion because you have a few pimples on the face, in the forehead or on the cheeks.

SIDE EFFECTS FROM ACCUTIN

– And of course, the side effects of Actavis, Roaccutan and Isotretinoin

As with Tetracycline, there are long-term side effects starting with an isotretinoin cure. It is therefore extremely important that you carefully study the side effects beforehand, read the pamphlet and follow the instructions. Just as you take the side effects in your decision as to whether you really want to start with this kind of cure.

Here I just want to mention the common side effects that most people experience – that is, the side effects that everyone should expect to experience through a treatment with isotretinoin:

Increased tendency of bleeding, increased amount of fat in the blood, muscle pain, joint and back pain, dry skin, skin rash, dry eyes and inflammation.

Translated into a little more understandable language, you will experience nose bleeding. Experience that your muscles are sore and tired, like if you have exercised very hard – or that you are ill with flu. Your skin will dry excessively so you will need to constantly use very fatty and oily creams to prevent your skin from cracking. The same applies to your lip, you will really need a very moisturizing lip balm to prevent your lips from bursting – and with the increased risk of inflammation in your body you will experience cold sores throughout the treatment period.

Your skin will feel dry and irritated, sensitive and tender.

In addition, there are a number of less frequent side effects that I do not want to get into here – just as I did not want to talk about the serious effects of Tetracyklin. I would like to emphasize once again the importance of talking carefully about the risks, side effects and the risk of these cures against pimples with your doctor.

And importantly, I really need to stress that these cures against pimples should only be used after you’ve really tried everything else.

A cure with Isotretion pills is similar to Tetracycline, not a quick solution to pimples and unclean skin. If you start taking pills to treat pimples, you should expect at least 6 months before you are treated with the pills. It requires you to continue for a long time, so you may need a 2-month break and then restart for 4-6 months of treatment.

The amount of pills to treat pimples is also gradually increased, so it’s also important that you don’t think “it will be better in a few weeks”. No! The side effects you will most likely experience throughout the course of treatment and it is only a few months before the treatment begins that your acne will start disappearing even then it is important to continue.

Begin to emphasize Tetracycline rather than Isotretinoin, I can not. Both treatments are equally effective and both treatments have many side effects. The serious side effects are the same for both treatments, so it must be in collaboration with a dermatologist that the best treatment is chosen.

In general, however, it is possible to say that Isotretinoin does not, in the same way as Tetracycline, make it impossible for future treatment with antibiotics. So should you be a bit foresighted, then Isotretinoin should always be advised to be tested first – but there may be situations where Isotretinoin is not appropriate. And a dermatologist will always know and take into account.

Hope my above description of pills against pimples is for your help :-)

My overall advice will always be the same as any good dermatologist will also point out that pills for the treatment of acne are the last solution when everything else is tested.

So before you start taking pills for curing pimples, always send a lot more detailed information about your skin and photos of your skin to me at [email protected] – then i would like to advise you on the treatment methods and treatments you can try out first.

And of course, I fully understand the time horizon and your desire to bring an end to your acne so that you can get a beautiful blemish-free skin. BUT, what is 3 months’ waiting time extra? Especially if the prospect is 6 months of blood sampling minimum on a month, dry and crackling skin, sore muscles, tuberculosis and headache as well as nosebleed several times weekly.

Don’t you deserve to give yourself – and your skin – the chance that I can actually help you out with your acne. Even without any pills and medication?

However I can add that, Tetracycline and Isotretinoin are good drugs for treating pimples. However, there are quite a few side effects, some pretty serious. Plus there is no guarantee that you with Tetracycline and Isotretinoin will achieve a great result.

Most importantly, it is important that you remember if you start with Tetracycline and Isotretinoin, that you understand the risk of relapse at a later date.

Hope you will send me some detailed information about your skin so that I can help you get free of pimples – just like I have done with myself and thousands of others without the use of drugs.

Otherwise, I would only wish you all the best luck with your cure!

Should you through out your treatment have any questions or need guidance during the process, then you can always write again!

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