Did anyone notice a bad spreading to the knees and calves after accutance use. I didn't get the bumps but the aweful red dots on my claves after accutance use. Anybody had this experience? Did it go away after several years? Did anyone effectively treat this?

...the red dots that get really red when you get cold.


Did it spread and stay active in other places than it was originally....or did the scarrign go away after several years??

THANK YOU for any advice or suggestions or sharing......it means the world to me...maybe together we can find answers.

Daze

I took Accutane thinking it would be the final solution to my acne. What I didn't realize is that while I did indeed have acne, I had a significant KP problem too. Accutane definitely helped with acne, but it exaccerbated the KP. Even now, after being off Accutane for 6 months, my KP is worse than ever. It used to be just on the backs of my upper arm and front of the thighs, with some slight amount on the forearms and lower legs. Now it is all over my body: back, chest, hips, butt, even on the front of my upper arms (biceps)!

So have a good talk with your dermatologist before starting Accutane. I think some dermatologists don't even separate the KP from the acne when diagnosing, so watch out.

...

Stop taking accutane right away. It is not good for the liver, the mood, and implies too strict a follow-up for a condition like KP. I would only recommend it to the most severe acne cases.

Well I did stop taking it, but I don't necessarily agree that it's bad for the liver in all people. That's what the blood work is for. It's only bad for the liver if your unhealthy or blood work shows a change. Due to my good health and level of activity, I was completely unaffected according to my blood panel. Anyhow, it does dry your skin pretty badly and predisposes you to sunburn, so I'm glad to be off it.

It's true. I was on accutane for a while and while it did clear up the little bit of acne I had on my face, it did NOTHING (and irritated more) the real problem, which is my KP. When I talked to my dermatologist afterwards about this he just sort of said, "Oh yeah, no, sorry, that stuff on your arms/back is actually something else, this medication won't work for that."
Oh yeah, thanks. Needless to say I am not seeing THAT derm anymore.

I had mild facial acne and Keratosis Pilaris on my arms and chest. I went to the doctor (small town, no dermatologist) to get something prescribed for it-- at the time I didn't know what it was. The doctor immediately prescribed Accutane (that hospital no longer prescribes it anymore unless its an extremely extreme case). If I remember correctly, Accutane works by temporarily shrinking up the oil-producing glands in our skin-- after use they return to normal, but sometimes never their original size and production. It would probably result in dryer skin and therefor more KP.

Fast forward a couple years: I now have KP all over my body except from the neck up, and knees and elbows down. I'm ****ed that the doctor prescribed Accutane like that so quickly. Upon looking into it myself, I found out that its a very serious drug and should only be used as a last resort. To top it off, my facial acne seems to be returning in recent months, and I still have to work to keep it away.

However, my older brother has much much worse KP than I do, and he never took Accutane at all. Since the majority of people take Accutane during puberty, which is when KP usually starts to develop and spread, the correlation between the two could be completely unrelated.

My KP started at the end of my Roacuttan therapy. Never had it before.

OUch. Yea I did roaccutane as well.. it did make the KP spread I feel.... but while i was on it it did like make the appearance of the KP better on my arms... HOWever.. it made the skin on my forehead more supseptable to the sun and in australia thats really bad. So maybe i regret it.. maybe i dont i have decided.... actually maybe i do cause it made it appear on my chest as well and that really wasnt an issue b4.

I've had KP my whole life - backs of the arms, front of the thighs. In my early twenties my KP actually started to go away all on it's own. By age 25 I was virtually KP free however I did suffer from annoying acne "cysts" that I would get occasionally and they hurt like hell. My dermatologist put me on accutane and voila with 2 months the skin on face was flawless. Slowly but surely my KP began to return only this time I was getting it in places that I'd never had it before - my stomach, my forearms, my butt. It got worse and worse progressively and now 10 years later I have it on virtually every part of my body except my face (knock on wood) and my chest and neck. I blame this on accutane but I am confused that KP is supposed to be the result of Vitamin A deficiency and yet accutane is like taking Vitamin A times 10!!!

Some things I've tried that haven't worked - every lotion - glycolic, urea, retin A etc. Calcium supplements, Vitamin A suppliments, every homeopathic remedy known to man. Medical research says that it's supposed to decrease with age. I'm 36 years old now and it's never been worse.

Back in 1994 I was prescribed roacuttane for cystic acne on the sides of my temples. A 4 mth course and they completely cleared and have never returned. Soon after I started to get what I know as KP on the sides of my arms and torso. I am 39 now.
Coincidence eh??

I took a course of Accutane back in 1996 or 1997? Something like that. My acne has not returned, but my KP worsened almost immediately after the treatment. Dermatologists need to know this may be a side effect for some people. I saw a dermatologist recently that looked at me as if I were stupid and said that Accutane should have helped with that too, not exacerbate it. (I have a twin, and her KP all but disappeared in her mid-20s; no such luck for me. Then again, she never had problems with acne like I did either.)

Long story short, many if not most dermatologists do not have a thorough understanding of the disease. I'm grateful Accutane treated my acne, but I traded one problem for a worsening of another. Perhaps my vanity, not my skin, is the problem.

If you have a particularly recalcitrant case, the most effective treatment I've found has been Keralyt Gel. You can purchase it OTC from dermstore.com at a 3% strength, or ask your dermatologist to prescribe the 6% strength (which can be quite drying if you use it too much). Like all of you veteran sufferers, I have tried everything (diet, every cream known to man, gave up dairy - nothing helped), and this has given me the most marked improvement.

Accutane is high acne treating doses can permently destroy sebum glands. No sebum production within the follicle is what causes the KP to form. Most derms are moving to a low-dose accutane treatment plan to avoid such problems.

HI ACCORD, you are right as, the last seems correct, maybe you are trying to block the sebum glands and destroy forever, because you are traying an huge acne...

am taking Roaccutane in a slow dosis, 20mg per day, i am in my 7 day, my queratosis is a pitty better, and hopping this turn better he next weeks..

COULD YOU PLEASE CONFIRM THE DOSIS PER DAY. SO WE CAN EVALUATE.
thanks a lot.

May not get much of a response in such and old thread but I came across this one through google.

Had mild/moderate acne which I went on roaccutane for. Never had KP prior to this either.

Started at 20mg a day moving up to 40mg, I cleared up beautifully after about 4-5 months then started getting really small whitehead type stuff on my face again which turns out to be KP. Derm didn't pick up on it and said to keep going on the roaccutane.

Ended up doing 10 months and now I have it on my arms, chest and face. I really wish I had've come off it way earlier but theres not much I can do now :/