Accutane may cause IBD

There are a ton of lawsuits going on right now against the pharmaceutical company behind Accutane. The lawsuits claim that the drug causes Crohn's disease/IBD/colitis.

WOAH. A certain cause (among a possible many, of course), for Crohn's?!?!!? Anybody have more information?

Was never on it, sorry, cant help you out!

take care

There have been many people on Accutane on the forum prior to dx... my 22 daughter was pondering on it and I said no... we have IBD rampant in our family...there has to be a better way to get rid of acne.

While there are lawsuits, it would be hard to say it was the accutane as compared to say the antibiotics that anyone who suffered acne as a teenager were put on first. I am uncertain of the evidence linking accutane to IBD, but this could be a case of correlation does not equal causation. I think the evidence that antibiotics can cause IBS is a lot stronger, so that might just as easily be the cause with accutane being blamed.

As anecdotal evidence, my sister was on accutane and did not develop any form of crohns or IBD while I on the other hand never went on accutane and developed crohns.

I know there is evidence of antibiotics and Crohns but I never was on antibiotics ever and I still got Crohns,but now I am on antibiotics... if they knew the exact cause they would have a cure. There are so many report of maybe's and could's, I think it can be like the other C word and something triggers it. Hereditary is a major factor for alot of us. Whether it is in our water,food or lifestyle... it is best to avoid some things that could trigger diseases. I think we have too much sugar and salt in our diets.

Pen said:

I know there is evidence of antibiotics and Crohns but I never was on antibiotics ever and I still got Crohns,but now I am on antibiotics... if they knew the exact cause they would have a cure. There are so many report of maybe's and could's, I think it can be like the other C word and something triggers it. Hereditary is a major factor for alot of us. Whether it is in our water,food or lifestyle... it is best to avoid some things that could trigger diseases. I think we have too much sugar and salt in our diets.

Click to expand...

You pretty much got it that we can't really attribute any one thing to causing crohns. That was the point I was trying to make. It is sad that something like accutane that does help a lot of teenage kids is being linked to crohns. Bullying from acne isn't a minor problem faced by kids and accutane helps the kids suffering the worst acne get better. I guess a tenuous link to IBD is sufficient for the kids who actively sought accutane and were unfortunate enough to develop IBD to decide they should go after the makers for damages.

I just dont want my young adult daughter with adult acne to go on something like accutane just in case, ya know?? She in the medical field and it would devastate her to not follow her dream. She has tried everything under the sun. She is convinced acne is a hormonal thing, in her case anyways.

I never had acne....once in a blue moon I would get one... I just find it hard to believe that even University students make comments on her acne!!! She is also only 5ft and she gets short comments all the time. I feel for her and that is stress,even though she is doing amazing in University her peer group is still highly ignorant. She is not sure what herd options are, I have only heard of Accutane but what else really works? Anyone??

Please Read

:sign0085:Okay, I know I have posted on this before. Here it goes. I took accutane about 30 years ago...And 25 years later I got colitis/now crohns. My step son took it...He is healthy as a darn horse. Now, my 10 year old daughter has terrible--terrible acne. The antibiotic that we are left with is Bactrim or Accutane. I freaked...I feel so bad for my sweet daughter. To be only ten and have such awful acne...to make matters worse her twin has flawless skin. So, we live in MI. I know someone posted me that they went alternative treatment. Somekind of facials....Who/what would I contact. I don't know...some people get the crohns/colitis...She flipped...she has seen the many commercials for accutane lawsuits..HELP!!!
Struggleing Sue

i took actuane and everyother drug known to man to kill acne when i was teenager and how look i got some sort of IBS/IBD which they think is crohn;s but cant find the smoking gun. not sure if it has anything to do with it.

afman...Well. I'm frightened for my daughter. It bothers her a great deal to be ten years old and have acne. She is truly alot stronger than I was. I think we are going to try some kind of facial and light treatments before I go to accutane. I wish I could get ahold of the literature that the lawsuit people are using...I would feel better if I could make an informed opinion...instead of a heresay....Don't know....Love Love Love my kids like most parents...I don't want to put her in harms way.
Sue

Here is a link to an older thread that has a link to the lawsuit. It is a cover a page only but contains some basic information...........................

http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=10154&highlight=accutane

Dusty.

I was on Accutane, but was also on antibiotics years before that (both for acne and before any dental work due to heart issue). No clue if there is any relation to my IBD and my previous medicine use, but I don't believe the correlation of Accutane and IBD was just made up out of thin air. Obviously if judges are ruling in the prosecution's favor, there has to be some evidence, although I don't have any information on exactly what it is.

Personally, I don't think this particular lawsuit thing is anymore horrible than any other class action type lawsuits. There are lawsuits about many drugs going on, just right now those law firms you see on tv think they can get big settlements from Accutane so they're advertising it. But there are also lawsuits going on with adverse side effects for Crestor, Yaz, Effexor, Paxil, Lipitor, etc etc etc. Years back I remember cerebral palsy commericals for lawsuits going on against doctors.

Personally, having taken Accutane, I would NEVER have my children go on it. I would never go on it again. I don't trust it because of the suicidal ideations and/or depression it can cause, as well as the huge toll it can take on your liver.

Biteyshark and all...Heres a little of what I found...For what its worth...Called one of those 800# for accutane lawsuit..They are only taking on cases where they "contracted" IBD with in 5 years of taking accutane. Oddly enough, this attorney himself was on accutane years ago because of acne! He's fine..And, I spoke to my GI drs PA, she too was more concerned about the suicide than the crohns effect....Mmmm, I think we are going to keep my "baby" on some minor antibiotics and try to get her some facials...Sue

My son was on Accutane 12 years ago and now has crohns. If I knew what I know now and had to make the same decision I made back then, I would be so torn. He was about 13 yrs old. He was out going, in sports and very social. His acne became horrible, and he became withdrawn and refused to go to school. He was like, "would you sit across from me at the lunch table"? My heart was broken. We saw a dermie and she tried everything and then held up the magic bullet, the cure! She never said this is a drug that was invented for chemo. Boy would that have changed the decision. They just kept saying a cure. And it was his cure. His skin is great, never had acne again and no scarring at all. It even healed his constant plantar's warts. The dermie took photos because she couldn't believe every time he got one, within days it just disappeared and she said she had read about that. Anyway while I feel it might have contributed to his current diagnosis, we can trace other things also in his past medical history that might have also played a big part. He was on antibiotics so many times.

Sue - FWIW, I had pretty bad acne, and I did start getting it around the age of 10 or 11. I did take antibiotics for awhile, and it did help. Facials are a good idea too. What REALLY helped me was birth control pills. Obviously she's way too young for it, but if she's still struggling with acne when she's a teen it's an option (if you are okay with oral contraception).

I've been diagnosed with IBD 10 years after my Accutane use, so I guess I don't qualify for the lawsuit thing anyway

And wow, Fourlocos - that's awesome that it actually cured your son! After I went off of it I started getting acne again a few years later until I went on the pill.

I was on accutane when I was 15 for two years, came off it and had to go back on it for a year when I was 18. I'm now 20 and have recently been diagnosed with Crohn's.

Unlike most people I never went on any antibiotics. I let my acne get so bad through not really caring (only went to the doctors because it started to affect my sleep) and was pushed straight through to a specialist and onto accutane.

I've never had any previous bowel issues, always been healthy. Can't remember ever having diarrhea prior to my Crohn's or anything. It all seems too much of a coincidence to me.

I know that they expect the courts to expand that 5 year limit to 10 years soon. Several accutance lawyers told us that. It is all about what the expert doctors will testify. And they actually know now that it can show up even 25 years later they told me. He said he feels that at some point over 10 year cases will go before a court but the big key here is that you have to file within 2 years of diagnosis. So our clock is ticking and we hope that they will extend the dates before 23 more months pass. For my son this came out of the blue. Two months of the runs and weight loss and finally he came to his dad and I to ask us to help him. We had no idea he was sick even though he comes every sunday for dinner. He is one of 24 grandchildren and none have had bowel problems. Nor have any family members all the way back.
So where did it come from in our case? It can't be genetic if know one has had it right? I am sure many have the same story. I know that for some reason there are way more cases of CD and UC being diagnosed. Hopefully someday they will understand why. But for now, I wouldn't put my child on Accutane. Not with what has come to light, and not until they have more answers.

I had taken another acne antibiotic called Benzaclin before I was diagnosed with Crohn's and showed no symptoms afterwards. Last year, I used it for the acne caused by Prednisone and then contracted a C. Diff infection. It was the worst my Crohn's has ever gotten

Ooops!

This sucks!
Sue
Sorry, I just feel so bad for you...Didn't mean to offend anyone. It hurts to have this disease. Not for just me but my darling daughters and wonderful husband..I don't know what to do...
Sue:depressed: