Re: Make an informed choice about Accutane Vs. Minocin/Tetracyclines

[Guest guest]

And then there are the people who do not get improvements from

antibiotics like Minocycline, or any of the topicals their doctors

prescribe. But they do get improvement on low dose Accutane. I sure

did. If it's the only thing that provides relief, my choice would be

to take it and hope for the best in the future. The " cea " or

acne type symptoms might improve over an extended time as you grow

older and your body changes, and you might not need to take it any

longer. Who knows? But you only live once. I'll do whatever it

takes. Currently on Photoderm treatment #7. Progress is good.

> You seem to be missing the point i,m trying to make.

> I,m not trying to debate which is safer accutane or antibiotics

> What i,m trying to get across is LOW DOSE accutane is giving

> people false hope, because it only suppresses the problem while you

> are on it, once you stop, things slowly come back. We all know

> that antibiotics only suppress the problem, but it seems there

> are alot of people that think if they take low dose for 6 months

> or a year( i was one of them) that they will be cured or close to

it..

[Guest guest]

Tony, not everyone here thinks it will cure them.

Some people may actually have a better experience with

low dose accutane than antibiotics. Some may consider

it to buy time if it is a year or use it

intermittently even if it proves not to have an effect

on the ultimate course of the disease.

Also do you think these antibiotics were " designed "

for rosacea to be taken daily?

I'm trying to put things in the perspective of

informed consent of anything you consume...

Again I still support you posting what you find about

drug side effects & benefits.

BTW, of timely interest:

" Wall Street Journal - October 26, 2001 Health Journal

Surge in Use of Cipro Spurs Concerns About Side

Effects

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

AFTER ANTHRAX FEARS spurred everyone from New York's

governor to hundreds of postal workers to take the

antibiotic Cipro, drug-safety experts are now

predicting a rash of health problems caused by the

drug itself.

Most troubling is the fact that three similar drugs,

all chemical cousins of Cipro, already have been

pulled off the market after being linked with severe

side effects and even death.

Cipro, or ciprofloxacin, is one of several

fluoroquinolones, a controversial class of antibiotics

that can cause a range of bizarre side effects: from

psychological problems and seizures to ruptured

Achilles tendons. Fluoroquinolones made by other

manufacturers, such as & 's Levaquin,

also are being considered for use in treating anthrax

exposure.

Cipro is generally regarded as safe, but concerns are

growing as its use surges amidst the anthrax scare.

And some of the potential side effects of

fluoroquinolones, such as cardiovascular

complications, simply haven't been widely studied. "

" I'm very concerned. There are safer drugs that are

available for this, and they're not being used, " says

Woosley, vice president, health science,

University of Arizona in Tuscon.

Bayer declined to comment on questions about Cipro

side effects.

AT TABLOID PUBLISHER American Media, where the first

case of anthrax was diagnosed and many workers are

taking Cipro, some have complained of stomach upset or

feeling " spacey " since taking the drug. One employee

had a severe allergic reaction and another suffered a

seizure; both were hospitalized, according to an AMI

employee who asked not to be named. Some workers

there, after researching side effects, have asked to

switch to other antibiotics.

When first introduced 15 years ago, fluoroquinolones

were celebrated as effective bacteria fighters without

the resistance issues that sometimes render more

traditional antibiotics ineffective. As use has grown,

resistant strains have emerged, but the drugs remain

some of the most heavily prescribed antibiotics.

But in 1992 Abbott Laboratories' temafloxacin,

marketed as Omniflox, was withdrawn after only three

months following 50 severe cases of adverse reaction,

including three deaths. In 1999, 14 cases of acute

liver failure, including five deaths, were linked to

Pfizer's drug trovafloxacin, marketed as Trovan,

prompting the FDA to severely limit its use. Later

that year, Glaxo Wellcome's grepafloxacin, marketed as

Raxar, was withdrawn after reports of heart rhythm

abnormalities, with seven deaths.

Fluoroquinolone users who have suffered severe side

effects call themselves " floxies " and have created

their own Web site (www.geocities.com/quinolones). The

ls of Pharmacotherapy published a review of 45

cases of severe adverse effects from quinolones,

including 11 cases involving Cipro. The Philadelphia

law firm Sheller Ludwig Badey has been involved in

about two dozen cases of severe quinolone side

effects.

Doctors say that, in general, fluoroquinolones don't

carry any higher rate of side effects than traditional

antibiotics. But the nature of the side effects of

fluoroquinolones often are so strange, patients often

don't associate them with the drug.

DAVID A. FLOCKHART, professor of medicine and chief of

clinical pharmacology at Indiana University School of

Medicine, says as many as a third of patients taking a

fluoroquinolone will experience some sort of

psychiatric side effect, such as anxiety, personality

change or confusion. " The psychiatric effects of the

fluoroquinolones are underappreciated by the medical

profession as well as by the public, " says Dr.

Flockhart, who has treated more than 100 patients with

severe psychiatric side effects.

Dr. Flockhart says the drugs are useful in treating

infection because they quickly reach high

concentrations in the blood. That means the drugs can

quickly concentrate in the brain and interfere with a

receptor that normally prevents seizures.

After taking a single dose of & 's

Floxin for a mild urinary tract infection, 36-year-old

Diane Ayres suffered a severe manic reaction with

confusion, vision problems and insomnia. Doctors

blamed the Floxin, and the episode left her with

manic-depressive illness. " These are drugs that should

be reserved primarily in situations where another drug

has failed, " says her husband, Fried, who has

written a book, " Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous

World of Legal Drugs. "

Fluoroquinolones also are known to trigger another

bizarre side effect - tendon rupture, particularly the

Achilles. Kansas dermatologist J. Casparian

took Cipro five years ago for a cough. Six months

later he was playing charades in his living room when

he experienced what felt like " a baseball bat hitting

my ankle. " A few years later, his other Achilles

tendon snapped.

It's unclear why some people react to fluoroquinolones

while others do not. Someone with an existing

psychiatric condition, seizure disorder or with a

history of head trauma shouldn't take

fluoroquinolones. In addition, a patient who is

prescribed a fluoroquinolone should ask whether

another antibiotic, particularly one they've used

before without ill effect, couldn't be used instead. "

Anthrax usually is susceptible to penicillin,

doxycycline, and fluoroquinolones.

--- garys3@...> wrote:

> And then there are the people who do not get

> improvements from

> antibiotics like Minocycline, or any of the topicals

> their doctors

> prescribe. But they do get improvement on low dose

> Accutane. I sure

> did. If it's the only thing that provides relief,

> my choice would be

> to take it and hope for the best in the future. The

> " cea " or

> acne type symptoms might improve over an extended

> time as you grow

> older and your body changes, and you might not need

> to take it any

> longer. Who knows? But you only live once. I'll do

> whatever it

> takes. Currently on Photoderm treatment #7.

> Progress is good.

>

>

> > You seem to be missing the point i,m trying to

> make.

> > I,m not trying to debate which is safer accutane

> or antibiotics

> > What i,m trying to get across is LOW DOSE accutane

> is giving

> > people false hope, because it only suppresses the

> problem while you

> > are on it, once you stop, things slowly come back.

> We all know

> > that antibiotics only suppress the problem, but it

> seems there

> > are alot of people that think if they take low

> dose for 6 months

> > or a year( i was one of them) that they will be

> cured or close to

> it..

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