Sort of embarrassing but important (to me) question.
I have been taking doxycyline to treat acne for several years now. It works well, but should I miss a few doses, I experience flare-ups. I have been talking with my dermatologist about alternative treatments, mainly accutane. I have done quite a bit of research on side effects and risks, ( mood swings, dry skin, etc.). Joint pain is also listed as a side effect secondary to the temporary drying of the synovial fluid in the joints.
Have any of you taken accutane while training? If you had joint pain, could you train anyway? Thanks for your input/replies.
I took it years ago when I was a teenager… this was far before I started doing triathlons but I was playing hockey at a high level at the time. I never experienced any joint pain at all (perhaps I was too young?) and don’t remember it affecting my performance negatively. The only thing I really remember is that it dried my skin out like crazy to the point where skin started peeling off (like after a sunburn) and my lips were very chapped. I also remember being very thirsty while playing and took to bringing two water bottles rather than one to games/practices.
Same story as above…took it back in high school. Wasn’t involved in triathlon but was heavily involved in cross country and soccer. Didn’t notice anything abnormal as far as joint pain goes. Biggest thing was extremely dry skin.
Late 70s for me. The only (perfectly logical) side effect: dry skin. The first time I hit the beach after taking it through the winter, I experienced the worst sun burn of my life; blisters on my face so bad I couldn’t shave for over a week. I had never used sunscreen before that. Not an option from that point forward.
I took in in HS. I was running track and it dried me out pretty bad and I ended up skipping half of the year of track. After workouts my body hurt pretty bad mostly joints.
Maybe I was not drinking enough water but it was bad. I was off it the next year and came back to run and had no issues. Sounds like I am not the norm so far.
Sort of embarrassing but important (to me) question.
I have been taking doxycyline to treat acne for several years now. It works well, but should I miss a few doses, I experience flare-ups. I have been talking with my dermatologist about alternative treatments, mainly Accutane. I have done quite a bit of research on side effects and risks, ( mood swings, dry skin, etc.). Joint pain is also listed as a side effect secondary to the temporary drying of the synovial fluid in the joints.
Have any of you taken Accutane while training? If you had joint pain, could you train anyway? Thanks for your input/replies.
-TMT
As opposed to most others, I took Accutane at age 29 because my teenage acne just refused to go away. I didn’t have any mood swings or joint pain or increased thirst, but rather just the increased sunburn susceptibility. However, since I have olive skin and tan very easily, the only problem area was my face, so I just took to wearing a hat for a couple of years, but within a year or so that issue had gone away also. Managed to get away with never using any sunscreen. The big side effect my doc talked about was increased cholesterol levels, and hence I had to get my blood checked every 2 wks, then every 4 wks, such that I became intimately familiar with my CHL levels. Fortunately, they remained low and have ever since. In sum, I had a great experience with Accutane and would recommend it highly. Without it, I might have stuck taking tetracycline the rest of my life.
There is a risk that you will feel joint pains or muscle aches. If they are minimal, you just keep going. Ok to use advil or tylenol occasionally. What you do not want to see is discomfort affecting your activity level. If you are sore…like first day at the gym after 3 months off, that is still ok. If you are having trouble with daily activities…getting out of bed, washing your hair, getting dressed, etc…then its time to drop the dose or stop the medicine completely.
Most athletes do well. Your biggest issue is going to be injury. If you get injured, take time off. Medicine does not make you prone to injury but recovery is slower. So if you pull something, sprain something…really baby the injury. Otherwise, just keep your doc in the loop of anything you may be feeling or experiencing and the med should do what it needs to do, without dramatically having to alter your activities.
Sun block for sure. Lip balm definitely–even just plain vaseline.
Oh…and stop the doxycycline. Accutane and Doxy is a huge no no. They do not play nicely.
I also took it into my late 20’s for several rounds due to adolescent acne not going away. Although I wasn’t involved in triathlons, but I was heavy into jiu jitsu, weight training and surfing with no joint problems at all. The dry lips and skin are a normal side effect but nothing that some face lotion and a Chapstick can’t handle. You’ll also be sensitive to the sun as others have mentioned so just avoid middle of the day training without sunscreen or clothing/hat protection.
I highly recommend it as I tried everything under the sun with little to no results until accutane came along and saved my face!! Good luck!
I took it at uni. Played rugby, surfed and rock climbed (no triathlon) with no side effects, just the expected (and apologies for repeating) dry skin. The important thing was that it worked, after I’d been through everything else the dermo. could throw at me.
Anyone discontinue a regime as part of a sports tapering program? One of our sons swims and takes 40mg a day, no ill effects other than dry skin but we are going to ask the doctor about taking a few weeks off during championship season. David K.
I took it in my late 20’s and experienced the whole range of side effects. Joint pain and fatigue were the worst of them. I was only running at the time and after about 2 months on the medications I could barely find the energy to run 2 miles. I did have some mood swings but for the most part they were not to bad. Looking back I do not regret taking Accutane for the most part. MY skin is beautiful and I hardly ever get a breakout. Best of luck…
I started having skin problems while going through a change in marital status ( tactful way of saying separated/divorced). The only problem was that it never settled down. The doctor put me on doxycycline and I started using expensive skin care products like Obagi and SkinCeuticals, retinol at night, and the occasional “gentle” chemical peel. If there is a deviation from the regimen, I break out. While some aspects of Accutane are very unpleasant, the end result seems worth the hassle. My health insurance will cover all costs, so its just a matter of suffering through the side effects. From a training perspective, winter seems a better time to start- less heat/exposure to sunlight, less intense training, etc.
The dermatologist will require monthly labs/visits to monitor cholesterol, etc. And she has given a list of medicines that are forbidden during the six-month treatment, including doxycyline.
Fingers crossed that the joint pain won’t be an issue.
I took it in undergrad for a pretty long 9 month cycle while on the crew team. Didn’t experience any of the joint or muscle pain, but did have a swingy mood (which may have been due to an unfortunate series of bad relationships at the time), pretty dry skin, and severely chapped laps. I had to throw away like three sheet sets and almost a dozen pillowcases because of all the bleeding my lips did at night.
That said, I did the same Doxycycline regimen, which hardly helped, and Accutane really, really did the trick. I hadn’t experienced any acne at all (not a single zit), 7 years later, until a few months ago, when I was studying for the bar exam and was the most stressed I have ever been in my life. One of the best decisions I have ever made.
took it also when i was a teenager in middle school and again in high school. never had any side effects that i can remember being terrible. i even used it during swim season when i would be in the pool 4-5 hours a day. i had dry skin but i couldn’t tell if was the accutane or just the exorbitant amounts of chlorine i was being bathed in on a daily basis. for me, it was huge since my acne came very suddenly in my teens and it really helped my through my teenage years which can be devastating. my dermatologist tried several different topical creams, but they never really worked. i would just continue to break out and even develop bad scars. so the doc finally gave me accutane and i was acne-free within the week. it flared up again in high school so i did another round and have never had the severe acne i used to have. hope it helps but you will want to ask about lotions and chap stick for the dryness as that can get bothersome. hope you have the same success i had.
And remember that if you’re sexually active, you have to be very very careful…Not sure if you’re in the US or not, but if yes, it should be ok since you have to sign a plea stating you’ll be on birth control. Side effects on fetuses are far worse than on the mother.
I took Accutane for 9 months back in 2008/2009. I did not participate in triathlon at the time but the dry lips and skin were the most annoying side effects…at first. About 3 months after discontinuing treatment I developed ulcerative colitis, which resulted in treatment that shall we say was decidedly unpleasant. I have also been diagnosed with profound hearing loss in both ears. Accutane is a chemotherapy drug and is very potent (women have to sign a form stating they will use birth control while on it as it causes horrible birth defects in fetuses), and side effects such as mine are associated with the drug and occur more commonly than you think. In fact a 50 year old co worker of mine also developed colitis only a month after starting treatment. There are actually class action lawsuits out there suing the drug company because of these effects. I would consider the pros and cons of this drug VERY carefully. Knowing what I know now, I think I would have stuck with the topicals or doxy instead of the accutane. Talk to your dermatologist about the more serious side effects.
As an aside, several years on accutane is a loooong time. Especially for your kidneys. I’d talk to an endocrino and see what other options could be considered. I hope you had a blood work done for toxicity purposes.