Let’s get to work on helping you to heal from accutane damage. The goals for this course are:
Before we go any further, here are a few important notes for the course:
I will be using the term “accutane” to refer to the acne drug Isotretinoin (13-cis-Retinoic Acid). Other names of the drug include RoAccutane, Claravis, Sotret, Myorisan, Amnesteem, and Absorica.
A Note About Accutane Damage & Self Care
In life, people get hurt. They accidentally break their legs or need heart surgery or get into car accidents. In many of these cases, the damage that happens to them is clearly visible and there is never a question of whether or not to treat the injury.
In the case of accutane damage however, the damage can be largely invisible because it occurs out of sight, deep inside the body.
The nature of the damage can also be deeply confusing because the drug is most often described as a “medication” when in fact it is chemotherapy. [1]
The distinction between the term “medication” and “chemotherapy” is a critical one. Because of that doublespeak, a person may develop slowly worsening physical, emotional, and mental problems and have no idea what is happening to them or why. The damage to digestive organs and tissues, the gut brain, and the gut biome is no less significant than if a bone has been shattered or a heart valve is failing and requires surgery. However, because accutane was prescribed as a “medication”, the necessary caution and follow up are not present. Even in the case of chemotherapy treatments for cancer, doctors do not know how to effectively heal the damage caused and often focus only on treating the symptoms.
Some of us have spent years, or even decades, feeling terrible and not knowing why. We may have been belittled, misunderstood, ridiculed, or abandoned for something that isn’t our fault. We may have been struggling to tread water while shackled with a 1,000lb weight, hidden under the water’s surface.
We may have beat up on ourselves, wondering if we are bad people or if there is something deeply wrong with us. We may have suffered terribly and come to believe that that is just the way life is. The neurotransmitter and hormone disruption from accutane can lead to very dark places, including addictions and compulsive behaviors.
I want you to know that I understand all of this and have been through it all. I want you to know that the body has been badly injured, and that you deserve the time and space to heal and recover, just as if you had needed surgery, or a cast, or time to simply rest after having been in an accident.
In starting your recovery from accutane damage, we’ll be working in Section One to put some foundations in place for your healing journey. In Section Two, we’ll be looking at how to ease and reduce the buildup of stress caused by the damage that accutane does to the body. In some cases, a person’s parasympathetic nervous system (the ability to “rest and digest”) can be taken to, or over, the limit. Without the ability to rest and digest, healing is not possible.
Each lesson in the second section is going to provide simple, actionable steps to start feeling better. We’ll revisit some of the topics in greater detail later in the course, but for now, simplicity is important so you can start feeling better without having to digest too much information.
As always, be sure to check with your licensed health care professional (i.e., primary care physician, nutritionist, etc..) before acting on any of the information provided in this course.
Reminder: In these sections I share my experience from my own accutane recovery. The information shared in these sections is not to be confused with, nor meant to replace, the care of a licensed health care provider.
Included in the lessons in this course are sections like this titled “Personal Experience”. In these sections I share experience from my own accutane recovery. The information shared in these sections is not to be confused with, nor meant to replace, the care of a licensed health care provider.
Ready? Let’s dive in!
See a problem on this page?