Holy censored word!  Are you saying Accutane causes ulcerative colitis? OMG if that's the case.  Cuz if that's the case, long ago I used it and came down with UC.  I'm totally shocked now if I finally discovered the cause of my UC. 

Good Dawg, in all likelihood Accutane didn't cause your UC - it certainly doesn't cause most cases, and it probably doesn't cause any. OTOH you can probably get some class action lawyers very excited to sign you up, and they might even collect a payday. Statistics isn't taught in law school, nor in jury school. Yes, I know there's no "jury school."

It's just a "casual" connection, yes.  Some studies found no link in their populations. Some showed possibility to probability. Like all "causes," not clear-cut.

Hubby took it as an 18 year old. Never developed gut issues, but boy, that drug dried him out something fierce and he had to avoid the sun like the plague!  His skin literally was flaking off, huge flakes, and he was crazy light sensitive (though those are common side effects).  I'd be more worried about the drying effect with the lack of large bowel and our risk of dehydration.

No, Good Dawg, Accutane does not cause UC.

I believe "cause UC" is not really a literal interpretation, but more likely that it could have been a trigger, like any other number of things. Try not to obsess about it. If you were going to get UC, one trigger or another would come along.

 

Jan

I took Accutane back in the 1980s to treat deep cystic acne.  At that point I had already had UC since 1972, and the main concerns about the drug back then was that it could cause severe depression.  In my case it worked very well in clearing up acne.  It was a several month course on the drug as I recall.  I didn't notice any side effects.

Like Jan said, too. An NSAID was my daughter's trigger (diclofenac), but she'd had vague gut signs for a time previous, + sacroilitis.

Accutane may not directly cause UC but it's got a laundry list of other side effects and potential risk factors, and unless I had severe acne that didn't respond to other treatments I would not even consider it. Just my two cents, though.  It's a touchy topic for me, because in my late teens/early twenties I was prescribed Diane-35 which did help my acne but which has since been pulled off the market for being linked to at least 5 deaths in Canada. At the time it was prescribed to me, there were numerous publications about the potential risks, however none of that was disclosed to me by the doctor who prescribed it, nor the pharmacist, until I happened to see an incidental story on the evening news months after I started taking it.  I definitely felt misled. Anyway, I the point I'm trying to get to, without rambling on too much, is that if you believe the potential trade off is worth the potential risk, then go for it.