Should One Avoid High Vit A Foods If They Have Taken Accutane In Their Life?

Should one avoid high Vit A foods if they have taken Accutane in their life?

  • Avoid any high Vit A foods Yes

    Votes: 6 40.0%
  • Don't avoid them

    Votes: 9 60.0%

  • Total voters
    15

Josh

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Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Messages
344
I’m 21 now but when i was 14 i took Roaccutane for 1 and a half months, I took 20mg a day for the first month and then second month i was taking 40mg a day.

I had to stop taking it due to side effects at the time! Still regret taking it to this day.

For those who don’t know, Roaccutane is a drug used to treat acne and it’s basically an extremely toxic dose of Vitamin A.

Would I need to avoid anything that’s high in Vitamin A now, 7 years later? I’ve started eating liver once a week and was wondering about it..

Anyone here who’s taken accutane and continued to eat high vitamin A foods/supps and your experience?

Thanks!
 
J

jb116

Guest
really? How so?
Vitamin A is converted to All-Trans Retinoic Acid. Accutane mostly to 13-Cis-Retinoic Acid. This byproduct is far more unstable and unpredictable in its reactions.
Embryonic Subcellular Distribution of 13- cis - and All- trans- Retinoic Acid Indicates Differential Cytosolic/Nuclear Localization

All of the protective effects of actual Vitamin A in lung and eye health for example is made worse with 13-Cis-RA. All of which can be mitigated with real A.

https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10....ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub++0pubmed&

Even the classic Accutane depression can be mitigated with supplementing real Vitamin A.

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Hey man, glad to hear you stopped accutane after a month. I believe prescribing it at such a young age was irresponsible on the part of your doctor. My dermatologist explained to me that it closes your growth plates. I don't think you took it long enough to cause this though. Perhaps I could have grown a bit taller had I not taken it between the ages of 17 and 18. Like you, I had some awful side effects that made me want to quit.

Fast forward a few years and I was taking an extra strength multivitamin from Whole Foods. I don't remember the vitamin A dosage since they pulled it from the market years ago but it was just over the RDA, like 125%. After taking it for a month I developed the same side effects from accutane: dry lips, cracked corners of my mouth, dry skin, acne flair ups, and terrible joint pain which progressed to full blown tendinitis. I quit the multivitamin but it still took months for my lips to no longer be constantly chapped. The tendinitis took about 3 years to heal.

Now, almost ten years after taking accutane, I'm finally symptom free. However, I played around with liver on and off over the past two years. I've recently decided to cut it out completely. Anytime I eat it I get a major acne flair up that lasts over a week. That alone is enough of a reason for me to avoid liver indefinitely. I don't avoid colorful fruits and veggies or dairy as I think that's a bit radical unless you currently have hypervitaminosis A symptoms.

Take a look at Grant Genereux's blog if you haven't already, Ideas, Concepts, and Observations
as well as the massive thread here on the subject. My advice to you is to take note of how you feel after eating liver. You may get an energy boost the day of and the day after but you may experience a return of accutane symptoms in the long run. Also, if you find the taste of all types of liver (beef, veal, chicken, lamb, etc) repulsive that's a sign that your body is rejecting it.
 

Murtaza

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Joined
Nov 28, 2017
Messages
289
i would like to know more about this as well. took accutane at 16 for 2.5 months but ****88 me up pretty bad mentally, aside from the normal side effects like dry skin, hair thinning etc. ive read somewhere on this forum that vit A requirements are higher for those who have taken accutane although im not sure about this myself. hopefully someone more knowledgeable about this subject can chime in
 
OP
J

Josh

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Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Messages
344
Hey man, glad to hear you stopped accutane after a month. I believe prescribing it at such a young age was irresponsible on the part of your doctor. My dermatologist explained to me that it closes your growth plates. I don't think you took it long enough to cause this though. Perhaps I could have grown a bit taller had I not taken it between the ages of 17 and 18. Like you, I had some awful side effects that made me want to quit.

Fast forward a few years and I was taking an extra strength multivitamin from Whole Foods. I don't remember the vitamin A dosage since they pulled it from the market years ago but it was just over the RDA, like 125%. After taking it for a month I developed the same side effects from accutane: dry lips, cracked corners of my mouth, dry skin, acne flair ups, and terrible joint pain which progressed to full blown tendinitis. I quit the multivitamin but it still took months for my lips to no longer be constantly chapped. The tendinitis took about 3 years to heal.

Now, almost ten years after taking accutane, I'm finally symptom free. However, I played around with liver on and off over the past two years. I've recently decided to cut it out completely. Anytime I eat it I get a major acne flair up that lasts over a week. That alone is enough of a reason for me to avoid liver indefinitely. I don't avoid colorful fruits and veggies or dairy as I think that's a bit radical unless you currently have hypervitaminosis A symptoms.

Take a look at Grant Genereux's blog if you haven't already, Ideas, Concepts, and Observations
as well as the massive thread here on the subject. My advice to you is to take note of how you feel after eating liver. You may get an energy boost the day of and the day after but you may experience a return of accutane symptoms in the long run. Also, if you find the taste of all types of liver (beef, veal, chicken, lamb, etc) repulsive that's a sign that your body is rejecting it.

Man! It kills me thinking about it to this day in terms of stopping my growth!! I didn't grow after that age, makes me really annoyed. How long was you on the poison for?

Crazy what you said on the Multivitamin causing same side effects!

Yeah i've read into it all quite extensively, i'm on the fence with it, i've eat liver weekly over the last few months and sleep has definitely been better but this could be down to a lot of things.. I do find the taste terrible!!!!
 

清貴杉山

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Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Messages
332
I tooked 6 months of high dose of accutane,worst decition ever tbh,im still dealing with the joint pain and liver damage,sometimes when i eat liver i got bad acne reactions but sometimes its all the opposite,idk ,and i find liver flavor quite pleasant
 
Joined
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Messages
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I believe I took it for 4 months. I'd have to find my old medical records to verify. All I know is I began taking it the last semester of my senior year of high school and stopped after graduation. My prom and graduation photos look horrible. It looks like I was wearing lipstick my lips were so chapped and inflamed. My face was covered in the worst acne that I'd ever had. I remember shoveling snow on day in Feb or March and getting this horrible looking rash that I thought was a chemical burn from de-icing agents. The dermatologist was like nope that's eczema and it's a common reaction to accutane.

Before accutane I took minocycline or tetracycline for years and the harm it did me was nothing compared to accutane. Grey stained teeth were far easier to fix than joint damage and depression.

Yeah, that multivitamin had retinol in it which might be why Whole Foods discontinued it. I haven't taken any multivitamins since. Most of them have junk like fish oil in them anyway. Regarding liver, if you find the taste terrible then drop it. At least give it a break for a couple of months and reassess. For what it's worth, my dog will not eat raw or cooked liver no matter how fresh it is. If he says it's bad and my taste buds also, then I'd be foolish to continue eating it. It's probably fine in moderation for those who never took accutane but not us apparently. I can say with confidence that I will never eat liver again.
 

清貴杉山

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Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Messages
332
I believe I took it for 4 months. I'd have to find my old medical records to verify. All I know is I began taking it the last semester of my senior year of high school and stopped after graduation. My prom and graduation photos look horrible. It looks like I was wearing lipstick my lips were so chapped and inflamed. My face was covered in the worst acne that I'd ever had. I remember shoveling snow on day in Feb or March and getting this horrible looking rash that I thought was a chemical burn from de-icing agents. The dermatologist was like nope that's eczema and it's a common reaction to accutane.

Before accutane I took minocycline or tetracycline for years and the harm it did me was nothing compared to accutane. Grey stained teeth were far easier to fix than joint damage and depression.

Yeah, that multivitamin had retinol in it which might be why Whole Foods discontinued it. I haven't taken any multivitamins since. Most of them have junk like fish oil in them anyway. Regarding liver, if you find the taste terrible then drop it. At least give it a break for a couple of months and reassess. For what it's worth, my dog will not eat raw or cooked liver no matter how fresh it is. If he says it's bad and my taste buds also, then I'd be foolish to continue eating it. It's probably fine in moderation for those who never took accutane but not us apparently. I can say with confidence that I will never eat liver again.
hm,i ate raw liver several times and didnt disgust me at all,now im finishing a batch of liver pate,i like the taste,most of my acne right now comes from grains ,i tried sourdough homemade and it gives me really bad acne,i think im somehow allergic to wheat,but honestly i feel quite good when i eat liver
 
Joined
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Messages
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hm,i ate raw liver several times and didnt disgust me at all,now im finishing a batch of liver pate,i like the taste,most of my acne right now comes from grains ,i tried sourdough homemade and it gives me really bad acne,i think im somehow allergic to wheat,but honestly i feel quite good when i eat liver

It's entirely up to you whether or not to continue to eat liver. I was simply advising Josh to exercise caution when it comes to the organ. I think it's prudent to avoid it after taking accutane based upon Grant Genereux's work and my own experience. I don't agree with all his conclusions nor do I believe his highly restrictive diet is necessary to decrease vitamin a stores, but I believe he is quite clearly on to something.

I too always felt good after eating liver, usually a pound or two a month. This is to be expected given the amount of vitamins contained in it. Unfortunately, those vitamins come with potentially toxic levels of retinol. For what it's worth, I never felt truly bad on accutane in the sense of being poisoned. Rather it was the peripheral side effects that built and built to the point of debilitation. Joint damage, especially in the back, is very hard to fix. The excruciating tendinitis that I acquired from vitamin A took over 3 years to resolve.

Maybe you do have wheat sensitivities. The only way to know for sure is to cut it out for like a month and then add it back in. I can tell you that I eat large amounts of wheat and barley without any acne. The only grain I have an intolerance to is the oat. However, my symptoms manifest as brain fog and gut issues but not acne. Liver is the only thing that demonstrably gives me acne.

Also, I am eager to see what happens to my hands this coming winter since quitting liver indefinitely. The past two winters while eating liver regularly, and also during the time in which I took accutane, my hands became so dry to the point of cracking and bleeding.
 

清貴杉山

Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Messages
332
It's entirely up to you whether or not to continue to eat liver. I was simply advising Josh to exercise caution when it comes to the organ. I think it's prudent to avoid it after taking accutane based upon Grant Genereux's work and my own experience. I don't agree with all his conclusions nor do I believe his highly restrictive diet is necessary to decrease vitamin a stores, but I believe he is quite clearly on to something.

I too always felt good after eating liver, usually a pound or two a month. This is to be expected given the amount of vitamins contained in it. Unfortunately, those vitamins come with potentially toxic levels of retinol. For what it's worth, I never felt truly bad on accutane in the sense of being poisoned. Rather it was the peripheral side effects that built and built to the point of debilitation. Joint damage, especially in the back, is very hard to fix. The excruciating tendinitis that I acquired from vitamin A took over 3 years to resolve.

Maybe you do have wheat sensitivities. The only way to know for sure is to cut it out for like a month and then add it back in. I can tell you that I eat large amounts of wheat and barley without any acne. The only grain I have an intolerance to is the oat. However, my symptoms manifest as brain fog and gut issues but not acne. Liver is the only thing that demonstrably gives me acne.

Also, I am eager to see what happens to my hands this coming winter since quitting liver indefinitely. The past two winters while eating liver regularly, and also during the time in which I took accutane, my hands became so dry to the point of cracking and bleeding.
I cutted wheat a few months ago and reintroduced it last week eating sourdough bread homemade and pizza and i break out like crazy so im nearly 100% that i have a kind of allergi,i did the celiac test before and im not celiac,however i dont bloat with gluten or wheat,this week i ate 300 grams of liver too so,but liver never gave this pimples,i going to cut both tho,and take more sun to deplete a bit the A stores,i sleeped horrible this week too,like i fall asleep and wake up within an hour or two followed by heavy insomnia
 

Tarmander

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
3,763
I have read stories online of people who have taken accutane doing well on high VA and low VA.

I took accutane when I was a teenager, and felt great eating liver for years...until I didn't, and then felt great not taking any VA.

I don't think the science is conclusive, probably need experimentation.
 

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