RUv asked 4 years ago
hello,
Currently I am 19 years old female.
I used to use roaccutane for my acne and it quickly and surely my acne went away but not 3 years later it’s back. I don’t really want to take it again because of its side effects. But was wondering if taking vit A pills would do any difference. I use cetaphil for oily skin and think it’s doing a difference. Thanks
Dr. Adil Ramzan Staff answered 4 years ago
Hi
thank you for asking the question.
Although vitamin A analogues are helpful to treat acne but are not the first-line treatment.
If you are advised retinoid by a doctor it means your acnes were severe.
If the acnes are severe, then we should work out to determine the possible underlying treatable cause.
Oily skin is one of the causes and regular cleansing helps, but further test may help to determine the underlying cause.
For example;
1. Abdominal pelvic ultrasound
2. Blood CP
3. S. Testosterone level.
4. Antimullerian Hormone level.
5. Liver function (ALT)
Please note the lab investigations depends on the history and physical examination. But we should always look for a correctable underlying cause if the cause is not obvious.
so now lets come back to your question; can you take vitamin A tablet instead of Isotretinoin.
The answer is Yes,
You can try low dose vitamin A supplement.
A Study conducted on this topic found good results;
here is the link for doctors;
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4384860/
best Regards.
Dr. Adil Ramzan