Health Boards
Thu-26-11-2015, 04:16 AM
Update 26/11/2015
Emailed derm with some pics and my experiences with the low dosage regime which through all of November has been a roller coaster ride. Most disturbing has been the flare and sustained activity on my soles which for the past two years (and more) had been quite clear.
Dosage increased to 35mg/day as of today.
My derm has no opinion about the use of the generic Novatretin and thinks my recent experience is dose-related. So at least upping to 35mg is going to answer that question definitively. If in another month I'm not showing widespread improvement as per usual I'll know my reaction to Acitretin has changed from what it's consistently been for 30 years. In fact, I expect the increase in dosage to take effect quicker as I've been on 20mg/day for 10 weeks now.
As I said to my derm, the lower dose appears to have been therapeutic in some areas and antagonistic in others mainly my soles. And I've no doubt whatsoever that my soles flared due to the Acitretin since they had been perfectly clear for so long previously. If not for that I'd have accepted the inconsistent fading to be a sign of the lower dose expecting that continuation would have resulted in an ongoing improvement.
Side effects on 20mg have been minimal with sun sensitivity being the most obvious. Dry mouth and lips have been at a low level and easily remedied: drink water, use a chap stick. I expect the side effects to worsen due to the dose increase but it's not like I'm jumping from 0 to 35mg all at once so I may be pleasantly surprised.
Mentally-speaking I've found it very disconcerting that a drug that's been a miracle for me every time before has given me such a bad ride. I have to put this down to experience.
If the higher dose doesn't prove effective I'll be requesting something like methotrexate when I see my derm in a couple of months.
I hope this update helps others. I'll report back.
Emailed derm with some pics and my experiences with the low dosage regime which through all of November has been a roller coaster ride. Most disturbing has been the flare and sustained activity on my soles which for the past two years (and more) had been quite clear.
Dosage increased to 35mg/day as of today.
My derm has no opinion about the use of the generic Novatretin and thinks my recent experience is dose-related. So at least upping to 35mg is going to answer that question definitively. If in another month I'm not showing widespread improvement as per usual I'll know my reaction to Acitretin has changed from what it's consistently been for 30 years. In fact, I expect the increase in dosage to take effect quicker as I've been on 20mg/day for 10 weeks now.
As I said to my derm, the lower dose appears to have been therapeutic in some areas and antagonistic in others mainly my soles. And I've no doubt whatsoever that my soles flared due to the Acitretin since they had been perfectly clear for so long previously. If not for that I'd have accepted the inconsistent fading to be a sign of the lower dose expecting that continuation would have resulted in an ongoing improvement.
Side effects on 20mg have been minimal with sun sensitivity being the most obvious. Dry mouth and lips have been at a low level and easily remedied: drink water, use a chap stick. I expect the side effects to worsen due to the dose increase but it's not like I'm jumping from 0 to 35mg all at once so I may be pleasantly surprised.
Mentally-speaking I've found it very disconcerting that a drug that's been a miracle for me every time before has given me such a bad ride. I have to put this down to experience.
If the higher dose doesn't prove effective I'll be requesting something like methotrexate when I see my derm in a couple of months.
I hope this update helps others. I'll report back.