<p>Has anybody ever heard of any side effects regarding singing while taking accutane? Anybody have any tales of woe regarding a temporary loss of high notes or less flexibility in the voice while taking this medication? [It's an acne medication (high potency vitamin A, I think) that basically dries up all the oils and moisture in the body but is extremely effective for acne. Patients are usually on it for 4-6 months. I'm no doctor by any stretch -- but it seems to make sense that the vocal chords might also be temporarily affected.] My son has noticed more difficulty reaching his high G's, A's, and B's beginning about 10 days after starting this medication. Anybody else with a similar experience?</p>
<p>Although I have never been prescribed this medication, I do have a good friend who is currently on it. She is a soprano, like myself, and is having similar note issues, like what you are explaining. </p>
<p>Since this medication is so extreme, especially for women, I'm not surprised that his and her abilities to sing that high G or that high D are seriously compromised. </p>
<p>I just asked my dad who is a physician, and he says that these side effects are possible, just because of the overall stress that this medication can have on the body. </p>
<p>But, it can be different for others.</p>
<p>I think it would make alot of sense that Accutane would also dry out vocal chords. I know that my sons ent and voice teacher have both told him to avoide, antihistamines for the same reason. I understand that they are 2 different types of medications but, if accutane is strong enough to dry out bacteria in the skin, I would guess it would be affecting the voice too.</p>
<p>That's what I thought, theperformer and papengena. He used to hit all those high notes with ease. He can still hit them, but he has to warm up for a much, much longer time before he can get there. He has been on the accutane for almost one month now. He has not been able to reach those high tenor notes with the same sort of comfort or ease since about 10 days after he started the medicine. We know that hydration is very important for singers, so it made sense to me that the accutane could be the problem. People on accutane suffer from severe chapped lips, skin rashes due to dry skin, nosebleeds, headaches, etc, all caused by the drying effects of the medication. (And yet, my son will not consider going off of it because it's the first thing that has worked out of all the things we have tried.) There's really no other explanation for the recent difficulty on something that used to be easy. Now the only worry is ... is there a possibility that any of the vocal chord affects might be permanent, or will everything go back to normal in 4 months time when he goes off the medication? With so many teens and young twenties (or their parents) on this site, I thought somebody here might have had a similar experience and can tell us how things worked out after coming off the medication.</p>
<p>By the way, theperformer, how lucky for us that your dad is a physician! Thanks so much for asking him about it!</p>
<p>Interesting, papengena, that your son was told to avoid antihistamines. My son has pretty chronic allergies. He has been taking antihistamines daily for years! I didn't know he wasn't supposed to! Oh brother...</p>
<p>SimpleLife, </p>
<p>No problem! My dad is off today and loves answering all my medical questions! He even watches Grey's Anatomy with me and predicts the diagnosis! Hahaha!</p>
<p>Accutane does cause some "drying out" of things. DS used it and we had to "time it just right" as his lips became very dried out and chapped. He's a trumpet player so we had to schedule his treatment so that it wouldn't interfere with summer festivals, auditions, concerts, etc. The good thing is that once the treatment ended, the side effects went away almost immediately. And for him, use of a good lip balm really helped...and drinking about three times as much water as usual.</p>
<p>SimpleLife, I understand your concern, my s is also a vp major. I tried to PM you, I have a suggestion where you might go look for more info on the subject. If you have a sec PM me and I will throw a webstite over to you that may be of help.</p>
<p>It's a lucky thing that his auditions are over! He should just take care of his skin and not stress his voice out and he should be fine.</p>
<p>I have to say...DS's acne caused him all kinds of stress. The accutane did the trick. He has had some minor breakouts and continues to use a topical gel but his face is miraculously wonderful now. It was worth a bit of inconvenience considering how he felt about how he looked.</p>
<p>SimpleLife, I have some important feedback about accutane that I would like to relay to you privately. If you are interested, please allow a PM from me.</p>
<p>srw and sopranomom92, I'd love to hear from you in a PM. I'm going to put you on my contact list right now ...</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>one other thing.....google Obaji. It works wonders on one of my friends who has "menopausal acne" of all things!! It is topical..very drying, etc. I think you need a doctor to get it, I can ask if you need me to.</p>
<p>Okay. Thanks, papengena. We'll look into it!</p>
<p>Good to hear, thumper1, that your son's side effects all subsided after going off the medication. I can just imagine the havoc wreaked by those swollen, chapped lips for your poor trumpet-playing son! Yikes. That had to hurt! My son also thinks the inconvenience and side effects are well worth the trouble. Like your son, he just wants to feel good about his skin -- at all costs at this point.</p>
<p>My soprano D has been on accutane for about a month, also. It is absolutely amazing how miraculously it cleared her skin almost immediately. She still has some redness and scarring from previous breakouts, but hopefully those will be treatable. She has complained of the dry skin, lips, nosebleeds, also, but has not mentioned it affecting her voice. The doctor has her on a fairly low dose just 3 days a week to start, but of course, he may change that when she sees him next week, and she may notice an effect on her singing later. She has spent about six years on different antibiotics and topical treatments that have not been very effective, and she is continuing them while on accutane until she runs out of her current supply. I guess that is to counteract the it-gets-worse-before-it-gets-better syndrome that I have read about the treatment. Accutane was a last resort, and I am just amazed. It is definitely worth the side effects for her, at least so far. Unfortunately, it has come at a time when she does not have very good insurance and is very expensive for us, but worth it, IMO.</p>
<p>There is a specialist named CoachC who posts on the Musical Theatre forum who can probably give you a definitive answer to your question. She's been very helpful to the singers over there. I recall that a few months ago she posted a link to a list of how commonly prescribed medications affect the vocal cords. I'd suggest checking the threads titled "Vocal Health Tips for Auditionees" and "Voice Issues/Sickness/Medical Advice". You could post your question on one of those threads or send CoachC a P.M..</p>
<p>Thanks, dancersmom! I'll check it out!</p>
<p>I personally took accutane for about five months, and my high notes were effected by it (I'm a Soprano). I couldn't reach my high C or B.... which was really annoying. I also had the typical dry lips and skin. After I got off of the medicine, though, everything returned to normal within a few weeks (except my lips, and now I always carry lip-balm with me). :) Hope everything turns out well for your son!</p>
<p>That's great news, katie-bob. Thanks for sharing!</p>