Accutane versus Vocal Chords?

<p>My daughter is going on Accutane mid July for 6 months and she is also a vocal performer who will be auditioning in the fall/early winter for college. We were warned about the dry skin aspects of the medication and it just dawned on us that since it also dries the mucous membranes that it might effect her singing. I looked through this thread and see that sopranomom92 sent a private thread to simplelife about a website that might have more information about the possible voice complication. Can either sopranomom92 or simplelife send me that website too? Also, anyone else that has input on how Accutane may effect her voice is greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>@3fromsf- I would strongly recommend waiting until after audition season to start Accutane, and then, only if absolutely necessarily and all other options have been exhausted. Accutane is known for causing vocal changes and it definitely causes dryness of the mucus membranes (you can find that in every search on line). In my opinion,having her on this med while auditioning would place her at a real disadvantage and might make it impossible for her to manage the rep she is preparing. Should she take it after acceptance but before beginning classes, you could be sending her off unable to do what is expected of her, which would be devastating. Has she tried Yaz or the newer BayYaz? Go that route first, please.
Should you want any links that you can’t find in your own searches, PM me and I’ll help.</p>

<p>I’m a soprano, and I have done one and a half courses of accutane. The first course was at the beginning of my 9th grade year, and lasted 6 months. My skin was completely clear until August. I experienced dry skin, but few vocal complications. I still had my double high B flat. My second course started in October, and ended in January. I stopped because I feared vocal problems. I started losing notes, and could only get up to about an A, which wasn’t that bad, but my upper end was getting iffy, I was losing some middle notes, and also I kept on getting sick. I stopped, and now I can consistently sing over my double high C with no problem. However, I am in the midst of an almost pre-accutane breakout right now. It will make you beautiful for a while, but it isn’t a 100% that you’ll be acne free for sure. I would never go on it again, at the point I am vocally. I’d take the bad skin over a ruined voice any day. It just gets too scary, and I still have acne. (I did clear up in two months, and stayed that way all year when I started.) I would suggest Tazorac topical twice a day, if that hasn’t been tried already (I didn’t read the whole thread) but my doctor calls it the topical accutane, and you will get pretty dry, but skin clears up pretty nicely with this method - not as beautifully as accutane, but it works very well if you can deal with the dry skin for a few months.</p>

<p>Another option for skin problems which is pretty much benign for voices is Minocycline… Works quite well.</p>

<p>To those females who have very very persistent acne (including after Accutane), please see your doctor about PCOS (poly cystic ovary syndrome) and thyroid imbalances. An excess of testosterone and/or abnormal ovaries (which causes heavy then no periods, etc.) can cause difficult acne in females. Low thyroid can be an underlying cause of PCOS, setting off insulin resistance after weight gain, and causing abnormal estrogen production by the ovaries. PCOS can also cause: weight gain, irregular periods, moodiness, hirsutism, lower voice, muscularity, infertility.</p>

<p>We have learned this the hard way! Take care.</p>

<p>Another thing to check on is Vitamin D levels. Apparently it can affect hormone levels. All these musicians indoors in the northeast all day long aren’t getting enough by a longshot. It takes a lot of supplements to make up for the deficiency. DD came home with spectacularly sudden severe acne, had some blood tests which showed low vitamin D and high(ish) androgen levels. She’s been on supplements and antibiotics, and some good topical prescribed stuff. She’s much much better, and has now started a yaz-type BC pill so we’ll see. Accutane? No, never, our son had some of the mental health side effects from it years ago (thankfully he’s doing great now), so we’d never risk it again. There are lazer treatments for acne that help, D has had two of them (not covered by insurance) and it has seemed to help a lot.</p>

<p>Good advice, sopranomom92! Last year, my MD decided to check my Vitamin D levels and found out that I had NONE! That is very common for all of us who live in the gloomy, grey climes of the Northeast, Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest (I’d assume there are other places too!) and it also causes extreme fatigue. The best thing is to get a Rx for the mega-dose of Vit D to bring the levels back up and then you can buy it over the counter- but check out the dosage with the doctor first.</p>

<p>My son, who is a trumpet player, was on Accutane for 2 months. I noticed he was cracking a lot of notes, but not the difficult ones, he was not able to sustain the easy long notes, which in the past had been no problem for him. He also fatigued quicker than before. I didn’t realize he had a problem until I heard him perform and asked him what was going on. He didn’t know, but he and his teacher were working on this. We then realized it started soon after the accutane was started. I am a physician (and do a fair amount of dermatology) and I had taken him to a very experience dermatologist friend of mine, (who’s d happens to be in a masters program in a very prestigious voice program) and neither one of us had ever heard of issues with musicians. I even looked on various medical sites and even patient forums and found nothing.</p>

<p>I’m convinced the Accutane caused premature muscle fatigue, which caused him to play erratically. This may not be an issue in casual players, but it was devastating in my s. He made it to the finals in the National Trumpet Competition (I think he didn’t expect to advance so he was very relaxed) but placed last (3rd) in the finals. He must have cracked every other note, it was horrible. It also cost him 2 other competitions with large scholarships as prizes.</p>

<p>It took about 2 months for him to regain his playing back to where he was before. Fortunately he did regain everything back and did well in his auditions, being accepted into the most competitive trumpet programs. Having said that though, I would advise most musicians to avoid accutane in their important junior and senior years of HS (and beyond). It’s just not worth it.</p>

<p>My son just started Accutane (about a month ago) and he just recently is having difficulty with is upper range. I read the other posts and I am not sure what to do. He has severe acne and has been on many treatments that do not work. Accutane seemed to be the answer, but I am concerned with his voice. </p>

<p>Did you continue to take accutane, if so what issues did you have and did your voice restore back to the same before accutane</p>

<p>Thank you</p>

<p>Inspired59, everyone is different - some people’s voices do go back to normal after accutane, and some do not. Most people I know were pretty fortunate. I did two courses (one six months, one three months) and I regained my high notes within a couple months of ending both courses (soprano). I stopped my second course for fear of my voice. It has been about 8 months since my last dose, and I have all the notes I had before, plus some. If he wants to stay on it, talk to his doctor about doing a lower dose for a longer period of time, or maybe not doing daily doses. And make sure he drinks lots of water! (I’m sure he does already) If you’re really worried, I would go see an ENT just to be safe. I still break out, but my skin has been a lot more manageable since accutane, and everything worked well in the end for me. I wouldn’t do a third course, but I’m glad that I did it. My self confidence has skyrocketed! Also, the skin improves even after ending the course, so a 3-4 month course is often sufficient if he wants to follow through.</p>

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>I’m a 19-year-old student living in Australia (so I guess I’m kind of cheating coming on here, but I’ve been coming to this thread rather frequently for answers, haha) who has been taking Accutane for about four months now.
I’m not studying music, however I’m the lead singer in an alternative rock band, and my voice usually sits in a baritenor range, fairly similar to Johnny Rzeznik (Goo Goo Dolls) or Billy Joe Armstrong (Green Day), and I was able to comfortably get a high G# in songs like Music of the Night from Phantom, and sometimes a high A, before I started my Accutane course.
However, now I’m finding that my voice is a lot dryer, I can’t hold notes as well, and I’ve gone from having a rich, full tone to sounding like Kurt Cobain on a bad day. Mind you, I love Kurt, and that sound kind of works for my genre of music, but it’s still exceedingly annoying to have less control and versatility. To make matters worse, my band mates have noticed and pulled me up on it, which has been making me feel very self-conscious and useless because it’s something I can’t control. It’s also put me in a bit of a depression because making music and singing is so much harder.
My range hasn’t been strongly affected, being a slightly lower voice type already, although I’ve pretty much lost my high G#. It might be worth noting that I’ve been smoking for roughly two years (stupid, yes, but I plan on quitting when I stop with the Accutane), although that didn’t seem to have a particularly strong effect on my voice, but it can’t help things when combined with Accutane.
Would it be fair to say that it has a similar effect on the body and voice as alcohol? It seems that you’d see similar symptoms in singers who are alcoholics and get that rougher tone. I imagine that seeing alcohol and accutane both dry out the body, there would have to be some connection.</p>

<p>Am I likely to regain my tone and control when I finish my course? My skin has cleared right up, and I’m likely to finish the course next month. I read SimpleLife’s post about your son recovering his voice after two months, but how long was he on Accutane for?</p>

<p>I love how being able to sing gives you a sense of being “special” and having a hidden talent, so I’m sincerely hoping I haven’t traded my voice for my skin. :frowning:
I’d appreciate any further advice anyone could give on this.</p>

<p>By the way, if it’d be of any use, I have numerous ‘before and after’ recordings if anyone would like me to post them for a practical comparison, although I’m guessing it has a different effect on everyone.</p>

<p>Cheers,</p>

<p>Dan</p>

<p>Although the Accutane does have an effect on your voice, I’d say that the changes in your voice would be due to the couple years of smoking.
Dan, you are obviously an intelligent and ambitious young man and you love to sing. Take control of your own health and get into a smoking cessation program now, not a few months down the road, not when you finish with the Accutane, now. Give your throat a break by tossing the cigarettes and then you’ll be able to see what happens when the Accutane is out of your system.
Alcohol, in excess, isn’t good for the voice, but the worst thing for it is smoking. That’s what gives that “rough edge” to voices- couple it with the stress put on the vocal chords by the type of singing you’re doing and you are on course to ruin your voice. Any of the parents on here are going to tell you the same thing- all of you kids are “special” and we want the best for you. Help us out by helping yourself.</p>

<p>Dancup - agree about the smoking. Do you do other healthy things for your voice - warm up properly and warm down? Have you had any classical training or lessons of any kind?</p>

<p>Mezzo’sMama - Hmm, could be, but I don’t think that’s it. When I say I’ve been smoking for two years, I’m talking a gradual incline from one now and then to about four cigarettes a day at maximum, unless I go out, in which case I might have ten in a day? I’d actually been smoking for a few months before I started singing, so I don’t know what my voice would sound like completely smoke-free, but I only noticed a bit of a deterioration in the last month or two, after a few months on accutane.
However, partly as an experiment as well I decided about a day after my first post that I wouldn’t buy any more cigarettes, so we’ll see how that pans out. Thankfully I was never really ‘addicted’, so I doubt I’ll need to go into any sort of program to help me quit. :slight_smile:
I’m guessing I might get my falsetto back, which I lost almost completely a while ago, and hopefully my high range might extend. I’ve actually already noticed I have more vocal stamina after only about a day. However, I’m slightly worried of getting a boring, overly smooth voice with out cigarettes, haha.</p>

<p>Cartera - I’ve been getting singing lessons for about eight months or so now? They’ve definitely helped me with my tone and placement, but we generally focus on singing technique itself rather than warming up and down, which is something I’ve wanted very much to learn properly. Know any sites that have good information on that kind of thing?</p>

<p>…Also, I’ve been making a point of drinking a lot more water, and I think that could be helping! :)</p>

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<p>Surely your voice teacher is warming you up and showing you very specific warm up exercises? If not, I think I would get a new voice teacher. I guess cooling down is a more appropriate term and is not something you hear as much about, but my D focused more on it in a program this past summer and found it helpful with vocal fatigue. Sorry, I’m not a teacher so I can’t help you with it.</p>

<p>I noticed this topic, and was thinking about when my S was on accutane - I don’t think it really affected his voice, BUT I know he followed his Dr’s advice to drink lots of water every day, including water with electrolytes in it, like “Smart Water”.</p>

<p>@Dancup- good to hear about ditching the cigarettes! That junk builds up and inhaling certainly doesn’t do your nose/throat any good- you’ll be much healthier and please let us know what your “smoke free” voice is like in a few months.
cartera is giving you good advice re a voice teacher. You wouldn’t go out and run 10K without warming up your muscles first, would you? Singing for an hour is akin to running a 10K with those muscles in your throat, so singing “cold” can cause damage. If your teacher hasn’t gone over proper warm-up technique, ask her/him to do so at the beginning of your next lesson. Then carve out time before you leave for each lesson and warm up at home ( sing in the car if you’re driving there!).</p>

<p>@Cartera: Well, thankfully I’ve been selected by the singing school to go up into the advanced class, and I actually had a similar discussion about warm ups with my future teacher at an open microphone event, so hopefully this won’t be an issue soon. :slight_smile:
@JTsings: Interesting. What’s the advantage of electrolytic water over the regular stuff for this sort of thing?
@Mezzo’sMama: It’s already a lot fuller after a week and a bit. I feel like I’d lost a lot of tone and the bottom end of my voice was less present. I’m also noticing it’s a lot easier, and I have more control. Singing when you smoke, even a couple of cigarettes a day, is sort of like wading through a swamp. I’m still having a lot of trouble with getting much falsetto out at all, however, and I’m worried I might have damaged that part of my voice. Which sucks because I’m getting into Ryan Adams, and I’d like to be able to use it with some songs like he does! Haha.
Thanks for everyone’s help and advice, by the way. :)</p>

<p>Nice job, Dancup! I’m really pleased for you!</p>