Hi Everyone
I am new to this board!!!!! Glad to be here. I've read all of your stories and was touched by so many of them.
I have had blepharitis and dry eye syndrome for 8 years now as a result of taking accutane 9 and a half years ago. I have tried just about everything to treat these problems but have never had a lot of luck. I recently scored my lowest mark ever on a schirper test so I have been extremely worried over what's going to happen to me. Willing to try anything to improve my condition my opth suggested low doses of cod liver oil. I have been using fish oil for the last two years but have not had any improvement from that. The words cod liver oil have always terrified me as they contain vitamin A and it was a vitamin A overdose that got me into this situation in the first place from the accutane.
At the lowest point in my life I made the decision to try it as I felt like I had nothing to lose any more. I truly didn't think that it would do anything as all the other supplements that were suggested to me had done nothing to improve my condition.
Well to my complete and utter shock within 2 hours of taking it my eyes started to feel really moist. I took another tablet that night and my eyes started to feel even better. It's been five days now and I have only used my steroid drops once in that time I have used artificial tears twice in that time and that was only after being in front of a computer for 7 hours.
I felt happy at first as I was just feeling so normal but that joy has quickly turned to confusion and fear!!! Am I risking my health even further taking these supplements?? I am only on a very low dose of cod liver. I take three capsules a day so the total of vitamin A I am ingesting is 1500 IU. When I was on accutane I think i was on something like 50 000 IU. So as you can see a lot less. I have asked my opth, my local doctor and several naturopaths their opinion. They all say that the dose I am taking is considered very low and will not cause any toxicity. My doctor says that he is willing to send me for liver and blood tests regularly to make sure I have no toxicity. They have also all told me that the vitamin a in cod liver oil is different to the vitamin a in accutane. Vitamin A in accutane and multi vitamins is chemically made cod liver is natural so I have even less to worry about.
My opth also wants to me to take BioTears as soon as it becomes available in Australia as she thinks it will probably work for me as I am having such an improvement with cod liver. BioTears has vitamin a in it too. (bout the same IU as what i am taking now) It seems all future improved treatments are going to involve vitamin a which makes me very very nervous.
I have had a few headaches since taking the cod liver, but I also gave up caffeine on that same day and everyone believes that is what is causing the headaches. It makes sense cos when I quit caffeine a few years ago I got similiar headaches.
What really terrifies me is that a lot of anti accutane websites say that people who have ever taken accutane should not under any circumstances take cod liver oil for the rest of their lives. It is not doctors saying this though it is people who have taken accutane and believe that the vitamin a toxicity never leaves your system. All my health care professionals say they have heard of accutane users being told not to take cod liver during treatment but never after especially a long time after.
Even though accutane left me with bleph, dry eye and crohn's disease (which I haven't had symptoms of for 2 years) blood tests I have taken have never ever shown that I ever had or have ever had vitamin a toxicity.
I am just so confused. I don't think I have ever been this torn in my life. Does anyone have any advice?
Ben
I am new to this board!!!!! Glad to be here. I've read all of your stories and was touched by so many of them.
I have had blepharitis and dry eye syndrome for 8 years now as a result of taking accutane 9 and a half years ago. I have tried just about everything to treat these problems but have never had a lot of luck. I recently scored my lowest mark ever on a schirper test so I have been extremely worried over what's going to happen to me. Willing to try anything to improve my condition my opth suggested low doses of cod liver oil. I have been using fish oil for the last two years but have not had any improvement from that. The words cod liver oil have always terrified me as they contain vitamin A and it was a vitamin A overdose that got me into this situation in the first place from the accutane.
At the lowest point in my life I made the decision to try it as I felt like I had nothing to lose any more. I truly didn't think that it would do anything as all the other supplements that were suggested to me had done nothing to improve my condition.
Well to my complete and utter shock within 2 hours of taking it my eyes started to feel really moist. I took another tablet that night and my eyes started to feel even better. It's been five days now and I have only used my steroid drops once in that time I have used artificial tears twice in that time and that was only after being in front of a computer for 7 hours.
I felt happy at first as I was just feeling so normal but that joy has quickly turned to confusion and fear!!! Am I risking my health even further taking these supplements?? I am only on a very low dose of cod liver. I take three capsules a day so the total of vitamin A I am ingesting is 1500 IU. When I was on accutane I think i was on something like 50 000 IU. So as you can see a lot less. I have asked my opth, my local doctor and several naturopaths their opinion. They all say that the dose I am taking is considered very low and will not cause any toxicity. My doctor says that he is willing to send me for liver and blood tests regularly to make sure I have no toxicity. They have also all told me that the vitamin a in cod liver oil is different to the vitamin a in accutane. Vitamin A in accutane and multi vitamins is chemically made cod liver is natural so I have even less to worry about.
My opth also wants to me to take BioTears as soon as it becomes available in Australia as she thinks it will probably work for me as I am having such an improvement with cod liver. BioTears has vitamin a in it too. (bout the same IU as what i am taking now) It seems all future improved treatments are going to involve vitamin a which makes me very very nervous.
I have had a few headaches since taking the cod liver, but I also gave up caffeine on that same day and everyone believes that is what is causing the headaches. It makes sense cos when I quit caffeine a few years ago I got similiar headaches.
What really terrifies me is that a lot of anti accutane websites say that people who have ever taken accutane should not under any circumstances take cod liver oil for the rest of their lives. It is not doctors saying this though it is people who have taken accutane and believe that the vitamin a toxicity never leaves your system. All my health care professionals say they have heard of accutane users being told not to take cod liver during treatment but never after especially a long time after.
Even though accutane left me with bleph, dry eye and crohn's disease (which I haven't had symptoms of for 2 years) blood tests I have taken have never ever shown that I ever had or have ever had vitamin a toxicity.
I am just so confused. I don't think I have ever been this torn in my life. Does anyone have any advice?
Ben
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