Can acne treatment lead to IBD?

My teenage son has acne, which he believes is between moderate and severe. He used several topical gels from 10% benzoyl peroxide to 0.3% adapalene, which did not help much. He is complaining and thinking of using stronger medicine including oral medicine. But somewhere I heard that some forms of acne treatment can result in inflammatory bowel disease. Have you known any possible cases of IBD caused by the treatment of acne? Shall I just let him stay on topical treatment? Thanks.

Thank you, 73monte. I talked to my son and we are going to take a more cautious approach for his acne treatment. After I brought up the class action law suit, he kind of understands why I am a little reluctant to use the more aggressive option.

Paul, glad to see your son is staying with topicals. The class action suits against Accutane were dismissed. They sued stating the maker miss labeled the side effects, 2 different class action suits were filed. There is a few suits still pending in NJ & they will be dismissed too. The court's ruling was based on no evidence presented to support their facts.

A friend of mine's adult daughter used Accutane for a year. She had some prior mental health issues she was being treated for, Accutane made her issues much worse. She wsa determined to hang in there, hind sight 20/20 she says she would never do it again.

Did you read the conclusions? I mean, it's a pretty small chance. "The absolute risk of developing UC after taking isotretinoin is likely quite small."

The study you referenced was in 2010.

Here is one from 2013 that found no link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23096714/

Here is another from 2014 that found no link, either:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25207875/

And here is a summary article about all of those findings in layman's terms:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323222#accutane

I think your son is okay to go on Accutane.

You're welcome! I totally get it - I get paranoid about things, too! And it's so much worse when it's your kid instead of yourself, you know?

The study you linked was very helpful - that last sentence was especially heartening! "Most epidemiologic studies have not found a association or a dose-response relationship. Taken overall, results from epidemiologic studies completed to date do not show a consistent association between isotretinoin use and risk of either Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and the causality of these associations has not been established."

I totally get why you would still prefer topical. You're a really good mom in letting him make the decision, though. It's so hard to be a teenager with really bad acne. I still suffer with deep cystic acne, and I'm in my 30s. I never did Accutane because my mom had heard so many horror stories. It cleared up for a while in my 20s, but now in my 30s it can get pretty bad depending on my time of month. I get super insecure about it sometimes, and it makes me glad for face masks some days lol.

One thing I was just thinking is I wonder if there is a relationship between the two, if instead of the meds causing the IBD, what if the fact that you have bad acne is related to the cause of IBD somehow? Some people theorize IBD is an overreaction to your gut bacteria. And acne is caused by bacteria. I know it seems like a stretch, but perhaps?

Kind of in the same way that midline defects range all the way from simple tongue ties down to spina bifida. A huge spectrum that you wouldn't think related at all, but they come from the same physical abnormality in the genes.

Now I'm just randomly speculating, which is probably my cue to go to bed now that I got the baby to sleep lol.

lol, you mean the throat polyp thing that I have going on? No idea! I finally gave in and called the ENT today and have an appointment for Monday. I'll update on my other thread once I get some answers. It's seriously driving me crazy - I constantly feel like I have something stuck in my throat gagging me.

Hi, I am from the UC forum. I took roaccutane (isotretinoin) when I was 18 for severe acne. I developed UC when I was 33.

I did read about the connection between the drug and UC but given the long gap between the two (15 years) I doubt the drug gave me UC. I would consider it more likely that the acne and UC might have the same underlying cause.

Furthermore,after taking isotretinoin I spent about 6 years on various antibiotics for my acne, which probably totally messed up my gut bacteria and if I would blame any drug for my UC it would be those. IBD also runs in my family (mostly crohns).

In the end I got my acne under control with hormonal therapy. I know that isn't an option for the boys...

I have not taken Accutane my self but I do have two family members that did and it was a disaster, they both regret taking it and would never take it again. Both family members had their skin clear up and a few years later the acne returned. Also, both have kidney issues now and both have serious mental health issues and were suicidal at one point, specialist said all is due to taking accutane.