A vast majority of our patients enjoy the expected therapeutic benefit from a course of Isotretinoin at a cumulative dose of 120mg/kg. If both the patient and the doctor agree that additional treatment will be beneficial, we will quote you a pro-rata price to extend your treatment a month or two in order to achieve a higher cumulative dose.

The blood tests included in the TreatDirect package are sufficient for the vast majority of our patients. If additional blood tests are necessary (either because the doctor has recommended repeat tests because of certain markers, or one or more tests are spoiled), then additional tests are available at our lab cost of £75.00.

The TreatDirect package includes 7 pregnancy tests in the package. If your treatment is extended or one or more pregnancy tests become spoiled, we can quote you a minimal charge for additional tests.

Whether or not you are accepted under care by our doctor is entirely at the prescriber’s discretion. You are more likely to be prescribed advanced acne medication if you answer yes to the following questions. Are you developing scars from your acne? Have you tried various forms of treatments which have failed to help? Do you have acne on more than one area of the body (e.g. face, chest, back, arms)? Do you have nodular, cystic acne?

TreatDirect is dedicated to the welfare of our patients and there are certain circumstances in which Isotretinoin will not be prescribed. Isotretinoin is a teratogen (can cause birth defects), can take a toll on the liver, elevates cholesterol and can affect night vision. For these reasons our doctors will not prescribe Isotretinoin to women who are, or might be pregnant and will expect female patients to follow strict prevention procedures, throughout the course of treatment. Patients who are known to have impaired liver function will also not be taken under care, as Accutane can put added stress on the liver, which it may not be able to cope with. For patients who have high cholesterol, our doctors will want to see a reduction in these levels before they will be accepted under care. This eliminates the chance of raising fat levels in the blood even higher. Isotretinoin therapy can affect night vision, so pilots may need to inform their regulatory body if they come under care. If you are allergic to peanuts, soya or the sugar sorbitol, you must inform your doctor because some brands of Isotretinoin may contain these ingredients.

It is very rare for patients to not be able to proceed with treatment as a result of their first blood test. The first blood test is a baseline for us to monitor how your body responds to the medication in future. There have been a few instances since we started offering treatment many years ago when the patient could not proceed immediately due to their baseline blood test. What we did in those cases was advise they attend to their GP to resolve the underlying medical issue, then retest blood and start treatment several months later. It has never happened that a patient could not proceed because of their baseline blood test, but if that did happen we would refund the treatment cost less the lab fees of £75.00.

Based on decades of experience, we have found that the optimal cumulative dose for a primary course treatment therapy is 120mg/kg of body weight. For example, a 65kg (10.2 stone) patient will be prescribed a TOTAL of 7,800mg of medication over a 6 month course of treatment (65kg x 120mg). This dose achieves the best outcome for long term benefits from the course of treatment. Many private dermatology clinics and the NHS under dose patients, which is a false economy. Doing so is a disservice to the patient, who must endure a course of treatment with side effects and lifestyle restrictions, without the long term benefit.

Yes, low dose/long duration packages of treatment are possible. Typically, these involve a bespoke dose (e.g. 10mg/day, 20mg/day, etc.) over a longer period of time (9 – 12 months or more). Such courses of treatment may be appropriate for patients who have already successfully gone through a primary course of conventional Isotretinoin therapy, have had some recurrence of acne, and wish to manage oil production with more of a light touch. A quotation can be provided upon consultation.