"This experience left me frustrated and very concerned"

I attended my usual monthly appointment with dermatology earlier this week. The doctor (who did not tell me their name) was a different one to those who had seen me before, and didn't seem to know anything about the medication I was on or why I was on it.

I am on accutane and should have a blood test every 4 weeks to check my liver function as this medication is really dangerous for your liver. The doctor gave me a prescription for four months of pills, telling me not to come back before I'd finished them. This was after telling me I shouldn't have even been at the appointment because of the corona virus outbreak despite me having rang up the day before to check and being told I definitely had to attend my appointment, they were quite rude about this.

I did not even get invited into a room I was spoken to in a waiting room. The doctor proceeded to tell me I didn't need to be on the accutane because my skin looked fine, they were looking at my face, my acne is severe on my back. I told them they were wrong and that the previous doctor had told me I would need to be on the medication for at least 6 months probably longer due to my low dosage, the previous doctor was very concerned about my side effects and wanted to see me every four weeks to monitor them closely. 

It is also extremely dangerous to get pregnant while on this medication so I have to do a pregnancy test every four weeks at the hospital, the doctor I saw before told me this was extremely crucial and I couldn’t miss it, however the doctor who I saw this week did not ask me to do a pregnancy test and due to the high quantity of medication prescribed to me, clearly doesn’t want me to go back in four weeks to have one as the previous doctor had wanted.

The doctor I saw this time didn't even ask me if I was suffering any side effects before handing me a prescription for more medication. My dosage must also be raised every month when possible to get the full effect of the medication, this doctor gave me four months worth of the same dosage. They didn't even check my blood test results before telling me to go ahead with the medication. I have been told previously that doing a blood test every four weeks is of upmost importance for this medication.

Furthermore when I went to the pharmacy, the pharmacist told me to take the medication incorrectly and upon my questioning they were rude to me and then admitted that I was in fact right. They had told me to take two 5mg tablets daily when in fact I was prescribed 30mg daily. This is worrying as if I didn't know my medication as well as I do I might have listened to this person and taken my medication incorrectly.

Overall I am very unhappy with my experience and quite frankly worried about the advice this doctor is giving, I will now have to ring dermatology to ask a different doctor to correct my dosage and prescription and to check my blood test results before I continue this course.

I will also need another blood test way before the four months I was given. This experience left me frustrated and very concerned about continuing with my medication. The doctor also spoke to me like I was a child (I am 22 years old) and patronised me about my medication, this really annoyed me. To make things worse, I wasn’t allowed to bring my Mum with me to the appointment (who is an ex-nurse and knows a lot more about NHS protocol than I do) due to the corona virus concerns, she would have argued my case with the doctor there and then whereas I was made to feel silly for even being there.