Accutane And Infertility (Page 13)

I took accutane almost 14 years ago as a teenager. I am now a 32 year old woman who has just been diagnosed with infertility that they believe is linked to autoimmune issues. I truly believe that accutane is the cause of this; from the research that I have done it seems that accutane has been linked to other thyroid-related diseases, but that they have not yet been able to prove a link between accutane and infertility. There are, however, actually more people like me out there than I originally thought. Being diagnosed with ovarian dysfunction has been a horrific, horrific blow. And while there was plenty of information about accutane and birth defects, no one ever mentioned a possibility of future infertility. I was a teenager! This is a tragedy and I believe something should be done about it. If you too have been affected diagnosed with infertility and have taken accutane, please email me. There are plenty of suits against accutance. If there are enough of us, we can come together to do the medical research and get the help we now need.

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I had cystic acne as an adult. At 24 I got put on accutane and was on it for 4 months. At the age of 29 I ended up getting Ovarian Cancer. With ovarian cancer you are at a higher risk with no pregnancies or ovulation. So I'm wondering if being on Accuntane caused this. I have no family history and I don't have the genetic mutation for it. Anyone else have this problem??

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Just a reminder if you haven't signed this please do!
change.org/petitions/tell-roche-pharmaceuticals-give-us-the-truth-about-accutane

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My son has been off the generic Accutane for 1 wk., he was on for a total of 47 day.. 30 mg x 2 a day. I have been detoxing him for 4 days. I wonder if anyone was on the Accutane, and immediately started to detox? I am also thinking about having his sperm tested. I am just trying to do all I can to help him.

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I too took accutane in 2001 when I was 17. Today I am almost 29 and have been diagnosed with infertility. We have been trying to conceive for almost 3 years. I see that you posted this in 2010... Have you taken any action since? Please contact me.

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I took accutane three different times between the age of 16 and 25. I got pregnant at 34 for the first time but the baby was a trisomy 18 (he has 3 chromosome 18) and had to have a d/e at 18weeks. Got pregnant 2 more times but miscarried early on. My husband and I went through IVF and had 5 embryos. All were tested for chromosome abnormalities and all came back with multiple chromosome abnormalities. We were told by the reproductive endocrinologist that all of my eggs were bad and it would be a waste of time and money to do IVF again. We chose to have n egg donor and I have boy/girl twins. I am certain that accutane is the cause of my infertility. I would love to sue the pants off of the makers of this drug. They have no idea how many lives they have destroyed.

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Have you considered that advanced maternal age is reponsible?

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Advanced maternal age is defined as age 35 years and older. I would think that you would know that since you are a doctor. So, no, I do not consider that as the reason for my infertility. Furthermore, neither does the reproductive endocrinologist.

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Dermatology doc I thought you had seen sense and stopped poking your nose in. Why don't you keep your mindless comments to yourself, you are somewhat of a pain to all on here for a specific reason. Butt out as your comments are unhelpful.

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Accurate, germane, concise, helpful, but unwanted by some.

Sorry to burst your pity bubble with actual facts.

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Just an FYI. There have been two studies that link accutane and infertility. It's on pubweb.gov. Here is the link
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
Type "accutane and infertility" it will bring up the two studies

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Pity bubble! Ha ha ha, you need pity dermatology doc. Why the hell would anyone spend time on a forum for infertility if they didn't need to. You need to get out, get a life and get a grip. Please do us all a favour and stop posting.

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Hi Doc,

This is Sara, the original poster of the first message in this thread back in 2010. I am politely asking you to remove yourself from this thread.

I have consulted with many, many doctors, most of them at a top-tier research facility and NONE of them have ruled out Accutane as a trigger in the condition that I have. In fact, a couple of them are actively pursuing the research that may someday prove that there is a link between Accutane and infertility. (I actually have a PhD as well, although not in this field, and I resent the way that you talk down to the rest of the people who post here.)

Your comments about WHY some of the folks on this forum have infertility range from thought-provoking and insightful to ridiculous and assuming.

Just to let you know (and because I was not clear in my original post). My ovarian disfunction is NOT PCOS, it is Premature Ovarian Insufficiency, the precursor to to Premature Ovarian failure. Additionally, after 5 failed IVFs I also have been diagnosed with poor egg quality.

And if you have paid attention to the posts here, you will realize that many of the posters here are YOUNG women with POI or POF.

Many of your comments have been about age and infertility. Well sir, advanced maternal age had absolutely nothing to do with my diagnosis nor a lot of women here. (I was 31 when I was diagnosed and for years was the youngest person in the room at infertility support groups.)

Like I said above, if you continue to post in the manner you have been posting, I politely request that you remove yourself from this thread.

Whether it sits well with your conscious or not, Accuntane already has been proven unsafe and linked to several health conditions. It's now just a matter of time before it will be clearly linked to infertility as well. If you continue to prescribe it, that is your choice, but there's no need to brow-beat the already-weary in this forum.

Thank you,
Sara

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Hello Sara:) I would love for you to contact me offline if possible. We have identical circumstances. Thanks, Carrie

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Sure Carrie, I'd be happy to contact you. But how do I do that? (I realized after I posted the original posting that I didn't have access to anyone's information that posted and therefore couldn't get ahold of them....)

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Good-bye, I won't make you move your group and lose your archives.

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Okay, it is awful to be dealing with infertility. That said, I wish people would stop trying to blame accutane for everything that ever ails them once they've taken it. There is no credible evidence that accutane causes infertility. (I myself took it at age 18 and again at 24 and I have five children, the last one born when I was 40!) I feel terrible for anyone traveling the lonely and frustrating road of infertility, but we all need to remember, correlation is not causation.

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Well written! I too had similar diagnosis - poor egg quality, early onset menopause etc. Fortunately there is an experimental doctor here in New Zealand who made a world first discovery. His treatment is called Lipiodal flushing and it's simple and it works with a higher % rate than IVF for certain infertility types esp. endometriosis but also with unexplained infert. You may wish to consider it. It's relatively cheap and fairly non invasive (particularly so compared to IVF etc). Just google it. My doc's name is Dr Neil Johnson to add to a google search.

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Okay, so Accutane is a Chemo drug right???? So just like anyother person who takes Chemo they have the chance of infertility. In fact many young women with Cancer have thier eggs perserved for that reason.
Difference is that Derms don't tell you that Accutane is a cancer treating drug, they tell you dry lips and skin, So your basically poisoning yourself for a mild conditon of acne...Yes it is over prescribed!

If you are tried of reading about thier infertility issues, then don't read this thread simple as that! I am sure you have better things to do right????

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I am debating taking Accutane. I am 26 and just got married in August. I'm trying to research as much as I can before I take it because I am worried about what you all are talking about here. I'd like to know how many of you also took birth control before, during, and after taking Accutane? I've been told its a necessity while taking Accutane however birth control may be related to all the things you ladies are talking about regarding infertility.

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I took birth control pills before during and after taking accutane. I have never seen or heard of any infertility "side effects" from taking birth control pills. "The birth control pills produced today contain a fraction of estrogen and other chemicals compared to pills from the forty years ago or more. In fact, doctors will advise that most women can start tying to get pregnant immediately after stopping the pill without any problem." Additionally, my issue was egg quality. I had no problem getting pregnant. I had an issue with staying pregnant but only due to egg quality. If you are planning to have a family naturally, I would strongly suggest not taking accutane. The risks associated with the drug are totally not worth it! Try not to think of the immediate effects but think of the long-term effects and what you ate potentially giving up. Also, there is a link between infertility and accutane. There is a study on pubmed.gov. I hope this information helps you make an informed decision. If I had it to do all over I never would have taken the accutane!

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