Accutane And Infertility (Page 21)

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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Operative word is SUBSTANTIATED.

Lots of anecdotal.

Is there even a proposed testable mechanism for isotretinoin causing infertility?

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Just throwing this out there... I took Accutane for 5 or 6 years in the 80's and early 90's. Starting in about 1995 I have experience terrible IBS symptoms, as have SO MANY accutane users have over the years.

I WONDER...what if it is not the Accutane per se that is causing the infertility but the IBS which is caused by Accutane? You need proper digestion and nutrition to make the germ cells. Right now, I have azoospermia.

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Why would you take Accutane for 5 or 6 years, the standard is 5 months. It is more likely that the same inflamatory process that causes the severe acne in the skin also causes theinflamation in the "skin" of the bowel. Correlation does not mean causation.

Actually, now that much larger groups have been studied, isotretinoin reduces the risk of IBD. So, apparently reducing the inflamation in the skin reduces the inflamation in the bowel.

Facts are so inconvenient.

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Actually, now that much larger groups have been studied, isotretinoin reduces the risk of IBD. So, apparently reducing the inflammation in the skin reduces the inflammation in the bowel.

Germ cells are present just after conception and are fully developed by birth, so nutrition or IBS wouldn't affect the germ cells.

There are so many IBS sufferers who have taken Accutane, unfortunately, the rate of IBS is lower in Accutane users than the general population.

There are also so many IBS sufferers who have taken aspirin or eaten a banana or drunk carbonated beverages, so why not blame Coca Cola for IBS (Actually probably more likely than Accutane. A can of Coke has 180 calories of carbs, so excessive Coke consumption might cause diabetes which causes IBS.)

Facts are so inconvenient.

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Why? Because it was clearing up my skin and I was young and dumb. Sorry, you ever do anything dumb? I liked the way my skin felt, very smooth, and my derm said there was no reason not to continue taking it.

As for the IBS, so you're telling me all these legal cases are BS? Tons of people coming out of the woodwork with major digestive issues..

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We are not saying that we have any substantiated research. The point of this is to find out if there may be a link and if others had a similar problem. My query is if accutane could have had a long term effect on sperm quality or morphology. Of course, what we have for now is anecdotal but that is the only place I can start as I am not a medical researcher with a lab.

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I took acutane for 7 years! Why 7 years and not 5 months? Because every time I tried to stop, acne came back again, it did miracle with my skin... I did not feel any side effect (not that I known), it took me long time to get pregnant - my 2 pregnancies - no treatment. I had some fertility test, everything came back normal except AMH (anti mulerian hormone) which was low for my age. Was this the cause of my inability to get pregnant easily? Was this because of acutane? I have no idea, I wish I know

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Too bad you weren't worked up for a hormone problem rather than long term Accutane. Spironolactone works very well for resistant acne in women. Doesn't mean Accutane is at fault. Should we sue BIC because arsonists use their lighters? Some doctors are better at suspecting an underlying cause, such as PCOS, or an inherited enzyme deficiency that leads to buildup of precursor molecules such as DHEA.

Yes all the IBS legal cases are BS, Roche chose to settle for $8 million per case when they pulled out off the US market. For $8 million there is no shortage of lawyers and plaintiffs, but the DATA doesn't support the accusations and most of those mega awards were reversed on appeal and with the new data showing isotretinoin is NEGATIVELY correlated with IBS, you don't hear of any new mega awards.

See silicone breast implants for a similar frenzy or the Salem witch trials or the Armintrout case or thousands of other manias throughout human history.

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.The problem is who is going to fund such research or even do such research when there is no evidence that there is a problem besides the anecdotes. There is no statistical evidence that any of this problems are more common in people treated with recommended doses of Accutane than in a control population that wasn't. Not to mention the fact that there are relatively few patients with severe scarring cystic acne that don't take Accuaten

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.Why did you take Accutane for 7 years? Did you ever read the PI or the information leaflet or book? Did you ever look on the Internet for the problems with long term Accutane administration?

Did you ever think about getting a second opinion? About seeing a gyecological endocrinologist?

I can feel your pain, but surely you must take some personal responsibility for your plight.

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I took it for 5 years. I was 16 years old. This was the 1980's. No, I didn't read about any long term consequences at that time and my doctor said it was fine and I trusted him.

Big mistake in hindsight. HUGE mistake maybe. So who is to blame? Me? Roche? My doctor? All of the above I guess.

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That is truly unfortunate. At 16 I would absolve you of the blame, that was pre-Internet and I doubt many 16 year olds read a pillowcase sized double sided PI in microscopic type.

I would blame the doctor somewhat but the information on long term accutane use was hidden in the PI and the average doctor doesn't read a 10,000 word PI on every drug.

Roche? Maybe they could have emphasized the long term effects more but since the standard treatment was 5 months and the long term effects had been studied and warnings were made about using it in other conditions that required continuous therapy, I expect they complied with the standards at the time of approval.

It is anybody's fault? Who can say? There's an old joke about what do you call the guy who graduated at the bottom of his medical school class (DOCTOR).

I think that was a different time when Doctors were treated by some people as Gods and some of the medical technology and pharmacology was Godlike. People are much more likely to question (This forum is a perect eample).

60 years ago they used xray machines to check the fit of children's shoes.

80 years ago women used their tongues to put a point on brushes to paint radium on watches.

Hindsight is always 20/20.

I am sorry for your loss. Time does not heal all wounds, you just get more used to them.

Have you read "Why Bad Things Happen to Good People"?

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Question to 'It is not always Isotretinoin': did you take it? I took it and there is no doubt it affected my body. Some ways it affected me I can clearly see such as the thin skin. I had fairly thick skin before I took it, that didn't bruise easily. That's not me making things up, sorry. That's a fact. Some ways it may have affected me I cannot clearly see as it's inside my body. That is why we have this forum. We understand that our problems with fertility could also have other reasons, obviously.

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Where are your facts "It is not always Isotretinoin" ? Why are you on this forum? You provide some insight about being objective and then you proceed with lame comments towards people who are trying to cope with medical problems that MIGHT Be associated with Accutane. You seem to like writing about the topic so why do you feel the necessity to ask people if they read the book why do bad things happen to good people?

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I am 25. I took accutane for 3 years. I have now been trying to get pregnant for a year with no results.... I am a little afraid to get checked because I don't know if I would be able to take any bad news.... I've been having dreams about babies since I was 18....

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Trying to find about impaired spermatogenesis due Accutane? please search "retinoic acid role in spermatogenesis isotretinoin". Beyond the complex... isotretinoin the chemical name for accutane acts like a natural derivative of vitamin A called retinoic acid. Retinoic acid as it turns out is an active substance in along with many other substances in mediating spermatogenesis. Put isotretinoin in huge amounts where it occupies the receptor for retinoic acid And it permanently alters the testis at a cellular level possibly damaging microtubles and killing off most of the germ cells

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It is not always isotretinoin asked me "why you took for 7 years instead of doing another kind of treatment?" Well, I was 15 when I started, it was in the late 90's, my acne was severed and I saw the miracle in my skin... How could I think something so miraculously could turn bad??? Put in my shoes just for a moment. I was glad I found accutane miracle at that time, now, I feel blessed that I have 2 children (it wasn't easy to conceive) but I'm not sure if accutane is to blame. Plus, I have to add that this did not happen in USA, it was in South America, so doctors don't always take those legal cases so seriously, but I also have to say my doctor sent me for lab test pretty often, I never had any of the side effects apparently.

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Edward- Smarty Pants! Where do you find all your info!
Thanks!

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Did search as requested, shows no risk.

Sperm count went up on isotretinoin, dropped back down after stopping.

Twenty male volunteers with severe acne conglobata were treated orally over a period of 12 weeks with 1 mg isotretinoin (13-cis-retinoic acid) per kilogram body weight. Before and after therapy, as well as 12 weeks after the end of therapy, the semen was examined spermatologically and the spermatozoa DNS determined by impulse cytophotometry. The sperm density remained unchanged in the otherwise healthy patients, whereas patients with previous gonadal defects (unilateral cryptorchism, hypogonadism, varicocele) the sperm count rose significantly (P less than 0.05) at the end of therapy; 3 months later a reverse trend in the sperm density was noted. The percentage of morphologically normal spermatozoa was slightly reduced at the end of therapy; 12 weeks after completion of therapy it was significantly reduced (P less than 0.05). This could, however, be due to the short elimination half-life of 13-cis retinoic acid and have nothing to do with the drug. On impulse cytophotometry the spermatozoa DNS showed no significant changes. According to the results of the cytophotometric examination, contraceptive measures for men during treatment with 13-cis-retinoic-acid need not be made obligatory.

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Did search as requested, shows no risk.

And also shows use of isotretinoin as TREATMENT for low sperm count.

Men with infertility and normal hormone levels have few options for fertility treatment. Previous research work has suggested that men with infertility may have low levels of the active form of Vitamin A, called retinoic acid, in their testes. We think that giving men with low sperm counts retinoic acid may increase their sperm counts and improve their chances of becoming fertile. We want to see if retinoic acid administration over twenty weeks can increase sperm production and help infertile men become fathers without the need for intracytoplasmic sperm inj. (IVF) and/or ICSI.

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