Accutane And Infertility (Page 24) (Top voted first)

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'm 39 years old. I took 3 courses of accutane as a teenager. There were lots of side effects. Some are still there. Mainly thin skin which bruises easily and a sensitive stomach. accutane also caused severe scarring when I took it, although no doctor believed me.
My wife and I have tried for children for over 12 years. She is against IVF. My sperm count is normal but mobility and morphology are not quite right. I now wonder if my sperm was somehow affected by the accutane. I don't know. But there is obviously something wrong. My wife is fertile and should be able to get pregnant according to the doctors.

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Sadly I was diagnosed as Azoospermic meaning NO sperm production in my early 30s. I have no blockages, no genetic abnormalities. I did take accutane for an extended period of time in the 90's. Even had a surgery to extract sperm from a microtuble in testis. Terrible experiences with wife failed IVF. I don't know if accutane damaged my spermatogenesis or not. However, I would like to find out. Willing to share info with people who had similar experiences or whose family members have unexplained absence of sperm.

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I've got the same problem. Have you had a semen analysis.

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How are you sure that it caused your infertility? I'm not doubting your story. I don't know if we have the same condition caused by Accutane. I am not certain accutane caused my problems however it is one possibility. I have normal genetics, slightly lowered testosterone, but azoospermia caused by something that damaged the microtubles in my testis However, I can share my info with you that might provide you with a window of hope. Additionally if there are any wives whose husbands have a similar problem I am very open to communicating about this anonymously. Male infertility is very much understudied, underaddressed , most doctors won't touch it with a 10 foot pole

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If you still get these messages please write me back as your case sounds similar to mine. I'm interested in finding if accutane might have done the same thing to my body.

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My son is completely infertile! 0 sperm count. Genetic testing is perfect. No body knows why. Shared with several friends/relatives. They have consulted docs and of course they say it must be something else. I'm not buying it!

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It has taken me a long time to come to terms with this and I would encourage that your son see an Endocrinologist that specializes in MALE fertility. Sometimes called expert in andrology I guess. There are people that specialize in sperm extraction and they are not your run of the mill urologists. Dr. Peter Schlegel is one of them. The procedure is called ICSI and it requires that the woman go through IVF egg harvesting. We did this procedure and they only got a few deformed sperm from my testis. Stay away from fertility doctors that treat mostly women... They along with most urologists do NOT know how to help if there is any possible way to treat male infertility. While many people do not see donor sperm as a viable option it was the only viable option for me. My wife and I have two children and I haven't regretted this decision for a second. A couple that wants to raise a family with one member being infertile should look past the stigma and look towards being happy together. Not an easy thing to swallow... This situation traumatized my Mom just as much as my wife and I. However, I still want answers concerning the possibility of accutane being a factor in my Azoospermia. Good luck. I hope this helps

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They live in Barcelona a world renown sperm donation center. Who Knew!
They have left no stone unturned in this regard. They are moving forward with picking a donor now. She is very healthy and was told 30% success rate each time.
It is hard for everyone knowing we wont see our son's genes in their child. But
it will be ok and a psychologist told them once the baby comes into the world they
wont look back. They have very strict standards for anyone giving sperm so that is good. where did you find the sperm donor? Did you pick similiar features etc?
How long did it take to get pregnant? Did you use the same sperm for your 2nd child? Thanks!!!

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Could the precocious puberty be the cause of his Azospermia? What about the Lupron which blocks male hormones and is used to treat prostate cancer? Perhaps blocking testosterone at a very early age prevented the testes from maturing normally.

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Perhaps...they sadly will never truly know.

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Happy to share considering this is anonymous. First child I picked the donor. Looked for similar characteristics but more interested in who donor was. Worked out well bc he is my son. He had an advanced degree, family history of higher education no reported history of mental illness. The clincher for me was the recording of why he was a donor. We were unable to get vials from this donor for the second pregnancy. The 2nd donor we chose we chose together based similar genetics (British isles /Germanic). Looked specifically for donors who fathered children in the past. We had at least a 50% success rate. For myself I DO NOT OPEN UP TO ANYONE BUT my wife, parents, and brother. I am very sensitive about it due to the trauma and that many people simply judge and will never understand. I don't think guys are able to confide in others sbout their infertility.

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From what I know about spermatogenesis (and it is quite a complex process) anything that damages the germ cells which are the first step in the whole process can be implicated. The mumps, undescended testis, chemo, radiation, and endocrine disrupters can knockout the sensitive germ cells. I truly want answers concerning the accutane. Animal models don't always predict human response. Anyways anyone who has any substantiated research that connects accutane with male infertility please share!

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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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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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.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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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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Thanks for that. That's very useful. Could you post the source?

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Here are the references:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3159708

trialdetails.com/detail/NCT02061384/RA-2-13-cis-Retinoic-Acid-Isotretinoin

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