Accutane And Infertility (Page 5) (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 would not take it if I were you.
I only had minor effects when I actually took it. Years later, though, is when we are finding issues.
I have at least 1 diagnosed issue that my MD directly relates to acutane use (severe dry eye, which has cost me a lot of $$ in medications and OTC drops to try and remedy) and now my suspected problems trying to get pregnant because of it.
Terrible drug. My acne wasn't even very bad when I was prescribed it.

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I can't post the address here, but please contact the Office of the FDA Ombudsman regarding infertility related to Accutane use. The drug has been shown to have a detrimental effect on fertility in rats and humans. There is no doubt.

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I took accurate when I was 16 (two sycles). And I have always felt that accutane most be the reason I can't get pregnant. The doctors haven't figured out why haven't been able to get pregnant. My husband and I have been trying for 9 years. I am the only one in my family to have fertility problems. I was never warned that it could cause problems down the road. If I knew then I would never have taken it.

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Unfortunately, there are both men and women who are suffering from infertility issues due to prior Accutane use. Also, there are many men and women suffering from many other symptoms due to this devastating drug. It may be a blessing to be infertile after taking this drug because there have been children from both men and women who had previously taken Accutane that were born with the devastating side effects of Accutane. It did not matter whether the children were conceived one year after their parent took Accutane or twenty years after. The sad thing is we cannot prove the negative effects of this drug from studies because the pharmaceutical companies fund a majority of all clinical trials. Therefore, only positive findings of clinical trials are published and the negative findings are not. The pharmaceutical companies have been hiding these negative clinical trial results for a long time and it is just devastating that these drugs with so many dangerous and life-threatening side effects are given to people.

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Hi, I took roaccutaine from 1999 through to 2005 on and off prescibed by a dermatologist. I have struggled with infertility since soon after and was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve and had failed attempts at IVF. I have always suspected that roaccutaine has had a major impact as no one in my family has had any issues. I have since under gone premature menopause at 41. I believe that this medication should be banned and some one needs to be held accountable. I would never have taken it had I known the implications and all the hardships I have undergone.

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I took Accutane around 1992 and then tried for three years for my son. I had to get many tests done and have been dx w unexplained infertility. There is nothing wrong with my husband's sperm, so it was definitely me. I Ann now 40 (my son is almost 2) and wanted to try again, but now I'm having a miscarriage due to a blighted ovum. :( This was through the fertility dr again. It never occurred to me that Accutane might be to blame and I'm so overwhelmed by all these posts! This is infuriating!! Never in a million years would I have taken this drug if I'd known. My mom definitely wouldn't have let me take it either. Can we sue??

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There's a good chance of that Michael. I'm sorry to hear that though. I took it when I was even too. Found out later in that I don't make sperm. I blame the accutane. We should all file a legal suit.

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I’m currently in the middle of all the “fun” fertility testing and I recently received my AMH level of 0.77. Awaiting all my other tests but it definitely has me worried on what else could be wrong. I had normal periods all my life and while on accutane. Two months after completing my accutane my periods have been 14-20 days in length, my progesterone level is so low 0.4 that my doctor says I’m not ovulating. The plan pending my ultrasounds is to induce ovulation but I’m so worried about not being able to conceive. I truly believe accutane has caused this havoc on my body. I did find an article on PubMed that years 82 women of reproductive age with acne who were treated with accutane. The results of the study demonstrated that oral isotretinoin had a significant negative effect on the ovarian reserve. There has to be something we can do about this! Anyone know of any class actions being filed?!

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I took Accutane at age 16 and have been infertile ever since. Dr's have tried everything but still have no answers for me. I am now 45 and have been placed on Thyroid meds and Testosterone. I believe it was all because of accutane. I was the only one in my family to take it and I am the only one with these problems.

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I contacted an attorney and they said no class action yet with infertility. Someone should find a good attorney and press the issue. Also complaints to the FDA would help.

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When I took Accutane as a teenager 30yrs ago there were no known side effects except drying of the eyes and skin and lips. No precautions. Yet my whole life iv'e been infertile, 5yrs ago diagnosed with Thyroid problems. I believe all because of Accutane. I with I would of had the information out there for me to decide if I wanted to take the risk or not.

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I too took Accutane - 2 rounds of it in 1999-2000 when I was 23 yrs old. Now in my 30's I cannot conceive. We attempted in-vitro but found that my eggs were basically flat and "dried out" as per my ob-gyn/fertility specialist. Needless to say, no pregnancy. I believe that Accutane is the cause. I have persistant dry lips and dryness elsewhere and fungal infections that won't go away.

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Hi,

I took accutane a little over a year ago and have since then tried five IVF cycles with poor egg quality resulting from each cycle. I'm only 26 years old, so the doctors are at a loss for a cause for my bad eggs. But basically, my husband and I have spent every last penny we could save over the past year and a half trying to conceive a child through fertility treatments. I'm wondering if this could be from the accutane.

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A year ago I was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve at 27 years old. I am currently pregnant with twins through IVF via egg donation. I couldn't be happier about finally being pregnant. But all the pain and hardship my husband and I have been through, not to mention the $20,000 it cost us for our cycle; is enough for me to really consider a legal consult. I also took Accutane when I was 17 years old for 4 months. The more of us that speak up about this, the better our chance to see something come from this. Is it just a coincidence that we're all experiencing infertility? Maybe, but I doubt it.

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I took Accutane for about 3 months at ages 13, 18, 23, and 30. At age 32, I was diagnosed with low ovarian reserve and am now undergoing my first IVF. I believe Accutane could be to blame. I have no other health problems and never had any side effects from Accutane, except when I took generic at age 30 and it caused severe dry eye--I eventually had to get Lasik because I could no longer wear contacts.

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I took accutane for 6 months in 1999. My husband and I have been ttc for over 8 years. During that time, I've had 3 miscarriages, 3 failed iui's and 4 failed ivf's. I've been told by 2 separate infertility specialists that I have poor egg quality. If i had known of this side effect, I would NEVER have taken accutane!

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I'm 47. Went on Accutane in my mid 20s prior to marriage. Have suffered IBS issues and other symptoms. Have not been able to have children although I hadn't been tested for infertility. I have wondered if it stems back to accutane.

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I also took Accutane in my mid-twenties and began trying to get pregnant at 33, and have been trying unsuccessfully for the past 7 years. The same as others have mentioned, I have tried many rounds of infertility treatments, including 4 rounds of IVF, all unsuccessful. Have been diagnosed with unspecified infertility. I also had the same problem that some others have noted, where I seemed to be producing many eggs but they were of low quality, and only a few were able to fertilize. I am the only person in my family to be diagnosed with infertility. I honestly never thought that it could be caused by Accutane, but now reading all of the stories that are so similar to mine it really makes sense. If this is indeed a side-effect of Accutane much more research needs to be done and hopefully keep this same thing from happening to others. I am definitely interested in contacting a lawyer about this - how is the best way to start?

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PS i also took accutane at a low dose in my 20s. PRIOR to taking it I was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis. So yes I am another woman with Autoimmune disease and accutane history, but the AH came a year before the accutane (actually went on accutane to calm down my skin after it freaked out because my immune system went crazy) so i'm obviously confident Accutane had nothing to do with causing the AH.

Since accutane I have donated eggs twice (1 gay couple w surrogate, 1 infertile straight couple) who both had healthy pregnancies with my eggs.

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Vitamin A (of which accutane is an analog of) works in synergy with vitamin D therefore high doses of vitamin A deplete vitamin D. Vitamin D is also needed for ovulation and to enable the body to use progesterone this is the most important hormone to maintain pregnancy and for conception. I saw a study about identical twins, one who liked the sunbathe and the other didn't the one who was sunbathing was ovulating and the other woman wasn't as soon as she stated supplementing with vitamin D she began ovulating this is vitamin D3 in relatively high amount or get vitamin D from the sun. Also look into bio identical progesterone therapy. This is a hormone that is identical to the that your body produces and is very important for fertility.

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