Accutane And Infertility (Page 9)

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 a male, now 55 years old, and I had accutane me too, while living in USA in the 1985-1990 period. Accutane cleared mu cystic acne that, however, partially flared up again in the following decade so that I had to use accutane again, albeit for shorter periods of time and at lower dosages. I never had any problem whatsoever, neither while being on it, nor afterward. Just one "serious" problem while on it: very dry lips; and just one "serious" problem afterward: still lips dried than before Accutane intake.

But the problem is: "AND THEREFORE?"

All these women who do have infertility problems and claim that they are sure that the culprit is Accutane, don't know what they are talking about. Out there, there is plenty of women who never had any Accutane intake, not even one pill in their whole life, and still have even worse infertility problems that they do.

Han anyone ever thought them that association doesn't prove causation? Or are they looking for some easy cash?
I have been living 5 years in USA and I learnt that suing people to court asking for damage compensation is a national sport, with lawyers being the very skilled trainers of this sport!

Greetings from Italy: Aldo

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Aldo,

I would have to question why you are indeed on this forum.

Most people are looking for answers to unexplained fertility and are not after money. The reward would be in preventing future infertility problems if they were to be associated with Roaccutane.

I have had skin problems for most of my adult life. I now have until Tuesday next week to decide whether or not to take a prescription for Roaccutane.

I have done extensive research. I am 38 years old, female, and am extremely concerned about side effects including possible infertility. I had a severe reaction to a Tetracycline antibiotic last year which resulted in skin lesions covering my body and deafness in one ear, all of which were outlined on the prescription leaflet of possible side effects.

Can I live with this skin? It is very hard and destroys your confidence multifold, and it is getting worse. I dont know if taking the risk is worth it as I am known to have sensitivities; on the other hand, the promise of clear skin for once in my life is very tempting. I'm not talking about just my face, this includes my neck, my chest and my back, I cover up the whole time and I don't see friends any more, I'm too ashamed.

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Hello Sara,
and thank you for writing on this forum.

Your poster deserves two replies (in one, of course!).
I have first to answer your questioning my motivations on my writing on this forum. But my answer is that there is nothing mysterious about it. I wrote out of the desire of fighting a very common logical mistake. This logical mistake is better expressed by the Latin proverb: "Post hoc, ergo propter hoc", i.e., "After it, i.e., because of it", or, as I already wrote, that association would prove causation. However, this is a logical misconception and it's one of the first things that psychology students are thought when they take their first methodological course. Association (or correlation that's the most common operationalization of the concept that's used in statistics) never proves causation by itself. At best, whenever the association is shown by a flawless epidemiological study, it can suggest causation and this suggestion can be considered a "quasi proof", if it pops-up again and again in many independent epidemiological studies.

How much attention deserves this series of testimonials on the possible association between previous Accutane intake and infertility? Well it deserves attention as follows. First, some of these cases might become "case reports", i.e., the interested individuals might agree to be studied by a team of expert scientists, who would investigate the possible causative association and might conclude that it's worth to inform the scientific community that the specific case that they investigated showed no possible alternative cause to explain infertility and that it might, therefore, be the effect of the previous Accutane intake. Following this and/or some similar alternative path, the association mighty becomes a problem of pharmacovigilance and data collected all over the world might reach the WHO pharmacovigilance center in Uppsala (Sweden) where statisticians applying a variety of appropriate statistical methods will try to derive a conclusion on the matter. There is a plethora of such methods, but they all boil down to the problem of concluding if there are significantly more infertility cases among women with a previous Accutane intake than among women who never had swallowed this medication before.

There are examples of both conclusions; for example, despite many previous suggestions, it was concluded that there is no enough empirical evidence to prove that Fluoxetine (Prozac) triggers suicide. Vice versa, it was concluded that Rimonabant (Acomplia) does trigger suicide and this very helpful drug was unfortunately withdrawn from the market by EMA (the European equivalent of USA FDA, whilst that medication never reached the market in USA). Why do I write “unfortunatelyâ€? Because, despite the EMA conclusion about the association between Rimonabant intake and risk of suicide was likely correct, it was also obvious that the risk of Acomplia triggering suicide was true just for individuals leaning toward that behavior. Therefore, IMHO,it was a mistake to withdraw Rimonabant from the market, whilst it should have just been marketed with a “black boxâ€, i.e., with a special warning for prescribers pointing to the importance of screening patients for a potential risk of suicide.

Something similar holds true for Accutane: it is already sold with a black box warning that its intake is at odds with a state of pregnancy, real, or hypothetical; and in the future there might be another similar warning about the risk of infertility. But, as I was tremendously benefitted by this medication, I would like that this second hypothetical black box came whenever it will be supported by enough empirical evidence and that it will still be sold on the market(s).

Going back to your doubts, these are my friendly advices. At your place, I would first try to consult more than a dermatologist to investigate if Accutane will be really helpful for your skin problem; there is no doubt that Accutane is effective for cystic acne, but this might not be the case for your iatrogenic scars. Then I would investigate about potential alternative treatments; today there is a plethora of lasers and other physical and dermatological therapies, that can successfully address acne, cystic acne, acne scars, and also other skin problems such as melasma, that weren’t available when Accutane cleared my adult onset cystic acne.

Finally, if you won’t have found any valid alternative, then go for Accutane. Look at the problem this way: if you will be told that our scrutinized medication will get rid of your problem, this will mean that you’ll attain you goal with high probability, whilst you’ll have, at worst, just some probability, if any, of having infertility problems. As latest observation, let me remark that I noticed that you stressed the importance of having a decent-looking skin, whilst you didn’t mention any specific interest toward pregnancies.

And now let me hope that this reply of mine will somehow be of some help: Aldo

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I apologize for the mistake: my previous reply shouldn't have been addressed to Sara, but to Amy. Sorry: Aldo

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Hi Amy,
Have you tried spironolactone?
I suffered for 10 years and even went on roaccutane which only cleared me up for 6 months then my acne returned even worse because it doesn't get rid of hormonal acne! Spironolactone cleared me up in about 4 months with no side effects! It's safe to use with no risks like roaccutane so I would give this a go before you try the worst.

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Aldo,

I think that it is highly offensive for you to insinuate that all of us women suffering from infertility are wanting to sue for cash! What we are wanting is answers! Maybe Accutane doesn't cause infertility, but maybe it does. Who are you to say that it doesn't just because you weren't affected? Your comment seems a bit ignorant and inconsiderate.
It is nice to hear that you had absolutely no problems with taking Accutane. Unfortunately not everyone is as fortunate as you are. We women as well as some men, are trying to find some type of common link to figure out the cause of our infertility. It is horrible living with such a diagnosis without any answers. Why is it so bad for us to want it to be researched? I think with as many men and women on this forum who have been affected, it is worth looking into.

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Hi, i also suffer from infertility, the only time i became pregnant is when i was on accutane, taking a oral birth control and not knowing i was pregnant until i was 10weeks.i had no signs or symptoms nor any reason to believe i was pregnant while taking birth control faithfully.shortly after i learned i was pregnant my nightmare begun.doctor demanded me to get a abortion. Eventually after countless appointments with doctors and genetic consulors i was forced to abort my pregnancy. I suffer daily still because of that.that was 12 yrs ago. Shortly after i came off acctuane i learned that i developed endometreosis, not sure if their is a link to the accutane. Curious to know if any other women suffer the same after accurane. I agree abt looking for a class action lawsuit.my email is xxxxxx@xxx {edited for privacy}, anyone who would like to build a class action lawsuit , please contact me

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Hello everybody, this is a reply to poster #166 by Kristen.
Kristen, my reply is very straightforward: IMHO you didn't read my second post, i.e., #163/164, but just my previous one, i.e. #161, or you just read them with the speed-reading method instead than reading them carefully. If you had read my posters carefully, and the second one in particular, you would have understood that my position is completely about science and hasn't anything to do with my not being affected which, BTW, is trivial because men do not get pregnant (until now, at least). But there is one more thing to discuss; you stated that my insinuation was offensive. No, it wasn’t, it was a form of teasing, instead, that I motivated with the following sentence: “I have been living 5 years in USA and I learnt that suing people to court asking for damage compensation is a national sport, with lawyers being the very skilled trainers of this sport!â€. Do you still think that I’m wrong? Well, may be, but then give a look at poster #167 and you might change your mind a bit and conclude that I have a chance of not being wrong: not completely, at least: Aldo

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Wow. I feel good actually knowing that my suspicions about accutane can be true. I took the drug when I was 13 for less than a year and am now 21. I started experiencing menstrual issues at the age of 16 and doctors have now told me that I am not ovulating which is why I take birth control pills. I have not started any treatment for my fertility issues but constantly worry about the future of pregnancy for me once I decide to start a family. Accutane has truly stressed my life and I look forwards to doing more medical research on this issue because it seems that many women have this problem.

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what is SPIRONOLACTONE? IS THIS A PILL? IM CURRENTLY TAKING ACNOTIN ( ACCUTANE) AND IM 28.... GOD.. IM IN DILLEMA RIGHT NOW... I HOPE U UNDERSTAND MY SITTUATION.. I WANT TO HAVE AN ACNE FREE FACE I HAVE ACNE FOR ALMOST 15 YEARS....

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Aldo,

In response to your third message, you are clearly in the wrong forum, most of us here are just looking for other women AND men suffering from infertility that we can have an online support. As far as teasing goes, that is completely inconsiderate and inappropriate in this forum. Apparently you need to read up on the facts that men CAN suffer from infertility as well as women. OBVIOUSLY men cannot get pregnant, but they can suffer from infertility in other ways. Do you have any idea how rude and ridiculous you sound "teasing" us women who are suffering from infertility that we are looking to make money from it?

Unless you are an expert in knowing everything about Accutane, we don't want to hear your "scientific explanations."

Respond how you'd like, but I am done wasting my time with the likes of you.

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Hello Sara. I was diagnosed with POF ( Premature Ovarian Failure ) around 4 years ago. I had several tests done to see what was causes my periods to stop. There were never any answers found. I also sought out Eastern medicine and took Chinese herbs and had acupuncture for a year. Still no period. I finally gave in to Western medicine and followed my doctor's orders and was prescribed a hormone patch. I stopped wearing the hormone patch about a year ago, because I started to bleed while wearing it. I still do not wear the patch and back to not having a period again. I took two rounds of Accuntane in my early 20's. I am now 39 years old.

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I have suspected Accutane might be the cause of my infertility!!! I have been going through this for 5 years now and nobody can figure out what the issue is. Accutane was a drug I took on and off for YEARS.

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I took Accutane in 2001. In 2002, my husband and I got pregnant, but it was an ectopic pregnancy. The doctor said it was due to abdominal adhesions that could be caused by previous surgeries or infections, neither of which I had had. In 2005 I was hospitalized with a hemorrhagic ovarian cyst or an abscess, they couldn't tell which one. In 2009 I was hospitalized for 10 days and diagnosed with diverticulitis. In 2010 I was hospitalized with an abscess that they had to put in a drain for several days. And in all this time, we have not been able to conceive again. I believe all these symptoms are a result of the adhesions that I believe were caused by the drying effect of the accutane. I have been told by several law-firms representing accutane cases that they cannot take my case because I don't fall into one of the recognized side effects. I am now 39 and still have not been able to conceive and the heartbreak is overwhelming. If I could help others by joining you in a class action suit, please let me know.

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Hi all,

Well i am a 26 year old male who took accutane when i was 18-19. I fathered a child in the early days of taking accutane he is now 6. But since his birth my partner has surffered 8 miscarrages including twins on one occassion. We have since had tests and concluded that her reproductive organs are all fine, however test have now shown that i will continue to have issues.

Basically i now have sperm dismortia or something like that where they are misshappen and swimming in the wrong dirrection. My doctor believes that the accutane could have caused this as i had many other side effects such as hair loss which took 3 years to grow back, hair thinning and all the usual dry skin and lips etc.

I would be interested to know if other men have had the same issues as this. I do understand it is difficult for woman and i completely understand their heartbreak.

Only option is IVF for me and my partner if that can work only time will tell.

I also still suffer from the acne and have now developed skin disese in certain areas of my body. so this is a loosing battle.

hopefully some more tests will reveal the full extend, but it is important to have support from family and partners as they are the only ones who can help you through it.

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How long did you take the accutane?

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i took the accutane for about 6 to 9 months, i was on high dosage at the time but can not remember how high.

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im a now engaged i was on accutane twice i have very bad acne at one time me and my fiance have been trying to concieve for a year now and no luck so far idk if it has to do with accuutane or not im healthy no problems that i know of i have a period every month i dont smoke or drink so im not sure but accutane is my guess why we cant conceive

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I got pregnant before Accutane. After Accutane, I was unable to, so save that correlation-causation discussion for somewhere else.

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I took accutane 22 years ago for six months. I am now 36 and have not been able to conceive. We tried for three years. I failed clomid and two rounds of IVF. I have been diagnosed with unexplained infertility. I'm a very active, healthy person. I have no health problems other than this infertility issue. My doctors guess my problem is egg quality. All my labs and tests look good. This had been devastating. I feel Accutane is the cause. I hope if you are considering Accutane you seriously consider your future and possible infertility. I wish I had been warned.

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