Acne.org Products
Here's an interesting article that could explain the positive effects some of you are getting from CBD and THC: "Changes on metabolic parameters induced by acute cannabinoid administration (CBD, THC) in a rat experimental model of nutritional vitamin A deficiency: El Amrani L et al."
Would make sense if the impaired retinol/vitamin A metabolism theory mentioned in this thread was true
In my perseverance to get ED and sexual dysfunction recognised as a side effect here's some of the research I have collated from board members across the internet and a bit of my own research. I would massively appreciate if people could add any of their own research to this document and then we can start having a complete document to hand to doctors when we go to visit them.
Accutane Link with ED/Sexual Dysfunction
5-alpha-reductase activity & ED/Sexual Dysfucntion
Gur, S., Kadowitz, P. J., & Hellstrom, W. J. (2013). Effects of 5-alpha reductase inhibitors on erectile function, sexual desire and ejaculation. Expert opinion on drug safety, 12(1), 81-90.
Clinical trials with 5ARI report prevalence rates of de novo erectile dysfunction of 5 - 9%. Decreased circulating dihydrotestosterone (DHT) resulting from 5ARI use is associated with diminished sexual desire and/or orgasm. The presence of adverse sexual effects is associated with decreased self-esteem, quality of life and ability to maintain an intimate relationship. Inhibition of 5ARI additionally influences progesterone and deoxycorticosterone levels and may alter psychological functions, including increased depression, melancholy and loss of general well being.
Boudou, P., Soliman, H., Chivot, M., Villette, J. M., Vexiau, P., Belanger, A., & Fiet, J. (1995). Effect of oral isotretinoin treatment on skin androgen receptor levels in male acneic patients. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism,80(4), 1158-1161.
Excerpt: "The present study clearly demonstrated a decrease in androgen receptor binding capacity... The isotretinoin-receptor complex may interact with cis-acting response elements in the promoter region of regulated genes, repressing the gene transcription encoding for the androgen receptor, the gene transcription encoding for the 5-alpha-reductase activity, or both transcriptions simultaneously.
Oztekin, C. V., Gur, S., Abdulkadir, N. A., Lokman, U., Akdemir, A. O., Cetinkaya, M., & Hellstrom, W. J. (2012). Incomplete Recovery of Erectile Function in Rat after Discontinuation of Dual 5Alpha Reductase Inhibitor Therapy. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 9(7), 1773-1781.
In vivo erectile activity (intracavernosal pressure [iCP]/mean arterial pressure [MAP] and total ICP) in treatment groups were significantly decreased compared with controls
Traish, A. M., Hassani, J., Guay, A. T., Zitzmann, M., & Hansen, M. L. (2011). Adverse Side Effects of 5Reductase Inhibitors Therapy: Persistent Diminished Libido and Erectile Dysfunction and Depression in a Subset of Patients. The journal of sexual medicine, 8(3), 872-884.
Prolonged adverse effects on sexual function such as erectile dysfunction and diminished libido are reported by a subset of men
Case study within this study;
In 1999, a 24-year-old male was diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia (AGA). He had normal stature (height, 182 cm; weight, 80 kg), had no history of any medical illness, and was not taking any medications. He reported having a normal sex drive and normal erectile capacity. He started treatment with finasteride (Propecia), 1 mg daily, and within 25 days experienced soreness of the testicles, total lack of sex drive, and complete inability to achieve an erection. He had difficulty concentrating and felt depressed. Expecting these initial side effects to be temporary, he continued treatment. Except for some improvement of the soreness in the testicles, he felt numbness and there was no improvement in his sex drive or erectile function. After a little more than 1 month, he discontinued treatment and the side effects diminished to some degree, but sexual function never returned to normal. In the following months and years, the symptoms persisted with loss of libido and erectile dysfunction (ED). In 2003, the patient consulted a specialty clinic for sexual medicine in Boston, MA, USA, and went through extensive examinations. At this point, treatment with Viagra had been tried with only marginal success. Because of hopelessness and depression, two types of antidepressants (citalopram and bupropion) had been prescribed, which helped by taking away the deepest lows, but with no improvement in either libido or erectile capacity. In addition, there were undesirable side effects to these drugs and treatment was discontinued after several months. In Boston, the patient had a psychological evaluation and underwent duplex Doppler ultrasonography.
Suffering from persistent symptoms of ED, loss of libido, and depression, the patient consulted a clinic in Copenhagen, Denmark, which specializes in testosterone treatment. The total testosterone (T) varied between 22.6 and 14.2 nmol/L (651 and 409 ng/dL) in the baseline state. The fluctuations were felt to be quite wide. No 5 -dihydrotestosterone (5 -DHT) measurements were available. The following baseline tests were all found to be normal: sex hormone binding globulin, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, T3, T4, prolactin, estradiol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), and androstenedione. He is currently under no treatment, but 11 years later, he still suffers from ED and loss of libido.
From scouring the internet for others with Accutane induced sexual dysfunction there are many that resemble this exact symptom set. Hormone testing shows no major abnormality and the individuals appear to be in good health otherwise. It appears from this that individuals have a type of androgenic resistance, thus explaining no help of treatment modalities such as testosterone replacement therapy. Also been noted that Viagra is of little use as the problem is not strictly to do with structural abnormalities such as vascular damage.
Tirado, S. A., & Leon, D. G. (2005). Erectile dysfunction during isotretinoin therapy]. Actas urologicas espanolas, 29(10), 974.
6 out of 20 (30%) of patients receiving isotretinoin developed erectile dysfunction during the study.
Erdemir, F., Harbin, A., & Hellstrom, W. J. (2008). 5Alpha Reductase Inhibitors and Erectile Dysfunction: The Connection. The journal of sexual medicine,5(12), 2917-2924.
The connection between 5ARIs and sexual dysfunction is apparent upon review of the literature.
Propecia:
A drug used to treat hairloss as well as benign prostrate hyperplasia. It is a 5-alpha-reductase type I & II inhibitor and exhibits many similar side effects to isotretinoin in regards to sexual function. Isotretinoin seems to be only a 5AR type I inhibitor thus explaining how isotretinoin can exert only exert hypogonadal symptoms sexually as opposed to physically observable traits as well. This is due to the differing distributions of type I and II throughout the body.
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A hypothesis as to why propecia is far more recognised for its sexual side effects more so than isotretinoin and more money invested into its research is possibly due to the age and thus credibility of victims. Propecia users are generally older men, who are financially stable and more mature than isotretinoin users who are generally to put it bluntly spotty kids, not known for pro-activity nor being taken seriously in medical matters.
Persistence of Side Effects
Csoka, A. B., & Szyf, M. (2009). Epigenetic side-effects of common pharmaceuticals: a potential new field in medicine and pharmacology. Medical hypotheses, 73(5), 770-780.
Quote;
Here we present the hypothesis that commonly-used pharmaceutical drugs can cause such persistent epigenetic changes. Drugs may alter epigenetic homeostasis by direct or indirect mechanisms. Direct effects may be caused by drugs which affect chromatin architecture or DNA methylation. For example the antihypertensive hydralazine inhibits DNA methylation. An example of an indirectly acting drug is isotretinoin, which has transcription factor activity. A two-tier mechanism is postulated for indirect effects in which acute exposure to a drug influences signaling pathways that may lead to an alteration of transcription factor activity at gene promoters. This stimulation results in the altered expression of receptors, signaling molecules, and other proteins necessary to alter genetic regulatory circuits. With more chronic exposure, cells adapt by an unknown hypothetical process that results in more permanent modifications to DNA methylation and chromatin structure, leading to enduring alteration of a given epigenetic network. Therefore, any epigenetic side-effect caused by a drug may persist after the drug is discontinued.
The following adverse effects have been reported to persist, even after discontinuing therapy, suggesting persistent (or perhaps slowly-reversing) gene expression changes and epigenetic effects: alopecia, arthralgias, ocular abnormalities, inflammatory bowel disease, keloids, osteopenia, hyperlipidemia, erectile dysfunction, and psychiatric disturbances. Isotretinoin is postulated to have complex effects on the brain and central nervous system."
Effects on Brain (brief)
Bremner, J. D., Fani, N., Ashraf, A., Votaw, J. R., Brummer, M. E., Cummins, T., ... & Nemeroff, C. B. (2005). Functional brain imaging alterations in acne patients treated with isotretinoin. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162(5), 983-991.
RESULTS: Isotretinoin but not antibiotic treatment was associated with decreased brain metabolism in the orbitofrontal cortex (21% change versus 2% change for antibiotic), a brain area known to mediate symptoms of depression.
Kontaxakis, V. P., Skourides, D., Ferentinos, P., Havaki-Kontaxaki, B. J., & Papadimitriou, G. N. (2009). Isotretinoin and psychopathology: a review. Ann Gen Psychiatry, 8(2).
strongly suggests a link between isotretinoin and psychopathology.
Strahan, J. E., & Raimer, S. (2006). Isotretinoin and the controversy of psychiatric adverse effects. International journal of dermatology, 45(7), 789-799.
Isotretinoin disrupts the birth of new hippocampal cells.
Hippocampus is tied to the reward pathway.
Vape Report II
So I have less positive news this time. However before I write it up, I fully believe last my 1st vape report was valid and reliable. That was the best I've been functioning since 'tane by a very wide margin sexually (at least twice as good as usual). To big an effect to be explained simply by a placebo (despite my pessimist attitude to most things negating any sort of placebo in most circumstances). Therefore I think I'm going to try an recreate the skiing circumstances just to validate that it wasn't any other factor.
Anyway, I saw the girlfriend this weekend and I could not recreate the results from the ski holiday. Bit gutted but hey-ho get back on the horse and try again.
I'll leave another vape report for another few weeks or until I see really noticeable positive results again.
shadeo that looks interesting, will look into it later.
If the libido go away there is a reason, it's not a malfunction or some 5AR blablabla stories.. Sexual activity use a lot of energy, if the body has other priority, other problems or is tired he will not "trigger" libido. Libido is 100% related to adrenals. If you really want your libido back do what's right for your body (diet & elimination methods [flushs or/and herbs, etc..]). Digestion of toxic food (meat, dairy & grains mainly) use a lot of energy. You can try some herbs that help your adrenals (astragalus, eleutherococcus, parsley root, ginger, etc.), you will have your libido back for 3 days but then the body will use that energy into other priorities again (or had used all of it). I don't know if you noticed but eveything that stimulate the kidney (so the adrenals too), a poisoning to something, at the beginning of a cold, etc.. or some detox recipe with parsley or kidney tea bring briefly a very strong libido.
Post-drug sexual dysfunction week on RxISK:
Sexual Dysfunction Enduring After Treatment Halts: Sexual-DEATH
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RxiSK Stories Page:
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Remember to comment on these stories!
These stories were posted in response to the removal of the PSSD and PFS wikipedia pages in light of scientific evidence for these conditions. Additionally, the Accutane story will be featured again on Friday this week.
If anyone here knows someone involved with the media, please share this with them.
Continuing with what acne 1776 said, I do believe this isn't permanent. I know that seems obvious given people have recovered from this already. However, the fact that I managed to function at such a good level while I was skiing suggests that no complete permanent damage has occurred. Simply a new level of homeostasis has occurred and we are simply looking to reset it back to its true baseline. If my hypothesis is correct - that vaping led to my improvements and not another factor and its effects lasted for a whole week its effects then clearly something was changing in my head at a gradual rate and it was not any sort of acute effect. Im intrigued why I seem to be back to be back at baseline currently but I'll continue ingesting cannabis in one form or another till I see the girlfriend. To be honest you will not get through it fast if you're vaping, I've vaped for about a week in total now and have probably got through 2-3grams. Yea yea I'm a lightweight!
I still can't pin down any one factor that allowed my dick to function for that week other than vaping. I was home for a day on either side of the ski holiday where I hadn't done exercise, so rules out an acute effect of exercise. Higher vit D due to sunlight is not a factor as you're wrapped up the whole time in ski gear, plus Thailand where I spent about 4 hours+ daily topless I didn't benefit much. I drank red wine most nights, but the nights I didn't I still functioned fine. I ate plenty of red meat and a load of other things I don't normally eat (so ended up pretty bloated at times) but still ended up pretty horny.
I will laugh myself silly if I can cure myself with weed. I'll have pretty much turned one of my main life principles on its head 
To add to that last post just trying to compile a list of people who have recovered just to give some hope;
i) Anonny - previous symptoms and duration: (see post below)
ii) ManitobaMountain - previous symptoms and duration: ?
iii) TaneAbomination - previous symptoms and duration: sexual dysfunction and ED, 18 months-ish
iv) AccutaneIsPoison - Gastric issues, joint issues, sexual dysfunction and ED, 2-3 years (I think)
v) SClippers - psychological issues including sexual dysfunction and ED, 4-5 years
vi) That girl from a newspaper article that MitchUK posted - previous symptoms and duration: Depression, 4 years
vii) Someone way early on this thread - previous symptoms and duration: Depression, 10 years
viii) Welt - previous symptoms and duration: gastric issues, sexual dysfunction, less than a year
ix) Connor Mclavin - previous symptoms and duration: sexual and gastric issues, 3-6 months
x) An accutane user on Propeciahelp.com (donteat16 or something) - previous symptoms and duration: sexual dysfunction and ED: 18 months-ish
I can't remember everyone's symptoms and duration and I'm sure there are many others who I have forgot/ haven't seen. Also not all of these are completely cured but are at the point where they can live with their symptoms in a way where it's not interfering with their quality of life!
To add to this - what people did to cure themselves in THEIR opinion;
i) Anonny - 'Non-harming' diet - pretty much only vegetables and fruit, no meat (or very little), no fish, no legumes, no chocolate, no processed foods etc. Certain herbs and the like were considered useful e.g Aloe Vera. Procedures and methods included liver flushes and homeopathy.
ii) ManitobaMountain - Liverflushes, specific carbohydrate diet and more (see his first post, somewhere in the last 20 pages)
iii) TaneAbomination - Cannabis Oil
iv) AccutaneIsPoison - Cannabis Oil
v) SClippers - unspecified lifestyle modification and cannabis
vi) Unknown
vii) Unknown
viii) Welt - extended fast
ix) Connor Mclavin - exercise
x) Donteat16 - unknown if anything specific or simply time.
Don't know if you want them all or the most important one so i listed them all: depersonnalization/depression, extreme fatigue, long term memory almost entirely loss, short term very bad too, GI issue, whole body feeling uncomfortable/uninhabitable, libido loss, very thin & dry skin (was like wood on hand, during accutane on whole winter, top of my hand was 100% scabs), eyes same, joint problems, tendinitis, elbow ulnar nerve "release" (not sure for this, certainly not only caused by accutane), very sensitive lungs to cold (i believe that was caused by accutane, or magnified).
Note: I took minocyclin & doxycyclin for 1-2 years before accutane, some of the side effect can have been caused by them too, or accutane magnified it.
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10408440802014287
I can't access this article through my university, but is a possible explanation on why results didn't sustain until I next saw the gf. Need a larger dose it seems.
Also does anyone know if it's possible to upload word documents to this thread? I'm going to try and update the document describing the link between 'tane and sexual dysfunction at every opportunity and want to upload it without having to take up half a page on this thread each time.
Hmm it seems I can't quote posts anymore either -_-
This is what I was wondering, can benefits still be fully realised without 'activating' compounds through heating? According to this video the answer is yes. I need to look into the science of it but I keep getting sidetracked (damn you education!)
Also does anyone know if it's possible to upload word documents to this thread? I'm going to try and update the document describing the link between 'tane and sexual dysfunction at every opportunity and want to upload it without having to take up half a page on this thread each time.
Crank, why not create google docs document/spreadsheet. You can restrict editing rights to yourself but allow everyone who has a link to view it.
I need to add in a load of handy stuff that Dubya has sent me (cheers for that btw).
Hi everybody, I believe I have found a possible cure for accutane side effects. It is a supplement called Protandim.
I was on accutane off and on for 11 months and got off my last course a little over 8 months ago(I finished at the end of May last year). I always took 40 mg when I took accutane.
Over the time of taking accutane I had experienced lasting side effects such as mind fog, hair loss, joint pain, severe dry eyes, e.d., and vision problems.
Now this supplement Protandim that I mentioned really helped me recover from my mind fog and joint pains within about 2-3 months of taking it. If you do your research on Protandim, you will see that it is the only supplement clinically proven to reduce oxidative stress by 40% in 30 days of taking it. Oxidative stress is related to many diseases. It up regulates your body's antioxidant production making it hundreds of more times effective than the average antioxidant like vitamin a,c, and e.
If you type in accutane and oxidative stress in google you will see a couple of studies done on pubmed.gov that shows accutane causes oxidative damage to DNA. Protandim lowers oxidative stress(damage) by 40% in 30 days.
This is the reason I believe it helped and is continuously help me. I have been feeling much more energy and mental clarity as I continue taking it and is only helping me as the days go by. There is also someone by the name of Robbie D on the forum, he commented on the "Do You Suffer From Accutane Hair Loss? Read This!" forum and claims he starting taking protandim a month after starting accutane after hearing about it and gives it credit for the reason he didn't really suffer from the side effects of accutane.
I think me and him are the only two people that I know of so far that starting using protandim after accutane and both of us saw/ are seeing positive results from it.
When you do your research on Protandim you will see it is made of 5 natural ingreadients: green tea, bacopa, ashwanghanda, milk thistle, and tumeric. I wondered when hearing about it, like you may be, why I couldn't just take the ingredients seperatly. The answer is because of how it is combined. It was scientifically formulated and tested at the amounts of each ingredient to make it work the way it does.
I would truly recommend anyone dealing with accutane side effects to give protandim a try.
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Give it a try and you will see what I mean when I say it is really helping me recover after accutane!
Please reply and I could answer any questions related to my accutane experience or about protandim and how it helped and is continuing to help me.
@ Pathtorecovery91, I can see from your post history that you appear to have an interest in plugging this product, and you're posting up referral links... This forum is for people who are suffering from various ailments to try and help each other and share experiences and advice, not to try and make money off those who are suffering.
Hey guys, i understand what you mean with the fraudulous website from lazyman. From what I understand, some things on the website is true and a lot of other things are not. The dude who made that website is known to make websites talking bad about multiple mlm companies. His name is Brian. Here is a link
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As a poor college kid I thought the price was way high as well. My friend that introduced this to me new how i was suffering from accutane and said that this supplement might help me. He sold me a bottle for pretty cheap and I tried it for the month. Like I said in my post, I noticed a major improvement in my mental clarity and had a great improvement in energy because months after taking accutane it left me feeling tired all the time and I couldn't really think straight in my classes because of the mind fog.
When I realized this I just continued to buy it.
I would not be spending $40 dollars a month if it didn't work for me, trust me!
As for advertising, I don't care where you get it from. I saw you could get it at a decent price on places like amazon or e bay and maybe elsewhere if you search for it. The website I put is where through Lifevantage and I became a preferred customer, so I get it at wholesale price and they have a couple other benefits of being one.
And as for how it works, I was just saying from the website what it does and how it works by lowering oxidative stress. I don't really know how it works to help me, but all i know is that it does. I was just trying to share this information with you guys in light of it helping.
Over the time after taking accutane I tried things such as a thyroid supplement, fish oils and hyaluronic acid, all from which I heard from these discussion boards.
What i am taking now works for me, plain and simple.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168010210022479
accutanes deleterious effects seem to be down to RAR signalling rather than oxidative stress. At least in regards to the hippocampus according to this study.
Having a quick google scholar scan though, surprisingly there is a few studies on it. Not sure if the studies have been funded by the producer of the product (thus being biased) but it shows it's good stuff. Which I'm not arguing, it's some healthy ingredients but just for an extortionate price.
Then you got problems like turmeric has only shown to be an anti-inflammatory in vitro but not in vivo, this is because turmeric cannot pass through the gut lining - not in normal doses anyway. Although interesting fact turmeric in combination with piperin (from black pepper) increases absorption (apparently according to some quasi-science I read a while back).
Glad to see another person recovering though.
Sexual dysfunction as a result of isotretinoin:
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If you have it, please comment on the story.
We are inching ever closer to having serious research into ALL long term side effects of Accutane by the day.