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I'm considering going on Accutane. I have no heath problems besides acne, but I'm sick of looking at it. It causes emotional problems. My dermatoligist said it's the last hope for me to get rid of acne since everything else has failed and I have been struggling with this for too many years. I will also need laser scar removal and plastic surgery due to the damage that cystic acne has caused me.
If you want to make the biggest mistake of your life, take accutane. It completely ruined me
Hey everyone!
I'm in a similar situation as a lot of the rest of you guys in that I experience side effects from taking isotretonoin. I can really feel your pain.
I started reading this entire thread, but realised that going through the whole thing would take a lot of time.
Can anyone who's been along since the beginning give me a quick summary of what kind of treatments, supplements, etc. people have found to be effective.
Thank you
Anyone ever got to trying natural progesterone cream for the ed. I posted a study done a while back how when mixed with test. Cream it improved ed. The ages were from 21 to like sixty something. My theory is we shouldn't need the test. Cream if you no cap since your building up ur test levels from doing it. You could actually Google progesterone for ed and find results.
Does anyone want to try it while doing no fap?
I'm gonna try no fap as well. Do yall suffering with ed also notice a change in your penis head. Mines has wrinkles in it and it kind of burns a bit.
Also with the sort of erection I get which is only from constant stimulation, the head doesn't get full and hard. The rest is somewhat hard put can't stay up.
Anyone similar? Also to thoses of you who do no fap for a while, does it improve your erection??? The longest I tried it was for like 5 days. I get an urge but still can't perform.
Did anyone try progesterone cream to see if it helps??
You have to be patient.
You're not going to fix anything in 5 days.
Let's remember that porn isn't the only issue (though everyone is best off without it).
Most of us here (if not all) have fatigue (adrenally) and depression/anxiety.
Ejaculating in the biggest issue.
I've noticed sex is better if I don't do it often.
If I tried to do have sex every day, it wouldn't work.
Because we're recovering,
There's nothing wrong with our dicks, themselves.
It's hormones and mental (not meaning psychological).
But having sex often/masturbating often is going to wear us out further.
We have to give it time.
It's like, I'm tired as hell after work during the week.
Unless I have a genuine urge, there's no point in me trying to have sex.
I used to wank just because I thought I should.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY, simple as.
To add to what I was saying, when our body is in stress mode, it's priority is to just try and survive.
It's not to have a fully functional penis.
I think Mother Nature kind of controls things like that... it doesn't want 'sick' people to reproduce.
I wouldn't be surprised if we (as we are at the moment) would be unable to produce a baby.
But I'm not trying to add worry.
I just want to point out what should be obvious.
Yes, we all want amazing sex all the time.
But there are a lot of things we have to lose out on, for now.
To add to what I was saying, when our body is in stress mode, it's priority is to just try and survive.
It's not to have a fully functional penis.
I think Mother Nature kind of controls things like that... it doesn't want 'sick' people to reproduce.
I wouldn't be surprised if we (as we are at the moment) would be unable to produce a baby.
But I'm not trying to add worry.
I just want to point out what should be obvious.
Yes, we all want amazing sex all the time.
But there are a lot of things we have to lose out on, for now.
I have a few questions for you and anyone else with ed.
Do you:
1) have morning erections at all? (i'm dead throughout the noght and morning)
2) have any urinary issues? (eg. takes a little time to start a flow, weakened flow)
3) ever tell a close one about your problem?(parent, friend)
Just want to compare my situation
To add to what I was saying, when our body is in stress mode, it's priority is to just try and survive.
It's not to have a fully functional penis.
I think Mother Nature kind of controls things like that... it doesn't want 'sick' people to reproduce.
I wouldn't be surprised if we (as we are at the moment) would be unable to produce a baby.
But I'm not trying to add worry.
I just want to point out what should be obvious.
Yes, we all want amazing sex all the time.
But there are a lot of things we have to lose out on, for now.
This probably isn't correct but wouldn't it make sense that the body wouldn't create/circulate as much dopamine and serotonin for sex if Mother Nature was against us having a child under stress? So we would essentially be using up the serotonin and dopamine that we needed to function as human beings through fapping.
My partner and I just might have to try out this NoFap thing.
Just began a water fast today with another forum user. Will keep everyone updated on how it goes and if I notice any changes from it.
would like to hear a day-to day briefings from you, and palms up for decision!!!
planning a fast myself, but prolonged it for summer, allegedly scars could be healed also... just sounds the most reasonable process to regeneration
PS done myself the so called ''intermitten'' fasts (just eat before 22PM and the next day would drink clay+zeolite water only until 15-16AM, these are the days when i would feel the best
yeah, intermittent fasting is great. i do it all the time from about 6pm to 11am the next day. no need to go over 16 hours on the fast. information about this can be found in paul jaminet's perfect health diet book.
the bad thing about fasting is you have to go DAYS without eating to get the real benefits. i just don't have it in me to go like 30 days. i'm going to try to do an 8 day fast. i'm at the end of my 3rd day. today has been the worst day yet. extremely fatigued. no difference in accutane symptoms. also no specific detox reactions or anything like that (acne, horrible body odor, itchiness etc). will keep everyone posted
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for the people with ED, how are your diets? are you guys eating the majority of your calories from fats? i never once got any sign of libido issues from accutane. i'm wondering if it's because i eat so much fat each day.
also, for the ones that think your body doesn't care about reproduction in times of stress, it's true but only during INTENSE stress (ie being chased by a lion). i think no matter what, the body always wants to maintain the ability to reproduce. this is what we're put on the planet to do. even if we are in poor health, we will put more energy into maintaining the reproduction capacity than into healing our bodies. our bodies are just vessels to transport the DNA. nature doesn't care about us surviving in the short-term. the body will take all the damage while we maintain the ability to transport our genetic material to the next generation (damaged DNA or not). obviously if you're in extreme sympathetic dominance (being chased), you won't be able to get an erection, but we aren't in that state. it would take a heck of a lot to stimulate our stress response enough that it shuts down our ability to reproduce. i don't know why people get ED from accutane but perhaps they don't have the necessary hormones or building blocks for the hormones that regulate libido. could also be that the body isn't sensitive to the hormones. you could have them but be resistant to them. there could be signaling errors. OR it very well be that the accutane IS enough of a stressor to shut down the ability to reproduce. however, over the long-term, i doubt it. i think it is a different mechanism. you would be in bed the entire day barely able to move if your health was bad enough to not be able to get an erection. reproduction is one of the very last things to go when it comes to the order of the body shutting down functions.
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btw, everyone look up enterohepatic recirculation. the liver converts toxins into water soluble and fat soluble components. the water soluble toxins travel in the blood to be excreted by the kidneys. the fat soluble toxins travel in the bile from the liver into the gallbladder to be stored. the interesting thing i recently learned is that when the gallbladder contracts to release bile (to digest fats), these toxins and the bile are almost completely reabsorbed. that is why we aren't able to successfully get rid of accutane metabolites (if we have them). this is one of the ways the liver flush actually does work. it empties the gallbladder and then the laxatives you take flush out all the bile before being reabsorbed. this is what the "stones" are. it's just bile (but filled with toxins). one way you can get rid of these fat soluble toxins from the gallbladder successfully without doing the gallbladder flush is by eating TONS of fiber with each meal. when bile is released into the duodenum, the toxins can bind to fiber. you then excrete the entire fibrous mass along with the toxins. some people will actually supplement fiber during chelation therapies to bind up released metals. this method of detoxification isn't something that is quick and noticeable. it's a long-term strategy. takes months of consistency. thought that would be pretty nice to let everyone know about that
I have a few questions for you and anyone else with ed.
Do you:
1) have morning erections at all? (i'm dead throughout the noght and morning)
2) have any urinary issues? (eg. takes a little time to start a flow, weakened flow)
3) ever tell a close one about your problem?(parent, friend)
Just want to compare my situation
I know you didn't ask me,
but for 1) you start getting rock hard morning wood 2-3 weeks in (at least it was for me) of No Fap. For ED related issues, NoFap apparently needs a couple months to start completely solving the ED problems.
The other night i woke up seconds before having a wet dream... it was really hard to not go back to sleep haha not sure if i can keep doing it.
2) I haven't been noticing it lately after adding magnesium/vit D supplements to my routine. But I used to have short weak urinary urges minutes after drinking water..they are gone for the most part.
3) told my mom about accutane making me depressed, but haven't really told anyone about ED. I am optimistic about No Fap so im gonna keep it to myself.
I have a few questions for you and anyone else with ed.
Do you:
1) have morning erections at all? (i'm dead throughout the noght and morning)
2) have any urinary issues? (eg. takes a little time to start a flow, weakened flow)
3) ever tell a close one about your problem?(parent, friend)
Just want to compare my situation
I know you didn't ask me,
but for 1) you start getting rock hard morning wood 2-3 weeks in (at least it was for me) of No Fap. For ED related issues, NoFap apparently needs a couple months to start completely solving the ED problems.
The other night i woke up seconds before having a wet dream... it was really hard to not go back to sleep haha not sure if i can keep doing it.
2) I haven't been noticing it lately after adding magnesium/vit D supplements to my routine. But I used to have short weak urinary urges minutes after drinking water..they are gone for the most part.
3) told my mom about accutane making me depressed, but haven't really told anyone about ED. I am optimistic about No Fap so im gonna keep it to myself.
Thank you. Yeah these questions are for anyone on here suffering from ed. Hopefully no fap works like that for me as well.
Like, my problem is I feel the urine build up in my bladder and know I have to pee, but it doesn't feel like it's about to come out. It takes a little while like 5 seconds before it starts coming out and it's not as strong as it used to be.
Thank you. Yeah these questions are for anyone on here suffering from ed. Hopefully no fap works like that for me as well.
Like, my problem is I feel the urine build up in my bladder and know I have to pee, but it doesn't feel like it's about to come out. It takes a little while like 5 seconds before it starts coming out and it's not as strong as it used to be.
I have had that issue before, but it was really inconsistent. I have no idea what may or may not have stopped that and i'm not sure if it is related to ED. But with or without accutane fapping has caused ED's worldwide. IF you have fapped for years consistently, NoFap will help you out guarenteed man. Just be patient with it and i find reading the subreddit helps a ton.
Another thing to consider/compliment the NoFap is cold showers. I can't explain it but cold showers help a ton with brain fog. I kind of feel like superman in the morning after a cold shower. Tons of people do cold showers and no fap together.
Nonsense. I can speak from personal experience that abstaining is not guaranteed to fix anything in the long term. This is coming from someone who partook fewer than 12x in 2000 and 2001. That's right, it was months between and I was having sex even less frequently.
Normal healthy guys often masturbate within hours before a big date to prevent PE, we have to wait several days before a big date just to prevent ED. Masturbation itself is not the problem. Having to wait that long for your libido to replenish itself enough to get an erection is not normal.
Abstinence for several days or weeks is a band-aid treatment for other causes of ED.
Just some alternative viewpoints:
A Scientists Response To The War On Masturbation
http://www.lehmiller.com/blog/2014/3/3/a-scientists-response-to-the-war-on-masturbation
An Erectile Dysfunction Myth
Pornography is not the problem.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/women-who-stray/201308/erectile-dysfunction-myth
I would like to "test" the "NoFap" theory someday by asking how many young guys in that forum are currently one of the estimated 11% of people taking an antidepressant, which have rates of sexual side effects observed as high as 60% with SSRIs.
Ended the water fast today. Lasted 4 and 1/2 days. Didn't notice any change in symptoms at all. Perhaps I didn't do it long enough. Was incredibly fatigued throughout. Am going to do another fast in a few weeks. Hopefully I can make it past 4 days. Lost 4 pounds in 4 days. I'm sure my fatigue was from purging major amounts of toxins.
EDIT: Can anyone with vitamin A sensitivity detail your experiences with it?
Persephina- I have the same problem; although, I don't think there is anything that can be done about it.
Might seem like an odd question, but have you noticed an absence of body odor since taking Accutane?
I don't need anti-perspirant/deodorant anymore since tane. Armpit sweat and body odor was almost completely eliminated.
This is consistent with observed anti-andorgenic effects of retinoids on sebaceous and lacrimal glands (tear ducts).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocrine_sweat_gland
I most certainly do have a lack of body odor.
This is the worst symptom, out of all of them.
I feel like I'm being encased in an overheated, suffocating coffin, with rats eating away at my brain and internal organs. Couldn't these assholes be a tiny bit more merciful and give me some god damned sweat?
Did anyone ever check for central nervous system damage? My symptoms such as my lower back pain I been having for the past couple years, my urinary issues, and more importantly ed are all signs of nervous system damage. It would explain why when I rest on my arm it goes numb after a short period of time as compared to b4 accutane.
Dubya what you think?
I think you would have to go to a chiropractor for this issue and they could test it.
I did read in one of the forums of someone who's ed was helped from going to a chiropractor for his lower back pain.
Did anyone ever check for central nervous system damage?
i also have major nerve problems. during the course i worked out extremely hard and i could feel my nervous system failing. i just attributed it to working out too hard. i now know that it was the accutane. our nervous systems are messed up. i have a lot of peripheral neuropathy like tingling of the limbs and fingers. feels like my nervous system is fried
my circulation also goes out incredibly easy. could anyone detail their experiences with poor circulation? is this the accutane that caused this? i'm going to be checking myself for nerve impingement.
i don't know the mechanism by which accutane could cause poor circulation but i could always theorize:
i know that i have extremely low vitamin b6. anyone else with this deficiency? saw that accutane can raise homocysteine and it also messes up the enzyme responsible for homocysteine metabolism (cystathionine-beta-synthase) which is vit b6 dependent. high homocysteine depletes b12 and folate, too. can confirm folate deficiency for me as well. also, hyperhomocysteinaemia is an independent risk factor for thrombovascular disease. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20236286
"The use of Isotretinoin (Iso) for cystic acne (CA) therapy includes marked side-effects such as dyslipidemia, increased liver enzymes, and reduction of biotinidase activity. Moreover, Homocysteine (Hcy), an amino acid, is metabolized in the liver requiring folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and the activity of enzymes, i.e. cystathionine-beta-synthase. Increased blood levels of Hcy are associated with premature occlusive vascular disease."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11277950
anyone check their homocysteine levels? i'm sure our methylation cycles are all messed up. perhaps we are accumulating more toxins now due to poor detox ability. CBS is a major detox enzyme. i also know that nerve cells are one of the first things to be affected by toxin exposure
Glad that I found this, I just searched accutane+tendonitis on a whim and it brought me here. So far this is the only reasonable explanation I have found.
I took accutane for 4-6 months when I was 15 or 16 and I am now 19. For almost 2 years now I have been suffering from chronic tendonitis that my doctors cannot explain nor find any cause. The tendonitis started in my right wrist thumb area, soon after it developed in my left wrist and now it is causing pain from the wrist to about 3/4 the way up both arms. My lower shin area on both legs developed similar symptoms that have improved slightly but are still present.
In the past few months I've noticed my hair on top thinning a fair bit.
In the past year and a half or so I've developed a chronically dry throat that can make it difficult to swallow at times and also has been causing bad breath. My throat continues to feel dry no matter how much water I drink.
In the past year I have developed lower back pain that makes it uncomfortable to sit in any chair for longer periods of time(>10 minutes). I have to constantly wiggle around and move in the chair changing positions and it is still uncomfortable.
I've had depression that comes and gos since I've stopped accutane.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Is there anything I can do that will help? Driving is painful, using a computer is painful, writing is painful. I cannot play any video games any more aside from rarely when drinking with friends(alcohol seems to dull the effects of the tendonitis enough to play a few games pain free). I can't run or work out anymore. If it wasn't for the fact that I have a girlfriend of 4 years and a loving family I would have jumped off a cliffside or driven my car into a ravine long ago. The thought has crossed my mind many a time standing near a high window.
I'm not worried so much about depression or suicidal thoughts, that I something I feel will be fixed if the other issues are taken care of or better managed.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Is there anything I can do that will help?
Sorry to hear about everything. Yep, it was the accutane that caused everything. There's not much you can do to reverse the damage. Nutrition should be your main focus right now. Paleo principles. Looking up Chris Kresser will be a good starting place. Start taking a B complex and get plenty of retinol from foods. Accutane messes up vit A metabolism resulting in deficiency. Focus a lot of attention on your gut. Just assume you have inflammatory bowel disease and eat according to that. Learn how to make bone broth to heal up your intestines. Above all, don't get stressed about what has happened to you. Time may bring healing
Accutane is a controlled poisoning with permanent side effects and what we are dealing with is damage control , all you have to do is click on the main page of acne.org and click on Accutane and see the picture with the side effects on the human body , I wish I had the internet 20 + years ago as I would never have taken this drug had I known there were long term side effects , but for anyone new to acne.org there is no excuse to poison yourself for life yourself for something as simple as pimples , effective non toxic treatments exist start with diet and go from there. The rest of us accutainted people are all in the same boat some worse than others and seek solutions to our drug induced problems and that's why this board exists hope everyone is doing well and most important stay positive.
To the people with hair loss and ED due to accutane :
Listen carefully :
- All the supplements, herbs and bla bla bla, wont help you at all. If some of them will help u, it will be temporary (maybe a week or so)
- Testosteron creams, injections, hormone replacement therapy, androgen pills (ex. PROVIRON) (i've tried them all, they don't work, some work for a short time)
- eating healthy doesn't make any difference either. I've eaten for months just vegetables and fruits,,,with no difference
- exercising doesnt make any difference.
- waiting.....doesnt make any difference.......it's been about 3 years since i stopped taking accutane.
- for those with accutane hair loss : propecia doesn't work, minoxidil doesn't work, hair transplant doesn;t work.
I don't believe we are recovering. I don't believe our bodies are healing etc etc etc.......
Accutane isn't in our bodies anymore. You all have to realise that. Our bodies don't work well anymore because we can't process vitamin A anymore....We all need vitamin A for healthy skin, healthy hair, etc...
We have retinoic defect, from what i've seen. It's 99% permanent, from what i've realised.
For those who think we took a chemo drug,,,,is ok to believe that. But we don't suffer the chemo drug side effects.
We suffer from hypervitaminosis A.
I know a guy, personally, who took alot of vit. A for a longer time. His hair is as thin and dry as mine, his skin is super dry, as mine, super dry eyes, conjunctivitis, osteoporosis, memory loss, etc he has same symptoms as the accutane damaged people.
We need to cure this retinoic defect, to be able to process again vit. A . If we do that, we will be like we used to be.
If not, all the herbs and supplements wont help. I've tried everything, even hormone injections, pills, herbs, healthy eating, fasting, etc etc etc. Nothing works.
Take care!
Hello everybody!
I'm new here. As all of you, I'm a post accutane sufferer. My story began many years ago. I took Accutane from October 2006 to February 2007 (40 mg per day) and then from March to April 2007 (30 mg per day). In other words, I took the drug for 7 months. I started to experience some psychological problems in January, at my 4th month of therapy. I had serious digestive problems, hallucinations and wanted to jump out of the windows, but I was lucky as my parents were with me and helped me not doing it. We rushed to the doctor who prescribed me the drug and he told us not to be afraid because " the drug has this side effect which ends when the therapy is over". We trusted the guy and after the therapy things began to change. It is true that my acne is gone and my psychological problems went away but I still suffer from poor digestion and other problems which came out after the end of the treatment. These are:
- Tremendous hair loss + extremely oily hair
- Extremely poor digestion
- Incapacity to gain weight, no matter how much I eat
- Pruritus: my body itches much, especially my legs
- Chronic fatigue
- IPB
- I don't know why but my skin has changed and when the sun shines I get always burnt, while I used to get a wonderful tan before the therapy
- My wounds take too much time too recover. When I stab myself for instance, it might take 2 hours for my skin to regenerate (while bleeding), before the therapy it took only some minutes
The problems in bold are the ones I regard as worst. When I say extremely poor digestion I mean that I can take up to 24-48 hours to digest the food I eat. For instance, I noticed that when I eat tuna, eggs, or milk I won't digest any food (so I won't sleep and everything will be a mess). Yes, it might be linked with vitamin A, in fact I tend to react bad towards it. I visited different doctors and had to face the usual "It's all in your mind, son!" which makes me sad and bewildered every time. I underwent a gastroscopy, a colonscopy and blood tests only to find out I suffer from coeliac disease (even if when I have some gluten I feel ok). Today I'll visit a hepatologist but I can foresee a "It's all in your mind, son!". I'll let you know guys!
Now, about my hair, my scalp became extremely oily: after 1 hour from the wash, my hair got already oily and my scalp itches a lot. I tried everything: shampoos, lotions, 1 month of propecia in 2012, sodium bicarbonate and supplements to no avail. I visited doctors who told me that Accutane never causes this strange "rebound" concerning the hair and the scalp, therefore they concluded "there's nothing else we can do".
About my IPB my urologist pointed out that "impaired digestion leads to IPB" so he conlcuded that "if I want to recover from IPB I need to heal my digestion first".
These 8 years have been crazy for me, I went to several doctors and spent a lot of money. I've tried everything and anything, I'm about to try my second liver-flush by Andreas Moritz (just performed one in January). I came across this forum two weeks ago and managed to read all the posts. I would like to thank people like Stefan Lay who got us started, Chico Esposito who's never giving up and all the others who remind me every time that I'm not alone. I consider all the long-term damage from accutane sufferers to be heroes, since they are living a life which is worse than the one of ordinary people, and they are often misunderstood, because doctors and other people can't see what they can, and they can't feel what they can.