Crash from Tane, mb12, and THC

Member Stories
#1

Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.

Where are you from (country)?
USA
How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)
Google
What is your current age, height, weight?
30s
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Accutane, Ancestral Supplements Intestine, THC
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?

What condition was being treated with the drug?
Cystic acne
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
full course of accutane
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
Accutane
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?

Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.

Sexual
[ ] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[x] Erectile Dysfunction
[x] Complete Impotence
[x ] Loss of Morning Erections
[x ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[x ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[x ] Watery Ejaculate
[x] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[x ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[ x] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[x ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[x ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[x ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[x ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[x ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[x ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[x ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
x[ ] Testicular Pain
[x ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[x ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[x ] Muscle Weakness
[x ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[x ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[x ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?

If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)?

Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?

Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

Some of you may have read my thread on another forum (hs). Sides are crippling ED, worsening muscoskeletal pain, and memory/brain fog. Managed to cope now for 2 years. I’ve read this entire site back to front.

NOTE 1: I took Accutane in 2012. No bad sides. Minor dry eye. Thinking back now maybe it led to rotation on axis to the right from a weakened base.

NOTE 2: Years before any of this, around 2016, I visited my PCP because I randomly wet the bed 3 days in a row. He tested my prostate which was large/tender. I can’t remember what he prescribed exactly, but it was two things, I believe Proscar and a beta blocker of some sort, maybe flomax. All I remember from that time was that I took one pill and my testicles started buzzing which freaked me out so I discarded the rest of them.

NOTE 3: For years I have complained of a dull ache near my liver. This has been going on as far as I can remember. My PCPs have always dismissed it even with out of range markers.

Dec 2018: MINI CRASH. Used licorice root hair thinning shampoo. For the first time I suddenly could not maintain a solid erection. 20mg Viagra solved this and I went on with life.

Oct 2019: FIRST CRASH. Ancestral Supplements Intestine product. After a week of using less than 1/3rd of recommended dosage, penile shrinkage and hourglass. Felt bruising in pelvis, and scrotum became very tight. I also started jolting awake every few hours at night. I suspect methylation issues due to high methyl-b12 or vitamin A content. Viagra still worked at this time.

Dec 2019. FULL CRASH. Smoked THC vape for the first time since before Accutane. I blacked out a few hours later and woke up in the morning with intense burning (like icy hot) around my prostate, penis, scrotum, and testicles. Now, my penis was almost unrecognizable, shrunken even more, the foreskin purple. My testicles shrunk to nothing, and I could no longer feel that primal connection between my penis and prostate. Everything feels like it’s been fried.

The “crash” period lasted 2 weeks. It felt like someone was drilling a screw in my forehead. I wondered if I’d ever be able to fall asleep again. I had to spend the nights with my parents as I could not be consoled. My body and brain were foreign to me. I had suicidal thoughts which felt implanted.

2 Likes
#2

hey andy. sorry you are feeling this way. so you took accutane in 2012. but only recently got these terrible feelings? what could you contribute to the escalation of symptoms?

#3

sorry i just re-read this. i also had a sort of panic attack from weed which seemed to trigger these symptoms. however i believe a lot of my issues came from trazodone.

1 Like
#4

Dear fellow, you are not alone with your pain. I think the legal drugs triggered your epigenetic and hormonal balance and THC and the other supplements kicked a destabilized system. It’s unbelievable what you are suffering now. for a young man in his 30ties. I can only promise many others are with you with our thoughts.

1 Like
#5

Here are my theories:

Accutane Impairs RXR receptor. VDR, PPAR receptor, thyroid receptor, and LXR receptor stop
working since they are coupled with RXR.

My VitD test has been between 19 and 25 ng/ml (range: 30-100). I think it noteworthy to
mention there is an inverse relationship between Vit D and LH. This would suggest taking Vit D
would cause further shutdown. VDR also has transcriptional activity with Androgen Receptors. HTMA hair test suggests to avoid Vit D supplementation due to calcium absorption issues.

Then, THC, which is structurally similar to corticosteroids, possibly upregulated my gluticoid
receptor (GR). Now, since there is no thyroid action (because of accutane damage), and there is
too much GR action, estrogen and estrogen receptor alpha are inhibited. Possible fix is maybe cycle Dexamethasone, which can downregulate GR and upregulate RXR back up.

Since THC inhibits GABA neurosteroids and leaves glutamate unopposed, then during stress
(brain injury, stimulant, thc use) NMDA just starts to hit the brain with calcium like crazy, much
like excitotoxicity, which forces the body to protect the brain, so then it kills NMDA receptor.
NMDA now being hypofunctional forces 5AR neurosteroids to go down which is the root of the
problem I believe.

Estrogen and NMDA interaction maybe a culprit. In some people free glutamate is too high, and
thus maybe estrogen is down. In others, NMDA Is downregulated and estrogen is up. My last
test showed high Estrogen, Serum, Total = 227pg/ml (range: 60-190).

Assume estrogen is up since it substitutes glutamate which we know THC leaves unopposed.
Lower DHT = 25ng/dl (range: 12-65) makes sense since it blocks NMDA receptor.

Only evidence of the theories above is that when using HCG 250iu 3x week for 15 weeks, it
returned testicles to normal size, but did not last upon cessation since I believe the suppression
is coming from the brain. NMDA receptor is what secretes LH. Estrogen increases NMDA
density, Androgens block it.

NOTE: The endocannabinoid system is widespread throughout the central nervous system (CNS)
and peripheral regions and regulates a large array of physiological functions and behaviors. The
same can be said for gonadal hormones, and there are several major lines of evidence
suggesting that the two systems interact extensively. First, components of the endocannabinoid
system are present throughout the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, and
perturbations to this system cause changes in the HPG. Second, changes in the HPG axis alter
the expression and function of proteins of the endocannabinoid system. Third, the
endocannabinoid system is implicated in many behavioral and physiological functions, such as
sexual behavior, that are known to be regulated by gonadal hormones. Smoked marihuana
condensate, delta 9-THC, and CBN inhibit specific binding of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to the
androgen receptor. Data suggests that the anti-androgenic effects associated with marihuana use results, at least in part, from inhibition of androgen action at the receptor level. Endocannabinoids suppress release of GnRH, LH, and FSH.

#6

seems like you are quite well educated on this topic. i also took accutane in the past, i didn’t really notice anything until i took a pill called trazodone, followed by a panic attack from weed. i also have a lot of physical symptoms that come from these issues. weirdly enough i recently had a short recovery which was accompanied by all of my physical symptoms resolving. this was from doing a fecal matter transplant. it seemed like my improvements subsided after orgasm. this short recovery showed that there is no permanent damage. we are just stuck in some soft or dysfunctional loop

1 Like