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)?
Ireland
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 search
What is your current age, height, weight?
22,6 foot 1 , 80kg
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Isotretinoin
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
Can’t remember,but took it for 6 months.
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Acne
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
6 months
Date when you started the drug?
August 2019
Date when you quit the drug?
January 2020
Age when you quit?
16
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
6 months later
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
[ X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ X] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[ X] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[X ] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[X ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ X] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ X] Joint Pain
[ X] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[X ] Increased hair loss
[ X] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
Also chronic mouth ulcers.
Random flares of joints and tendons and cracking.
, Not exactly severe digestive issues , but a lot of gut rumbling and noise , sometimes mild cramping .
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
My side effects came 6 months after the drug, Most of the same symptoms except brain fog was mild and didn’t notice much loss of drive and motivation for things as I do now.
I recovered slowly after a few months maybe can’t remember , as this was about 5-6 years ago, i recovered i would say in 6-8 months , never fully recovered always had some mild symptoms left but all of these symptoms resolved to about 80 percent enough to forget about it ever happening really .
This is where I am now , I took topical minoxidil on scalp from april to june this year (2026) , And noticed a crash of my symptoms from post accutane , I immediately stopped minoxidil, My symptoms were dry eyes and mouth , joint and tendon sensitivity again , mouth ulcers , increased hair loss, Oily skin and scalp, This has been there the last few months with mild fluctuations , however I noticed a huge change in cognitive function a month after stopping minoxidil , around end of july . I notice that i also dream a lot more in my sleep now , I have more dream recall, Around the same time as the brain fog set in I also noticed lack of drive and motivation and harder to look forward to things and interests. Around 2 weeks ago , My gut seemed to get worse and start rumbling and around the same time as this i feel like my emotions are more flat and blunted and harder to motivate myself . Should I hold out on hope of improvement again as I HAD 5 YEARS of feeling stable.
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.
Self-reporting template - ONLY USE FOR FUTURE POSTS TO REPORT ANY TRIALS OF TREATMENTS, NOT YOUR INITIAL MEMBER STORY
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Name of the therapy/substance:
- Dosage:
- How often you took it:
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Status
- Still using [ ]
- Stopped with no lasting change to initial symptoms [ ]
- Stopped with persistent change to symptoms [ ]
- Duration of use: Days [ ] Months [ ] Years [ ]
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Response when you started:
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Current response (if you’re still using the therapy/substance) OR Response in the time before you stopped the treatment
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]
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Lasting changes to initial symptoms after cessation (if you have stopped for more than 3 weeks)
- Greatly improved [ ]
- Slightly improved [ ]
- Stayed the same [ ]
- Slightly worsened [ ]
- Greatly worsened [ ]