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)?
Spain
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?
23, almost 24. 182cm, 78kg
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
isotretinoin, sertraline (also some benzos such as alprazolam, but hardly ever)
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
isotretinoin 10/20/40/40mg daily and then 100mg sertraline daily
What condition was being treated with the drug?
mild acne (iso), depression, anxiety and ocd (sertraline)
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
4 months isotretinoin and about a year and a half (on and off) sertraline
Date when you started the drug?
December 2016 iso, April 2017 sertraline
Date when you quit the drug?
April 2017 iso, not really sure about sertraline due to my inconsistent use, but probably around early 2020
Age when you quit?
20
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
cold turkey iso, tapper off sertra
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
First month on iso, and probably about 2 weeks on sertra
What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
-Way less libido but no ED
-No morning wood
-Testosterone decrease
-Major depression
-Anxiety and OCD
-Terrible night vision/blurriness
-Dry skin, lips, eyes and even glans
-Painful Joints that prevent me from exercising and enjoying life overall
-Insomnia, restlessness
-I also suspect that isotretinoin caused on me an absurd accleration of MPB -which apppeared at roughly 18yo-, but i dont have a solid proof to assure that.
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
[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility
Mental
[X ] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[X] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[X] Confusion
[X] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[X] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[X] Slurring of Speech
[X] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[X] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[X] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[X] Suicidal Thoughts
Physical
[X] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[X] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[X] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes
Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[X] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[X] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[X] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[X] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[X] Increased hair loss
[X] Frequent urination
[X] Lowered body temperature
[ ] Other (please explain)
What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?
I tried benzos every now and thenn in order to sleep. Alprazolam 2,5 and 5mg.
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)?
Unfortunately, i cannot find my bloodtests. If I remember properly, everything was within normal ranges, but T, LH and FSH were either on the low normal tier or unsettlingly on the low spectrum. Prolactin a bit over the threshold.
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.
The biggest mistake of my life was accepting my parents/derm opinion and start accutane. After a while, all my sebaceous glands were anihilated (with the promise that it d be temporary. Damn them all) so i developed extreme dryness. Joint pain and back pain (which luckily isnt with me anymore) also appeared aswell as a humongous depression. I have to admit i have predisposition to mental illness in my family, but never ever had i felt such a thing before. Along with that appeared the libido issues and lack of motivation and sleep.
The derm played dumb and said nothing was related to isotretionoin except the ‘‘temporary’’ dry skin.
After that they made me jump on sertraline and holy cow, that thing broke me even more. I was unable to orgasm and the sensitivity of the shaft was similar to my elbow’s while on it although i got hypersexual for some reason.
As you can guess, i may have some issues when it comes to say which drug caused what.
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 [ ]
write.