I’m also someone who took a year of doxycycline (yeah, I know, I know) for acne right before taking accutane (ugh it hurts to even write this) so I guess you might be right. But after finishing my 1.5 courses I had problems like seb derm and oral thrush which fucked me up pretty bad whereas I didn’t have those problems before.
What I do know is that our gut microbiome plays a role in hormone production. This might also explain how antibiotics might give some temporary therapeutic benefits. I feel like there has to be some gut component that affects us if it makes at least accutane users susceptible to IBS and Crohns, no?
To me it looks like all the theories we have with DHT or 5AR2 are just dead ends. Doesn’t it make sense to see what leads to temporary relief and try to work out a solution from there instead?