accutane and PCOS connection?

idealist · 08-22-2004, 04:21 AM

just wondering how many of you were diagnosed with PCOS after taking accutane.

i took two courses of accutane around the age of 25 (currently 28). i didn't realize it until reading other message boards (acne related) but it seems all my weird health probs, including PCOS, happened after i started accutane.

it was during my first course of accutane, about 5 months into it or so, that i didn't have a period for 4 months. i had always been a irregular, but not to the point where more than a month would go by without a period. my GYN did some test: hormones were normal, but pelvic ultrasound revealed the "pearls" of cysts on my ovaries. i noticed that my other symptoms of PCOS didn't happen till much later after the diagnosis (in particular, hair loss on head and excess facial hair)

health probs since accutane:
-diagnosed with PCOS
-gallbladder attack, needed to remove (have a family history of it, but i was only 25 and THIN)
-petechaie, red "blood" spots on my lower legs
-TMJ (teeth clenching during sleep)
-neck/back muscle aches
-frequent UTI (urinary tract infections)
-WORSE acne

SweetAngel19 · 09-15-2004, 08:27 PM

I got diagnosed too after taking PCOS.

But I'm not sure if it's related 'cause I've always been irregular, but my health problems all started after stopping Acutane. And it didn't cure my acne as well.

Julius · 10-02-2004, 08:51 PM

I took accutane many years ago as well. But it was more as a 'treatment' for the acne related to PCOS, I believe.

I think I'd been diagnosed and then given accutane to get rid of my acne. It worked...but I wonder if the long term effects have been detrimental.

A friend of mine was also on accutane, and he's been suffering some pretty serious illnesses lately, including one that's like chrohn's but not quite the same (sorry, brain lapse, can't think of what it's called.)

PaintedDaisy · 10-02-2004, 09:04 PM

I took Accutane and got diagnosed with PCOS afterwards, but that's because it was so much more advanced by that time.

The Accutane was taken, obviously, to acne that I believe was due to PCOS. So had I been able to get diagnosed with PCOS first, I might have been able to avoid Accutane (eventhough it was wonderful for me).

In no way do I think the Accutane caused the PCOS, but instead it was the other way around.

~X~ · 11-06-2004, 12:55 AM

Hi.

I had acne (of course) before taking Accutane and possibly some other mild PCO symptoms (hard to say in hindsight how much)....but did NOT experience hair loss, irregular menstruation and many other PCo symptoms until after Accutane. And my acne was mild to moderate (just chronic, therefore frustrating) before Accutane. When it came back after Accutane, it was the worst acne I'd ever had in my life.
IT was like all my PCO symptoms had doubled.

Personally, I believe that taking Accutane does some devastating things to your body's normal chemistry and hormones....perhaps it makes PCOS-prone women get a worse case of it than they would have had, I don't know. Or perhaps it just mixes everything up in your body so we are experiencing some Accutane side effects and thinking everything is caused by the PCOS, don't know.

But there's a link.

~X~

Little_Lady · 11-10-2004, 04:50 PM

I'm assuming this is the same as Roaccutane in the UK. I took this years before i was diagnosed but I don't believe this caused me to have PCOS. I already had obvious symptoms, just that no-one would take me seriously. I was referred to a dermatologist for eczema and ended up being treated for acne! This was the only med that helped my acne and it made me very sick but it was worth it. If it came to it, I would take it again. That was 5yrs ago and my acne has returned but it isn't nearly as bad. It's not a long-term cure. Sometimes ppl never need to use it again as that little bit of help was enough for them.

Quote:

In the meantime I found out that Accutane does probably not work as a cure when you have PCOS. Because it does not fix the underlying hormonal imbalance.

I agree with what albaos said. Our bodies continue to produce the excess androgens so as soon as we stop treatment, the acne is highly likely to return. During puberty, the change in hormones can cause acne in a lot of teenagers however this soon settles.

I don't believe that if i hadn't have gone on roaccutane that I would have been diagnosed any sooner. To us, acne is an obvious symptom of PCOS but to a lot of people (doctors included)it is 'just spots'. As for roaccutane causing other health problems, i believe this is possible. You only have to read the leaflet in the packet to see that it can cause a huge list of side-effects & some can be potentially lethal. That is why you have to be monitored so closely whilst taking this and your body weight checked to make sure that you have the right dose for your build. I guess none of us will know if roaccutane has done any permanent damage to our body xx

ERICKA77 · 11-11-2004, 11:08 AM

Wow Accutane sounds like some powerful stuff.
PCOS is more than likely heriditary. You are born with it. So I don't think medications cause us to get PCOS. Unfortunatly, us PCOSers get it not matter what we take or do.

BJohnson7797 · 11-09-2009, 07:23 PM

Hi. I'm a seventeen year old senior. And I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 15. I used to be on accutane because I've had awful skin since the fifth grade. No fun. I noticed signs of depression toward the end of my accutane treatments, but i noticed my skin was 100 times better than before. I am currently off accutane and have been since I was 15, but my skin is horrible again and I can't decide whether accutane is a good choice for me now, especially knowing I have PCOS. I get laser treatments for the excessive dark hair and if I begin accutane treatment I cant continue with the laser. Any suggestions or opinions on what to do?

Kate29 · 11-23-2009, 03:01 AM

I took accutane before I was diagnosed, but my acne came with the onset of my other PCOS symptoms, which was what prompted me to go for the accutane. I only took it for two months because the liver checks scared me and I wasn't able to commit to not going outdoors. I worked outside in the sun in the desert, so I felt like I should stop it. It did help my skin quite a bit. I suppose when I am done TTC if my skin is still really bad, I might try it again because I didn't feel any adverse effects, but I'll try just about anything else first. It does sound like powerful stuff.

Carolinagirl_22 · 11-26-2009, 01:47 PM

hmmm strange...I took accutane in my early 20's and now that I think about my PCOS symptoms did actually increase after taking this. It worked wonders and my skin was clear for a year after I stopped taking it. I just got freaked out by all the possible side effects and always having to get my blood taken!

Shorter cycles which led to less cycles then non-existent cycles for months at a time. The hair and all that....really needs to be looked into.

etuc · 11-30-2009, 09:01 PM

IMO the most likely link between accutane and PCOS is that women with PCOS are more likely to take accutane to help with a symptom of PCOS.

I took accutane for severe cystic acne when I was a teenager. I wasn't diagnosed with PCOS until I was about 37 years old because my doctors were idiots. I showed many signs of PCOS before I ever took accutane.

Erytte · 12-02-2009, 07:46 AM

Aside from what's been said in this thread I've never heard of Accutane and PCOS being related in the sense of Accutane causing PCOS. It may be possible that the Accutane caused a chemical reaction of sorts in your body causing symptoms to surface, but I can't reasonably say that it's likely or even possible that it caused the PCOS itself.

You have to keep in mind that PCOS is still not quite as well understood, even by the medical community, as many other disorders are. The only consisent symptom associated with PCOS is the cysts on the ovaries. Someone please correct me if I'm misinformed about that being a symptom pretty much 100% of the time. Past that you see most of the other symptoms being common as a whole, but not showing themselves in every single woman. You easily could have had hormonal issues or insulin issues, for example, prior to the Accutane and never noticed it due to never having the blood work done.

As for me, my experience with Accutane was pretty much the opposite of yours. I'd been on oral and topical treatments as prescribed by my dermatoligst for about 2 1/2 years with no success whatsoever. I took so many different meds over that time I can't even begin to count them. I had read about Accutane in a magizine anf brought it up to my dermatoligst, who admitted she had pretty much ran out of meds to give me, but was hesitant to put me on such a strong medication at 13. So, she sent me for full blood work and after seeing the results referred me to an endocrinologist. With the endocrinologists' aproval I was on Accutane a few months later. I guess it'd be fair to say that the only reason I found out I had PCOS so early, or even found out at all is because of Accutane, even if indirectly.