AUTHOR: Sara TITLE: A little Accutane, A Lot of Guilt . . . DATE: 2/02/2005 09:18:00 PM ----- BODY:
For most of us that have miscarried or lost a child, I know that we often times find ourselves questioning what it is we did that made this happen. For me, it was questions like:

The list of questions goes on and on and along with that (for many) comes the guilt of thinking they did something to cause this to happen.

I just completed Getting Pregnant: What You Need to Know Right Now, by Niels Lauersen. Basically, if you want to read a book that will just make you worry a bit more about what you SHOULD be doing or would you COULD have done differently, this is your book. It had some interesting facts I had yet to read about, but really . . . . what are the answers, really? If there were great, steadfast answers out there, there might not be such a thing as infertility.

Anyway, my most recent worry that I have managed to push out of my mind until recently (well, until I read the damn book) is that Accutane has damaged my ability to have children somehow. Now, if you don't know about Accutane, it is a drug prescribed to treat severe cystic acne. It has a book-full of lovely side effects, but with the bad comes the good for so many, like myself, that were NEVER able to rid of the painful case(s) of cystic acne that began, for me, when I was 14.

Accutane is also called isotetrin and works well drying up the sebaceous glands in your face that produce sebum (oil) which is usually the underlying cause of acne. It is a whopping dose of vitamin A, essentially, so monthly blood work is required during the short time you take the drug to measure your billirubin (liver enzyme) levels. For women, they also make you sign a waiver that states it causes birth defects and you are to either abstain or use birth control pills for the duration of the treatment.

Unlike most who have taken the drug, I am an exception. I have done three rounds of Accutane since 1994, the last one being in 2001. Most people have only taken it once. Actually, they only suggest you take it once, as it really does a number on you. For me, it cleared me up great each time, but I ended up having 2 horrible reoccurances that were cleared up with another 3-month treatment. I am relatively acne-free (unfortunately not scar free) and happy with the results. The pain and god-awful side affects were worth the end result.

I have heard a lot lately about how they are starting to think Accutane is stored in your fat cells for up to a year after you stop taking the medication. So, this gets me thinking more about what these docs really know about it. What if it is not just a year? Is 365 days the magic time when this leaves your body? I have A LOT of fat cells, what if it is still lingering in my system? (You get my point, the questions go on and on.)

So, I have been unable to find any research on this or cases where infertility or miscarriages later on down the line might be attributed to Accutane. Any thoughts? My Mom made a reassuring comment. "Sara, if this was a known problem, we would be hearing about it on the news because so many young girls have taken this drug." True, but what if no one is connecting the dots? How long did it take doctors to realize Thalidomide and DES were damaging women and their babies?

Just another thing to keep me from getting a full night's sleep these days. . . .

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