I'm a 23 year old male and I've been struggling with moderate(sometimes close to severe) acne under the skin, nodular acne and cystic acne since I was 16. Even though acne is not a life-threatening disease, my acne has caused:
- lowered my self-esteem
- avoid social interaction
- made me skip work and school
- got bullied at school because of my acne
- ended up taking too much vitamin A pills and having pain in my liver when I was desperate in getting rid of severe acne and trying everything over the counter when I was as a teen
- after seen a doctor, I got put on minocycline for 6 months and a year later I've developed gastric problems
- after seen a dermatologist, I got put on 20mg accutane(I weight 56.1kg) by a dermatologist and after 5 days I decided to quit because it's such a dangerous drug with potential horrific side effects
Although acne is affecting my life, what's affecting my life even more is my low intelligence. Even though my IQ is between 108 - 110(according to IQtest.dk), I'm currently struggling in life since I can't handle college and I never feel like I'm ready to learn driving let alone move out. So if accutane is going to make me even more stupider, It's not worth it for me.
On the first day I took accutane, I became very irritable and snapped at my mother about a small nuisance. So I then decided to drink coffee to calm myself down which worked but then I started getting migraines which lasted 5 hours until I got back home from work. On the second day, I felt down and had a brain fog few hours after taking the drug. I'm assuming that this happens because Isotretinoin crosses the BBB just like Minocycline which used to give me brain fog as well. On the second day of taking accutane, I stopped getting irritable and I just felt down and had a brain fog again. I didn't get a migraine this time so caffeine probably interacted with Isotretinoin even though they are not supposed to. On the third, fourth and fifth day, nothing improved, I still felt down and had a brain fog after taking the drug.
I can't believe I agreed to take accutane in the first place and I deeply regret going to the dermatologist for help. I don't know if it took it because I was desperate in having clear skin at school and work or because I'm stupid and unable to assess the risks properly, probably both. There's also a psychological component as well where because he was an authoritative figure, I trusted him more. Not to mention I was only informed about the common side effects like joint pain and depression. I'm upset that accutane is so easily prescribed these days. Isotretinoin has only been on the market since 1982, so who know what the long-term effects are on longevity.
So my question is, what are the negative effects of accutane on the brain? I'm aware that accutane can destroy other organs(liver, joints, colon etc.) but I'm mainly concerned about the effects on my cognition since I need my brain the most to get through in life. Could I have irreversible brain damage from taking 20mg of accutane for 5 days if I weight 56.1kg?
Edited by Heinsbeans, 25 November 2014 - 09:14 AM.