Antibiotics caused my hair loss not DHT, continue with finasteride?

[adamt]

Hi all,

In March 2010 i took 3 different oral antibiotics for 3 weeks to fight an infection:

Cefruoxime - 500mg twice daily - on Mon - Thu
Azithromycin - 250mg twice daily - on Fri - Sun
Tinidazole - 500mg twice daily - on Fri 0 Sun


The first 1.5-2 weeks was fine with no side effects but after this time my scalp/ears/parts of my face would itch a lot , mainly when in bed trying to sleep but a few days later the scalp itching would occur in the daytime.
but the scalp was the main problem as it would constantly itch
- my face also turned a strange orange ish colour

a few days later the head where hair grew from itched even worse and more severe, it would feel like lots of spiders were crawlinbg around my head , i cant emphasise enough how much it itched,

around the 2 and a half week mark it would itch/burn so excessuively i would barely sleep the whole night,
so once i reached 3 weeks i stopped the antibiotics as it was so horrible, constantly scratching my scalp/crown so it was red raw


the itching/dryness went away after about 4 days of stopping the antibiotics




It wasnt until April/may 2010 that i noticed my hair had thinned a lot mainly near the hairline, and i had a thin/balding patch near the crown and a tiny receded triangle on the hairline

So in September i decided to start taking 0.25mg Propecis every morning
and i have continued to take 0.25mg propecia daily and wash with nizoral since then

After reading that antibiotics can cause hair loss due to :
"I am familiar with hair loss caused by the long-term use of antibiotics. This medication kills off the "good bacteria" in the intestines. These are the bacteria that help synthesize many of the vitamins of the B-complex including biotin. These antibiotics also cause a deficiency of vitamin K. "

http://www.hairloss-reversible.com/disc ... 1151588930


but since stopping the antibipotics back in march10 i do get a bit of an itch/one scratch on my scalp now and then near the thinned areas but rarely

So now it all makes sense why my hair thinned, and it wasnt classic male pattern baldness /DHT. it was the antibiotics, which i should of realized from the exccessive scalp itching/burning.


So i wanted to know other peoples views on this?

Can i stop taking 0.25mg propecia now? as it was obviously the antibiotics causing the hair loss

if someone who doesnt have male pattern baldness/DHT, is Propecia in anyway bad or cause hairloss?

thanks for reading and all replies appreciuated

 

[adamt]

ok so in that case can i stop taking 0.25mg propecia now?

if someone doesnt have male pattern baldness/DHT, can Propecia in anyway be bad or cause hairloss?

 

[holdhotter]

ok so in that case can i stop taking 0.25mg propecia now?

if someone doesnt have male pattern baldness/DHT, can Propecia in anyway be bad or cause hairloss?

WHOOOOOOSH

 

[adamt]

Yes or no would be helpful please

 

[j1234]

If you post pictures it'd be more helpful but from what I can tell, yes, the antibiotics most likely started your hair loss. Now that your hair loss has already begun it's not going to stop until your completely bald. I would continue taking Propecia and eventually work your way up to 1mg and also add in nizoral. Good luck.

 

[j1234]

actually, before you started taking the anti biotics, you were most likely already starting to begin to bald. The meds just sped up the process substantially, which is the same way accutane works. Just by you stating that your crown and hairline are thinning and no where else says to me that you do have male pattern baldness and it will not stop.

but who knows.

 

[Wuffer]

You guys should really try to be more helpful, or don't post at all. Not everyone knows how MBP starts and progresses, and you may end up giving the guy bad advice even though most people know you are being sarcastic.

As mentioned above, the thinning you were experiencing seems to fit the classisc male pattern baldness progression (recession at the temples and thinning at the crown). This may have been accelerated by the antibiotics for some reason. Usually if you have any hair loss related to anything other than male pattern baldness, it will be patchy or over your entire head (including the sides and back, which are immune to male pattern baldness.)

I would start by posting pictures. If the consensus is that you are experiencing male pattern baldness, then see a doctor, or continue to take Finasteride based on your own diagnosis. If its male pattern baldness, you will need to take finasteride for the rest of your life, or until a better treatment is available.