Anyone's baldness caused or accelerated by ACCUTANE???

[ithappens]

I'm curious as to see whose male pattern baldness or other type of hair loss was caused or accelerated by the use of accutane. I finished up a course of treatment earlier this year so i'm curious as to how many others have this problem since hair loss is a known side effect. my hair was shedding slightly a couple months before treatment and while on it and since ending it all hell has broke loose. i usually lose upwards of 20 or so hair in the shower even as much as 50 on occassion plus falling out during the day etc. i would say that i've lost 50% of my hair since starting treatment, my temples have receeded an inch and a half, and i have a bald spot forming in the back, although i still have most of my scalp covered. used to have long thick brown hair, but now a lot of it is these weak wirery strands. if anyone have a similar experience with this drug?

 

[TAINTED-MEAT]

ya dude i was on it last year this time, i knew i was losing my hair before hand, but once i got off of it, my hair was curly and dry. its when i REALLY started noticing my baldness. However, I'm glad i took it cause it got rid of my acne, even tho i didnt want the hair loss. that stuff sure does kill hair for some people, but its a miracle drug for acne.

 

[barcafan]

Yeah i've heard about it quite a bit.

Maybe its like a trigger or something.

 

[hairisthinning]

im taking 60 mg of it a day right now, and i know it has definately made my hairline recede. but at the same time pretty much all my acne is gone so it might be worth it

 

[ithappens]

yea i took 40mg from august to febuary and have been off for over two months now and my hair loss has gotten really bad. i'm thinking it basically triggers male pattern baldness very much earlier than desired. if i had to do it all over again i wouldn't have taken it. i would rather of dealt with the acne that i had than be balding at 21. at the rate my hair is falling out i could at least partially bald in 2-5 months.

 

[Apoc]

I lost a huge ammount of hair while on it.

 

[ithappens]

apoc i'm curious to know did you ever gain any of it back or did you just keep losing it? I think hair loss is a lot more common on this thing than you really hear about.

 

[Apoc]

Well I lost so much that I had to buzz my head. I mean I even stopped taking Accutane after a month because I was completely freaking out. My hairline virtualy feel out in 1 week. It was truly a terrible experience for me. I can't say now how much it regrew because I'm still buzzed so it's hard to tell. But I would definetly say: DO NOT TAKE ACCUTANE IF YOU HAVE male pattern baldness!

 

[plusryan]

oh S@#$ i forgot about accutane, i actually took it for a period of time and dried my body up! could accutane attributed to male pattern baldness?

 

[hairisthinning]

most importantly, has anyone here (with male pattern baldness) regrown the hair they've lost from accutane?

 

[ithappens]

wow this is really interesting to see just how many peoples' male pattern baldness could be related to accutane. i think that if you have male pattern baldness and take it the consequences are pretty much disasterous as it seems to trigger it much earlier than anticipated. but hair is thinning is right has anyone here acutually regrown any hair from accutane??

 

[Jojje]

whats Accutane ?

 

[ithappens]

it's a drug for acne that dries up your sebacous glands in your body to hopefully clear acne up into remission for most people. however there are a number of side effects associated with it, and hair loss is listed as one of them. they say it's a rare and temporary side effect, but i would beg to differ after seeing a lot of the people who have responded to this. i think it is a MAJOR side effect that is PERMENANT in many people. i think we have something going here. how many other people out there have taken it?

 

[SnowRider22]

i took accutane and my hairloss started 6 months later. I really think that it triggers hairloss.

 

[ithappens]

snow rider yea i think i'm the same way. i was losing some hair on accutane etc and my derm assured me that it would subside soon after treatment, well it's been over two months and it's gotten even worse. i easily can shed up to 30-40 hairs in the shower at a time. anyway, have you had any success on finasteride with stopping the hairloss or at least slowing it down maintaining etc? has anyone???

 

[holly]

I was on Accutane in '93 and lost a lot of hair. However, I gained it all back but it took a long time - maybe 1-2 years. Keep on your other treatments during, and there will be a good chance you will gain it back, but be patient.

 

[ithappens]

holly thanks for the reply. i'm curious to know are you a male or female? it seems that males who are genetically predispositioned to getting male pattern baldness can have it instantly triggered by the drug. i would assume that most females, if thats the case, wouldnt have the same problem, but who knows.

 

[docj077]

There was a study about accutane that I or somebody else posted on this site a while back. It demonstrated that Accutane increased TGF-beta in the scalp of those that use it. Accutane does two other things that I've found interesting. It increases keratinocyte proliferation and turnover and it decreases keratinocyte differentiation.

Those last two processes are also found in male pattern baldness as is the increase in TGF-beta.


Basically, if you make a drug that does the exact opposite of whatever accutane is doing to your skin, you'd probably have a very interesting male pattern baldness drug on your hands. I would seriously breakdown in tears if the cause of male pattern baldness and underlying pathophysiology of hair loss has been right under our noses all this time in the form of those that use accutane. We'd have all the answers and know exactly where to target the cure.

 

[holly]

Hi Ithappens, I am female, but I do also have a genetic predisposition for Androgenetic Alopecia which was recently triggered by a doctor giving me a DHEA supplement, which unfortunately elevated my androgens too much. Obviously, at the time I took Accutane, I also had the genetic predisposition, but I believe the Accutane caused a Telogen Effluvium from excess vitamin A. From what I have heard, excess vitamin A, such as the derivitives in Accutane, are stored in the liver for up to a year afterwards. I suppose that a Telogen Effluvium that was caused by Accutane could unmask underlying Androgenetic Alopecia, but I do not believe it actually 'triggers' it. That is androgens + genetics.

 

[Guest]

There was a study about accutane that I or somebody else posted on this site a while back. It demonstrated that Accutane increased TGF-beta in the scalp of those that use it. Accutane does two other things that I've found interesting. It increases keratinocyte proliferation and turnover and it decreases keratinocyte differentiation.

Those last two processes are also found in male pattern baldness as is the increase in TGF-beta.


Basically, if you make a drug that does the exact opposite of whatever accutane is doing to your skin, you'd probably have a very interesting male pattern baldness drug on your hands. I would seriously breakdown in tears if the cause of male pattern baldness and underlying pathophysiology of hair loss has been right under our noses all this time in the form of those that use accutane. We'd have all the answers and know exactly where to target the cure.

wouldn't doing the opposite cause people to break out, perhaps?