New member, hairloss due to accutane

[jsond]

Hi all, my name is Jason and I have been lurking for a few weeks. I used to post at another board yrs ago when I was 1st losing my hair but that board is not what it used to be. My story is I am 32 and have been losing my hair for right at 8 years. I took the maximum dosage of accutane for 6 months. While the accutane cleared my acne it also caused me to lose my hair one week after stopping my treatment. Many could say its just bad timing but I have researched this and interacted with so many others who had similar symptoms that I know it was the accutane. Not hear to bash accutane as it has helped many people and it is up to each person to decide for themselves if its worth the risk.

Like many accutane hair loss guys my hair loss is diffuse, all over there is no pattern. The loss in the back and sides (where most bald guys have hair) is just as bad as the loss in the front and top. The loss has stayed at the same consistent pace and does not speed up or slow down no matter what I have tried. I have tried propecia, vitamins (biotin, msm, etc.), shampoos (nioxin) and tried rogine but stopped after just 2 months. I just got convinced that if it really is drug induced loss then I don't know that there is anything that would help slow it down or stop it. As fast as it comes out I am surprised I made it to 8 years before it got noticeable.

I also do not see as many posts on the various msg boards about hair loss due to accutane as I did back in 1999. I wonder if not as many people are suffering from it. Perhaps Roche had instructed doctors to lower the dosages as I have read that most suffer this after they were on the maximum dosage.

Anyways I will try not to drag on too long. I don't know what I can offer to the board as my loss is different that mosts. Right now I am just so depressed and I feel I need to post somewhere where people could understand and hope to use this site for help and support. I guess there is no good time for the loss to get noticeable but I hate that its happening right before the weather gets real nice as I love to be active in the warm weather. Nowadays all I do is hide indoors when I am not at work. Sorry to drag on but if anyone else is losing their hair due to accutane please let me know what you have done or tried. I have not read many success stories from males from accutane loss, only females.

This is a great board with good exchange of info and support so I hope I can be an asset. I work 3rd shift (best shift to not be around too many people so I am off to bed but will check back tonite and post some more . If anyone has any questions pertaining to my situation please let me know and I will be happy to discuss.

 

[YoungAndThin]

Is accutane hairloss temporary or permenant?

I always thought that if something other than male pattern baldness caused your hairloss it would grow back.

 

[jsond]

Well I was hoping (and was told by my derm :roll: that it would be temporary. But that was many yrs ago and it has not stopped yet. I just don't see it magically stopping all of a sudden though I pray for that every day. I think for many people it can be temporary, especially women from what I have read. I have always felt maybe I was going to lose my hair and the accutane just triggered it to start earlier (right at the end of my treatment, as with many others) and be more severe (highly doubtful if I lost my hair and not took accutane that I would lose ALL my hair as it seems I am going to). Not sure but 8yrs into this and having tried many things I don't hold out much hope but am going to give it one last ditch effort to try something, anything to get it to stop. Even if that leaves me with just a little bit that would still be much better than losing it all, which I am scared I will.

 

[NHLfan]

Wow man...that's tough

I think I'd almost be happy to know that hair loss was from an external factor and that I wasn't genetically programmed to lose my hair. But 8 years? Even cancer patients patients get their hairback after treatment and I'd bet that chemo is less of a disruption than accutane.

Do u have male pattern baldness in your family?

 

[talbin]

Well here is my story I don't know if it helps. I was on accutane FULL dose (2 40mg pills a day) for 6 months as well when I was 18. I had no hair loss after the session and I didn't have any hair loss until I had my second course of accutane a little over a year ago. I was on a full dose again for only 3 months to clear up some acne on my back. One month after I started noticing it may be falling out then all of a sudden I got HUGE zits on my forehead that itched like crazy so I thought nothing of it and just popped them. Well, they actually weren't zits but my immune system was attacking the follicles.

I had diffuse thinning like you all over but I went to the dermotologist and used a combination of Nizoral and Clobex shampoo along with this foam called Olux which was worthless. It took away almost all of the itching and pretty much all of the hair on my crown grew back in like 3 months.

While it is possible it could have started male pattern baldness, I don't really know for sure. I am a NW2 right now and my dad said his hair was exactly the same as mine when he was 23 so go figure. I am on my 3rd course of accutane right now and I take only 2 40mg pills a week to control my excess oil. I've also been on propecia 2 months. The accutane DID cure all the dandruff I had too so that was also a plus.

When you were on accutane did you drink alcohol at all? You aren't supposed to when you are on it and I have read a lot of places that if you do it can cause increased side effects or make them permanent so hopefully you didn't. Hope this helps man.

 

[jsond]

There is some male pattern baldness in my family. I have 2 brothers: one is older and has no loss at all. One is younger and just has a small bit of recession, but its barely noticeable. My father still has plenty of hair, just a bald spot in back and very slight recession. On my mom's side there is none.

At the time I was on accutane I probably drank alcohol about 5 times a month during the 6 month period. I had read the same thing that it may have also contributed. I still feel strongly that my thin frame had alot to do with it and many other accupain hair loss peeps are also thin. Not to say most of them but many of the people I have been in discussions with, either thru msg boards or email.

I am not on an anti-accutane parade as this drug has helped a very large amount of people. But there is a small %age that have had hair loss due to it where some grew back and others didnt and even more devastating side effects. I have recently started minoxidil and will post updates every month or so as this time I will stick with it. Thinking strongly about trying dutasteride but I want to continue to research is as I am wary of any potential side effects considering my side effect I got from accutane.