Hello, I had a different experience than many of you, but i can theorizethat this is a shedding caused by toxicity and not by depletion.
I took a b complex about 5 times a day, which was about a half a gram of vitamin b5, for about a month. It caused my hair to become so thin that my scalp is visible under any light.
(To clarify I was taking this complex specifically for the b5 to treat my acne.)
It has been one year now and my hair has not improved, but has not gotten much worse.
I would say i lost around 50% of my density in the course of two weeks. During the time i was taking this supplement my skin totally cleared up and after stopping my acne returned.
I guess recommended daily intake is not just a suggestion... lol
The specifics on the supplement I took: (DV = daily value)
b1- 100mg or 6667% DV
b2- 100mg or 5882% DV
Niacin- 100mg or 500% DV
b6- 100mg or 5000% DV
Folic Acid- 400mg or 100% DV
b12- 100mg or 1667% DV
Biotin- 100mg or 33% DV
b5- 100mg or 1000% DV
Alright I have a lot of ground to cover. Included is my story and how I cured my hairloss.
Like everybody else here, I attempted to megadose vitamin b5 in an effort to clear my acne. I took 5-6g a day of the NOW brand for 18 days. I found this forum and immediately panicked. The hair shedding started after the cessation of the vitamin, but I was way too scared to continue taking it. My hair continued to shed for the next 3 and a half months. During this time I underwent severe depression and was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). I left my 3rd semester of university because my anxiety took over my life. I spent all day everyday isolated in my room, and only left to get food and work on the weekends. Prior to this I had not cried in over a year since my dog died. starting August 2020 , crying became a daily occurence. When I say crying I mean, bawling, sobbing, and panic attacks. Iwould say I was losing around 100 hairs a day. My scalp was also extremely inflamed and there was a lot of buildup.After reading this entire thread multiple times I began to obsess. This forum did provide me with some information, but mostly it was just anxiety inducing. Looking at it now, there is SO much misinformation on here. Anyways, I decided to trySelsun blue (shampoo) and it dried the f*ck out of my hair, and then the next day my scalp would be oily af. I then tried Nizoral (2%ketoconazole) and within about a month my dandruff and scalp buildup was gone. Thank god. With that out of the way, I'll share how I cured my hair loss.
I would say I lost about 10-15% of my hair throughout these months, and I managed to grow all of it back, and now I don't suffer with any shedding, maybe like 10-15 hairs a day which is completely normal. Although I was severely depressed and in a constant state of stress, I stuck to a whole foods plant based diet for a couple months. I stopped drinking alcohol, stopped smoking weed, and stopped my caffeineintake. I attribute my success to my diet. Funnily enough my hair started to get better the day after I got high af for the first time in months, now this was some bomb ass weed, one of the highest I have ever been. Could it be a coincidence? maybe.. But since then, October 28th 2020, I've smoked weed every single day and it has not affected my hair at all, in fact it has been getting better every day. As of December 2020,I've also loosened up on my diet, and enjoy sweets and salty foods on occasion. In terms of supplementation, Like many other people on this forum I bought NAC, zinc, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D. None of which had any effect as far as I could tell. I would advise against all supplementation unless you are deficient. Look what got us here in the first place.
I would also like to call some people out of their bullshit. Brandon you need to stfu and stop scaring people. I completely understand how fucking shitty it is to lose hair, but you need to stop acting like your experience is going to happen to everyone. I know youre struggling with itchy scalp so please try Nizoral, it was the only shampoo to help me.To everyone else, take every pieceof information on this forum with a large grain of salt.
I'd also like to call out Mr bushido... Who claimed that vitamin b5 hairloss is permanent. Speak for yourself because me and several others not only stopped the shedding but grew our hair back.
I promised myself once I resolved my hair loss I would come back here to help as much as I can.
In case anyone is wondering, my diet focused heavily on antioxidants and detox. I consumed a lot of Vitamin C, and protein through whole foods. I ate a lot of green vegetables and citrus fruits.Vitamin C is essential for the production of collagen which is essential for hair growth. Also, hair is mainly protein, so consuming a lot helps. If you don't see results right away, don't worry, it may take a couple months. I also drank lots of tea.. chamomile tea is probably the best. Naturally caffeine free, and filled with beneficial compounds and antioxidants to help skin and hair. Also promotes relaxation.
My theory is that vitamin b5 overdose causes a shock in the body, in which it responds by shedding hair. If you are genetically predisposed to hair loss, b5 supplementation may have been what set off your genetics. If you are not predisposed your hair should grow back. Diet and exercise will help this process. Every 35 days your body makes new cells with the food you eat... eat foods that are healthy for cells.
Another thing I should add is that I saw both a doctor and dermatologist and both had never heard of b5 hair loss, nor fully believed that the b5 was the cause for the hair shedding. Instead I was prescribed pills to treat the depression that came with the hairfall. I am still on the medication, and will likely be off of it in February 2021. After that I plan to maintain a healthy lifestyle and never fuck with pills again.
One love guys, I really hope you are all doing well. Happy to answer any questions. For reference I am a 19 year old male.
P.S All my bloodwork came back normal.
P.S.S I am not a doctor nor do I study in the medical field. I am passionate about nutrition however and I experienced what we all went through/are going through.
On 6/30/2020 at 2:32 PM, rots3roq said:y'all doing the wrong thing. it's not that cysteine methionine carnitine etc etc got depleted by b5. it's just shock to your body that caused the hair loss, happens with any vitamin you overdose on. if you go on other B overdose groups you'll see they had hair loss from overdosing on any other B vitamin too not just b5 and the hair loss is reversible, lots of ppl have it gone even tho it takes months. stop taking supplements even B complex to fix it bc you won't and you're poisoning your body even more. give it time and let it release the shock and rebalance itself y'all are spreading false claims that b5 did this and that when it didn't, your body just had a shock from the overdose. it also looks some ppl here have androgenic hair loss and not b5 hair loss. b5 causes telogen effluvium and is reversible and affects all scalp not just temples and crown which androgenic hair loss affects. take care x
I can attest to this as this was my experience. Hang in there guys.
hello, i still stick to the theory i proposed here a few months ago because my own hair loss has finally resolved as i expected! it took 6 months. tellogen effluvium truly. and i did nothing "to fix it". no shampoos, no supplements, no hair / scalp treatments. none of these will help with hair loss from b5. this hair loss IS reversible. and b5 does not harm anything in your body so stop believing the "vitamin depletion" bullsh1t and stop listening to these people here. let your body rebalance and don't stress about it, your hair will stop falling and will regrow if it's b5 hair loss and not other types of hair loss. im not the only one who says their b5 hair loss stopped eventually. don't expect it to stop in a month or two. it takes MONTHS. happy newyear.
^^^^
My hair loss seemed to have resolved itself within 3 months and then grew back rapidly. I still hold my theory that my diet had something to do with it. Interestingly enough my hairline grew in stronger than it was BEFORE b5... as the b5 took a bit from my hair line, no receding, just thinning. As it stands my hair is probably more healthy than before b5 because I take good care of it now. Consider changing your diets yall.
On 12/25/2020 at 11:21 AM, Leafs16 said:Alright I have a lot of ground to cover. Included is my story and how I cured my hairloss.
Like everybody else here, I attempted to megadose vitamin b5 in an effort to clear my acne. I took 5-6g a day of the NOW brand for 18 days. I found this forum and immediately panicked. The hair shedding started after the cessation of the vitamin, but I was way too scared to continue taking it. My hair continued to shed for the next 3 and a half months. During this time I underwent severe depression and was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). I left my 3rd semester of university because my anxiety took over my life. I spent all day everyday isolated in my room, and only left to get food and work on the weekends. Prior to this I had not cried in over a year since my dog died. starting August 2020 , crying became a daily occurence. When I say crying I mean, bawling, sobbing, and panic attacks. Iwould say I was losing around 100 hairs a day. My scalp was also extremely inflamed and there was a lot of buildup.After reading this entire thread multiple times I began to obsess. This forum did provide me with some information, but mostly it was just anxiety inducing. Looking at it now, there is SO much misinformation on here. Anyways, I decided to trySelsun blue (shampoo) and it dried the f*ck out of my hair, and then the next day my scalp would be oily af. I then tried Nizoral (2%ketoconazole) and within about a month my dandruff and scalp buildup was gone. Thank god. With that out of the way, I'll share how I cured my hair loss.
I would say I lost about 10-15% of my hair throughout these months, and I managed to grow all of it back, and now I don't suffer with any shedding, maybe like 10-15 hairs a day which is completely normal. Although I was severely depressed and in a constant state of stress, I stuck to a whole foods plant based diet for a couple months. I stopped drinking alcohol, stopped smoking weed, and stopped my caffeineintake. I attribute my success to my diet. Funnily enough my hair started to get better the day after I got high af for the first time in months, now this was some bomb ass weed, one of the highest I have ever been. Could it be a coincidence? maybe.. But since then, October 28th 2020, I've smoked weed every single day and it has not affected my hair at all, in fact it has been getting better every day. As of December 2020,I've also loosened up on my diet, and enjoy sweets and salty foods on occasion. In terms of supplementation, Like many other people on this forum I bought NAC, zinc, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D. None of which had any effect as far as I could tell. I would advise against all supplementation unless you are deficient. Look what got us here in the first place.
I would also like to call some people out of their bullshit. Brandon you need to stfu and stop scaring people. I completely understand how fucking shitty it is to lose hair, but you need to stop acting like your experience is going to happen to everyone. I know youre struggling with itchy scalp so please try Nizoral, it was the only shampoo to help me.To everyone else, take every pieceof information on this forum with a large grain of salt.
I'd also like to call out Mr bushido... Who claimed that vitamin b5 hairloss is permanent. Speak for yourself because me and several others not only stopped the shedding but grew our hair back.
I promised myself once I resolved my hair loss I would come back here to help as much as I can.
In case anyone is wondering, my diet focused heavily on antioxidants and detox. I consumed a lot of Vitamin C, and protein through whole foods. I ate a lot of green vegetables and citrus fruits.Vitamin C is essential for the production of collagen which is essential for hair growth. Also, hair is mainly protein, so consuming a lot helps. If you don't see results right away, don't worry, it may take a couple months. I also drank lots of tea.. chamomile tea is probably the best. Naturally caffeine free, and filled with beneficial compounds and antioxidants to help skin and hair. Also promotes relaxation.
My theory is that vitamin b5 overdose causes a shock in the body, in which it responds by shedding hair. If you are genetically predisposed to hair loss, b5 supplementation may have been what set off your genetics. If you are not predisposed your hair should grow back. Diet and exercise will help this process. Every 35 days your body makes new cells with the food you eat... eat foods that are healthy for cells.
Another thing I should add is that I saw both a doctor and dermatologist and both had never heard of b5 hair loss, nor fully believed that the b5 was the cause for the hair shedding. Instead I was prescribed pills to treat the depression that came with the hairfall. I am still on the medication, and will likely be off of it in February 2021. After that I plan to maintain a healthy lifestyle and never fuck with pills again.
One love guys, I really hope you are all doing well. Happy to answer any questions. For reference I am a 19 year old male.
P.S All my bloodwork came back normal.
P.S.S I am not a doctor nor do I study in the medical field. I am passionate about nutrition however and I experienced what we all went through/are going through.
I had micro-magnification hair and scalp analysis done on my scalp. The professionalperforming the analysis concluded based on the examination that my hair follicles were undergoingminiaturization. He additionally confirmed that some of my hair follicles had been deleted and would no longer produce hairs. I can confirm this as some of my temple hairs have not returned. This does not mean that b5 hair loss supersedes the hair growth cycle and all theloss you incur will be permanent. The hair growth cycle still applies, you can lose hairs from b5 hair loss then have them grow back, thatis a basic fundamentalon how hair loss works. With that said, that doesn't necessarily mean that I think everyone on this forum will experiencethe same type of hair loss, but it's apparent among multiple accounts that if b5 hair lossprogresses far enough, the hair loss will very likely be permanent.
You've seemingly appearedon this forum as some self-glorified b5 hair lossprophet and misinformation arbiter. Many other people on this forum have resolved hair loss far more severe than what you've recounted, keep that in mind. This is an internet forum revolving around a particular ailment that does not have a wealth of facts regarding it's bodily origin, progression or rectification, almost this entire thread could be misinformation for all we know.
With that said, using the personalaccounts posted tothis thread as a basis ofknowledge, there is certainly a spectrum of stupidity subsistingwithin this thread's context.Obviously notions / inklings likesweating out b5 hair loss orsitting idly forb5 hair loss to resolve itself that was mentioned above are certainly on the higher end of that spectrum. You can't possibly believe you're aiding anybody on this forum by being a standard bearer for rots3roq's unambiguous misguidedone size fits all posts above.
If you truly believe that everyone with b5 hair loss has telogen effluvium and people permanently losing hair coincidentally have androgenic alopecia and not b5 hair loss,you are simply delusional. By that logic, since I permanently lost hair and resolved my hair loss later on, I've invented the cure for androgenic alopecia.
On 3/2/2021 at 12:00 AM, MrBushido said:
I had micro-magnification hair and scalp analysis done on my scalp. The professionalperforming the analysis concluded based on the examination that my hair follicles were undergoingminiaturization. He additionally confirmed that some of my hair follicles had been deleted and would no longer produce hairs. I can confirm this as some of my temple hairs have not returned. This does not mean that b5 hair loss supersedes the hair growth cycle and all theloss you incur will be permanent. The hair growth cycle still applies, you can lose hairs from b5 hair loss then have them grow back, thatis a basic fundamentalon how hair loss works. With that said, that doesn't necessarily mean that I think everyone on this forum will experiencethe same type of hair loss, but it's apparent among multiple accounts that if b5 hair lossprogresses far enough, the hair loss will very likely be permanent.
You've seemingly appearedon this forum as some self-glorified b5 hair lossprophet and misinformation arbiter. Many other people on this forum have resolved hair loss far more severe than what you've recounted, keep that in mind. This is an internet forum revolving around a particular ailment that does not have a wealth of facts regarding it's bodily origin, progression or rectification, almost this entire thread could be misinformation for all we know.
With that said, using the personalaccounts posted tothis thread as a basis ofknowledge, there is certainly a spectrum of stupidity subsistingwithin this thread's context.Obviously notions / inklings likesweating out b5 hair loss orsitting idly forb5 hair loss to resolve itself that was mentioned above are certainly on the higher end of that spectrum. You can't possibly believe you're aiding anybody on this forum by being a standard bearer for rots3roq's unambiguous misguidedone size fits all posts above.
If you truly believe that everyone with b5 hair loss has telogen effluvium and people permanently losing hair coincidentally have androgenic alopecia and not b5 hair loss,you are simply delusional. By that logic, since I permanently lost hair and resolved my hair loss later on, I've invented the cure for androgenic alopecia.
HOW DID YOU FIX IT MY DUDE
Would everyone say at least that the hair loss hasn't gotten worse over time? Like wherever and however you've experienced B5 hair loss, it hasn't really progressed, but rather remained at that baseline. Which for me (as maybe one of the very few females on this board), has been permanent hair loss at temples, overall thinning, hair being more brittle, and then just an ungodly amount of shedding everyday. I halfheartedly check this forum once every few months to see if anyone has "discovered" anything new and never see anything promising. 
I'm seriously considering buying my own centrifuge, as now there are platelet rich plasma kits and tutorials online. I think someone previously posted about trying PRP professionally without success, but at least if you're trying it at home you're not wasting thousands of dollars? Probably will be a wasted effort, but still something I'm potentially considering. Anyways, during my 5 years or so since B5 I don't think my hair loss is any worse at least... And with how much I shed I should be bald right now, but somehow I'm not.
On 3/31/2021 at 12:21 PM, valorous said:Would everyone say at least that the hair loss hasn't gotten worse over time? Like wherever and however you've experienced B5 hair loss, it hasn't really progressed, but rather remained at that baseline. Which for me (as maybe one of the very few females on this board), has been permanent hair loss at temples, overall thinning, hair being more brittle, and then just an ungodly amount of shedding everyday. I halfheartedly check this forum once every few months to see if anyone has "discovered" anything new and never see anything promising.
So what is your best recommendation for women who are suffering hair loss?
Hi. I™m a female who began taking pantothenic acid in December 2019. I would take 10-15 pills per day (500 mg each). My acne (face and back) was completely gone within 3-4 months. I noticed my ponytail feeling thinner January 2020 but didn™t think too much. Then I noticed my hair way thinner late April 2020. I still kept taking the pills but tapered off of them (probably not as slow as I should have) and took the last pill June 1, 2020. At that point, I was losing handfuls of hair. My hair eventually decreased by at least 50%. Thankfully I had very thick hair to begin with. From June 2020 until January 2021 I tried multiple things to stop the hair loss (inositol powder, biotin, zinc, fish oil, barleans essential vitamins, etc.). February 2021 I began to take Viviscal supplements that I bought at Target. You™re supposed to take one pill two times a day. Sometimes I remember to take two pills a day and other days I just take one (rarely, I forgot to take them at all). Last week I noticed my hair feeling much fuller. My boyfriend and coworkers can see the difference too. I have a lot of short flyaways now. I hope post this helps someone else 
On 4/23/2021 at 10:54 PM, Terrifairy13 said:Hi. I™m a female who began taking pantothenic acid in December 2019. I would take 10-15 pills per day (500 mg each). My acne (face and back) was completely gone within 3-4 months. I noticed my ponytail feeling thinner January 2020 but didn™t think too much. Then I noticed my hair way thinner late April 2020. I still kept taking the pills but tapered off of them (probably not as slow as I should have) and took the last pill June 1, 2020. At that point, I was losing handfuls of hair. My hair eventually decreased by at least 50%. Thankfully I had very thick hair to begin with. From June 2020 until January 2021 I tried multiple things to stop the hair loss (inositol powder, biotin, zinc, fish oil, barleans essential vitamins, etc.). February 2021 I began to take Viviscal supplements that I bought at Target. You™re supposed to take one pill two times a day. Sometimes I remember to take two pills a day and other days I just take one (rarely, I forgot to take them at all). Last week I noticed my hair feeling much fuller. My boyfriend and coworkers can see the difference too. I have a lot of short flyaways now. I hope post this helps someone else
Oh interesting! Glad that had been working out for you. Viviscal has biotin which makes me break out though, argghh.
On 4/28/2021 at 1:29 PM, valorous said:Oh interesting! Glad that had been working out for you. Viviscal has biotin which makes me break out though, argghh.
I just checkedand its only 120 mcg of biotin (40 % of your daily value). I am very acne prone and have not noticed an increase in acne since starting Viviscal a few months ago. I do get about one pimple break out per month but it seems to correlate with my menstrual cycle.
when I stopped b5 I was worried my cystic acne would return but its hasnt yet. I did notice my skin started to get very oily again within weeks of stopping b5 (it was very oily before I started b5). I have consistently been using Panoxyl 10% on my face and body for over a year now and I think thats helped keep my acne from returning. I watch a dermatologist on YouTube named Dr. dray who shares amazing tips.
Alright Im typing on this forum hoping for some advice and experience from others. Im a 19 yr old male who took b5 for about a month and a half, and for a month of taking it I was taking 5 grams a day. I stopped because just like everyone else, my hair became thin pretty fuckin fast. Went from thick curly hair that would take effort to see the scalp to being able to see it easily when my hairs wet or by moving it just a little. Just wanted to know if anyone with similar experience got their hair to grow back, and if they did, the amount of time it took and if they did anything specific to help. Im honestly done with taking any pills though after this shit experience. Fuck acne, fuck b5, fuck hair loss.
Ill also try to come back to this post every few months with updates if my hair hopefully does come back.
I personally do not think that the B5 shed is directly correlated to MPB.
Otherwise, there is no logical explanation as to why women experience B5 shedding - which they clearly do. The mechanism needs to be the same - it's the same vitamin.
Men who alreadysufferfrom MPB often do not realise it until past a certain threshold ashair miniaturisation takes a while (some years) to show.A sudden onset of shedding after starting a vitamindoesn't really seem like logical MPB - even from a hormonal standpoint. That isn't how it usually works.Induced TE can expose and speed up MPB though, especially in men who are currently not on treatment options, so this ismore likely in my opinion.
What most men in this forum are currently seeing is a combination of TE and MPB. The TE, triggered by the B5 eventually stops - but the MPB shed continues, or is now noticed / exposedby the sufferer.
I've been shedding since March 2021. It's also worth noting that I have been using treatment options for MPB prior and throughout my journey with B5. I wasn't shedding for the first 3-4 months on the vitamin.
I'll post an update later, but I did completely cut out the vitamin for a few weeks and noticed a heavy reduction in shedding - even in the shower.
I started taking 500mg once every other day and have noticed the shed start up heavily again. As one can assume, my acne has been getting much worse since stopping. Today was a turning point as I noticed hair on the back of my head fall out heavily, which is not at all a miniaturising region for me. In truth, when TE occurs,hairs fromthe MPB region fall out "easier" - but the fact is, it's because their cyclerate is more common - after all,they are weaker, thinner hairs.
What I will say is that B5 can trigger a complete,heavy shed in all individuals who decide to take it. It works for the skin - so long as you actually continue it. This can be to the heavyexpense of the hair. I have noticed a severe reduction in overall density over the past months. Whilst I've taken B5, I've even noticed increased fallout of eyebrow and eyelash hair, as well as pubic hair.
It's honestly a shame, because the measures I had taken for my hair last year (been taking topical alfatradiol for preservation and DHT protection) have been set back from this.
I now plan to cut B5 completely and take l-cysteine to compensate. I'll hope that my skin will deal with some sort of homeostasis and chill out a bit, but again, that's a gamble I'm gonna have to take for my hair.
//
My skin does look a lot "nicer" when I'm not using B5. I've realised that the oiliness is actually quite a nice look, compared to the drastic, chalky dryness that Vitamin induced. With that said, the oil is clearly what brings about the acne - so that is lame.
i think i just may have an onset of mpb. My family hair genes is utter shit, all my uncles have receding hairlines with bald patches except my dad who has like a bald patch starting to form in his 50s. To further reinforce this notion, my brothers hair started to recede when he was only 17. Welp, im waiting for my dermatologist and ill just bite the bullet and take fin if he concludes that its mpb. Additionally, when i first took the vitamin i was already shedding hair like 2 hours after taking 2 pills of b5. I highly doubt a vitamin can cause this sudden hair loss in just a short span and its not even a day.
On 8/13/2021 at 9:48 PM, christopher140 said:I personally do not think that the B5 shed is directly correlated to MPB.
Otherwise, there is no logical explanation as to why women experience B5 shedding - which they clearly do. The mechanism needs to be the same - it's the same vitamin.
Men who alreadysufferfrom MPB often do not realise it until past a certain threshold ashair miniaturisation takes a while (some years) to show.A sudden onset of shedding after starting a vitamindoesn't really seem like logical MPB - even from a hormonal standpoint. That isn't how it usually works.Induced TE can expose and speed up MPB though, especially in men who are currently not on treatment options, so this ismore likely in my opinion.
What most men in this forum are currently seeing is a combination of TE and MPB. The TE, triggered by the B5 eventually stops - but the MPB shed continues, or is now noticed / exposedby the sufferer.
I've been shedding since March 2021. It's also worth noting that I have been using treatment options for MPB prior and throughout my journey with B5. I wasn't shedding for the first 3-4 months on the vitamin.
I'll post an update later, but I did completely cut out the vitamin for a few weeks and noticed a heavy reduction in shedding - even in the shower.
I started taking 500mg once every other day and have noticed the shed start up heavily again. As one can assume, my acne has been getting much worse since stopping. Today was a turning point as I noticed hair on the back of my head fall out heavily, which is not at all a miniaturising region for me. In truth, when TE occurs,hairs fromthe MPB region fall out "easier" - but the fact is, it's because their cyclerate is more common - after all,they are weaker, thinner hairs.
What I will say is that B5 can trigger a complete,heavy shed in all individuals who decide to take it. It works for the skin - so long as you actually continue it. This can be to the heavyexpense of the hair. I have noticed a severe reduction in overall density over the past months. Whilst I've taken B5, I've even noticed increased fallout of eyebrow and eyelash hair, as well as pubic hair.
It's honestly a shame, because the measures I had taken for my hair last year (been taking topical alfatradiol for preservation and DHT protection) have been set back from this.
I now plan to cut B5 completely and take l-cysteine to compensate. I'll hope that my skin will deal with some sort of homeostasis and chill out a bit, but again, that's a gamble I'm gonna have to take for my hair.
//
My skin does look a lot "nicer" when I'm not using B5. I've realised that the oiliness is actually quite a nice look, compared to the drastic, chalky dryness that Vitamin induced. With that said, the oil is clearly what brings about the acne - so that is lame.
Well if we're talking hormones here,it's well known in the scientific community thatartificiallystarting permanent hair loss is not only possible, but if your hormones are imbalanced enough, probable.
And guess what ? All that information is readily available:
https://www.webmd.com/connect-to-care/hair-loss/symptoms-of-high-dht
QuoteAcne Is a Symptom of High DHT
A Receding Hairline Is a Symptom of High DHT
Sounds familiar doesn't it ? People reporting losing hair permanentlyand also having "oily skin" with acne (if things progress far enough).
QuoteHigh levels of androgens, including DHT, canshrink your hairfollicles as well as shorten this cycle, causing hair to grow out looking thinner and more brittle, as well as fall out faster.
B5 hair loss is not mysterious in the slightest. MPB genes only influence hair follicle susceptibility to DHT in the body and the shape of the hair loss. Elevate your DHT enough and you're going to permanently lose hair regardless of what genes you have or don't have.
Okay now let's piece together the rest of the puzzle. So how do we explainthe people reporting hair loss (that's not permanent) that is happening in their scalp andrandom places around their body (body hair). Ever heard of low testosterone hair loss ?
https://dinerroboticurology.com/blog/low-testosterone/6-signs-of-low-testosterone/
https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/hair-loss-causes-women
QuoteHair loss in patients with low testosterone isnt limited to the scalp, thinning body hair may also be a signal of a testosterone deficiency.
What if you were to take a certain supplement that taken in large amounts has amechanism of action that can lower said testosterone(and potentiallyelevate DHT in turn).
It's certainly always possible that you could have MPB or telogen effluvium if you have only hair loss and no other symptoms.I've never heard of telogen effluvium being kickstarted from a high supplement dosage and seems like a stretch at best.
QuotePeople reporting losing hair permanentlyand also having "oily skin" with acne (if things progress far enough).
Yeah, this is completely off base. Both are caused by DHT, but exhibited by different expressions of 5-alpha-reductase. Type I, II and III are produced by different strains of 5ar and therefore cannot be said to be directly correlated. Doing so is not only unscientific, but just inaccurate. There are manypeople with acne who never lose a strand of hair and many completely bald individuals with near-perfect skin. Similarly, BPH which is caused by excessive DHT in the kidneys is common in older men, but many have perfect hair. Yes, these things can often interplay, but this is absolutely nota clearcut "this means that" situation.
On 10/11/2021 at 5:05 PM, MrBushido said:Elevate your DHT enough and you're going to permanently lose hair regardless of what genes you have or don't have.
This isn't completely wrong, but it is inaccurate. DHT is generally bad for hair butthese thingsDOdepend on your genes, actually. It depends on follicle sensitivity to DHT and this is in fact related to genetics. Two men with MPB may have the same amount of DHT, but their correlating baldness is in fact due to a genetic predisposition to DHT sensitivity at the hair follicle. Although, the exact genetic expressions for this isstill extremely grey and unverified. You're oversimplifying something you know little about.
On 10/11/2021 at 5:05 PM, MrBushido said:What if you were to take a certain supplement that taken in large amounts has amechanism of action that can lower said testosterone(and potentiallyelevate DHT in turn).
This doesn't make any sense. B5 doesn't lower Testosterone. If anything, taking Pantothenic Acid is desirable for androgenproduction,. It's extremely difficult to lower free-testosterone in males without causing extremely severe and noticeable feminising side-effects and this isn't at all what B5 does. If this WAS what it did, then hair loss would likely be a completenon-issue, as DHT - which is synthesised from freeTestosterone in itself - would be under-produced in correlation to previous levels. If anything, oestrogenwould be in excess and cause completely different issues for the individual. In some cases, this could cause a reversal of hair loss in a dramatic way. This also would not lead to women getting the exact same symptoms as men.B5 works by inhibiting co-enzyme A and this is a different mode of action.
Low-test can and will cause some hair loss at times in certain individuals, but this is usuallyextremely excessive anddoes not all explain theB5 shedding in the slightest, so is very much off-topic.
On 10/11/2021 at 5:05 PM, MrBushido said:I've never heard of telogen effluvium being kickstarted from a high supplement dosage and seems like a stretch at best.
Then you haven't read much at all. T.E is extremely common from a variety of different medications, including SSRIs. Vitamin B5 is not exactly your typical "supplement" like zinc, but even if you were to classify it that way, messing with hormones in general can obviously trigger an induced T.E and this can easily stem from excessive supplementation in one direction. This even happens when starting the hair loss medication "Finasteride."
Your point alsoignores my statementon women which is equally, if not more important. If women shed from B5,which they evidently do, then the mechanism is obviously something separate to a simple "MPB trigger" - with that said, general T.E can and will aggravate already progressingMPB and this should be noted. The two can interplay together. Hormones are more complicated than "this does this and these two things are connected." I think for the sake of everyone here, and those seeking to learn more about shedding, hair loss, acne and more, I think it's best to try and keep things as factual as possible, and if not - then at least acknowledge that knowledge is scarce instead of simplifying these things to a silly degree.
On 1/14/2013 at 7:31 PM, Exister said:So I'm sitting here rubbing my head and watching a dozen or so hairs fall out and realizing, "holy shit, it is true". My L-cysteine should be here this week.
did you hair stop falling?
On 1/5/2013 at 9:41 PM, phillyeagles91 said:Can I get a progress update? Is your hair still not shedding? Any regrowth as of yet?
I took b5 for like a little less than a month at 5-7 grams and experienced crazy shedding to my normally thick hair. Its still continued for 3 months and counting which is pretty depressing, so if this works, GOD BLESS YOU.
hi philly, is your hair still falling out? if not what did you do to help it?
Maybe we should look at the hormones closely again. B5 has a huge effect on the adrenal glands. These produce a lot of hormones that contribute to hair growth and loss. Seems like the body would balance out after a while but the hairloss is hard to stop in many people it seems including myself. Seems like something in the body is still functioning like it has high levels of B5 maybe which can produce more hormones or maybe the adrenals are fatigued and cant produce enough. There are studies showing that removing the adrenal glands from animals such as rats and rabbits boosted their hair growth rapidly and it continued growing thick even in older mice.
The only things that I have found that makes my hair grow back a bit and quit shedding are eating a good diet not consisting of many carbs. Lots of whole food. Keto friendly. Exercise. This also happens to be a diet that is good for the adrenals glands. Maybe there is some correlation here that someone can put together. Processed foods high in carbs make the hairloss speed up for sure. Some people seemed to have success from inositol but there are some scary reviews about that as well as B5. Scared to try it lol. Saw palmetto helped some with hair growth but reduced other hormones.
Sometimes I go for a long hard run. This depletes me of energy and hair grows good for several days. Feels thicker and nice. Maybe decreases stress hormone?? I dont know. Here is a Quote for the article I posted below. This kinda caught my eye. "Subjecting mice to mild stress over many weeks increased corticosterone levels and reduced hair growth. Hair follicles remained in an extended resting phase. Together, these findings supported the role of corticosterone in inhibiting hair regrowth".
Thats All I have for now. Reference below.
Just thought I'd corroborate your thoughts, I totally agree. I don't think it's as simple as lowering cortisol unfortunately, but more of a balancing act. There was a study I keep referencing on B5: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18520055/ , B5 has been shown to elevate cortisol levels.
There's also this very interesting study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3880087/ , that further confirms that increasing cortisol (i.e. taking B5 in large amounts for example) decreases testosterone.
This is probably common knowledge at this point but testosterone is generally known to perpetuate acne ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2923944/ ).
Just suggesting that there is scientific evidence to advocate that B5 could indirectly decrease testosterone (and therefore acne) but I won't speculate further. Maybe someone can poke holes in this argument, but this was the knowledge I operated off of when I was working on resolving my hair loss.
I just want to add some additional supporting articles (which are obviously not studies) to support the above:
https://www.drlamcoaching.com/blog/how-to-control-low-cortisol-acne
In the same vein, when cortisol levels diminish due to adrenal fatigue, the level of testosterone increases.
Testosterone increases the production of sebum, leading to more likelihood of clogged pores. Therefore,low cortisol acneappears.
https://vegamour.com/blogs/blog/cortisol-and-hair-loss
But thatsnot the only waycortisol can cause hair shedding. If elevated cortisol levels impair the production of sex hormones by the adrenal glands, the result can be androgenetic alopecia, added Dr. Ilyas.Androgenetic alopecia is a hormone-driven form of hair loss that is also commonly known as male or female pattern hair loss.
This article was very meaningful for me, as a doctor blanket suggested that elevated cortisol levels can indirectly cause androgenetic alopecia or MPB.
Is this all reductive ? 100%. I'm not blanket suggesting that people on this forum had low cortisol to begin with. I do not believe it's necessarily as trivial as low cortisol = acne, no hair loss and high cortisol = no acne and hair loss but if you're working towards balancing your cortisol (reducing sugar intake, exercising, getting adequate sleep) and using that as a starting point, there's at least 1 person on this forum that thinks you're on the right track.
In regards to inositol, that didn't work for me personally but from my personal experience, recommending supplements is an exercise in futility. People have varying severities of hair loss and the supplements that work seem to often not be transferable. There's a lot of crap out there that addresses the symptoms (sometimes with buzz words like "energy") that may even help short term (i.e. B5) but long or short term either perpetuate the hair loss or screw up your thyroid. I can say from my personal experience that the only supplements that helped me were ones that either supported my adrenal glands (not stimulated) or promoted balance and those were very few and far between.
So I think I figured it out. I was able to grow my hair back using magnesium, calcium, and D3.
Calcium pantothenate(B5) is 8% calcium and 92% pantothenate. Calcium is used to preserve pantothenate better. This is what I supplemented with when I lost my hair. After lots of research and studying over the years I believe the calcium is what made us loose our hair. The balance of vitamins and minerals in the body is incredibly important. For quite a few people calcium is hard to process. Especially if you are Already low in vitamin d and or magnesium. And excess calcium can make you magnesium and vitamin D3 deficient. Its a big problem these days with so many dairy products. I think the over abundance of calcium threw off the bodys magnesium to calcium ratio and in turn the calcium depleted vitamin D. Do your own research but I have solved it for me. Have your levels checked. A Calcium magnesium and vitamin d supplement grew my hair back. Look for a supplement with a calcium to magnesium ratio of 2 to 1. It should have vitamin d too. You need to take all three at the same time. Do your own research on the matter and try it and let me know what happens with you. I hope this works for everyone.
I have a few questions, hope you can help me.
1. When did you start using b5 and how long you took it?
2. I have some bald spots on my scalp and my hair is really thin, did you had the same?
3. Can you maybe tell us the brand of the calcium/magnesium/d3 supplement you used and how long you used it?
4 did you used anything else for your hairloss?
So I think I figured it out. I was able to grow my hair back using magnesium, calcium, and D3.
Calcium pantothenate(B5) is 8% calcium and 92% pantothenate. Calcium is used to preserve pantothenate better. This is what I supplemented with when I lost my hair. After lots of research and studying over the years I believe the calcium is what made us loose our hair. The balance of vitamins and minerals in the body is incredibly important. For quite a few people calcium is hard to process. Especially if you are Already low in vitamin d and or magnesium. And excess calcium can make you magnesium and vitamin D3 deficient. Its a big problem these days with so many dairy products. I think the over abundance of calcium threw off the bodys magnesium to calcium ratio and in turn the calcium depleted vitamin D. Do your own research but I have solved it for me. Have your levels checked. A Calcium magnesium and vitamin d supplement grew my hair back. Look for a supplement with a calcium to magnesium ratio of 2 to 1. It should have vitamin d too. You need to take all three at the same time. Do your own research on the matter and try it and let me know what happens with you. I hope this works for everyone.
I have a few questions, hope you can help me.
1. When did you start using b5 and how long you took it?
2. I have some bald spots on my scalp and my hair is really thin, did you had the same?
3. Can you maybe tell us the brand of the calcium/magnesium/d3 supplement you used and how long you used it?
4 did you used anything else for your hairloss?
I used Now brand Pantothenic acid about 10 years ago. I used it for about 2 months at a gram a day. When I noticed my hair thinning I stopped using it like a lot of others. Over the years my hair became really thin everywhere and I had a big bald spot in the back of my head. After doing a bunch of research and little experiments throughout the years on myself I have been able to grow my hair back finally using calcium, magnesium, and D3. I have been using it consistently for about 4 months now but experimenting with it for the last year probably. Right now I use the Solaray Brand with a calcium magnesium ratio of 2 to 1. Mine also has D3 because I am defiecient. You should get checked for your vitamin d levels before supplemting with it but a lot of people are deficient. Some because they eat a high calcium diet. Calcium depletes and uses vitamin d and magnesium. So too much calcium can cause deficiencies of other nutrients. The balance has to be correct you should do your own research for sure. There is a lot of studies and information on calcium magnesium and D3 and how they work together and need each other. Its not so much the amount you take but the ratio of calcium to magnesium that is more important. Ive used a lot of other things trying to help the hairloss and nothing has really helped but the calcium magnesium and d3.
Thank you for the fast reply first,
Im interested now to try it too but im scared if the calcium in the b5 may caused the hairloss, is it a good idea to take a supplement which contains calcium again? i was wondering if our scalps may be calcificated and if it would also work to try only magnesia, d3 and k2 to remove the calcium in our scalps? this is so confusing all...... but i mean we have nothing to lose, when it comes to me i took b5 in a dose of 3-5 grams per day for atleast a year or longer, not sure but then i noticed extreme hairloss in a few days, i lost like 50% of my hair after 1 shower and they are still thin?!?! this sounds really crazy and i don't know if it was really the b5 or maybe extreme stress or my flat iron which may destroyed my roots... sorry for the long text but im so depressed, i also noticed that my eyebrows become thinner and i have also 2 or 3 bald spots in my beard, i highly doubt its from dht since it takes a few years then to make the hair fall out and not in like 1 month... so i would love to ask you if you already eat food high in calcium or not? and how long it took for you to see first results.