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Because the way a biospy works is by looking for miniturzed hairs and certain inflammatory markers....the trouble is many derms do not believe in the Diffuse AA and so when they see miniturization or hair follicles in the male pattern baldness regions they automatically assume MPB.
Sometimes there is little miniturization in alopecia areata (depending on individual cases) and the hairloss may be diagnosed as chronic TE.
There are other reasons but essentially If you are losing hair across your entire scalp for longer than 12-15 months, you do not just have MPB, there is something else going on there (other than TE). That isn't to say that your hairline couldn't be showing signs of miniturization due to a 'mature' hairline showing itself.
I'm not saying a biopsy can't help diagnose things IN THE RIGHT PERSONS HANDS (and not every derm is such a person), but if you have a patient that has taken accutane and hairloss has stared imediately during or after their course with full scalp diffuse shedding (and assuming thyroid tests come back normal) then the hairloss is either one of two things (AA or TE) and the hairloss will either eventually resolve itself or it won't.
No point in a scalp biopsy IMO. When the shedding has persisted longer than 12-15 months and if the loss is cosmetically bothering the person, then you can try some therapies for diffuse AA.
Its me again from a page or so ago.... Still no real improvement. I do see some hairs growing back on the hairline that i lost ( im 5.5 months post accutane).
Just wanted to know if going to see a dermatologist is worth it???
Can they give me any decent advice that i dont already know from researching online for 5 months??
And if anything is found by the derm, can it be treated??
My hairs that fall out often have large clumps of fragile white stuff at the bulb end. i have the same itchy painful scalp that a lot of you other ppl have.
Any feedback would be good
Cheers
lamarr, i need your expert advice. i took accutane for 9 days back in november 2009 and experienced rapid hairloss almost immediately. fast forward 10 months and my hairloss is still as persistent as it was back in 2009. i lose hair from every part of my head, it isnt just on the hairline or crown. my hairline has also receded a bit which is a little unfortunate but whatever. i had a scalp biopsy done a few weeks ago and i was diagnosed with MPB. as you said earlier, there may be instances where the result is wrong, but what would you have me do? my derm perscribed me propecia and i am debating whether or not to take it. i really believe that i had AA or TE and not full blown MPB (atleast I hope not). should i take the propecia and risk the sides or wait a few more month and see if my hairloss slows down. I am thinking around the 14-15 month mark after the shedding initially began. the only thing that is holding me back from doing that is that my hairline may get a lot worse while i am "waiting" to see if my shedding stops and i could have used propecia to slow it down
lamarr, i need your expert advice. i took accutane for 9 days back in november 2009 and experienced rapid hairloss almost immediately. fast forward 10 months and my hairloss is still as persistent as it was back in 2009. i lose hair from every part of my head, it isnt just on the hairline or crown. my hairline has also receded a bit which is a little unfortunate but whatever. i had a scalp biopsy done a few weeks ago and i was diagnosed with MPB. as you said earlier, there may be instances where the result is wrong, but what would you have me do? my derm perscribed me propecia and i am debating whether or not to take it. i really believe that i had AA or TE and not full blown MPB (atleast I hope not). should i take the propecia and risk the sides or wait a few more month and see if my hairloss slows down. I am thinking around the 14-15 month mark after the shedding initially began. the only thing that is holding me back from doing that is that my hairline may get a lot worse while i am "waiting" to see if my shedding stops and i could have used propecia to slow it down
Please do not take the propecia....it can have terrible side effects in people who have taken accutane!
Let me ask you this, do you take any supplements with omega 3 or any form of vitamin A? Drop those if you do!
Personally if I were you i would use a mid potency steroid combined with minoxidil on the hairline. Once per day application of both.
Something like betnovate would be best. Now the trouble is, if you derm isn't very clued up he probably won't go for this....However please try and present your logic behind believing you have diffuse AA and that you would like to try a mid potency steroid just to see how your shedding responds.
The steroids aren't a magic bullet but should slow down loss and aid regrowth. A mid potency steroid is fine for long term use on the scalp...I have been using one for three years!
lamarr, i need your expert advice. i took accutane for 9 days back in november 2009 and experienced rapid hairloss almost immediately. fast forward 10 months and my hairloss is still as persistent as it was back in 2009. i lose hair from every part of my head, it isnt just on the hairline or crown. my hairline has also receded a bit which is a little unfortunate but whatever. i had a scalp biopsy done a few weeks ago and i was diagnosed with MPB. as you said earlier, there may be instances where the result is wrong, but what would you have me do? my derm perscribed me propecia and i am debating whether or not to take it. i really believe that i had AA or TE and not full blown MPB (atleast I hope not). should i take the propecia and risk the sides or wait a few more month and see if my hairloss slows down. I am thinking around the 14-15 month mark after the shedding initially began. the only thing that is holding me back from doing that is that my hairline may get a lot worse while i am "waiting" to see if my shedding stops and i could have used propecia to slow it down
Please do not take the propecia....it can have terrible side effects in people who have taken accutane!
Let me ask you this, do you take any supplements with omega 3 or any form of vitamin A? Drop those if you do!
Personally if I were you i would use a mid potency steroid combined with minoxidil on the hairline. Once per day application of both.
Something like betnovate would be best. Now the trouble is, if you derm isn't very clued up he probably won't go for this....However please try and present your logic behind believing you have diffuse AA and that you would like to try a mid potency steroid just to see how your shedding responds.
The steroids aren't a magic bullet but should slow down loss and aid regrowth. A mid potency steroid is fine for long term use on the scalp...I have been using one for three years!
Lamarr- Is the bentovate you use a 0.1% strength? I've also read about Dermovate, is this too strong in your opinion? Also, do you have a particular method for applying the cream to the scalp? Thanks.
lamarr, i need your expert advice. i took accutane for 9 days back in november 2009 and experienced rapid hairloss almost immediately. fast forward 10 months and my hairloss is still as persistent as it was back in 2009. i lose hair from every part of my head, it isnt just on the hairline or crown. my hairline has also receded a bit which is a little unfortunate but whatever. i had a scalp biopsy done a few weeks ago and i was diagnosed with MPB. as you said earlier, there may be instances where the result is wrong, but what would you have me do? my derm perscribed me propecia and i am debating whether or not to take it. i really believe that i had AA or TE and not full blown MPB (atleast I hope not). should i take the propecia and risk the sides or wait a few more month and see if my hairloss slows down. I am thinking around the 14-15 month mark after the shedding initially began. the only thing that is holding me back from doing that is that my hairline may get a lot worse while i am "waiting" to see if my shedding stops and i could have used propecia to slow it down
Please do not take the propecia....it can have terrible side effects in people who have taken accutane!
Let me ask you this, do you take any supplements with omega 3 or any form of vitamin A? Drop those if you do!
Personally if I were you i would use a mid potency steroid combined with minoxidil on the hairline. Once per day application of both.
Something like betnovate would be best. Now the trouble is, if you derm isn't very clued up he probably won't go for this....However please try and present your logic behind believing you have diffuse AA and that you would like to try a mid potency steroid just to see how your shedding responds.
The steroids aren't a magic bullet but should slow down loss and aid regrowth. A mid potency steroid is fine for long term use on the scalp...I have been using one for three years!
what is a mid potency steroid, i mean an example of one?
lamarr, i need your expert advice. i took accutane for 9 days back in november 2009 and experienced rapid hairloss almost immediately. fast forward 10 months and my hairloss is still as persistent as it was back in 2009. i lose hair from every part of my head, it isnt just on the hairline or crown. my hairline has also receded a bit which is a little unfortunate but whatever. i had a scalp biopsy done a few weeks ago and i was diagnosed with MPB. as you said earlier, there may be instances where the result is wrong, but what would you have me do? my derm perscribed me propecia and i am debating whether or not to take it. i really believe that i had AA or TE and not full blown MPB (atleast I hope not). should i take the propecia and risk the sides or wait a few more month and see if my hairloss slows down. I am thinking around the 14-15 month mark after the shedding initially began. the only thing that is holding me back from doing that is that my hairline may get a lot worse while i am "waiting" to see if my shedding stops and i could have used propecia to slow it down
Please do not take the propecia....it can have terrible side effects in people who have taken accutane!
Let me ask you this, do you take any supplements with omega 3 or any form of vitamin A? Drop those if you do!
Personally if I were you i would use a mid potency steroid combined with minoxidil on the hairline. Once per day application of both.
Something like betnovate would be best. Now the trouble is, if you derm isn't very clued up he probably won't go for this....However please try and present your logic behind believing you have diffuse AA and that you would like to try a mid potency steroid just to see how your shedding responds.
The steroids aren't a magic bullet but should slow down loss and aid regrowth. A mid potency steroid is fine for long term use on the scalp...I have been using one for three years!
Lamarr- Is the bentovate you use a 0.1% strength? I've also read about Dermovate, is this too strong in your opinion? Also, do you have a particular method for applying the cream to the scalp? Thanks.
Yes that is right 0.1%. Dermovate is not to strong, but it is easier to get a weaker one from your derm/doc. You get them in specially designed scalp application solutions and you just press this gently to the scalp and squeeze the container....very easy!
I personally wouldn't use dermovate every day on the side of your head, ontop it will be fine due to how thick the skin is!
Cheers
Hello everyone... I have created an msn messenger account so that we could start an online messenger community. sharing ideas in real time aswell as this thread.
my account is [Removed personal information] if anyone wants to add me and share thoughts and ideas via messenger then please do. if you are worried about exposing your identity then create another account just for this purpose.
i live in the uk so will be available in english hours.
cheers
You wrote, that we didn't should take Omega-3 Products...why? Could you explain this for me? Thank you very much!
D2Hammer said:@lamarrYou wrote, that we didn't should take Omega-3 Products...why? Could you explain this for me? Thank you very much!
Omega 3 seems to make things worse in us Accutane Victims, you can read post 16 of lamarr's and I believe post 18 of mine. Though this thread is about joints, It still applies to many victims side effects.
I also suggest No Fat Soluble Vit A folks and Zinc helps Vit A and I have read many who have had issues w/zinc.
If you want omega's get in your food, I know for me eating it in food form such as salmon and walnuts I am okay. Not okay w/flaxseed.
Hope this helps
lamarr, i just have a few more quick questions. you have been extremely helpful and i am forever grateful for your advice. assuming i have AA or TE (i was diagnosed with MPB after receiving my biopsy results), should i wait a few more months before trying any topical steroid? I am currently in month 10, going on 11 of shedding. Should I wait until month 15 or so before making that judgement, but risk having my hairline get worse during that time? Also, is there any way of determining whether you have TE or AA? I really hope I have one of those instead of the MPB my derm told me I have. I would start the topical steroid immediately, but I am just holding onto the pipedream that I may just have TE and it will go away and my hair will stop shedding within the next 6 months or so. Do you recommend that I start the treatment immediately or wait it out for a bit and reassess in 5-6 more months? I am just extremely worried that my hairline will get a lot worse during that time. Sorry for the ramble, but I think I got my questions across....
lamarr, i just have a few more quick questions. you have been extremely helpful and i am forever grateful for your advice. assuming i have AA or TE (i was diagnosed with MPB after receiving my biopsy results), should i wait a few more months before trying any topical steroid? I am currently in month 10, going on 11 of shedding. Should I wait until month 15 or so before making that judgement, but risk having my hairline get worse during that time? Also, is there any way of determining whether you have TE or AA? I really hope I have one of those instead of the MPB my derm told me I have. I would start the topical steroid immediately, but I am just holding onto the pipedream that I may just have TE and it will go away and my hair will stop shedding within the next 6 months or so. Do you recommend that I start the treatment immediately or wait it out for a bit and reassess in 5-6 more months? I am just extremely worried that my hairline will get a lot worse during that time. Sorry for the ramble, but I think I got my questions across....
Hey texasboy
sorry im not lamarr but feel i can give you some advice.
i wouldnt worry about having MPB. if your family shows no history of this then it shouldnt be a problem. do you have any other symtoms in the scalp?? such as tingling or itches??
i say this because you never see normal balding people complaining of having an itchy painful scalp. so this leads me to believe we are going through prolonged TE or Diffuse AA. More likely TE though. as this tingling itch and pain are all symptoms.
the reason we are receding is because the hairline has smaller less dense hairs... so any shedding affects these areas badly giving the illusion of MPB.
hold tight for another few months and this crap should be over soon! i wouldnt put any more drugs into your system because thats what caused this problem to us all.
i do think that 1 to 2 years is the recovery time from this drug and heres my theory from research i have done....
3 months for drug to work its way out of the body system (verified by two docs)...
+
6-8 months for TE to slow down and stop (taken from many websites)
+
3-4 months for the hair follicle to START reproducing a hair again. (taken from many websites)
+
4 months for hair to become long and dense. (hair grows at 1-2cm a months)
TIME is the cure to this problem for many of us. i know there are several people that get affected for many many years but these are very rare. these forums can be both helpful and scary from reading horror stories. but just take time to think how many millions of people have benefited from this drug, im sure that many of these people had some adverse effects but didnt have a forum to go to and probably ignored the problems until they went away.
good luck all
Thanks for your great advice, pleasegrow, it was very informative. However, I show no other symptoms (no itching, inflammation, etc), so I guess that may mean I have some MPB? I took the tame for 9 days and ended the treatment on November 9th 2009. So by the timeline you gave me, the shedding should stop within the next month or two. I'll keep my fingers crossed! I just really hope I don't have MPB. My shedding is diffuse, as it occurs all over my
head, not just on my crown or hairline
only 9 days!! thats a very short time to take this drug for, so i think you should try and relax a little. its easier said than done because im going through the same thing!
basically this drug has "shocked" our system... so we need to give it time to recover.
i will also remind people that i have created an msn messenger account so if anyone wants to talk in real time they can add me.... [Removed personal information]
peace
@lamarr
You wrote, that we didn't should take Omega-3 Products...why? Could you explain this for me? Thank you very much!
Omega 3 seems to make things worse in us Accutane Victims, you can read post 16 of lamarr's and I believe post 18 of mine. Though this thread is about joints, It still applies to many victims side effects.
I also suggest No Fat Soluble Vit A folks and Zinc helps Vit A and I have read many who have had issues w/zinc.
If you want omega's get in your food, I know for me eating it in food form such as salmon and walnuts I am okay. Not okay w/flaxseed.
Hope this helps
Ok, thank you for this information. Very good to know, because I started to take every day a few flaxseeds and flaxseed-oil - I heard it is very useful against hairloss/shedding. And flaxseed-oil is very popular here in Austria. So you think, that I should stop to taking flaxseed?
My accutane therapy was 3 years ago and I still have problems with shedding 
Hey everybody,
I havent been active on this site for about a year now since finishing my accutane course, but have still been reading people's posts and journeys regarding their course. I was tane on for a year of 60mg a day and once at the halfway mark of the course started to notice thinning to the temple area of my hair on both sides. I constantly complained to doctors etc, but they kept sending me away, telling me that I was imagining the hair loss etc. My hair has continued to thin since being off the tane, and I am at the year mark now and still very self concious.
I just wanted to come on here again and post a reply to this post as alot what pleasegrow said has given me a bit of hope!! So I thank you for that. The last year I have had completely clear skin, but I have had the tingling, itching sensation on my scalp for months and months. I have no history of hair loss in my family...my father has a full head of hair at 50 years old etc....but what pleasegrow mentioned a few posts back about waiting 1-2 years until things might go back to normal has given me something to look towards....I just thought I was doomed to continue to bald and I have only just turned 25. The last year I have shaved my head completely skin bald due to being so worked up over this hair thinning....its strange....it feels like there is hair there at the temples but it looks sooooo light and grows patchy?
But sorry to ramble on! I had to get that off my chest! And thank you again to everybody on the site! It helped me throughout my course of tane and even still now.
Take care
Danny
My hair's improved quite a lot since finishing Accutane (17 months ago), but it's still not normal. The process is just extremely slow for me (and for most people, I think). There might still be hope for you.
It's OK to vent, man. Premature hair loss, especially when it occurs so rapidly and unnaturally, is a completely shitty thing, and you're totally justified in being stressed / pissed off about it, especially considering that we're all on here since we had acne already, which is itself a curse.
And what a surprise: your doctor just dismissed your hair loss as "all in your head" or whatever. That sounds familiar. Apparently none of these doctors give a damn about it.
yeah, the first doctor told me I was imagining the hair loss, then the second doctor who is a specialist in the field of dermatology told me that I would have more hair than him when im his age so I shouldnt worry. But thats not what I wanted to hear! I want them to recognise the hair loss and say, here is a fix or something!....but ah well. Just got to get through it....I got through the acne, I will just have to wait this out now.
Thanks for the response!
Danny
Hey guys and gals,
It's been a while since I updated my status but I figured I would. Basically nothing seems to have changed much. My hair continues to appear thinner and my scalp is becoming more visible in certain areas.
However, I haven't cut my hair in almost a year, so it's very long. Essentially the majority of my accutane course and major shedding was during this period where I grew my hair out. It only makes sense it would appear thinner, right? It's strange, there are still times where I feel my hair seems thick, and then there are the times where I get out of the shower and see it wet, or look at it up close where it seems thin.
Thankfully I don't lose as much hair as before, but it's still shedding. I have a very tingly and itchy scalp. My scalp seems like it's in shit condition now. Admittedly, I don't wash my hair every day for fear it is just aggravating it a lot, but I do use T-Gel, Nizoral and jojoba oil. I haven't really used a normal shampoo in my routine for some time, but would that be a good idea? Maybe baby shampoo would be soft and gentle with my hair. Any suggestions for how I should be treating my hair and scalp would be great. I'd love to cut down on the irritation, because I know it's only hurting my hair and scalp and probably part of the cause.
I haven't seen any regrowth really, but maybe it's hard to notice these little hairs popping up? I don't think anything has really started regrowing much yet. I'm worried how much different my hair will look if I were to get it cut short again. Now that my corners have receded some, and my widows peak is messed up, and due to the thinning, I am almost scared to see how my hair will look shorter again. With that said, I didn't grow it long for fear of how it would look short. I simply like having longer hair (you can imagine it's pretty important to my look).
Just as a reminder, I finished Accutane the first week of January. I tried taking Biotin for some time, but I think it may have contributed to a couple acne flare-ups, and frankly it didn't seem to be doing anything. I've tried using iron supplements, l-carnitine, and zinc to no avail. Overall, I'm hangin' in there and I hope everyone else is too.
I still have faith my body and continue to fix this problem whether it is AA or TE, and make my hair more full and strong again. Best of luck to everyone, and it would be great to hear how everyone is doing and what your treatments are 
It might simply take more time. I've been off Accutane since April '09 (17 months), and mine's still not normal, but definitely improved some. I can say for sure that there has been improvement between when I was at the point you are now (about 8 months) and the point I'm at now. Judging by the rate that it's been improving, I'm expecting mine to take at least several more months, if not a year or more, to return completely to normal.
Folks, unless you have lab work that says your Zinc deficent I am telling and warning to stay away from it as it aids in the transport, absorption, and utilization of Vit A...You took Accutane which is essentially Mega Dose of Vit A.
I have read many who have problems w/ Zinc just like Omega's. Accutane does funny things to the body. So for someone normal Zinc would be fine, however if you been taned then not fine.
Hi everyone, I have been reading these posts for the last 6 months. I took accutane for 3 weeks. About 10 days in my hair started falling out everywhere my head, eyelashes, and eyebrows. My scalp went completely dry, I didn't have dandruff (that's what my hair dressers said) because it wasn't oily. It was my scalp peeling away , it was red and extremely itchy. I like most people told my doctor and he brushed it off as normally hair loss (what an ahole, sorry).
I think I developed Anagen effluvium. This type of hair loss usually occurs within a few days to weeks after taking the medication. It's most common in people who are taking chemotherapy drugs and is often severe, causing people to lose most or all of the hair on their head, as well as their eyebrows, eyelashes, and other body hairs. Scary. I probably lost 40-50%.
I have been taking nizoral 2%, emu oil, biotin, silica and zinc/b6/magnesium before bed. It's been 6 months, I'm still shedding everywhere (though not as much I think). I have noticed hair growth at front and sides, some hairs are as thick as before, some are thin. But some fall off. Some of the hair is really frizzy and curly when they fall off. My scalp doesn't peel has much, which is nice. Still occasionally itchy and sometimes red though. The top my head looks like streaks, I use to have the thickest set of hair, dam it.
My doctor gave me a prescription of proscar(1mg). To help grow hair I've started to take it. I'm a male 26yrs old, no history of hair loss in family nothing.
Just wanted thank everyone for posting this site has been a big help. Just trying to stay positive, wish everyone the best.
