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You should not relate that much to other people's experience with accutane because they have done different things and their genetics are different from yours. There is no way that you could say for sure "ok, 50 people have lost their hair because of accutane, I'm destined to suffer in the same way." My two cents. As for stressing out, I've been there and could say from a personal experience - it's awful and you feel like this is a puzzle you just cannot solve. Anyways, try to focus on something else, not only on your current hair state.
I'm 27 years old, caucasian, 191 cm/6.2 feet tall, about 90 kg/198 pounds. I'm currently letting my hair grow and don't plan on cutting it in the near future. I usually style it in a spikey way.
What about if you have various other side effects associated with the extreme dryness of your hair & skin?
These effects came on after I finished the medication. Is anyone else experiencing this??
have you seen a dr about your hairloss? are you trying prescription treatments or steroid injections to the scalp? have you gotten your hormones checked? your cortisol? something is out of wack.
What about if you have various other side effects associated with the extreme dryness of your hair & skin?
These effects came on after I finished the medication. Is anyone else experiencing this??
have you seen a dr about your hairloss? are you trying prescription treatments or steroid injections to the scalp? have you gotten your hormones checked? your cortisol? something is out of wack.
Ive seen 2 dermatoligists,an endocrinoligist,a homepath, a naturopath, 2 GP's and had every test you could think of.Im too scared to take any other medications or do anything to my body as since coming off the medications everything has progressively gotten dryer and dryer with no end in sight, these effects will not subside & I dont know what to do. Im watching my skin shrivel up and become like an old persons and my hair is dead and has continually fallen out for over 2 years now
A hopeful message from a fellow male poster 3 years post accutane hair loss:
Hi all,
It's been ages since I've been on the forum here. My last update was another rather positive one about a year ago when I chopped off my long hair only to realize it looked quite good, haha. To make a long story short, I finished a 6 month course of Accutane 3 years ago. I had moderate persistent acne during my teenage years up to the age of 20 and nothing really solved the problem until I finished Accutane.
During my treatment, one of my greatest fears was to have problems with my hair. In a journal here I often documented how my hair was doing - in addition to commenting in the giant thread called "what your doctor didn't tell you about hair loss." Like many, I noticed increased hair loss, and it was definitely noticeable along with all of the other typical symptoms (dry everything, mood changes, lack of energy, etc.) It's funny because I remember analyzing everyone's hair after I started becoming so worried about my own. How awful.
You're probably assuming bad news based on other accounts, but I am happy to say my hair is much improved and looking sexy. It's definitely thickened up more on top and around my crown again and the only differnece is really a bit more corner recession which is just a maturing hairline. During accutane my hair become much more frail. It lost some shine and was just duller, thinner, and more lifeless. Maybe if you're on the drug now you can feel the difference.....I recall it being almost like dead grass as opposed to fresh green grass. It's hard to believe three years went by but all I can say is my hair definitely improved and I've been virtually acne-free since. Of course occasional pimples here and there but only a few cysts (mainly on my back) since the course ended.
I think that the Accutane shocked my body and I developed telogen effluvium from the drug and my body has slowly recovered all these years. I know that the drug has a lot of downfalls too, and in the end you need to weigh the positives and negatives. I'm so happy that it cleared up my acne. I guess I'm predisposed to being self-conscious about other things now that acne isn't an issue. Don't lose hope! I'm more than willing to answer questions more in-depth, or share more of my story to help others too. Well, just wanted to share my story so others can be more hopeful about their hair too. It's the least I can do after receiving all the help from great people here in the past. I would be willing to share some photos of my hair before and after as well.
Good luck!
What about if you have various other side effects associated with the extreme dryness of your hair & skin?
These effects came on after I finished the medication. Is anyone else experiencing this??
have you seen a dr about your hairloss? are you trying prescription treatments or steroid injections to the scalp? have you gotten your hormones checked? your cortisol? something is out of wack.
Ive seen 2 dermatoligists,an endocrinoligist,a homepath, a naturopath, 2 GP's and had every test you could think of.Im too scared to take any other medications or do anything to my body as since coming off the medications everything has progressively gotten dryer and dryer with no end in sight, these effects will not subside & I dont know what to do. Im watching my skin shrivel up and become like an old persons and my hair is dead and has continually fallen out for over 2 years now
If you've gotten advice from drs and are recommended medication that can help you, why aren't you taking it? I know you're scared of putting more stuff in your body, but if you aren't addressing your problems then they're just going to keep happening.
What about if you have various other side effects associated with the extreme dryness of your hair & skin?
These effects came on after I finished the medication. Is anyone else experiencing this??
have you seen a dr about your hairloss? are you trying prescription treatments or steroid injections to the scalp? have you gotten your hormones checked? your cortisol? something is out of wack.
Ive seen 2 dermatoligists,an endocrinoligist,a homepath, a naturopath, 2 GP's and had every test you could think of.Im too scared to take any other medications or do anything to my body as since coming off the medications everything has progressively gotten dryer and dryer with no end in sight, these effects will not subside & I dont know what to do. Im watching my skin shrivel up and become like an old persons and my hair is dead and has continually fallen out for over 2 years now
If you've gotten advice from drs and are recommended medication that can help you, why aren't you taking it? I know you're scared of putting more stuff in your body, but if you aren't addressing your problems then they're just going to keep happening.
Because just like accutane the recommended treatments are so damaging to our bodies in themselves - I cannot use rogain or the like as now I am growing hair all over my face & body from accutane- It also ages the skin which I am already having huge issues with from Accutane due to the severity of the dryness
The Pill is the other option - synthetic hormones which I tried for 3 mnths and everything increasingly got worse.
Steroid injections also have side effects such as thinning of the skin which I cannot risk.
I think that once once you are losing your hair and the dryness and irritation or your skin/hair/organs being severely affected by accutane, there really is minimal options available to reverse these symptoms - my hairloss includes eye brows & lashes as well which is possibly diffuse alopecia areata .
Since this started 4 weeks after stopping the medication I have tried every natural therapy possible...
I'm very happy for volcom3453! I've read quite a few of his posts so I kinda know where he is coming from. 
3 years...I think that's a realistic time for recovery. Many have reported that after around 4 years their hair jumps back to the way it was prior to accutane. I have a long way to go...
Stay positive people
What about if you have various other side effects associated with the extreme dryness of your hair & skin?
These effects came on after I finished the medication. Is anyone else experiencing this??
have you seen a dr about your hairloss? are you trying prescription treatments or steroid injections to the scalp? have you gotten your hormones checked? your cortisol? something is out of wack.
Ive seen 2 dermatoligists,an endocrinoligist,a homepath, a naturopath, 2 GP's and had every test you could think of.Im too scared to take any other medications or do anything to my body as since coming off the medications everything has progressively gotten dryer and dryer with no end in sight, these effects will not subside & I dont know what to do. Im watching my skin shrivel up and become like an old persons and my hair is dead and has continually fallen out for over 2 years now
If you've gotten advice from drs and are recommended medication that can help you, why aren't you taking it? I know you're scared of putting more stuff in your body, but if you aren't addressing your problems then they're just going to keep happening.
Because just like accutane the recommended treatments are so damaging to our bodies in themselves - I cannot use rogain or the like as now I am growing hair all over my face & body from accutane- It also ages the skin which I am already having huge issues with from Accutane due to the severity of the dryness
The Pill is the other option - synthetic hormones which I tried for 3 mnths and everything increasingly got worse.
Steroid injections also have side effects such as thinning of the skin which I cannot risk.
I think that once once you are losing your hair and the dryness and irritation or your skin/hair/organs being severely affected by accutane, there really is minimal options available to reverse these symptoms - my hairloss includes eye brows & lashes as well which is possibly diffuse alopecia areata .
Since this started 4 weeks after stopping the medication I have tried every natural therapy possible...
Livetoregret - Hey sweetie are they keeping a check on you and some of the abnormal labs you have had? I know that some have gone from abnormal to normal to abnormal. I do feel that you have a thyroid and some other autoimmune conditon from accutane. Now if you just feel you have Alopecia and nothing elese due to Accutane then you can read some of Lamarr1986 posts in this thread a way back for advice. I read about your few hrs of sleep and I can attest before I got a dx on my thyroid and sjrogrens I did only sleep maybe 2-4 hrs a night if that!
Also stress & anxiety will make things worse such as hairloss!
What about if you have various other side effects associated with the extreme dryness of your hair & skin?
These effects came on after I finished the medication. Is anyone else experiencing this??
have you seen a dr about your hairloss? are you trying prescription treatments or steroid injections to the scalp? have you gotten your hormones checked? your cortisol? something is out of wack.
Ive seen 2 dermatoligists,an endocrinoligist,a homepath, a naturopath, 2 GP's and had every test you could think of.Im too scared to take any other medications or do anything to my body as since coming off the medications everything has progressively gotten dryer and dryer with no end in sight, these effects will not subside & I dont know what to do. Im watching my skin shrivel up and become like an old persons and my hair is dead and has continually fallen out for over 2 years now
If you've gotten advice from drs and are recommended medication that can help you, why aren't you taking it? I know you're scared of putting more stuff in your body, but if you aren't addressing your problems then they're just going to keep happening.
Because just like accutane the recommended treatments are so damaging to our bodies in themselves - I cannot use rogain or the like as now I am growing hair all over my face & body from accutane- It also ages the skin which I am already having huge issues with from Accutane due to the severity of the dryness
The Pill is the other option - synthetic hormones which I tried for 3 mnths and everything increasingly got worse.
Steroid injections also have side effects such as thinning of the skin which I cannot risk.
I think that once once you are losing your hair and the dryness and irritation or your skin/hair/organs being severely affected by accutane, there really is minimal options available to reverse these symptoms - my hairloss includes eye brows & lashes as well which is possibly diffuse alopecia areata .
Since this started 4 weeks after stopping the medication I have tried every natural therapy possible...
Livetoregret - Hey sweetie are they keeping a check on you and some of the abnormal labs you have had? I know that some have gone from abnormal to normal to abnormal. I do feel that you have a thyroid and some other autoimmune conditon from accutane. Now if you just feel you have Alopecia and nothing elese due to Accutane then you can read some of Lamarr1986 posts in this thread a way back for advice. I read about your few hrs of sleep and I can attest before I got a dx on my thyroid and sjrogrens I did only sleep maybe 2-4 hrs a night if that!
Also stress & anxiety will make things worse such as hairloss!
Hey jen,
Ive read alot of lamarr's posts, I have alot of accumulating issues now as time goes on...
I just do not trust doctors I have taken all these issues to them and now been through 2 primary care GP's as they say they cannot help me.
Im terrified and have nowhere to turn..
I have so far:
Alopecia of hair/eyebrows/lashes
Joint pains in wrists,knees and shoulders
The dry, thin,red irritated skin I think its turning into rosacea I am red ALL the time I used to have the palest skin you could imagine..
I know stress makes hairloss worse but honestly I am falling apart and just do not know what the hell to do anymore. There seems to be no help out there no matter how hard I look
Did anyone hear about someone that ACTUALLY went bald due to accutane?
I don't think I have heard of anyone going complete bald due to accutane.
I've read in clinical literature that people don't go bald from chronic telogen effluvium since hair growth rate and shed rate are similar.
I also read that it usually results in "spontaneous resolution" in 3-10 years.
I guess I don't mind waiting 10 years as long as I know that I won't go bald.
Did anyone hear about someone that ACTUALLY went bald due to accutane?
I don't think I have heard of anyone going complete bald due to accutane.
I've read in clinical literature that people don't go bald from chronic telogen effluvium since hair growth rate and shed rate are similar.
I also read that it usually results in "spontaneous resolution" in 3-10 years.
I guess I don't mind waiting 10 years as long as I know that I won't go bald.
No I don't know of anyone going completly bald, I do know on the old ragfourm there was guy who had hairloss really bad and he decide enough was enough and shaved his head. However, he didn't look bad bald! Is hairloss all you suffer from?
What about if you have various other side effects associated with the extreme dryness of your hair & skin?
These effects came on after I finished the medication. Is anyone else experiencing this??
have you seen a dr about your hairloss? are you trying prescription treatments or steroid injections to the scalp? have you gotten your hormones checked? your cortisol? something is out of wack.
Ive seen 2 dermatoligists,an endocrinoligist,a homepath, a naturopath, 2 GP's and had every test you could think of.Im too scared to take any other medications or do anything to my body as since coming off the medications everything has progressively gotten dryer and dryer with no end in sight, these effects will not subside & I dont know what to do. Im watching my skin shrivel up and become like an old persons and my hair is dead and has continually fallen out for over 2 years now
If you've gotten advice from drs and are recommended medication that can help you, why aren't you taking it? I know you're scared of putting more stuff in your body, but if you aren't addressing your problems then they're just going to keep happening.
Because just like accutane the recommended treatments are so damaging to our bodies in themselves - I cannot use rogain or the like as now I am growing hair all over my face & body from accutane- It also ages the skin which I am already having huge issues with from Accutane due to the severity of the dryness
The Pill is the other option - synthetic hormones which I tried for 3 mnths and everything increasingly got worse.
Steroid injections also have side effects such as thinning of the skin which I cannot risk.
I think that once once you are losing your hair and the dryness and irritation or your skin/hair/organs being severely affected by accutane, there really is minimal options available to reverse these symptoms - my hairloss includes eye brows & lashes as well which is possibly diffuse alopecia areata .
Since this started 4 weeks after stopping the medication I have tried every natural therapy possible...
Livetoregret - Hey sweetie are they keeping a check on you and some of the abnormal labs you have had? I know that some have gone from abnormal to normal to abnormal. I do feel that you have a thyroid and some other autoimmune conditon from accutane. Now if you just feel you have Alopecia and nothing elese due to Accutane then you can read some of Lamarr1986 posts in this thread a way back for advice. I read about your few hrs of sleep and I can attest before I got a dx on my thyroid and sjrogrens I did only sleep maybe 2-4 hrs a night if that!
Also stress & anxiety will make things worse such as hairloss!
Hey jen,
Ive read alot of lamarr's posts, I have alot of accumulating issues now as time goes on...
I just do not trust doctors I have taken all these issues to them and now been through 2 primary care GP's as they say they cannot help me.
Im terrified and have nowhere to turn..
I have so far:
Alopecia of hair/eyebrows/lashes
Joint pains in wrists,knees and shoulders
The dry, thin,red irritated skin I think its turning into rosacea I am red ALL the time I used to have the palest skin you could imagine..
I know stress makes hairloss worse but honestly I am falling apart and just do not know what the hell to do anymore. There seems to be no help out there no matter how hard I look
I swear you have some autoimmue thing going on! I really wish you were here in the U.S. cause I'd get you help! - I know you are done with docs and scared of other drugs, but I would try some of Lamarr's things....Look at this way it can't get any worse! I think of you often hang in there
my hair has only grown maybe 8cm in 6 mnths - it used to grow about 2cm every 4-6 wks as I had to recolor my roots by then. Growth has halted, hair quality is thinner and incredibly fragile, bone dry and there is little to no regrowth what I do get also falls out very short fine hairs
Hello! I am the creator of this thread, and I cannot believe that it's still going! This thread used to be such a comfort to me, and I hope that it's been a comfort to you, too.
I am here to post one last time. Here is my update:
My hair stopped shedding after 6 to 8 months. 70% of the hair that I lost came back after about 2 years. So at least for me, I didn't get all my hair back, but I did get most of it back.
It's amazing to think that this happened to me almost 7 years ago. In my opinion and experience: Accutane hair loss is truly temporary, but if you are destined to have some kind of natural hair loss - and the vast, vast majority of people, men as well as women, are destined to lose at least some hair naturally, in one degree or another - then the temporary hair loss from Accutane will prematurely trigger your more permanent, natural hair loss. So if you're younger, you have less to worry about. But if you're in your early twenties, you shouldn't expect all of your hair back. But enough of it will come back, and you will be OK with it.
I'm a male, and I have found the key to be this:
- Take Propecia. Even if you truly don't have male pattern baldness, who cares? What's the downside? It costs $2 a day. The side effects are greatly exaggerated, and if you have any questions about them, feel free to contact me.
- Do NOT start minoxidil. It makes things worse and, because you need to apply it twice a day for the rest of your life, it is not a sustainable treatment. Sure, if you're young and single, putting medicine on your scalp twice a day is easy. But when you're older and living with your significant other, it would make you look ridiculous.
- BE PATIENT! I thought it was the end of the world when this happened to me. And now 7 years have passed. Look at other men's hair and you'll realize that you're not the only one who has thinning hair. HAIR LOSS IS A FACT OF LIFE. Learn to style your hair differently; I used to cut it short and comb it forward and slightly to the side.
So that's it. Please let me know if you have any questions.
I got sick - flu - 2 days ago. I went for antibiotics. Taken 2 pills yesterday. Today i found like 200 hairs on my pillow. Many fall out during washing. Even if i touch them, open hand, no pulling - i get few in my hand. Anybody have similar experience?
Andy thanks for update. Good to know that people recovering from it. I am sure i won't recover. I lost like 80% of my hair on the top. This is photo from 2 months ago:
[Edited link out]
After today it is much worst. I can count my hair - seriously. I didn't cut my hair on the top since august. Now i use nanogen to cover baldness and i say it is great. Without it i would look like shit.
I am shedding continuously for last 10,5 months and 16,5 in 22 months.
Hello again people
Long time no see. Andy, thanks for coming back to update and tell us what's going on with you! I'm really glad that you got most of your hair back and I totally agree - this is in most cases a temporary condition and most sufferers will get back to normal.
Also, I agree with what you are noting in regard to people losing hair in a natural way. Most people lose hair especially in their twenties/thirties, men and women, although men are a little bit more predisposed to that. Based on statistics, it seems that around 50% of the men throughout the world cary MPB and will lose most of their hair before their fifties. That's just the way life is, nothing we could do about it.
Anyways, I'm posting because I have some...let's say positive news.
My hair is better than what it was some months ago, before I started using minoxidil, flax seed, biotin and saw palmetto. I see a regrowth and also the texture has improved a bit. My mom told me that my hair is visibly better and that it feels thicker and fuller. Before starting the above supplements and minoxidil I was getting the traditional NW2 "V" shape and I was frankly terrified that this was it, my hair was dead. Now I feel much more optimistic and I am not that obsessed. it's been nearly four months since I've started the minoxidil therapy.
I also talked to my girlfriend and asked if she saw an improvement. She laughed and told me that I was imagining it and that I had no problem whatsoever with my hair. She actually told me that she would love to trade her hair for mine. Other people has recently complimented me on my hair as well. I guess the reason is that I just let it do what it wants and stopped cutting it. I was somewhat shocked that people actually think I have thick hair...
Regardless of the above said, my hair is still a lot thinner than what it was prior and during my accutane course. I still lose hairs throughout the day and during showering. I doubt that I would get it back to its state before that traumatic event but I'm very happy that I have no visible recession at least for now.
As a conclusion I would just like to quote what Andy has written above "BE PATIENT!". Don't expect improvements over night but nor you should wait for years to take precautions. Consult with a doctor before doing anything on your own.
Feel free to ask me any questions related to hair-loss. I'm at your disposal. Will never leave acne.org.
oh how it how it sucks to be back on this forum, where I was last using it 3-4 years to document what I thought was going to be a positively life changing accutane course.
So a brief summary of my post accutane situation. Was on a 4 month course at 16 with a 70mg dose. Couple of weeks after finishing I experienced what I was told was telogen effluvium. However since then my hairline has drastically receded to where I have now have a norwood 3 hairline at 19. I had zero signs of MPB before I took that first accutane pill yet here I am 3 years later with this. Far to coincidental imo. Doesn't take much forum browsing to see hundreds of others experiencing this and looking at forum threads even with different topics yet the mention of MPB still popping up. Try googling 'MPB .......' with any other drug. Accutane seems to be the only one with search results and a lot. Even most of the hair loss threads mention mpb more than temporary telegon effluvium.
I just want to hear from anyone who believes they're on the same road or if anyone can help with my sheer regret of taking this drug with any some evidence that accutane can't possibly cause this. ie article, doctors primary advice. It's been soul destroying watching my confidence and hair disappear month by month ever since taking something which was to help me.
I'm a male, and I have found the key to be this:
- Take Propecia. Even if you truly don't have male pattern baldness, who cares? What's the downside? It costs $2 a day. The side effects are greatly exaggerated, and if you have any questions about them, feel free to contact me.
Where have I heard that before? Why don't you try to pretend you have a clue? You should send people over to Propeciahelp.com before you start recommeding an anti-androgen treatment for something cosmetic as you stated: "HAIR LOSS IS A FACT OF LIFE." So let me get this straight: You are not fine with Minoxidil because it makes you look ridiculous to rub a potion into your hair; but, it is fine to inhibit DHT because popping a pill makes you look like a BOSS? You can't make this crap up.