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Guys im telling you now... propecia etc is not the way to go with this accutane hairloss. the only way i would say go on propecia is if you have shed for a long while, the shedding stops, but you can't seem to get decent regrowth...
It is not MPB at falt with most of us... If you had signs of mpb before tane then maybe... But i'm telling you all now it is the inflamation from diffuse AA that is causing things to present themselves as MPB... the inflamation from AA is what is causing any miniturization to be witnessed. at the end of the day, other than the fact you shed throughout your whole head with diffuse AA, MPB is just the same thing... the DHT is viewed as a foreign object and is attacked by the immune system, causing inflamation and miniturization of the hair folicles in susceptible hairs (e.g. the ones also susceptible in MPB).
With AA though the hair follicles themselves are viewed as foreign objects... Can you please all push your derms for topical steroid treatement. I have been in contact with blazed and he is having great results from what his derm gave him for diffuse AA....
Yeah and what i have personally found and read from other peoples experiences is that you could pretty much keep manipulating your hair and it will keep shedding... I have found this to be the case for myself.. I remember telling David that his hairloss sounded alot like anagen effluvium... Search this thread!!
Most people say they have a large bulb at the end of there hairs i know for sure all of mine do...
Yeah and what i have personally found and read from other peoples experiences is that you could pretty much keep manipulating your hair and it will keep shedding... I have found this to be the case for myself.. I remember telling David that his hairloss sounded alot like anagen effluvium... Search this thread!!
Most people say they have a large bulb at the end of there hairs i know for sure all of mine do...
Mark,
I do kind of agree with your Alopecia Areata theory, but I do think this hair loss is a form of telogen, not anagen, effluvium.
I've been taking Propecia for three months now, but have had to stop. I have pain in my left breast, and I am very concerned about breast enlargement. Plus, my libido comes and goes. It went, then came back (so to speak) for about 2 weeks, then went again.
I've invested so much time in Propecia, that I don't want to stop. I will stop for a week, go see a doctor, and then think about taking half a pill a day. If that goes well, then I'll take the other half at night.
For those taking Propecia, a few notes:
1. Do not worry about the side effects. You should try it out and see how it affects you. You can always stop.
2. Take the pill in the morning. That's when you have the most testosterone to spare.
3. If you're bothered by the side effects, try my plan. Half a pill in the morning, half at night. That seems like a good way of dodging the side effects.
Yeah i agree andy i don't think it is anagen effluvium, but kind of presents itself in that way e.g. the shedding and hair shaft appearance.
With this diffuse alopecea areata, you will shed hair like you do with TE, you will also fail pull strand tests just like with TE... it is very hard to tell the difference. the only real way is a biopsy with florescent staining...
anyone think that the bulbs at the end of the hairs can be dandruff buildup? I have excess dandruff ever since the hair stared falling out. and i dont want to try head and shoulders as my derm told me it has to many stuff init, he said stick to baby shampoo since it is alot gentel on the hair.
Hey guys, its been a while so i thought id check in for an update...
I wish i had better news, but the last couple of months have been especially bad for me. My hair has now undeniably got worse after several years of staying somewhat constant.. My left temple which had been relatively strong has been diffusing out and catching up with my right, and my hair generally over me entire scalp is getting worse. I've been suffering from accutane induced hair loss for over six years now, and my hope of it ever reversing or even stopping are almost gone. Im still on propecia and minoxidil.
The idea of diffuse AA that has been brought up recently on this thread is particularily interesting to me. Im confident that accutane hairloss is not 100% related to MPB when i consider my own circumstances and the fact that there are hundereds of women that suffer from the exact same hair loss from accutane that we do. I have absolutely NO history of MPB in my family, and my hair loss started immediately after my course of accutane. Additional support to the diffuse AA theory lies in the microscopic camera images i got from a trichologist which showed i had inflammation around ALL of my hair follicles, not just on the top of my scalp. The trichologist himself said this was especially unusual to have inflammation around the follicles in the back and side parts of my scalp. Additaionlly, as i mentioned in my posts way back in this thread, i have a host of other immune system related problems after accutane. I had always dismissed AA as a possiblity because i wasnt aware of its diffuse form and assumed it was always in the form of blad patches appearing in concentrated locations. Thanks to you guys for your research and discovery of this as a possiblity.
In response to the possibility of diffuse AA as a cause, i have started applying Elocon (presription topical steriod similar to hydrocortizone but stronger) topically to my scalp and have also started taking L-Tyrosone twice a day (this has apparently been used in treatment of AA).
Anyways i wish i had better news to report guys, and i hope none of your cases are prolonged as mine has been.
Hey guys, its been a while so i thought id check in for an update...
I wish i had better news, but the last couple of months have been especially bad for me. My hair has now undeniably got worse after several years of staying somewhat constant.. My left temple which had been relatively strong has been diffusing out and catching up with my right, and my hair generally over me entire scalp is getting worse. I've been suffering from accutane induced hair loss for over six years now, and my hope of it ever reversing or even stopping are almost gone. Im still on propecia and minoxidil.
The idea of diffuse AA that has been brought up recently on this thread is particularily interesting to me. Im confident that accutane hairloss is not 100% related to MPB when i consider my own circumstances and the fact that there are hundereds of women that suffer from the exact same hair loss from accutane that we do. I have absolutely NO history of MPB in my family, and my hair loss started immediately after my course of accutane. Additional support to the diffuse AA theory lies in the microscopic camera images i got from a trichologist which showed i had inflammation around ALL of my hair follicles, not just on the top of my scalp. The trichologist himself said this was especially unusual to have inflammation around the follicles in the back and side parts of my scalp. Additaionlly, as i mentioned in my posts way back in this thread, i have a host of other immune system related problems after accutane. I had always dismissed AA as a possiblity because i wasnt aware of its diffuse form and assumed it was always in the form of blad patches appearing in concentrated locations. Thanks to you guys for your research and discovery of this as a possiblity.
In response to the possibility of diffuse AA as a cause, i have started applying Elocon (presription topical steriod similar to hydrocortizone but stronger) topically to my scalp and have also started taking L-Tyrosone twice a day (this has apparently been used in treatment of AA).
Anyways i wish i had better news to report guys, and i hope none of your cases are prolonged as mine has been.
Julius - I am very happy you've started topical steroid treatment! I'm optimistic for you.
I am also very optimistic for you julius i would be so happy if we could help you here!! Could i also suggest you order some xandrox? if you do some research on it you will see it is used to treated AA. Not only that but it has helped some accutane victims recover all of their hair (without them being aware of diffuse AA). If that topical steroid fails, pleased try a different one like lidex (fluocinonide 0.5 mg/g) that blazed is using...
I remember you mentioning you thought that minox could of helped you some? well minox can and often does help AA, but with the combination of azelic acid in xandrox the effect is even more pronounced due to the anti inflamatory properties....
I wish you the best of luck julius!!
Edit: what i would also like to say is this... If your tricologist didn't even mention the chance of diffuse AA, what sort of chances are people that only visitn standard derms supposed to have in the correct diagnosis of it? No chance.... it's such a shame that so few derms are aware of this problem. I am so glad i get to see Dr Chu, i see him again on the 20th of dec now guys, that was the soonest he could fit me in before xmas!!
I am not so worried about my hairloss now, which i know sounds stupid... But i was only worried because i was sure it would continue forever and i would have no way of successfully treating it, i'm now very confident i will be able to either stop myhairloss or grind it down to a minimum...
This is all really interesting to read- blazed when you say you've been having excellent results from lidex do you mean that you've definately noticed a decrease in hair loss since starting it? Was the hair loss already slowing down before you started it? Were you taking anything else (like minox, propecia, etc) before starting it?
And for that matter has anyone else tried the topica steroid route besides blazed and julius? Intuitively the diffuse AA idea makes a lot of sense to me- I've noticed a variety of immune system related issues since stopping accutane. Namely, it seems to take longer for cuts and scrapes to heal on my body and I've gotten sick like three times this fall alone when I've otherwise been healthy for a couple of years (though that could be also perhaps be attributed to moving from living in a single occupant dorm to an apartment with roomates and whatever diseases they bring home). Moreover I've lost a lot of hair in male pattern regions - the crown especially yet I have no miniturization. And about half of the hair i'm losing is hair I basiclly pull out myself when I itch my scalp- it will itch in one specific spot and when I scratch it a hair or two will come out.
I think that next time I visit my derm i'm going to really push the diffuse AA idea and ask for a topical steroid to try.
My last question has to do with topical steroids in general- are they easy to apply to the scalp? Applying rogaine is a pain in the butt because I'm not actually bald anywhere... just real thin on top (and getting thin over the temples too now unfortunately 
)
I will soon be going down this route...Chu was the one who mentioned diffuse AA to me and since doing my research fits pretty much ever prolonged case of accutane hairloss. Sometimes it simply resolves on itself... but others it doesn't and continues like julius. The topical steroids come in solutions specifically for scalp use, so it is like applying liquid minoxidil...
To be honest i would rather have to apply a topical steroid on a cyclical (month on month off) basis than to use minoxidil and propecia for the rest of my life to no avail...
jnt, i started to shed worse at 300 then slowy decreased to 100-200 daily before my treatment. even when i was applying lidex on my scalp i would still shed around 100, but just recently it improved to 20-30? im just grateful because its decreasing. the only thing i was taking before was flax seed oil and im sure it didnt do much for me.
I'm afraid if I get perscribed this lidex (which I probably won't by an average derm), I will have a tough time applying it. My hair is very long, and it seems like it would be nearly impossible for me to get it on all parts of my scalp.
Also blaze- do the hairs that you are losing have just a small bulb at the end, or is there white crap stuck to the root of the hairs?
i have kinda some good news, my shedding has decreased alot.shedding about 15-20 hairs a day. even in the shower i dont shed more than 30. all i been using is johnson and johnson baby shampoo as reccomended by my derm because it is sensitive and my hair is thickening up and kinda turning how it used to be, but thats weird because its the same hair that was messed up before because i havent cut my hair since march. i stoped taking rogaine cause i didnt want to shedd more, imma take a look at lidex though cause i have few pimples on my head and im thinking i have those red bumps most of you have at the route of the hair.
i have kinda some good news, my shedding has decreased alot.shedding about 15-20 hairs a day. even in the shower i dont shed more than 30. all i been using is johnson and johnson baby shampoo as reccomended by my derm because it is sensitive and my hair is thickening up and kinda turning how it used to be, but thats weird because its the same hair that was messed up before because i havent cut my hair since march. i stoped taking rogaine cause i didnt want to shedd more, imma take a look at lidex though cause i have few pimples on my head and im thinking i have those red bumps most of you have at the route of the hair.
This is great. What is the quality of the few hairs you continue to shed? Thick and black? Unpigmented and fine? Long or short?
Would it be fair to compare recovering from telogen effluvium to hair growth in infants? I.e., hair just starting to grow? Check this out:
"The follicles on the scalp initially produce vellus hair, a silky hair that is seen in full-term infants. Vellus hair is short, fine, and poorly pigmented. Over time, the follicle diameter enlarges, and the hair acquires a myelin sheath. Intermediate scalp hair develops 3 to 7 months after birth and is replaced with mature, thick terminal hair by 2 years of age. Although vellus hair continues to develop and accounts for 6% to 25% of scalp hair, it is less noticeable because of its light pigmentation."
interesting, but wouldnt this be the reverse. since our follicles have been reduced in size due to the sebum reduction instead of it enlarging. but i guess it can do this then go into the infant style hair growth, when are hair follicles recovers
Right, that's what I mean. Hair recovering is like hair growing from infancy, if that makes sense. Anyway, just a thought to rationalize my new "intermediate" hairs.
By the way, my shedding has stopped again. We'll see if this lasts.
Im still pretty confident that most people don't even suffer from TE but a form of diffuse AA, even in most short term hairloss cases.... The inflamation will reduce the capacity of the hair follicles to produce full terminal hairs, once the immune system corrects itself, which can clearly take a long time, sometimes never recovers on it's own. The hairs can then be produced as normal...
My head has become more inflamamed and tender to the touch in some places, i'm counting down the days till my next visit to Dr Chu!!
Lamarr- I don't agree with you that most cases are diffuse AA rather than TE. I remember that you said when you first saw Dr. Chu that he said you had TE, and only later did he mention that some suffer a diffuse form of AA. That leads me to believe that on gut instinct Dr. Chu believes most cases are TE. I know that the hairs which I am regrowing are of full thickness, which makes me believe I have TE rather than AA.