I think your hair is recovering on it's own Andy, you had a cease in hair shedding pretty early on i believe... which has waxed and wayned but i think it will eventually tapper off...I don't think the propecia will of done much unless you believe you had some thinning going on before tane, in which case it's a different story...

 

As i have said before i speak to blazed through pm's. His derm believes most if not all of accutane hairloss is a form of diffused AA, i now agree with this... and obviously diffuse AA will in most cases take longer to recover.

 

So far i believe the only person in this thread to suffer from a proper case of TE is Dolph....

It occurred to me last night that the new growth can't be due to Propecia. I only took Propecia for three months. At the very least, the hair would start growing around now, but not be long enough to fill in the gaps.

Just a thought.

that's awesome, andy. it seems like you could be recovering. lets hope we all have the same luck.

After doing some research my understanding of Alopecia Areata is the hair is lost, and then it is unable to regrow. Those who recover from it are the ones who experience hair regrowth. Doesn't this mean that those of us who are experiencing substantial hair regrowth or most likely not afflicted with AA?

This makes sense with what I've theorized about in the past beacause a lot of people complain about losing such a substantial volume of their hair in a few month period, which didn't make sense to me if there was constant regrowth. I have been shedding for 7.5 months and my hair still isn't that thin or anything. It makes me think the ones who feel like there hair has gotten drastically thinner are the ones with AA because they aren't experiencing any regrowth.

And also when Lamarr saw Dr. Chu, Dr. Chu said that he had a good shot at recovery because their was regrowth.

After doing some research my understanding of Alopecia Areata is the hair is lost, and then it is unable to regrow. Those who recover from it are the ones who experience hair regrowth. Doesn't this mean that those of us who are experiencing substantial hair regrowth or most likely not afflicted with AA?

 

This makes sense with what I've theorized about in the past beacause a lot of people complain about losing such a substantial volume of their hair in a few month period, which didn't make sense to me if there was constant regrowth. I have been shedding for 7.5 months and my hair still isn't that thin or anything. It makes me think the ones who feel like there hair has gotten drastically thinner are the ones with AA because they aren't experiencing any regrowth.

 

And also when Lamarr saw Dr. Chu, Dr. Chu said that he had a good shot at recovery because their was regrowth.

In alopecia areata, and probably in telogen effluvium, there is constant new regrowth, but the first wave of regrowth is usually intermediate hair, which will itself shed after about a month.

SW: How are you checking for regrowth? Do you part your hair and look for tiny hairs that stick up?

As andy said sw...

With me i lost hair for the first 6-8 weeks with NO regrowth whatsoever. Then in the space of about 5 days my hair went mad and it went back to almost as normal... don't underestimate the volume i lost either it was in the 50-60% region first time round.... I then continued to shed at about 200 ish hairs a day for many months with constant regrowth but none of the waves like i first had....

In the last few months however i have continued to shed at 200 ish hairs but i have had waves of regrowth again...

You are looking into standard AA, not diffused AA...

I think everyone who goes through this has some sort of regrowth, but the level of regrowth people experience and the amount they are shedding determines how long their hair will hold out!!

After doing some research my understanding of Alopecia Areata is the hair is lost, and then it is unable to regrow. Those who recover from it are the ones who experience hair regrowth. Doesn't this mean that those of us who are experiencing substantial hair regrowth or most likely not afflicted with AA?

 

This makes sense with what I've theorized about in the past beacause a lot of people complain about losing such a substantial volume of their hair in a few month period, which didn't make sense to me if there was constant regrowth. I have been shedding for 7.5 months and my hair still isn't that thin or anything. It makes me think the ones who feel like there hair has gotten drastically thinner are the ones with AA because they aren't experiencing any regrowth.

 

And also when Lamarr saw Dr. Chu, Dr. Chu said that he had a good shot at recovery because their was regrowth.

 

In alopecia areata, and probably in telogen effluvium, there is constant new regrowth, but the first wave of regrowth is usually intermediate hair, which will itself shed after about a month.

 

SW: How are you checking for regrowth? Do you part your hair and look for tiny hairs that stick up?

 

My hair is pretty long, and I will simply reach on my head and pull a random individual hair. It seems almost half the time the hair which I pull is a shorter, tapered hair, which means that it is a newly grown hair. These hairs are not intermediate however, they are the same thickness as the rest of my hairs.

After doing some research my understanding of Alopecia Areata is the hair is lost, and then it is unable to regrow. Those who recover from it are the ones who experience hair regrowth. Doesn't this mean that those of us who are experiencing substantial hair regrowth or most likely not afflicted with AA?

 

This makes sense with what I've theorized about in the past beacause a lot of people complain about losing such a substantial volume of their hair in a few month period, which didn't make sense to me if there was constant regrowth. I have been shedding for 7.5 months and my hair still isn't that thin or anything. It makes me think the ones who feel like there hair has gotten drastically thinner are the ones with AA because they aren't experiencing any regrowth.

 

And also when Lamarr saw Dr. Chu, Dr. Chu said that he had a good shot at recovery because their was regrowth.

 

In alopecia areata, and probably in telogen effluvium, there is constant new regrowth, but the first wave of regrowth is usually intermediate hair, which will itself shed after about a month.

 

SW: How are you checking for regrowth? Do you part your hair and look for tiny hairs that stick up?

 

 

My hair is pretty long, and I will simply reach on my head and pull a random individual hair. It seems almost half the time the hair which I pull is a shorter, tapered hair, which means that it is a newly grown hair. These hairs are not intermediate however, they are the same thickness as the rest of my hairs.

 

Intermediate hairs can also just grow for a shorter amount of time. You're regrowing hair and you might need to go through a short growth cycle before returning to a long one.

There is no miniaturization, so you shouldn't worry too much. I am only recognizing real regrowth 11 months in. So sit tight.

11 months since you started shedding or stopped shedding or what?

He means 11 months since he first began shedding David.

????

so recently i feel like my hair loss may be slowing down a little bit, but im still losing a lot of hair. Its weird though because I will lose a long hair and then when i look at the root there is also a small shorter hair attached to it. It looks like the hairs were growing out of the same place and fell out together. I think it may be hardened sebum on my scalp bc the two hairs are like crusted together. Does this have a name? What is happening here?

????

 

so recently i feel like my hair loss may be slowing down a little bit, but im still losing a lot of hair. Its weird though because I will lose a long hair and then when i look at the root there is also a small shorter hair attached to it. It looks like the hairs were growing out of the same place and fell out together. I think it may be hardened sebum on my scalp bc the two hairs are like crusted together. Does this have a name? What is happening here?

I think this is more evidence pointing to diffuse alopecia areata. In diffuse AA, the hair continues to grow, but is never able to make it out of the scalp.

Eventually, when the AA resolves, it will grow normally.

What are your thoughts about eating too much beta-carotene/vitamin a in diets? I eat a TON of spinach on a daily basis - is this a problem? I think i'm paranoid about everything now...

What are your thoughts about eating too much beta-carotene/vitamin a in diets? I eat a TON of spinach on a daily basis - is this a problem? I think i'm paranoid about everything now...

Paranoia is normal. Beta-carotene is an OK form of vitamin A. The bad stuff is vitamin A in the form of Retinyl Palmitate.

In short, spinach is OK and might even help with the inflammation problem which people on this thread theorize causes Accutane hair loss.

Thanks Andy - it is INSANE how much I am analyzing everything I eat and put into my body these days since I'm almost at 7 months and still shedding like a cat.

Thanks Andy - it is INSANE how much I am analyzing everything I eat and put into my body these days since I'm almost at 7 months and still shedding like a cat.

Most of us - or at least me - have been driven insane by this nonsense.

Well I wen't to see my dermatologist today. He did a hair pull test where he pulled locks of hair all over my head, and he said that it didn't seem that I was losing an abnormal amount of hair. However I explained how I am using newly grown tapered hairs so I know my hair cycle is not normal. I was frustrated because he kind of wrote this off because according to the pull test he thought everything was normal. He said that a very small percentage of people lose hair on accutane due to more hairs being shifted into the telogen phase. Basically he did not tell me anything I didn't already know, and I feel like I left not knowing anymore than I knew when I came in. Oh well, I don't really expect much from the average derm on this issue.

Well I wen't to see my dermatologist today. He did a hair pull test where he pulled locks of hair all over my head, and he said that it didn't seem that I was losing an abnormal amount of hair. However I explained how I am using newly grown tapered hairs so I know my hair cycle is not normal. I was frustrated because he kind of wrote this off because according to the pull test he thought everything was normal. He said that a very small percentage of people lose hair on accutane due to more hairs being shifted into the telogen phase. Basically he did not tell me anything I didn't already know, and I feel like I left not knowing anymore than I knew when I came in. Oh well, I don't really expect much from the average derm on this issue.

Yes, SW. I had the same experience. This thread was born from that frustration. After being rebuffed the first time, I wrote out my questions and forced my doctor to answer them the next time. They just don't take this stuff seriously. And you know why? Because they don't know anything about it. Arguably, each of us here now know more about Accutane hair loss than most dermatologists.

Just hang in there. Make it to a year.

came back from my barber she said my hair is thin on top but still good

i only use minoxidill in the front of my hair though, still nothing like a month and a half later

came back from my barber she said my hair is thin on top but still good

 

i only use minoxidill in the front of my hair though, still nothing like a month and a half later

How long has it been since you started losing hair, Archangel?

came back from my barber she said my hair is thin on top but still good

 

i only use minoxidill in the front of my hair though, still nothing like a month and a half later

Don't worry to much dude, over the last 8 months my hair has fluctuated in thickness a great deal from month to month... The only real difference you can see over 9 months ago is that my hairline has become higher...

P.s. i whole heartedly believe that if you guys have no other real side effects, that in time (given it could be up to two years) your hairloss will resolve itself and you will be left with hair similar to before all of this mess...

what sucks about this, is the accutance hairloss could mask mpb and/or lead to it, so i would not know exactly the cause, if it does resolve in a few years then i could be in mpb states by that time so i still wont know if im back to normal.

I think if you know that you hadn't begun MPB, the process won't be started or triggered due to this accutane hairloss... Diffuse AA can present itself just like mpb though, bare that in mind...

I actually believe if you overcome the diffuse AA, then you have a good chance of regrowing all of your hair... it may require a growth stimulant like minoxdil though...

I would say that my hairline looks jagged now, and that I mistook that for recession. Although I do see quite a few tiny hairs popping up in that area.

I would say that my hairline looks jagged now, and that I mistook that for recession. Although I do see quite a few tiny hairs popping up in that area.

Same here, Rudolph. I have all these crazy hairs popping up all around my hair line.

I still have no idea what's going on, but my hair is a lot better than when this all started. It's like 60 to 70% back.

Mark,

Do you agree that recovery from AA means that there will be intermediate hairs before terminal hairs grow?