i bought minox(roagine) but i dont want to use it, because someone in this thread said it can mess up your hair. like make it fall out and grow in new crappier hair, how true is this?

i bought minox(roagine) but i dont want to use it, because someone in this thread said it can mess up your hair. like make it fall out and grow in new crappier hair, how true is this?

Not true, as far as I know. Hair that sheds because of minoxidil will not grow back crappy.

The thing about Rogaine: you have to really reflect on whether you're prepared to use it for a long time. The rationalization I've come to is this: it's like gelling your hair.

Have you seen the commercial? It's just part of a routine. But it does become annoying. And I don't really like how it smells.

i'm beginning to think that the hair i loose in the shower is a build up of daily hair i should be losing. my hair doesn't seem to have been effected, and at this point my hair is so thick it's hard to manage, because i've never had it this long. i was definately losing hair a few months ago when i'd wash my hair everyday, but i think i've just grown so accustom to micromanaging my hair shed at this point it's possible the 200ish i loose from showering and then combing my hair is supposed to be shed since i only wash it every 3 days or so (accutane REALLY killed the grease).

either that or the shed i am at is just not enough to really put a dent in my hair cycle.

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?

 

Imo, i believe the inflammation from aa can cause you to grow what may look like intermediate hairs, and that yes if your shedding has reduced significantly, these hairs will eventually become fully thickened terminal hairs... Although it may take a very long time i think this is why your derm said "sometimes hair doesn't come back as thick as before" because as you know AA doesn't scar the hair follicles permanently and once it has been resolved i truely believe their is potential for full recovery (provided their is no underlying MPB)...

To be honest with you i think the estrogen in women, protects agains inflamation full stop, not just against the actions of DHT/androgens. This is why i believe women recover more readily from this accutane hairloss, not due to us guys haveing MPB...

"Estrogen suppresses microglial activation and extravasation of circulating monocytes (involved in the body's immune defense systems) in young animals, supporting an anti-inflammatory role for this hormone. However, the mechanisms underlying estrogen's anti-inflammatory effects, especially in vivo, are not well understood."

and like i said, i'm 99% confident on all of this now... so as i said, you guys on propecia.... it really isn't going to help you much..... rogain i believe has a limited role, topical steroids a far bigger role... systemic steroids may be the only answer for some of us.

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?

 

 

Imo, i believe the inflammation from aa can cause you to grow what may look like intermediate hairs, and that yes if your shedding has reduced significantly, these hairs will eventually become fully thickened terminal hairs... Although it may take a very long time i think this is why your derm said "sometimes hair doesn't come back as thick as before" because as you know AA doesn't scar the hair follicles permanently and once it has been resolved i truely believe their is potential for full recovery (provided their is no underlying MPB)...

 

To be honest with you i think the estrogen in women, protects agains inflamation full stop, not just against the actions of DHT/androgens. This is why i believe women recover more readily from this accutane hairloss, not due to us guys haveing MPB...

 

"Estrogen suppresses microglial activation and extravasation of circulating monocytes (involved in the body's immune defense systems) in young animals, supporting an anti-inflammatory role for this hormone. However, the mechanisms underlying estrogen's anti-inflammatory effects, especially in vivo, are not well understood."

 

and like i said, i'm 99% confident on all of this now... so as i said, you guys on propecia.... it really isn't going to help you much..... rogain i believe has a limited role, topical steroids a far bigger role... systemic steroids may be the only answer for some of us.

 

I was researching estrogen last night, in terms of Propecia side effects. Propecia raises your estrogen levels. So it might be helpful in an anti-inflammatory way.

I'm pretty sure it doesnt raise your estrogen levels... All it does is reduce one of your dht levels, which in turn causes the RATIO of estrogen to other hormones to increase, you have receptors that are competed for by different hormones and when one hormone is lowered the effect from the others that are maintained is greater.

What im trying to say is, propecia doesn't cause your body to produce more estrogen, it just enhances the effects of already circulating estrogen can have on estrogen sensitive receptors.

So in essence yeah i guess what your saying makes sense, but in women the estrogen levels are actually higher, not simply the ratio...

I'm pretty sure it doesnt raise your estrogen levels... All it does is reduce one of your dht levels, which in turn causes the RATIO of estrogen to other hormones to increase, you have receptors that are competed for by different hormones and when one hormone is lowered the effect from the others that are maintained is greater.

 

What im trying to say is, propecia doesn't cause your body to produce more estrogen, it just enhances the effects of already circulating estrogen can have on estrogen sensitive receptors.

 

So in essence yeah i guess what your saying makes sense, but in women the estrogen levels are actually higher, not simply the ratio...

No no. It raises estrogen levels. Because most of the conversion of testosterone to DHT is stopped, there's more testosterone. So the body produces more estrogen to keep up. It's in Merck's literature. It raises estrogen as well as testosterone by 15%.

Testosterone and other hormones also have good anti inflammatory properties, but i believe as do many hair specialists that estrogen has a special role in protecting the hair follicles...

I'm pretty sure it doesnt raise your estrogen levels... All it does is reduce one of your dht levels, which in turn causes the RATIO of estrogen to other hormones to increase, you have receptors that are competed for by different hormones and when one hormone is lowered the effect from the others that are maintained is greater.

 

What im trying to say is, propecia doesn't cause your body to produce more estrogen, it just enhances the effects of already circulating estrogen can have on estrogen sensitive receptors.

 

So in essence yeah i guess what your saying makes sense, but in women the estrogen levels are actually higher, not simply the ratio...

 

No no. It raises estrogen levels. Because most of the conversion of testosterone to DHT is stopped, there's more testosterone. So the body produces more estrogen to keep up. It's in Merck's literature. It raises estrogen as well as testosterone by 15%.

 

Fair enough then, i stand corrected. 15% isn't much of an increase though really, although yeah could be of some benefit, but it would be like using a very mild topical steroid compared to the potent steroid you would need in order to reduce the inflammation...

What period of time does it take for this increase to become apparent btw?

what steroids would you suggest lamarr?

I suggest you get your derm to recignise the fact that accutane hairloss is quite often diffuse AA, and allow him to make the best decision....

However, if you find yourself getting no where, then like blazed has used, lidex is a good choice. For maintenance, you should try capex shampoo, which is just a small dose of steroid every time you wash your hair...pretty darn safe and can be used for a pretty prolonged period...

Kenalog intra dermal injections may be needed though and only a derm would do this...

If you have real trouble though, demand a biopsy and stains for white blood cells (can't remember specific ones)...

Testosterone and other hormones also have good anti inflammatory properties, but i believe as do many hair specialists that estrogen has a special role in protecting the hair follicles...

 

I'm pretty sure it doesnt raise your estrogen levels... All it does is reduce one of your dht levels, which in turn causes the RATIO of estrogen to other hormones to increase, you have receptors that are competed for by different hormones and when one hormone is lowered the effect from the others that are maintained is greater.

 

What im trying to say is, propecia doesn't cause your body to produce more estrogen, it just enhances the effects of already circulating estrogen can have on estrogen sensitive receptors.

 

So in essence yeah i guess what your saying makes sense, but in women the estrogen levels are actually higher, not simply the ratio...

 

No no. It raises estrogen levels. Because most of the conversion of testosterone to DHT is stopped, there's more testosterone. So the body produces more estrogen to keep up. It's in Merck's literature. It raises estrogen as well as testosterone by 15%.

 

 

 

Fair enough then, i stand corrected. 15% isn't much of an increase though really, although yeah could be of some benefit, but it would be like using a very mild topical steroid compared to the potent steroid you would need in order to reduce the inflammation...

 

 

What period of time does it take for this increase to become apparent btw?

 

Mark,

Testosterone, and therefore estrogen, levels go up right away.

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?

 

like a few months into tane, i've been off tane since may

My shedding began on may 10th lol, we all seem to have been shedding for a similar ammount of time!!

Hey folks, just a quick update

I've been using rogaine for about a month now and its definately caused an increase in my shedding- I lose a ton of hair any time i rub the stuff in, in addition to the usual losses in the shower, on the pillow etc. At this point the balding spot on top of my head is becoming embaressingly noticable and i'm getting very thin in the temples too... though when I cut my hair short that seems to help. I've only been off accutane for almost three months now and have been shedding since July so i'm pretty depressed about this. Hopefully the rogaine will help after another couple of months..

Also, the homeopathic doctor diagnosed me with alopecia areata which I thought was interesting. The medicine he gave me is supposed to treat that... maybe something in this cocktail of shit i'm taking/ using will eventually work.

Hey folks, just a quick update

 

I've been using rogaine for about a month now and its definately caused an increase in my shedding- I lose a ton of hair any time i rub the stuff in, in addition to the usual losses in the shower, on the pillow etc. At this point the balding spot on top of my head is becoming embaressingly noticable and i'm getting very thin in the temples too... though when I cut my hair short that seems to help. I've only been off accutane for almost three months now and have been shedding since July so i'm pretty depressed about this. Hopefully the rogaine will help after another couple of months..

 

Also, the homeopathic doctor diagnosed me with alopecia areata which I thought was interesting. The medicine he gave me is supposed to treat that... maybe something in this cocktail of shit i'm taking/ using will eventually work.

Well, I just came back from my doctor. She said she was surprised at how much had come back. I would say 70% has come back so far. According to the doc, the rest will come back over the next few months.

She said to stick with the Rogaine, because it can't hurt. I agree.

She said to lay off the Propecia, because of the breast enlargement side effect. But we'll see.

And that's all.

Jnt,

What did your doctor give you for alopecia areata? I asked her for Capex, but she said that it'd cause "steroid pimples" on my face. Don't want that.

O, and I forgot the best part.

As I was waiting for the doctor, a nurse I'd never met before asked me why I was there. I told her my story briefly, and she said, "O, that happened to me."

I was very interested. And I said, "Yeah? Wow. Well, it's coming back for me, but it's a lot of crappy hair."

And she said, "Same thing happened to me. The first cycle will be baby-like hair, and then it goes back to normal."

She grew her hair back after about a year.

interesting updates, i guess i will go on rogaine.

What did your doctor give you for alopecia areata? I asked her for Capex, but she said that it'd cause "steroid pimples" on my face. Don't want that.

I think it's a bit of an overstatement to say that it WILL give you steroid pimples... theres a slight chance, but to say it will....

I constantly regrow tonnes of hair, 98% of it being full thickness hair, but my hairline is slowly going back...

if our hairloss is caused by inflammation is that why flaxseed oil helps? bc i read that omega 3's have anti inflammatory properties. Right now im taking 3 g of flaxseed oil a day. Is that enough? Should I be taking more?

Is it best to take flaxseed oil or fish oil? I read that flaxseed oil contains estrogen which may increase the production of dht and cause more hairloss. but then fish oil can also cause hairloss because it contains high levels of vitamin A! ahh what do i dooooo

I took fish oils for about 3 months with no improvement. I take the occasional flaxseed oil now. But at the end of the day i don't think any supplements are going to stop our hairloss unless we have a deficiency...

Hey I'm new to this message board but I'm glad I found ths site. I'll run down my history real quick. I am a 22 year old male. Went on accutane January/06-May/06 on pretty high dose but stopped early due to rashes. Then went back on again at 9/06-2/07. Stopped early due to hair loss i was noticing and was also on pretty high dose aorund 80/mg through most of it. But I continued to take a a few pills here and there in April and May/07 when i saw oil coming back. My hair was shedding alot at this point starting in March/07, most ly at the temples. I was still able to spike it up and make it look not too bad up until now. It's been at least 7 months since I took my last pill of it and i had a lot in my system given I when on accutane twice in a row. Over the past month or so I've noticed not really any shedding at all, but my hair on the top is pretty thin as well as the temples. I'm hoping maybe this is the breaking point where it just gets better. Because its gotten so thin, I can no longer spike it up in the front. But my one good thing I can write on this for all of you, is that i noticed many hairs starting to come in on my left temple along the hairlines. I can kind of see the begininngs of new hair on that side of my head all over. I really hope this is a turn for the better because I have been so depressed over this. I'll asnwer any questions anyone has.

hey wanted to give my two month minox update. lets see....weird things goin on. okay well ill start by saying that my hairloss from accutane is diffuse. my scalps a lot easier to see these days...hair feels limp, lifeless almost, hairline is jagged. accutane shedding ended around 8 months post...started shedding 4 months into my six month treatment. throughout the shed period i noticed regrowth but it seemed as though my hair was falling out at a much faster rate than i was regrowing....that and i also shed a lot of short newly regrown hairs. sucks big time. anyways, onto the minox. started shedding from that a week and a half into it. massive shedding last for about a month. its tapered off quite a bit. it looked like the hairs i was shedding were thin weak hairs, which is great...no longer shed the short hairs, just normal ones. now heres whats weird. im seeing pretty nice regrowth throughout my hairline. not right smack in the middle but just off to the sides...hairs that i dont think ive seen in a while, and theyre growing fast! but maybe its just hard to see....im not seeing a ton of regrowth throughout my mid and front crown. i would expect to see thickening in that area first. i can only imagine that its cause the hairs had to fall out and make way for the thicker hairs whereas my hairline...well, there were already gaps waiting for a stimulant. ill post again in a month...so far things are looking up on the minox. better than sitting around waiting for something great to happen. i bet within another month or two ill start seeing all that regrowth. we'll see. cya

Did anyone experience their hairs themselves getting thinner and thinner?

Ok i saw Chu today... concentrated more on my hair....

Asked him a few questions for you guys, he said he has never seen anyone (under his care)permanently loose a significant amount of hair other than the odd male patient who he feels may of had a bit of underlying MPB...

He still feels i have TE as i loose hair from other parts of my body and said that if i didn't have hair loss from other regions of my body that diffuse AA would be a likely option... He said that this often persists alot longer than yoru standard TE but will resolve.

And to answer a few of your guys questions. He believes that so long as you have no MPB going on then there is potential for full recovery and that minaturized hairs can recover aswell....

I'm still nto sure on his diagnosis if my hairloss continues at this pace for much longer i will try and persuade him to treate it as diffuse AA as i strongly strongly believe this is what i have...

i recently got a hair cut and because my hairs not as long it's easier to see the part in my hair. anyways, i can pull it apart and see a bunch of small hairs poking through. so it looks like i am definately experiencing regrowth.