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danieldrouhard said:phan23 said:Hey lamarr,Are you still taking Biotin? I just read from another forum and they were talking about how biotin can help with diffuse hair loss. This seems promising
Heres the link Link
finally something positive...
that post had people taking 15 mg a day!! wow!
i think ill stick to 2 mg...
Daniel,
Are you taking 2mg x 2 per day? Some suggest taking biotin 2 times a day so I might do the 2mg x 2 per day.
Kara welcome! Although I am saddened to hear that you are still having hair loss, I am glad to have another female on the boards to speak with. Like you, I have tried about everything under the sun across the last 10 months...i tried acupuncture for 7 months, i saw a homeopathic doctor for 3 months, chinese herbs, UNDA therapy and most recently NAET for allergies. I have also seen 4 derms, 1 endo and 3 PCPs, and even bought Dr. Shah's treatment...no one has an answer and I have yet to find a solution. Kara - what made you decide to go with the Rogaine? Is it helping? I am so on the fence about it. My parents and loved ones are SO sick of hearing me complain about this. Unfortunately, my hair loss is quite severe. I actually have an appointment to potentially get a wig because I am now at the point that covering up my loss is almost impossible. I pray on a daily basis for all of us who have been so severely effected by this....especially to the young people on the boards. I'm 32 - this is tough enough for me - so I can't imagine what it is like for everyone who is in their late teens, early twenties - you all are just going through a point in your life when you should be enjoying life - not having to worry about all of this sh*t.
Thanks for the kind words everyone, i feel like i need to do something positive with my time. I had to take a year out of university in order to try and improve my state of health, so i have alot of spare time on my hands and do alot of reading and contacting the type of people who are likely to know about this sort of thing.
I will try and put together all i know and the supplements/treatments that are likely to help, as we all know by now most doctors and derms don't know to much about this hairloss even if more of them are recignising a diagnosis such as diffuse AA. They don't know how it is initiated etc etc.
I took biotin for months about 6 weeks into my hairloss starting, it didn't help me to much with the shedding but i do think it helps maintain the thickness/diameter of the hair shaft. Which can't be a bad thing, those of you who may be suffering from TE it could be more beneficial.
Zinc i feel is also a very important supplement, it has immunomodulating effects that are not fully understood, but it has been used in treatment for AA as it not only has anti inflammatory properties, but also immunomodulating properties.
Me and a long term accutane victim are both trying out numerous supplements that are know to combat inflammation in the human body, obviously AA is not only an immune condition but it is also an inflammatory condition.
The most interesting thing i have found on the Grape seed extract and the proanthocyanidins which they contain, is that in clinical studies it has been found to not only block many inflammatory cytokenes, but it blocks the infiltration of leukocytes (related to t cells which are at the heart of AA).
So i am pretty excited to get started on the Grape seed extract again myself.
Topical steroids have been by far the most usefull in slowing my shedding, i seriously recommend to anyone who has been sufffering from this for over 18 months to use them without a doubt, my derm isn't the sort that takes risks and he wouldn't let me use them long term if there was any danger.
Emu oil (many people im sure will view it as snake oil) is probably the second most helpfull thing ive found and has been found to be on par with prednisone in it's anti inflammatory nature.
I haven't run out of possible treatment modalities and at the moment my hairloss is doing better than it has since 6 weeks into shedding. I have been shedding about 12 months now...
Oral mini pulse is a way of administering oral steroids whilst minimising or even avoiding side effects, which if my hairloss doesn't stop i will be urging my derm to use on me. Even people with long standing alopecia universalis can have good results from this option.
Light therapy with UVA light is also often used for alopecia areata. Home units used for things such as psoriasis, vitiligo etc can be bought with a UVA bulb and a comb attachment (used mainly for scalp psoriasis) which i am also considering...
Hi all!! I've been lurking for months so I feel like I know all of you personally.Quick background on me is that I am a 37yr old female that took tane for 4 months almost 4 yrs ago.
Lamarr I truely appreciate your input as I have read all of your posts in this forum as well as some of them in the Accutane Action Group forum as well. I've tried several different remedies thru the years and I do not intend to give up however am finding your following statement inaccurate in that I am very healthy in all other respects (lucky me) but have yet to find anything that has slowed down my hairloss (150-175/day) and it certainly hasn't stopped after 4 years.
Edit: also i would just like to add, those of you that have no other side effects you should rest assured you hairloss is almost certain to resolve, the people who have this long term have numerous other health issues related to tane...I finally gave in and starting using Rogaine about 1 month ago. Other than that I take 500mg Biotin, a daily viatmin, calcium and just started the 600mg grapeseed extract (as recommended by Lamarr).
Kara
PS I tried that supplement/medicine by Dr. Shah that was mentioned some time back but it did not make the slightest difference.
Kara I'm sorry to hear that, as im sure you saw on the accutane action forum most seem to agree that the hairloss mimics diffuse AA down to a tee. And as im sure you have also seen, most people with the long standing hairloss do seem to have other health issues, so it is strange you still have the hairloss after such a long time.
I have a theory as to why most women do better/recover from this which i have posted in here a few months ago. It is to do with hormones obviously but is not related to male pattern baldness. I believe estrogen is more of an immunosupressant when acting in the skin, where as testosterone is simply immunomodulating. So as you can see the estrogen would be favorable in AA.
What is interesting is that some men recover from long standing hairloss (that is clearly diffuse AA) when they take avordart or propecia. What avodart and propecia do is block the synthesis of DHT. Which through a number of mechanisms causes an increase in estrogen AND testosterone. Hence why some men get bitch tits from the drugs. Avodart does this more strongly. But i have seen two cases that have resolved from taking these drugs (they get full heads of hair back after 8+ years of hairloss). Which simply cannot happen in male pattern baldness as the follicles become scared and are no longer able to produce healthy hairs.
I personally don't want to risk taking propecia or avodart, at the off chance the same might happen for me...
I will put a long post together over the next week on all the things i know on tane hairloss. This is just a few of my recomendations.
Hi all!! I've been lurking for months so I feel like I know all of you personally.Quick background on me is that I am a 37yr old female that took tane for 4 months almost 4 yrs ago.
Lamarr I truely appreciate your input as I have read all of your posts in this forum as well as some of them in the Accutane Action Group forum as well. I've tried several different remedies thru the years and I do not intend to give up however am finding your following statement inaccurate in that I am very healthy in all other respects (lucky me) but have yet to find anything that has slowed down my hairloss (150-175/day) and it certainly hasn't stopped after 4 years.
Edit: also i would just like to add, those of you that have no other side effects you should rest assured you hairloss is almost certain to resolve, the people who have this long term have numerous other health issues related to tane...I finally gave in and starting using Rogaine about 1 month ago. Other than that I take 500mg Biotin, a daily viatmin, calcium and just started the 600mg grapeseed extract (as recommended by Lamarr).
Kara
PS I tried that supplement/medicine by Dr. Shah that was mentioned some time back but it did not make the slightest difference.
Kara, could i also ask you, this is a question i try and ask all long term hairloss victims. Was your shedding worst in the first 18 months - 2 years after accutane then it leveled out? Or did it begin shedding and just stay at the same pace?
Thanks in advance
Also, i can say with VERY little doubt that if you were to use the topical steroid that i use, your shedding would either stop or be reduced to a very small number.
Mine has been reduced from 300 a day to about 60-80.
Kara welcome! Although I am saddened to hear that you are still having hair loss, I am glad to have another female on the boards to speak with. Like you, I have tried about everything under the sun across the last 10 months...i tried acupuncture for 7 months, i saw a homeopathic doctor for 3 months, chinese herbs, UNDA therapy and most recently NAET for allergies. I have also seen 4 derms, 1 endo and 3 PCPs, and even bought Dr. Shah's treatment...no one has an answer and I have yet to find a solution. Kara - what made you decide to go with the Rogaine? Is it helping? I am so on the fence about it. My parents and loved ones are SO sick of hearing me complain about this. Unfortunately, my hair loss is quite severe. I actually have an appointment to potentially get a wig because I am now at the point that covering up my loss is almost impossible. I pray on a daily basis for all of us who have been so severely effected by this....especially to the young people on the boards. I'm 32 - this is tough enough for me - so I can't imagine what it is like for everyone who is in their late teens, early twenties - you all are just going through a point in your life when you should be enjoying life - not having to worry about all of this sh*t.
yep 22 yearolds with about the worst case of accutane hair loss you will ever see. I didn't really realize how bad it was recently till I was able to look in the mirror we have in the bathroom at my house and see my whole head of hair, including the back. I basically look like a chemo patient. My whole head of hair has long lines of scalp just showing through, even in the back when wet etc. Not only is the loss up top, but my sides and back hair are quickly diffusing away now as well. I was planning on getting a partial wig and being done with it, but that is very likely out of the question now due to the thin nature of my back hair now. I could show you pictures of what has happened to my hair over the past two years in terms of texture changes and volume loss that could probably single handly scare anyone off from using this shit in the first place. I would say that based on on everything in two years from now I will be very much balding and then in another 2 after that pretty much be bald altogether. Tried the topical steroid and it made things worse, I personally don't buy that the shed it made me have was simialr to rogaine at all, if anything using corticosteroids to counter any sort of hairloss can increase androgens and thus make the hair more likely to fall out as my derm explained to me. He offered to do a scalp biopsy which I will most likely have done, but he even admitted that it could very well be inconclusive. I do fell in my opinion that the hair loss can very well be scaring as well due to reports from many people of the loss stopping, but the hair never fully coming back. Overall, that's basically it in my opinion there isn't much that can be done really there's too many people who have been going through this long before we have that haven't recovered. I stopped taking any and all supplements as they really didn't do anything except make me lose money, but I might try grape seed extract and rogaine again. Other than that besides shaving my head and being done with it or getting a full on whole wig (which would look probably even more ridiculous) major part of my life is over and ruined at 22.
Dude corticosteroids do not make any form of hairloss worse unless you take them systemically and suffer a form of TE. They can even help in Male pattern baldness by reducing the inflammation which is a key part of any hairloss other than TE. How the hell do corticosteroids do anything to androgens? that is a load of BS. Your derm doesn't have a clue if he said that. Sure ANABOLIC steroids, but not corticosteroids, that statement alone says it all. I bet if you had stuck it out you would off seen good results. What have you got to loose if your so confident you will be bald in a years time anyway? I would of definenetly been in the same situation as you now, but 3 and a bit months of using topical steroids has dramatically improved things for me. I'm not even saying it will solve my hairloss problem but i know for a fact i have added years of my hair looking decent due to them.
You have diffuse AA ithappens it is as simple as that, the steroids were probably allowing stronger hairs to push through as rogain does.
I tell you what, why don't you test them on one section of your head?
"corticosteriods are anti-inflammatory medications that belong to a class of drugs produced by the adrenal glands. When there is overactive production of androgens, the corticosteroids can be prescribed to suppress inflammation and androgen production."
danieldrouhard: It's hard to say exactly what it is (i.e. aa, telogen etc.) as I have not done much research on my own condition and just compare my symptoms to others which is to say I suffer from hair loss and a sensitive scalp that gets very itchy at times (mostly when wet). I remember when it first started, I was already off tane for about 2 weeks (I never had hair loss while taking tane). For the first 3 months my head was extremely itchy. Coincidently I had just gone to a new hairdresser shortly before and thought
I was having an allergic reaction to the hair color. But when it didn't subside and I noticed a ton of hair in my hands when running conditioner thru it, I headed to the derm. He was not helpful and wrote it off as genetic (bahhh) even though I inquired if he had any patients react this way after using Accutane. Derm said no, that you could experience hair loss during treatment but had NEVER heard of it extending for any time past. Try Rogaine he says.
As far as my remedies, I've used different essential oils that were suppose to be good for hair (i.e. Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender), used Nioxin scalp treatment, shampoo and conditioner. Tried that Dr. Shah treatment for hair loss (worthless though I knew it would be), heard from one homeopathic guy that to counteract the condition take sodium ascorbate powder which I put in juice 2x a day for about 4mths now with no real difference. (oh look!.. a hair on my scone that I'm eating while writing this - blehhh).
I seriously considered acupuncture but guess I won't try that (Thanks Gracie!).
Gracie: I started Rogaine as a last ditch effort to jump start something on my head and have only been using it for about 1 month. No real results in regards to less shedding or new growth as of yet but promise to keep you updated. I too bug the hell out of my family (husband, mother, daughters) about this issue with no real sympathy. They tell me to move on. We can cry on each other's shoulders. If this continues to the point where strangers will be able to see bald spots I will invest in a good wig as well.
lamarr1986 said:Kara, could i also ask you, this is a question i try and ask all long term hairloss victims. Was your shedding worst in the first 18 months - 2 years after accutane then it leveled out? Or did it begin shedding and just stay at the same pace?Thanks in advance
Also, i can say with VERY little doubt that if you were to use the topical steroid that i use, your shedding would either stop or be reduced to a very small number.
Mine has been reduced from 300 a day to about 60-80.
Lamarr: I would say that the first 18 months would have been the worst but that is also when I had the most hair. What I recall from the early days is the itching and I have to say that the one thing that has made a difference is that I use T-Gel shampoo every other day and that seems to help a lot. I don't feel that the shedding has subsided much in the last 2 years. I can easily run my hands thru my hair and come up with 2-3 strands all day long. I feel like a cheap doll.
In regards to the steroids, if I have to go thru a derm to get it, than I expect it will be difficult to obtain as my derm is not convinced that there is anything wrong with me (I've had blood tests galore) or my head.
MS Marbels, you definently have diffuse AA. With that level of hairloss it can be stopped with a topical steroid i am sure of it. Would you say the reason for loosing less hair now is due to the fact you have less hair or would you say the condition is naturally less agressive now?
The diffuse AA often starts just after you finish the course (not always), i know several who have found that me being the same...
My itching was soooo intense for a while, only emu oil could releave the itching, my topical steroid conpletely rids me of that now though!!
You may find the minoxidil helps reduce the shedding in the coming months, it is known to help in AA.
You should see a different derm...
Kara - thank you again for your response. One more quick question for you - did you start with the 5% foam? Are you using it 1x a day? My father is in town for Easter and he and I just had a very long talk about things. He suggested me at least trying the Rogaine on the top of my head where my loss is so bad - I'm going to try it at least on this section because at this point, i have nothing more to lose than more hair!
Lamarr, I think I'm going to have a tuff sell on the diffuse AA as my hair isn't patchy or anything - it's pretty consistently thinning all around with exception that the crown area seems the worst. But I will see if I can get a second opinion from another derm.
Gracie, I'm actually using the 2% Costco brand (I live in California) at night only.
Hey guys, could you all do me a favour and try Grape seed extract? Try the type blazed is using at a dose of 600mg a day and if you are in the UK i can give you a source to use.
There is a great deal of science behind why grape seed extract could potentially be of great help....
Hey Lamarr why 600mg? I'm always apprehensive to use more than the recommended dosage.
Its a pleasure for me to read your posts especially from ppl who "studied" this area of hair loss caused by accutane. Some discussions are too techique for ppl like me , who didnt have enough time and patience to get deep inside the problem, but certainly helpfull.
Lamarr is our point to start from... great hair before -> accutane course -> awfull situation, hairloss, shedding etc -> and finally the hair came back.. but its not the same for everyone.
As i consider you from now on a specialist i wanna hear your opinion about my hair situation and maybe give some usefull advices.
Gonna post some photos in a few mins.. not the best quality coz ill make them with my mobile phone. 
Ms Marbles that perfectly normal for diffuse AA...
Just incased you missed it
"Would you say the reason for loosing less hair now is due to the fact you have less hair or would you say the condition is naturally less agressive now?"
Thanks!!
It may be a little less aggressive these days or I'm just used to my hair falling out everytime the wind blows.
Hey guys, could you all do me a favour and try Grape seed extract? Try the type blazed is using at a dose of 600mg a day and if you are in the UK i can give you a source to use.
There is a great deal of science behind why grape seed extract could potentially be of great help....
Hey Lamarr why 600mg? I'm always apprehensive to use more than the recommended dosage.
It's based on a dose someone has had success with (blazed also seems to of had success), it can be lowered if/when you get a response after about 4 weeks...
The guy i know that has been using it for about 6 months now started off on 1000mg a day.
There are also studies on reducing the infiltration of leukocytes, in the study they use 10mg per kg of proanthocyanidins, so you can work it out that way...
Its a pleasure for me to read your posts especially from ppl who "studied" this area of hair loss caused by accutane. Some discussions are too techique for ppl like me , who didnt have enough time and patience to get deep inside the problem, but certainly helpfull.
Lamarr is our point to start from... great hair before -> accutane course -> awfull situation, hairloss, shedding etc -> and finally the hair came back.. but its not the same for everyone.
As i consider you from now on a specialist i wanna hear your opinion about my hair situation and maybe give some usefull advices.
Gonna post some photos in a few mins.. not the best quality coz ill make them with my mobile phone.
Hey man, i have done pretty well but i am by no means cured of the problem, i have just found a number of things that are helping me keep my hair!! Anyone looking at me wouldn't know i have a hairloss problem though, which i can't complain about!!
Edit: i can't remember if i have said this, but the proanthocyanidins in GSE block a good number of the cytokenes involved with AA inflammation, not only that but the reduction of leukocytes. Both the reduction of the inflammatary cytokenes and the reduction in leukocyte infiltration is on par with 2mg per kg of dexamethasone, which i can tell you now is a very potent corticosteroid.
yep 22 yearolds with about the worst case of accutane hair loss you will ever see. I didn't really realize how bad it was recently till I was able to look in the mirror we have in the bathroom at my house and see my whole head of hair, including the back. I basically look like a chemo patient. My whole head of hair has long lines of scalp just showing through, even in the back when wet etc. Not only is the loss up top, but my sides and back hair are quickly diffusing away now as well. I was planning on getting a partial wig and being done with it, but that is very likely out of the question now due to the thin nature of my back hair now. I could show you pictures of what has happened to my hair over the past two years in terms of texture changes and volume loss that could probably single handly scare anyone off from using this shit in the first place. I would say that based on on everything in two years from now I will be very much balding and then in another 2 after that pretty much be bald altogether. Tried the topical steroid and it made things worse, I personally don't buy that the shed it made me have was simialr to rogaine at all, if anything using corticosteroids to counter any sort of hairloss can increase androgens and thus make the hair more likely to fall out as my derm explained to me. He offered to do a scalp biopsy which I will most likely have done, but he even admitted that it could very well be inconclusive. I do fell in my opinion that the hair loss can very well be scaring as well due to reports from many people of the loss stopping, but the hair never fully coming back. Overall, that's basically it in my opinion there isn't much that can be done really there's too many people who have been going through this long before we have that haven't recovered. I stopped taking any and all supplements as they really didn't do anything except make me lose money, but I might try grape seed extract and rogaine again. Other than that besides shaving my head and being done with it or getting a full on whole wig (which would look probably even more ridiculous) major part of my life is over and ruined at 22.
that was the most depressing thing i have ever read. theres no use in wallowing in the negative, i am 18 and losing tons and tons of hair! i have long blonde locks, and i am sure you can imagine the devistation! just keep trying, and like llamar said, What have you got to loose if your so confident you will be bald in a years time anyway?
and even if some of us do not recover, it is just hair! honestly!
i can relate to what you are feeling though, all of us can.
i think there is another big issue that needs to be adressed here; our psychological state.
allready as acne sufferers we allready had the cosmetic plight that shredded our confidence. so us being psychologically unstable to begin with, this is a tough burden! it is good to be focused on answers, and research, but i think that some of us are letting this rape our lives(ithappens ha). and with your case, just do what lamar said with the biopsy and cortico steroids and live your life. the reason i bring this up is because i started noticing my own inner psychological cynicism! i would be thinking about it 24/7 and i would look at every single guys head of hair to compare with my own! that is a problem! and i am sure most of you can relate! i noticed the futility of that! our obsession to detail is absurd. our time on this planet is short so lets not wriggle at every road block that comes our way!
and lastly, dont do a wig, that would be so lame! ahah. i allready planned out what i am going to do if this continues.
i will shave my head bald, go tanning, get nice eyeglasses, get my ears guaged, and get really muscular! this is my procedure for maintaning self confidence and responses from the ladies! dont worry bro, just do the best you can to sway this condition and if not, whatever!!
that was the most depressing thing i have ever read. theres no use in wallowing in the negative, i am 18 and losing tons and tons of hair! i have long blonde locks, and i am sure you can imagine the devistation! just keep trying, and like llamar said, What have you got to loose if your so confident you will be bald in a years time anyway?
and even if some of us do not recover, it is just hair! honestly!
i can relate to what you are feeling though, all of us can.
i think there is another big issue that needs to be adressed here; our psychological state.
allready as acne sufferers we allready had the cosmetic plight that shredded our confidence. so us being psychologically unstable to begin with, this is a tough burden! it is good to be focused on answers, and research, but i think that some of us are letting this rape our lives(ithappens ha). and with your case, just do what lamar said with the biopsy and cortico steroids and live your life. the reason i bring this up is because i started noticing my own inner psychological cynicism! i would be thinking about it 24/7 and i would look at every single guys head of hair to compare with my own! that is a problem! and i am sure most of you can relate! i noticed the futility of that! our obsession to detail is absurd. our time on this planet is short so lets not wriggle at every road block that comes our way!
and lastly, dont do a wig, that would be so lame! ahah. i allready planned out what i am going to do if this continues.
i will shave my head bald, go tanning, get nice eyeglasses, get my ears guaged, and get really muscular! this is my procedure for maintaning self confidence and responses from the ladies! dont worry bro, just do the best you can to sway this condition and if not, whatever!!
Definently to all the above, the thing with me is, if i just had hairloss that would be fine, but i have so many other crippling side effects i really cannot function at the moment, i know anyone else in my situation would probably be exactly the same.
For the first 6 months post tane i still functioned pretty well, went on trips with buddies went out drinking a few times a week etc etc.
Now i can't drink as i flush bright red from the alcohol, which believe it or not actually causes me facial scarring through a very rare condition known as AMVC (spontaneous scarring). I also can't be out in the sun to long as the same thing happens. If i'm out in the cold my hands become extremly painfull (i have raynaud's).
My eyes also get very dry if i don't take certain supplements, to the point where my vision gets very blurred.
I can't even work out like i used to due to flushing, it really sucks, i just pray things eventually improve some more.
Obviously going bright red, having facial scarring and loosing my hair doesn't exactly give me much confidence. I had NONE of these things before accutane and my new derm admits he sees most of these commonly, just not normally in one patient.
I still don't like to bring other people down though as i feel for most people this shit will resolve. The people with long standing hairloss are generally like me, obviously there are a few that don't have any other issues.
I do also know my mental health has been altered, but probably not as much as people may percieve over a forum lol. Edit: just realised that may sound like a dig, daniel, it isn't intended that way!!
I've started using grapeseed extract 500mg twice a day. The directions on the bottle say you can take 1 or 2 pills per day and I haven't found any negative side effects after doing some research- the excess just gets flushed out in your urine. I am also taking 500mg of biotin twice a day as well and have been for some time. I am hopeful that the grapeseed will help with things some. I am still on the fence about whether my case is simply prolonged TE caused by the accutane or alopecia areata so i'm going to give it another month or two before I start trying the topical steroids. My hairloss increased a ton after I got over mononucleosis and took three doses of prednisone to control throat inflammation from that and it's still been falling out faster than before, so this leads me to believe that it could still just be a new cycle of TE. My body has had quite a few shocks to it in the last year (surgery last may then Accutane in June). I know for sure that the accutane triggered the hairloss though because of the way it made my scalp itch and then hair start falling out/growing weird shortly after.
I am convinced without a doubt that accutane has caused damage to my immune system though, and that the hairloss may very well be related to that. I've gotten sick at least four times (colds, flu, mono and strep) this schoolyear alone whereas last year and the year before I think I was only sick once. Cuts, scrapes, wounds, etc do not heal as quickly as they used to for me either. My hairloss (which has mostly affected the MPB regions) could be alopecia areata (I still get itching every time a hair or two falls out) or just TE from the combined effects of my surgery, accutane's damage to my immune system and now getting mono.
I have not noticed any regrowth, however I do notice that I lose some very very thin hairs and some very short ones as well, which leads me to believe that some (but not much) regrowth is occurring, possibly from the use of propecia and rogaine. I just hope these are new vestigal hairs and not miniturized ones from MPB...
I will be adding some additional vitamins based on the article blazed provided us describing nutritional methods of counteracting accutane's side effects. Specifically I am interested in oral hyaluronic acid supplements and (safe) doses of vitamin E. Recovering from my surgery completely has taken a very long time and it may be because of accutane- longer healing time because of disruption of natural production of hyaluronic acid.
Lastly, I'm going to give this emu oil a shot... not sure how i'm going to integrate it into my daily routine though yet because I prefer to shower at night haha. Maybe I'll put it in for an hour before showering or something. Anyway I'll let everyone know how things progress (or regress...)
Oh, by the way... the question I asked on baldingblog.com was posted haha. Feel free to read the hair specialist's response...basically he and the people he talked to have no idea.
http://www.baldingblog.com/2008/03/17/hair...-it-be-treated/
just reinforces the notion that most professionals really don't know anything about accutane's side effects. I really think something should be done to get this drug off the market, or at the very least get doctors to be more conservative in their use of it. During my first month on 40mg per day of accutane I had no side effects, but then when the doctor increased to 80mg my hair started to come out. I think that if I would have just kept it at a lower dose I would have been okay... though now I wish I had never taken it in the first place of course.
JNT,
sorry to hear about your situation, that is definitely tricky to diagnose your case, especially with the amount of stress your body has been under, i wouldn't be suprised if it TE. it sounds like you had AA to begin with and then TE kicked in.... i am not sure. the way your immune system is reacting definitely makes it sound like AA, but the shock with the extreme loss sounds like TE...
Lamar,
i have been losing hair pretty consistently for 2 months, ive spent a few weeks on grapeseed and biotin, with no results.
i feel that my condition is not Diffuse Alopecia Areata.
i have hardly any itching or burning, the hairloss is sort of diffusal, but mainy hairline recession, with a little coming off the top.
i have not other auto immune side effects, nothing like raynauds, flushing, or body hairloss!
should i get a biopsy?
i also know that in AA the hairs have a club shape at the bottom and mine appear to be bone thin head to toe!!!
coud this be that my hairs simply break off at the thinned proximal shaft caused by AA, or is my case really MPB?
i am interested in topical steriods...
HELP LAMAR!
Ok, the grape seed may take up to 6 weeks to begin working and you need to take alot of it to begin with...
Secondly not everyone sees the club shaped hairs, i personally only get them from the side of my head, diffuse aa is often more agressive on the side of the head but over time in males appears worse ontop of the scalp.
Miniturization can also be a sign of diffuse AA.
I would also like to say hyluronic acid won't help much, that theory has beentested years ago by many people on the accutane action forum. No one had any improvement accept for in joint pain.
My hair must be one hell of a resistant head of hair, even when i was looing 300 hairs a day most of the hairs were still pretty thick, they actually thickened up from the point of stopping my course.
Daniel your case does sound like TE, although that isn't a sure fire thing. It is probably why your derm is waiting to treat the hairloss as it is hard to tell the two apart, time is the only certain indicator, along with a response to topical steroids and biopsy. If you have the option for biopsy i would go for it though.
this is what some of my hairs are sometimes like, although if you have a not so agressive form of hairloss you won't always see these and it can still be AA.
[Edited link out]
At 2 months post tane i wasn't sure i had any other problems either, but the the odd bowt of flushing slowy got worse, as did all the other side effects. I'm not saying you will be the same but i was thinking the same as you 2 months post tane. Although i did have a rough ride whilst on the drug.
I've started using grapeseed extract 500mg twice a day. The directions on the bottle say you can take 1 or 2 pills per day and I haven't found any negative side effects after doing some research- the excess just gets flushed out in your urine. I am also taking 500mg of biotin twice a day as well and have been for some time. I am hopeful that the grapeseed will help with things some. I am still on the fence about whether my case is simply prolonged TE caused by the accutane or alopecia areata so i'm going to give it another month or two before I start trying the topical steroids. My hairloss increased a ton after I got over mononucleosis and took three doses of prednisone to control throat inflammation from that and it's still been falling out faster than before, so this leads me to believe that it could still just be a new cycle of TE. My body has had quite a few shocks to it in the last year (surgery last may then Accutane in June). I know for sure that the accutane triggered the hairloss though because of the way it made my scalp itch and then hair start falling out/growing weird shortly after.
I am convinced without a doubt that accutane has caused damage to my immune system though, and that the hairloss may very well be related to that. I've gotten sick at least four times (colds, flu, mono and strep) this schoolyear alone whereas last year and the year before I think I was only sick once. Cuts, scrapes, wounds, etc do not heal as quickly as they used to for me either. My hairloss (which has mostly affected the MPB regions) could be alopecia areata (I still get itching every time a hair or two falls out) or just TE from the combined effects of my surgery, accutane's damage to my immune system and now getting mono.
I have not noticed any regrowth, however I do notice that I lose some very very thin hairs and some very short ones as well, which leads me to believe that some (but not much) regrowth is occurring, possibly from the use of propecia and rogaine. I just hope these are new vestigal hairs and not miniturized ones from MPB...
I will be adding some additional vitamins based on the article blazed provided us describing nutritional methods of counteracting accutane's side effects. Specifically I am interested in oral hyaluronic acid supplements and (safe) doses of vitamin E. Recovering from my surgery completely has taken a very long time and it may be because of accutane- longer healing time because of disruption of natural production of hyaluronic acid.
Lastly, I'm going to give this emu oil a shot... not sure how i'm going to integrate it into my daily routine though yet because I prefer to shower at night haha. Maybe I'll put it in for an hour before showering or something. Anyway I'll let everyone know how things progress (or regress...)
Oh, by the way... the question I asked on baldingblog.com was posted haha. Feel free to read the hair specialist's response...basically he and the people he talked to have no idea.
http://www.baldingblog.com/2008/03/17/hair...-it-be-treated/
just reinforces the notion that most professionals really don't know anything about accutane's side effects. I really think something should be done to get this drug off the market, or at the very least get doctors to be more conservative in their use of it. During my first month on 40mg per day of accutane I had no side effects, but then when the doctor increased to 80mg my hair started to come out. I think that if I would have just kept it at a lower dose I would have been okay... though now I wish I had never taken it in the first place of course.
Chances are if you can feel your immune system has been altered, then you may well have diffuse AA, especially considering the amount of time it has continued for. I could go into all the details on why for instance your wounds heal slower now, but basically it is all to do with inflammatory cytokenes, recently it has been discovered inflammatory cytokenes are at the heart of AA. GSE blocks a number of the key cyctokenes, but it may not work for everyone.
I just thought I would let people know that atleast for me, Propecia was a waste of money and perhaps detrimental. I took it from September of last year until February of this year and the only thing I noticed was a faster receding hair line, which many people swear it can do. I'm convinced over the time I was taking it that my hair line receded at a much faster rate than previously and the month that I've been off I've noticed my hair has begun to fill back in so just a warning to all. Oh and my tane dosage was 20mg2Xaweek, which from what I now know is really small and funny I have all the symptoms that lamarr has been dealing with as well, by the way oracea has been very usefull, it hasn't helped with the color but my face is now very smooth and no longer inflammed with shitty texture on the upper cheeks he also gave finacea to use at night and a cream he mixed himself that is abbreviated but you may know what it means 1/3 TACL and 2/3 Keto to be put on twice a day, seriously the regimen has been a life saver, so that gives me hope, an accutane side effect actually having a solution.