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I have some good news everyone: my hairloss has slowed considerably after about three weeks of a new regimin. I have been reading this forum and some others (on the roaccutane action forum for example) and found some things that people claim worked for them and combined them. Specifically, I have been using Activ-M tonic (a taurine-carnatine leave-in liquid that I apply to my head at night) and Revita shampoo. I have also been taking lots of grapeseed extract, resevatol, curcumin, flaxseed oil, biotin and evening primrose oil (I take doses of all these twice daily).
I have also discontinued using rogaine (do NOT ever go cold turkey on rogaine if you are using it now, go from twice a day to once a day for a week or two, then once every other day for a week, something like that) and propecia.
At first I noticed that I would just lose a ton more hair than usual in the shower with the application of this shampoo. However after about another week I have noticed that my hairloss (which still persistent) has definitely decreased. I dont lose more than one or two hairs onto my pillow and only another one or two when I comb it out in the morning. During the day I lose maybe 20 hairs and in the shower/application of avtic-M I lose another 50 or so. I would say this represents roughly a 50% decrease in my hairloss.
More importantly though, I have noticed the presence of short little hairs all over my hairline. And even more importantly, the thin, sickly white hairs that I have noticed on my hairline appear to be getting a little bigger and a little more brown which leads me to conclude that I am slowly starting to regrow some of it.
That doesn't mean i'm out of the woods...my hair is still falling out lol and it is so thin on top that I have to almost do a "mini comb-over" to keep it from looking bald. But after 9 months of hairloss (and 7 months since my last accutane dose) I am hopeful that things are beginning to look up. Hopefully after this summer is over I can stop worrying about this crap. The shampoos and vitamin regimin is a bit pricey, but i'll pay anything to keep my hair lol... If anyone is interested, my regimin is as follows
Morning:
5000mcg biotin
200 IU vitamin E (blended tocopherols)
125mg reservatol
500mg grapeseed extract
1000 mg flaxseed oil
1000 mg evening primrose oil
500mg quercetin
1500mg vitamin c
Evening:
Same as morning, except remove the vitamin E and quercetin and add 25mg of zinc
Shower: Wash wish revita shampoo (follow procedures and let it sit in for the amount of time it tells you), condition with nioxin system 2.
Before bed: apply Activ-M tonic (leave in overnight)
Yeah, I take so many pills each day that I feel like an AIDS patient. But I have not noticed any negative side effects and actually feel like I have a little more energy than usual. And most importantly of course (lol), my hairloss appears to be abating to some extent. Just be sure you drink plenty of water when taking any of this stuff.
I will keep using this regimin through the summer and report periodically on how it is working.
Man of my word, i said i would do this. If you think i have missed anything (probably have only did it quickly) then let me know. I will not be posting at all soon so this is the last time...here we go.
Ok guys here is what i can remember from the top of my head, straight off the batt.
Accutane hairloss appears to present itself in three forms. TE, Diffuse AA and an acceleration of MPB.
For the latter i believe the process needs to of been established before hand for it to be accelerated. If you had no signs of MPB before you began accutane, then i do not believe what you are suffering from now is MPB.
That being said, diffuse AA can present itself exactly like MPB in some cases. In that the inflammation involved in AA can cause a pattern similar to MPB to emerge. What we need to remember about AA is that the follicles are not permanently damaged, assuming the process corrects itself at some point, the hairs all have potential to regrow to pretty much their original state. This is why many dermatologists tell you to use minoxidil when the shedding stops (or even if it doesn't).
I actually believe TE is not seen very frequently in accutane hair loss. I am of the belief most cases are Diffuse AA, i have read of cases (and been informed by Tony Chu) that Diffuse AA induced by accutane can resolve from anything from two months, up to two years (without intervention). Even the short lived cases can involve body hair loss (most frequently the eyebrows/lashes, but also the pubic region).
It is obvious however that the hair loss can seemingly persist for life.
AA is an auto immune disorder. The real reason why the hairloss is initiated from accutane is unknown. I have several theories, ranging from a huge increase in staphylococcus aureus (Nearly every patient has this from accutane) these bacteria survive much better on dry skin than other bacteria. It has been proven that these bacteria secrete toxins which also stimulate the immune system at the hair follicle.
Another theory is that the hair itself is altered in its structure, causing the body to mistakenly attack the hair, the changes can be minuet (not at all noticeable by us) or in some cases a huge difference in the texture of hair, or even the colour, may be enough to trigger the initiation of the immune response.
The latter theory may explain why some people have the hair loss persist for a lifetime and it has been documented in chemotherapy patients (which accutane is a form of).
It could simply be down to the alterations in the immune system that have been extensively linked to accutane, the drug essentially unbalances the immune system and this obviously doesnat resolve in everyone.
The typical treatments for AA can also be affective for diffuse AA, kenalog intra-dermal shots are probably the most affective, however you do have a greater chance of atrophy. Topical steroids are what i have been using for about 5 months now and they are helping to maintain my hair pretty well. I cannot predict how my hair loss will progress as i know of no one else who has continued with the steroids. This combined with minoxidil does lead to substantial amounts of regrowth, atleast for me and believe me my hair loss is pretty severe.
PUVA treatment is a viable option if you are willing to shave your hair very short, or if the hair loss has become very substantial.
The best advice i can offer is you leave the condition for about a year to see how it runs, if after this time period things aren't improving then you can begin with the topical steroids to see how you respond. Couple this with minoxidil and you should maintain your hair for many years...
Anything that fights off inflammation is good. Make sure they don't stimulate your immune system though...
To add to this, I believe none of us should worry too much about this hair loss, which I know is easy to say. But there are treatment options on the horizon, such as stem cell treatment and hair multiplication, to name a few.
Update, 2 months post Roaccutane
So it is 26 April, the end of 2 months of hair shedding. I am beginning to believe that my problem is actually telogen effluvium along with diffuse alopecia areata rather than just one single problem and it is getting worse. I used to shed only short thin hair but now even the thick terminal hairs comes off while I was shampooing.
I am going back to that derm who created all this trouble on me next week to do a blood test and see if anything thing come out of it. I would make an appointment with the skin center and do a scalp biopsy to determine the underlying problem, if needed.
I would have liked to wait for 3 months after I start rectify the hair loss. But even the terminal hairs comes off now so I have been make no choice but to act fast before it begin to get worst and as usual I will update everyone of you here on every month of 26. Below is a pic of diffuse hair loss that looks exactly like mine.
[Edited image out]
urhh i totally regret accutane
anyways my derm is an idiot.
So he went from telling me accutane hair loss is temporary to maybe your hair will grow back. urhh
anyways lately my hair has been shedding quite a bit. and my derm wants me to go on propecia
lol so accutane = hair loss =minoxydll + Propecia(forever) which will equal = viagra
um no, I actually tried to get the steroid but he wouldn't give it to me.
so i'm done with all these meds whatever happens happens its in Gods hands now.
I blew so much money on acne products and hair products it's nuts.
I'm gonna cam whore myself so I will have pictures with my hair lol
Funny I had acne which stopped me from doing what I wanted in life, then I got clear and now accutane side effects is now gonna stop me. fuzzzzzzzz
Man I had a full set of thick hair with no sign of hair thinning before this, just sucks!!!
Right now
I'm washing my hair with apple cider vinegar with lavender and tea tree oil. I"m leaving it on for a few hours then washing it.
I shall pray for everyone here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you tell us his story/ background I would like some more info. Like how long was his shedding? I'm closing in on the 2 year mark and it sucks.
Hi, could some informed people help me with a few questions? This thread is soo long so I didn't know where to start.
Basically, receding hairlines run in my family. My dad started balding in his late teens, and my brother did at like 17ish is when I noticed it. He's now almost 20 and it's pretty bad! I have heard you get the genes from your mom's dad, and he had a full head of hair, so I thought maybe I would get lucky.
Well, I just turned 17 and knew it could happen at any moment. I didn't notice anything serious. Well, 5 weeks ago I went on accutane and boy has my hair changed!!! When I pull my hairback, I have a disgustingly large receding hairline. Probaly only noticeable to me at the moment cause usually my hair is down and covers it, but yeah, still not liking it.
So I was just wondering what I should do?? Is this the accutane causing it, or was it just my time?
Is there anything I should be taking to stop it?
Any eating habits? I've heard of "skull excersises"??
And once I get off accutane (in august), will my hair come back?? I'm not optimistic, because my brother has a bad hairline to begin with so I don't know if I should even expect hair to be coming back.
ughh! First acne, now this!! We just can't win, can we??
*researches hair implants*
Hey everyone,
I need to report that something i'm doing is working because my hairloss has decreased substantially. For the last week I have noticed one to two hairs on my pillow in the morning, three to four when combing my hair and a combined total of about 40-50 when showering (this includes two applications, application of conditioner, application of hair thickening spray and application of Activ-M tonic later in the evening... thats six separate times when i'm rubbing something into my scalp...doing that six weeks ago would have made about 300 fall out.
One of three things is happening to me:
1) My hairloss is naturally stopping. This could be the case because I've been off accutane for about eight months now and have also fully recovered from a bout of mononucleosis. However, I was on a much higher dose than recommended for my weight, notices hairloss within a month and continued taking the drug for two months after the hairloss started. Considering that many people here experienced hairloss on lower doses and shorter durations, I figured mine would talk a lot longer to sort out (if at all).
2) I have so little hair left in the spots I was losing it from that there's not really much more that can fall out anyway. I do have a very very thin crown and temples. However the hairs i'm losing now are mostly very thin ones that don't have much color which suggests regrowth to me. I also notice regrowth in my temples- I pull my hair up and there is a layer of short little stubby hairs at the bottom of my hairline, some of which are colored and others which are not. I can't examine the crown but I am hopeful that the same thing is going on up there.
3) My vitamin/shampoo regimin is working. I believe this is the most likely scenario because I have been on it for about six weeks now and in that time have noticed a drastic decrease in the hairloss. Like I said, before I had hairs falling off all the time every day, a total of about 300. Now I definitely lose less than 75 per day and have been like that for about a week now.
My regimin is based on some of the research and suggestions I've read on here and other forums and is as follows.
Morning:
125mg reservatol
1000mg flaxseed oil
5000mcg biotin
1000mg evening primrose oil
500mg grapeseed extract
200IU vitamin E (mixed tocopherols)
800mg curcumin
1400mg vitamin C
500mg quercetin
500mg pantothenic acid (I'm actually taking this for acne so you don't need it for hair loss)
Night: Same as morning, except remove the quercetin, vitamin c and vitamin E and add 25mg zinc
Shower: Wash twice with Revita shampoo, condition for 5 minutes with Nioxin system 2 conditioner, spray Nioxin system 2 scalp therapy afterwards (not sure if the spray is necessary but i've been using it from the beginning and it makes my hair look thicker).
Before bed: apply Activ-M Tonic (containes carnatine and taurine).
You could probably use the activ-M twice daily as it recommends but I haven't been doing that yet.
DO NOT TAKE PROPECIA! I took it for six months and while I was lucky enough not to have any side effects, I believe that the propecia may have actually made the hairloss worse. I stopped taking it and started noticing a bit of regrowth on my hairline.
Also, rogaine did absolutely nothing for me other than make me lose a ton of hairs every morning when I put it in (which depressed me). I may start using it again if I dont notice substantial regrowth in the next six months though.
This regimin is fairly expensive... the shampoo, conditioner and tonic are all doing to cost you about $75 per month and the vitamins perhaps another $50 a month. But at the age of 21 I will pay anything to get my hair back as vain as that sounds lol...
If anyone else tries this regimen please let us know so we have replications to compare.
Also for reference, I am a 21 year old male who weighed 150lbs while taking 80mg of accutane daily for four months. Hairloss started mid-July of 2007.
I hope I don't jinx myself, but, I actually wouldn't mind losing some hair. It can be quite thick and unmanageable at times. No one in my family has ever been bald and only some get the faintest receding of their hairlines when their hair goes gray.
It all makes sense, though! Accutane, in my opinion, seems like it's aging me. Accelerating, breaking down, drying out. Hrmph.
Hello guys, i started recoverying in feb or so..... but im shedding now again, i bevieve its because of the b5 i been takin to control my acne. i'm on 500mg of it and my hair sheds, im going to stop takin it and take a B complex instead and it only contains 125mg of b5. I've read a few posts about b5 hairloss as well so all those post accutane acne suffers be careful with high dose of b5.
Hello guys, i started recoverying in feb or so..... but im shedding now again, i bevieve its because of the b5 i been takin to control my acne. i'm on 500mg of it and my hair sheds, im going to stop takin it and take a B complex instead and it only contains 125mg of b5. I've read a few posts about b5 hairloss as well so all those post accutane acne suffers be careful with high dose of b5.
Hey all.. well after long break i post here again..
year and a half almost for me and to say the truth my hair loss did subsided for a few months with almost no regrowth, my hair is stil thin all over but now i started minoxidil and today i found lots of hairs in the shower or just rubbing my hands in my hair(reminded me of how my hair came to this point in the first place).
what do you guys think i should do with the minoxidil? stop it or wait the hairloss increase to stop?
Well, today was a landmark in my battle against hairloss. I noticed that my shower was not draining right this past month and today I took off the top part. Yep, there was a glob of hair so big entwined with the drain, that I had to use a plunger to get most of it out. I just sat there and laughed about it for a moment, because this is starting to get ridiculous. Only 2 weeks of accutane, and 4 months later it looked like someone stuffed a fucking fur coat down the drain. Best of luck to everyone, I'll keep yall updated win, lose, or draw...
I just wanted to join in and tell you about my hairloss experience while on accutane. i have about a week left of the meds and hair all over my body has been shedding. The hair on my head hasn't been as bad as other parts of my body, but I have developed two bald spots. All together, this loss of hair is far outweighed by my boost in confidence in clear skin.
PrznKing - No offense to you, but did you actually read through the 96 pages that are listed in this post before jumping to your conclusion? If you had, you would have noticed that it's actually a group of about 12 of us that have been emailing back and forth and reporting on our issues. Time to time, we do get new posters...wow, shocking. We are not here to give Accutane a bad name. We are here to inform others of the risks that are involved with taking a VERY serious drug. Please stay out of this thread if it bothers you.
I just looked at the profiles of everyone in this thread and they're all new members or people with very little posts so someone is definately multi-accounting to give Accutane a bad name. Unless the mods can ip check and shut me up.
Hijacking an acne chat board is my idea of a good time. Ass.
PrznKing - No offense to you, but did you actually read through the 96 pages that are listed in this post before jumping to your conclusion? If you had, you would have noticed that it's actually a group of about 12 of us that have been emailing back and forth and reporting on our issues. Time to time, we do get new posters...wow, shocking. We are not here to give Accutane a bad name. We are here to inform others of the risks that are involved with taking a VERY serious drug. Please stay out of this thread if it bothers you.
No, but it's acceptable to think that this thread is filled with anti-Accutane cults which seem to pop up in every thread. Not that the thread is but it's not hard hard to believe.
PrznKing - No offense to you, but did you actually read through the 96 pages that are listed in this post before jumping to your conclusion? If you had, you would have noticed that it's actually a group of about 12 of us that have been emailing back and forth and reporting on our issues. Time to time, we do get new posters...wow, shocking. We are not here to give Accutane a bad name. We are here to inform others of the risks that are involved with taking a VERY serious drug. Please stay out of this thread if it bothers you.
No, but it's acceptable to think that this thread is filled with anti-Accutane cults which seem to pop up in every thread. Not that the thread is but it's not hard hard to believe.
Or pro-accutane cults that appear on a thread talking about accutane's negative affects. That one never made sense to me...
Przn go on your second course of tane, i have never said this but i actually hope you experience one of tanes side effects. You are leading people to believe this drug is far safer than it is, that in itself is not right. So yeah go take your second course of accutane and i will see you in a few months.
Przn go on your second course of tane, i have never said this but i actually hope you experience one of tanes side effects. You are leading people to believe this drug is far safer than it is, that in itself is not right. So yeah go take your second course of accutane and i will see you in a few months.
That made me LOL. Feeling the love.
I would go on it, but I'm doing things in life now that I can't afford super dry sensitive skin.