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Ok, I was on accutane at the beginning of February (40 mg) for like a month and a half...and quit because of the back pain. Being on a lower dosage and on such a short period, my side effects, other than the back pain, weren't too bad. They were:
- severe on and off back pain
- dry lips/mouth
- lower sex drive
- a small patch of eczema on my right arm
All the listed side effects completely went away within a few weeks after I stopped accutane. As for my hair, I didn't suffer any hair loss nor did my hair ever get frizzy during accutane. Out of paranoia and just to be sure, I even check my tub for hair loss every time I shower. During accutane and post-accutane until 3 weeks ago, there was no hair loss. After I shower, on average, there would be only about 5 strands of hair, which is completely normal. And hair wouldn't fall out if I run my hands through my hair.
Ok, fast forward... about 3 weeks ago, I took this herbal tea (from an Asian herbal store) that was supposed to detox your body for about a week.
So 2 days after I took the herbal tea, I got a fever and started having constant diarrhea, which I assumed was normal, since it is supposed to detox your body after all, and I had a very poor diet prior to that, as in I constantly ate spicy, fried and greasy food all the time. But check this out, along with the fever and diarrhea, I started shedding a lot of hair in the shower...like the first week after taking herbal tea, I was shedding like around 50 strands of hair every time in the shower and hair would easily fall out when I ran my hands through my hair! And my hair is frizzy now! Also, my sex drive is slightly lower and my lips mouth are constantly dry.
I stopped taking the tea about 2 weeks ago, my fever lasted for about 4 days, the diarrhea lasted about a week.
Right now, my mouth and lips still feel dry a lot, my sex drive, while not significantly lower and not like it was when I was on accutane, is lower enough to be noticeable. But my hair is still slightly shedding and still frizzy. Like although not as bad as the first week, I'm now losing around 15-20 strands of hair every time in the shower and hair sometimes falls out when I run my hands through it, although not as bad as the first week. I've been taking b-vitamins and using a conditioner (something I never needed) the last week.
The people at the shop said the only possible side effect to the herbal tea was some very mild diarrhea. I did go to the doctor when I had a fever and diarrhea, and she believed it was this infection in the stomach (I don't remember the name), but the only needed treatment was rest and lay off solid foods until I got better...which was the case. However, when I told her about the hair shedding, she played it off like it was nothing and pretty much ruled out any possibility of it having to do with the herbal tea...which I think is BS, it CAN'T be coincidence lol.
Keep in mind I am a broke ass college student and as for work, I have a home business, so I don't have insurance and can't go to a pharmacist/doctor every time I need to.
Any input from acne.org would be appreciated.
Dave, it seems you may have been tag-teamed into submission by the Accutane and seemingly innocuous herbal supplement. What was it specifically? The lazy herbalists are probably singing in falsetto in response to my accusations. Were you taking a DHT inhibitor because you were paranoid about hair loss?
Dave, it seems you may have been tag-teamed into submission by the Accutane and seemingly innocuous herbal supplement. What was it specifically? The lazy herbalists are probably singing in falsetto in response to my accusations. Were you taking a DHT inhibitor because you were paranoid about hair loss?
It was this.
http://posharpstore.com/en-us/royal-king-herbal-tea-xia-huo-wang-p2585.aspx
ingredients: Tuber of Dwarf, Lillyturf, root of Cochinchinese Asparagus, Root of Kakuda Figwort, Honeysuckle Flower, Prepared Rhizome of Rehmannia, Dried Liquorice Root, wild Chrysanthemum Flower, Root of Indigowoad, Cane Sugar.
Like I said, I took accutane in February, stopped in March, and it never had an impact on my hair (my hair wasn't even dry) during accutane nor post-accutane. It was only until I started taking this tea 3 weeks ago when my hair started shedding and became frizzy. And like I said, it started immediately, 2 days after I started drinking the tea.
And no, I took nothing during accutane. Only started taking biotin a month post-accutane.
I will say it again and again....accutane can cause latent effects! Camaroz has a point about being tag teamed!
My hair didn't start falling out till 4 months later after taking 2 days of zinc then all hell broke loose
I think it was because I still had some accutane in my system and the herbal tea flushed it out of my system, which created the "shock" and now I'm experiencing mild telogen effluvium. Seems that a lot of people that suffer hair loss from accutane don't get it until post-accutane when the accutane leaves the system. Hopefully it won't go on for much longer, last week it was like 50 strands of hair in the shower and this week it's down to 15-20...which is a bit encouraging.
But then again, this is just an educated guess.
Like I said, I took accutane in February, stopped in March, and it never had an impact on my hair (my hair wasn't even dry) during accutane nor post-accutane. It was only until I started taking this tea 3 weeks ago when my hair started shedding and became frizzy. And like I said, it started immediately, 2 days after I started drinking the tea.
And no, I took nothing during accutane. Only started taking biotin a month post-accutane.
Dave, I know what you said. Like Oligirl said, I was referring to latent effects. You unthinkingly took at least 3 antiandrogens when you took that product. Even something as seemingly innocuous as honeysuckle flower has 140 compounds in it; these have not been tested exhaustively.
Like I said, I took accutane in February, stopped in March, and it never had an impact on my hair (my hair wasn't even dry) during accutane nor post-accutane. It was only until I started taking this tea 3 weeks ago when my hair started shedding and became frizzy. And like I said, it started immediately, 2 days after I started drinking the tea.
And no, I took nothing during accutane. Only started taking biotin a month post-accutane.
Dave, I know what you said. Like Oligirl said, I was referring to latent effects. You unthinkingly took at least 3 antiandrogens when you took that product. Even something as seemingly innocuous as honeysuckle flower has 140 compounds in it; these have not been tested exhaustively.
Maybe. People told me 15-20 hairs in the shower is perfectly normal...but it isn't when I wasn't losing any in the shower prior to the herbal tea. Thankfully I'm not really losing any on my pillow.
I was losing 50 last week and it's down to 20 this week, so hopefully this will go away very soon.
Still losing hair in the shower but it's gotten better since I started using a conditioner and jojoba oil, my hair isn't as frizzy anymore and actually looks healthy at the moment. So it looks like the dryness was playing at least a significant role in the shedding. First week was like 50 strands, second week was around 20-25, last few days, it's been around 15 since the conditioner/jojoba oil. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.