Thank u all for sharing your experience ! I also was on accutane for what was supposed to be 6months , I was on 60mg and unfortunately dealt with many side effects .. your normal like... dry cracked lips n skin, dry eyes ... soon what was like styes on my water line in my eyethat were tender n sore n took days to go away, rashes on my hands BAD , towards month 5 I was experiencing a few headaches n eye blurry ness from time to time . At this point my derm decided to stop .. it was 5months , she said I had reached the intake I needed n my skin was clear ! I was/ am on Yasmin btw ! The whole time on accutane I had hair extensions n never noticed anything however, as soon as I stopped accutane I took my extensions out n OMG !! The amount of hair that came out was crazy, however my hair dresser said it was normal as I had had them in for 6 months and the beads trap the hair that sheds normally ...once they were all out I felt my hair and No !! My hair was significantly thinner n finer n much much dryer than what it ever was before extensions !! Its so different it doesnt have the same texture ! It does not feel like my hair .. by no means did I have super thick hair but it had weight to it ! I dont have a lot of fall out at all maybe 5-10 hairs a day ... but it is almost a month after I stopped n my hair has not returned to normal ! I am hoping it will with time ! I dont have a follow up with my derm for a while n I am refusing anymore medications !! Nothing is worth my hair n I am pretty regretful of taking accutane as I feel once I stop Yasmin Im gonna break out again which was my problem to begin with ! I have reduced all heat to my hair , use lots of coconut n rosemary oil in it , am super gentle with it n have started taking b12 , biotin n fish oil . I wasnt aware hair loss / thinning was a common side effect n i believe I read it only happens to 10% or its rare !! NOT TRUE !! If I wouldve known I wouldve never done it .. never would have traded one issue for another one ! I hope someone out there can relate n let me know if things returned to normal At any time.I will update if I see any changes good or bad !
Hey Guys, I took Accutane for 3 months then after the hair thinning and loss I got too stressed that I've decided to stop taking this poisonous treatment.
It's been 6 months now, the hair thinning and loss has somehow decreased but still not normal, I wonder if my hair oil would come back to it's normal levels again and would my hair regrow and thicken again or is it permanently damaged...
I'm using now natural oils like olive and coconut oils and I'm taking biotin pills, I really wish things would come back to normal, regret and stress are so depressing me.
Only If I knew I'm replacing on cosmetic issue with another, the latter made me suffer much more than acne.
your updates made me feel I'm not alone, so I hope you guys got better and it would be great if you could reach out to this site again after those years.
Hi,
This post has given me hope again. Im an 18 year old male, but my hair sounds exactly like yours except I had curly hair - I never noticed any hair loss before accutane, which I started taking around May last year. I immediately lost hair around the temples, but not much else, I did lose a bit more hair than usual here and there, but I wasn't too worried. I stopped it around August-September, because my dermatologist said so, but afterwards I started to lose so much hair. At one point, I would run my hands through my hair and a bunch of hair would come out. My scalp was super itchy as well which I think made it worse cause I would scratch my hair, which made me lose ore hair. I got myself a buzzcut cause I thought maybe the scalp was the issue, and it helped with the itchiness for a while, but after a month or so, my itchiness returned and I kept on losing hair. There are some days which I lose more hair than other days, but it's been around 10 months now since I stopped the accutane, and Im not sure how things will end up. My hair has reduced in density so much, and I've been aching to go to the doctor or a dermatologist for so long now, but I haven't been able to because of the coronavirus. I'm going to go the doctor finally on Friday - and I hope for some good news. Could you post a timeline of your hair loss recovery, to see how long it might take for my hair to recover. Thank you so much!
On 6/29/2019 at 8:03 AM, awills said:Hi guys I just logged in for the first item in AGES.
Sorry if my update wasn't clear - there wasno product that helped my hair come back, and no product will help your hair come back either.The products I recommended were only to keep your scalp in optimal condition (because mine was very tender, red and dry until it recovered.) The oil was great for moisturising the scalp.
The supplements I tried for two weeks did nothing, I was sick every time I took them and they caused a break out so I stopped taking them. They had nothing to do with the hair recovery.
My hair shed excessively for about 12 months from when it started and I lost around 50-60% of my hair density - like I said, hairbands wouldn't even stay in my hair that's how thin it was. For the majority of those 12 months I was losing hundreds of hairs- up to 800 hairs a day, until around the 8 month mark it came down to 30-40 hairs day (normal range for humans in general but still way more than was normal for me personally.)It remained at 30-40 hairs daily for some months, then after some more months past, it did come back down to shedding a few a day and it remains that way even now.
My accutane course finished nearly 3 years ago now and my hair is totally normal again. It just takes time. I know how hard it is, guys!
Also - my hair went very thin around the temples. THIS ALL GREW BACK! It grew back so suddenly that it looked like I had a (very fine) fringe (bangs) cut in - so I had to actually go and get a fringe cut in!
Hope this answers any questions but please feel free to ask away if there any more!
Hi,
This post has given me hope again. Im an 18 year old male, but my hair sounds exactly like yours except I had curly hair - I never noticed any hair loss before accutane, which I started taking around May last year. I immediately lost hair around the temples, but not much else, I did lose a bit more hair than usual here and there, but I wasn't too worried. I stopped it around August-September, because my dermatologist said so, but afterwards I started to lose so much hair. At one point, I would run my hands through my hair and a bunch of hair would come out. My scalp was super itchy as well which I think made it worse cause I would scratch my hair, which made me lose ore hair. I got myself a buzzcut cause I thought maybe the scalp was the issue, and it helped with the itchiness for a while, but after a month or so, my itchiness returned and I kept on losing hair. There are some days which I lose more hair than other days, but it's been around 10 months now since I stopped the accutane, and Im not sure how things will end up. My hair has reduced in density so much, and I've been aching to go to the doctor or a dermatologist for so long now, but I haven't been able to because of the coronavirus. I'm going to go the doctor finally on Friday - and I hope for some good news. Could you post a timeline of your hair loss recovery, to see how long it might take for my hair to recover. Thank you so much!
Im a teenage girl andImnearing the end of my third round (yes, you readthat right) is accutane. I have curly, short hair and Ivestarted to notice that my hair is shedding a lot more thanit usually does. I dont recall having excessive hair loss in my previous rounds, although my hair was longer so Im not sure if Im just more concerned now that its short and may be more noticeable.Im terrified that Im going to be bald. I used to have super thick hair, but Ive noticed its nowhere near that thick anymore and I tried to tell my mom and my dermatologist but my mom doesnt believe me and my dermatologist just told me to get more sleep and good nutrition. I have about a box and a 1/2 of pills left and at this point Im so over it. This whole good things come with a price is killing me I shouldnt have to decide between clear skin and good hair but I obviously havent been blessed enough to have both. Whats new about this round is that Ima vegetarian so maybe a deficiency in something could explain why Im noticing the hair loss this round and didnt have this symptom in the previous rounds. Im going to try to take my dermatologists advice and Ill hopefully remember to fill yall in months from now.
On 6/28/2019 at 11:03 PM, awills said:Hi guys I just logged in for the first item in AGES.
Sorry if my update wasn't clear - there wasno product that helped my hair come back, and no product will help your hair come back either.The products I recommended were only to keep your scalp in optimal condition (because mine was very tender, red and dry until it recovered.) The oil was great for moisturising the scalp.
The supplements I tried for two weeks did nothing, I was sick every time I took them and they caused a break out so I stopped taking them. They had nothing to do with the hair recovery.
My hair shed excessively for about 12 months from when it started and I lost around 50-60% of my hair density - like I said, hairbands wouldn't even stay in my hair that's how thin it was. For the majority of those 12 months I was losing hundreds of hairs- up to 800 hairs a day, until around the 8 month mark it came down to 30-40 hairs day (normal range for humans in general but still way more than was normal for me personally.)It remained at 30-40 hairs daily for some months, then after some more months past, it did come back down to shedding a few a day and it remains that way even now.
My accutane course finished nearly 3 years ago now and my hair is totally normal again. It just takes time. I know how hard it is, guys!
Also - my hair went very thin around the temples. THIS ALL GREW BACK! It grew back so suddenly that it looked like I had a (very fine) fringe (bangs) cut in - so I had to actually go and get a fringe cut in!
Hope this answers any questions but please feel free to ask away if there any more!
Hi I hope you respond cause this thread is really helpful, it has been around 8 months post accutane and on the 6month mark was my peak in terms of shedding, it was all over my pillow, it has reduced but still losing a good amount, myhair was extremely thick and is now thin and wavy, I assume as the months go by it will go back to normal? And to help my scalp, should I try oil to nourish it and keep it well as time passes to help this process? Also I have a healthy diet which I assume will help! Thanks for this thread this has been extremely reassuring as in worried my hair loss will be permanent, and again around my temples I lost hair so I assume based of what your saying it will just take time? Thanks again!
On 12/28/2020 at 3:03 AM, BenC01 said:Hi I hope you respond cause this thread is really helpful, it has been around 8 months post accutane and on the 6month mark was my peak in terms of shedding, it was all over my pillow, it has reduced but still losing a good amount, myhair was extremely thick and is now thin and wavy, I assume as the months go by it will go back to normal? And to help my scalp, should I try oil to nourish it and keep it well as time passes to help this process? Also I have a healthy diet which I assume will help! Thanks for this thread this has been extremely reassuring as in worried my hair loss will be permanent, and again around my temples I lost hair so I assume based of what your saying it will just take time? Thanks again!
Hello! I just logged in for the first time in a long while again.
Yes, for me at least, it was a gradual recovery. In the recovery update on my original post I said that the excessive shedding had stopped after 8 months after it started.I was still shedding more than what I did before I used accutane, but it was within a normal range. I hope that makes sense.
The shedding continued to decrease back down to my own normal range over some months after that. But like I said before, I was getting new growth while I was experiencing the shedding.
I would absolutely recommend using a good oil for your scalp, it won't stop hair from falling out but it will help to keep your scalp in an optimal condition for new growth and can also help manage symptoms you may be having such as dryness and itchiness. I can only recommendAveda Beautifying Oil as that is the only one I used (and still use for other things to this day!) My scalp has been different since I used accutane; it is sometimes dry and flakey, but not all the time. I have found that I can manage it entirelyby using Aveda Scalp Benefits shampoo - I don't need to use the oil on my scalp at all any more but it's nice to put a few drops in the bath! I tried many, many, many different shampoos and conditioners since using accutane and I always ended up coming back to Aveda. It is simply the only one that works for me.It's pricey but I personally couldn't be without it. If you are in the UK, you could try The Body Shop Ginger shampoo - it is similar but not as good, I found it to be very drying on the hair itself and quite difficult to use.
You mentioned a healthy diet which I do believe is very important. Under eating can lead to hair loss even in men and women who have never used accutane.
I'm just about to post a reply to this thread with a picture of my hair from Jan 2019 - almost exactly 3 years after I started accutane.
Hope this helps! And hang in there, because it will come to end!
On 8/5/2020 at 4:14 PM, lexieeee614 said:Im a teenage girl andImnearing the end of my third round (yes, you readthat right) is accutane. I have curly, short hair and Ivestarted to notice that my hair is shedding a lot more thanit usually does. I dont recall having excessive hair loss in my previous rounds, although my hair was longer so Im not sure if Im just more concerned now that its short and may be more noticeable.Im terrified that Im going to be bald. I used to have super thick hair, but Ive noticed its nowhere near that thick anymore and I tried to tell my mom and my dermatologist but my mom doesnt believe me and my dermatologist just told me to get more sleep and good nutrition. I have about a box and a 1/2 of pills left and at this point Im so over it. This whole good things come with a price is killing me I shouldnt have to decide between clear skin and good hair but I obviously havent been blessed enough to have both. Whats new about this round is that Ima vegetarian so maybe a deficiency in something could explain why Im noticing the hair loss this round and didnt have this symptom in the previous rounds. Im going to try to take my dermatologists advice and Ill hopefully remember to fill yall in months from now.
Hi sorry long delay in replying, I haven't logged in for a while!
I would recommend requesting blood tests via your GP to rule out deficiencies if you're still having issues. I had my iron and thyroid checked during my hair loss. Also, make sure you not under eating. Under eating can cause hair loss, even without accutane.
Hope you're doing better now!
On 7/27/2020 at 10:03 AM, Jordan Cricksy said:Hi,
This post has given me hope again. Im an 18 year old male, but my hair sounds exactly like yours except I had curly hair - I never noticed any hair loss before accutane, which I started taking around May last year. I immediately lost hair around the temples, but not much else, I did lose a bit more hair than usual here and there, but I wasn't too worried. I stopped it around August-September, because my dermatologist said so, but afterwards I started to lose so much hair. At one point, I would run my hands through my hair and a bunch of hair would come out. My scalp was super itchy as well which I think made it worse cause I would scratch my hair, which made me lose ore hair. I got myself a buzzcut cause I thought maybe the scalp was the issue, and it helped with the itchiness for a while, but after a month or so, my itchiness returned and I kept on losing hair. There are some days which I lose more hair than other days, but it's been around 10 months now since I stopped the accutane, and Im not sure how things will end up. My hair has reduced in density so much, and I've been aching to go to the doctor or a dermatologist for so long now, but I haven't been able to because of the coronavirus. I'm going to go the doctor finally on Friday - and I hope for some good news. Could you post a timeline of your hair loss recovery, to see how long it might take for my hair to recover. Thank you so much!
Hello!
Some time has passed since I last logged in, I hope you're doing better now?
This is as accurate as I can post for a timeline...
Feb 2016: Started accutane
Beginning of June2016: Hair loss began
July 2016 - August2016: Shedding at least 500 hairs a day, up to 800+ at it's peak in August
Remainder of 2016: I had to stop monitoring the loss because it was making me ill. Although I had stopped counting hairs, it was still coming out in literal handfuls like the photo in the original photo for months.
January 2017: Considerable slowing of shedding. Sheddingwas now 30-40 during hair washes. Still a lot more than before accutane.
By the end of 2017: Shedding back to normal (and still normal to this day - Jan 2021!)
UPDATE January 2021
Hi all, I wanted to post a quick 'update' of sorts because I haven't posted properly in this thread for years.
Shedding? I have had no excessive shedding since it slowed down and eventually stopped in 2017.
Condition of Hair? My hair is in good condition but my hair is very slightly less dense on my right side. There are no bald patches or anything scary like that, there just doesn't seem to be as much hair there as the other side (the difference is not huge or noticeable, though and doesn't bother me at all.) My hair length currently sits in the lower part of my back; I never did cut it all off while I was experiencing hair loss, I just got regular trims. All in all its not as dense as it was before acctuane - I'm not sure if it ever will be but maybe at this point the density is age related rather than accutane related (I'm 28 now.) It's fine though, I genuinely am happy with my hair now.
Condition of Scalp? My scalp never returned to the way it was. Before accutane it was very oily. Now, it can sometimes be dry and flakey but with the help of my favourite products (listed below) I can keep the flakiness at bay entirely.
Products? I still use and absolutely swear by Aveda Scalp Benefits shampoo. I haven't been able to use anything else since using accutane. Each time I've tried something different, I have come back to this. It keeps dryness and flakiness at bay completely and my hair and scalp love it. For conditioner I use Aveda Damage Remedy; I think the reason I get on with this so well is because Aveda use natural ingredients, and all 'unnatural' conditioners and masks tend to cause scalp acne (or whatever that is!), itching and unpleasant oiliness.
Condition of Skin? I went through a brief phase of acne returning but swore I wouldn't use acctuane again. Instead, I read a lot about the 'ABCs' of skincare (lots of extremely helpful content via Dr Davin Lim on YouTube and Instagram) and use the ingredients my skin needs. My skin cleared up with this regime and I maintain my clear skin by continuing to use it. So if you're still struggling with your skin I really recommend checking that out.
Photo of my hair from JANUARY 2019
This photo is almost exactly 3 years after I started accutane. Length is hard to tell because I'm wearing a mens (huge) jumper but you can hopefully see the general condition of it. I will upload a recent photo when I remember to ask someone to take one for me!
On 1/13/2021 at 8:22 PM, awills said:UPDATE January 2021
Hi all, I wanted to post a quick 'update' of sorts because I haven't posted properly in this thread for years.
Shedding? I have had no excessive shedding since it slowed down and eventually stopped in 2017.
Condition of Hair? My hair is in good condition but my hair is very slightly less dense on my right side. There are no bald patches or anything scary like that, there just doesn't seem to be as much hair there as the other side (the difference is not huge or noticeable, though and doesn't bother me at all.) My hair length currently sits in the lower part of my back; I never did cut it all off while I was experiencing hair loss, I just got regular trims. All in all its not as dense as it was before acctuane - I'm not sure if it ever will be but maybe at this point the density is age related rather than accutane related (I'm 28 now.) It's fine though, I genuinely am happy with my hair now.
Condition of Scalp? My scalp never returned to the way it was. Before accutane it was very oily. Now, it can sometimes be dry and flakey but with the help of my favourite products (listed below) I can keep the flakiness at bay entirely.
Products? I still use and absolutely swear by Aveda Scalp Benefits shampoo. I haven't been able to use anything else since using accutane. Each time I've tried something different, I have come back to this. It keeps dryness and flakiness at bay completely and my hair and scalp love it. For conditioner I use Aveda Damage Remedy; I think the reason I get on with this so well is because Aveda use natural ingredients, and all 'unnatural' conditioners and masks tend to cause scalp acne (or whatever that is!), itching and unpleasant oiliness.
Condition of Skin? I went through a brief phase of acne returning but swore I wouldn't use acctuane again. Instead, I read a lot about the 'ABCs' of skincare (lots of extremely helpful content via Dr Davin Lim on YouTube and Instagram) and use the ingredients my skin needs. My skin cleared up with this regime and I maintain my clear skin by continuing to use it. So if you're still struggling with your skin I really recommend checking that out.
Photo of my hair from JANUARY 2019
This photo is almost exactly 3 years after I started accutane. Length is hard to tell because I'm wearing a mens (huge) jumper but you can hopefully see the general condition of it. I will upload a recent photo when I remember to ask someone to take one for me!
Your hair is beautiful and looks thick and healthy again! And I just wanna give an update, its been around 12 months now after I took accutane, and my hair is still quite thin, and hasn't really gotten thicker yet, however I hope it will! My hair has stopped thinning I belive, i get a few hairs come out here and there but not as bad as it used to be, I did see on a medical news website it can take 12-18 months for effects of a drug like accutane that cause hair loss to return to normal, and for you it took 3 years so I assume its completely different for each person, but I will pray for you and hope it continues to get better for you!
Hello All,
I am going through topical vitamin A (retinoid) induced hair damage. I am a physician so I am sharing my research. I was using topical retinol for my face and also a scalp topical containing vitamin Ato help absorb an anti-alopecia formulation. I did not know that retinoids could cause hair loss. Plus I was taking vitamin A supplements for eyelid issues, prescribed by my eye doctor. My hair started to fall out within 2 months of using the stuff. I was on retinoidsfor 12 months before realizing that it wasn't just my progressive androgenic hair loss. Retinoids such as Accutane cause TGF-B2 upregulation in the hair follicle which turn the hair from anagen (growth) phase to catagen (transition) to telogen (resting) and eventually exogen (falling) and sebaceous glands that keep hair oiledcan take 1-2 years to improve back to 80%. So hair strand thickness and texture as well as hair number can suffer from 6 months to 1 year or even more after stopping the product.
Products that I am trying based on my research:
1) Caffeine shampoo 1% strength such as Veta or Ethica to counter the TGF-B2 (must massage for 3 minutes with tips of fingers)
2) L-carnitine threonine 1500 mg daily to counter TGF-B2
3) Omega 3/6/9 combination pill form Amazon(make sure no vitamin A) to moisturize hair and hopefully improve sebaceous glands.
4) A good conditioner, such as Ethica which has caffeine alsogood moisturizers.
5) Revivhair serum 2x a daywhich has growth factors such as Redensyl, Procapil, Capixyl, KGF (look up the RCP study versus minoxidil 5%)
Please visit Pubmed.com to look up studies on these keywords for good medical research.
As for me, It has been 60 days since I stopped retinoids and that much time since I started the recovery bundle above. I am still shedding and it may take 4-6 months for the telogen hairs to drop off and go back to anagen phase.
Good luck. I would advise do not sit still. Do something but make it research based. Thank you all for sharing.
@leslie2021 It came back and then some after 9-12 months. Minoxidil 5mg a night orally was huge and also finasteride 0.5mg a night. For women minoxidil 0.125 or 0.625 mg orally is used. Need scripts. All other supplements I stopped in mid 2022 or so.