Has anyone heard of using Saw Palmetto instead of Spironolactone? My doctor prescribed Spironolactone for me for hormonal cystic acne but there are too many side effects   

On 9/2/2016 at 10:19 AM, MoonlitRiver said:

So, I started taking saw palmetto about two weeks ago in yet another desperate attempt to cure my horrible acne. But the past couple of days I've noticed loads of hair falling out which has never ever happened to me before. I know one of the uses of saw palmetto is to stop hair loss but it's the only thing I've done differently recently. Is it possible that it's actually causing hair loss for me or is that completely ridiculous? I don't want to lose all my lovely hair on top of having incurable acne, the latter is bad enough in itself, please help.

has the saw palmetto helped with you acne at all?

Yes, I was only on it a week but I do think it helped my skin. Just don't know if it caused the hair loss but that might have been caused by me coming off the pill 3 months ago? I just don't know. My doctor said it was probably stress which is rubbish because the only thing stressing me right now is the fact that all my hair is coming out!!!

i have just come across this post.
I stopped taking birth control and for a month or so after I had really bad dandruff and my hair was coming out in the shower like mad- it settled down after a month or so after my hormones settled.  I read somewhere tres semme or harsh conditioners are very bad for hair, I use johnsons no more tears shampoo and conditioner and then if I'm going out somewhere will use a conditioning mask. conditioner isn't great for the skin as its very oily

I also use saw palmetto and haven't noticed any hair loss

hope this helps  

5 hours ago, stephanie1905 said:

i have just come across this post.
I stopped taking birth control and for a month or so after I had really bad dandruff and my hair was coming out in the shower like mad- it settled down after a month or so after my hormones settled.  I read somewhere tres semme or harsh conditioners are very bad for hair, I use johnsons no more tears shampoo and conditioner and then if I'm going out somewhere will use a conditioning mask. conditioner isn't great for the skin as its very oily

I also use saw palmetto and haven't noticed any hair loss

hope this helps  

Hi, thanks for your reply.  I've decided after doing some research and trying stopping the saw palmetto that it's coming off the pill that has caused my hair loss. It didn't really start happening until I'd been off it for 3 months but it's been going really strong for 3 weeks now. Desperately hoping it will stop soon. I've been using a caffeine shampoo for thinning hair which it seems to quite like but hasn't stopped it falling out like I'd hoped. 

How has your experience with saw palmetto been from a skin perspective? Has it improved things for you and how long did it take if it did?