Hey guys,
I remember browsing these forums when I first started losing hair on Accutane, and it was terrifying because people rarely have any good news. It is common for people who experience recovery to forget these forums and never post their stories, but sufferers check as often as they can.
I told myself I would post my story if I ever became a success, so here I am.
First, my story: The Why
I had crazy acne starting around 10th grade in High school (16 years old?). My face was oily by lunch, cystic acne all over my neck and my back was spotted all over the top half. I was pretty social, and fairly attractive (not to sound cocky), and my acne really stopped me from being as crazy or outgoing as I wanted. blah blah blah It sucked.
Nothing worked, no scrubs, no retin A, no oral antibiotics ect.
Sophomore year in college I started taking Accutane. I knew the side effects, but my brother used it without incident and it cleared his face right up. It worked magic, my face wasnt oily anymore, my cysts went away within the year, and I became a lot more confident.
Hairloss Begins
Then I started losing hair. It began when I noticed like 25-40 hairs on the floor of my shower. I shower every day (i dont shampoo every day, but I rinse my hair), so seeing all those hairs on the floor freaked me out. I doubted it at first, but after a year my hair felt completely dead. It was so thin, and not only in the sense that there were less hairs. Even the hair on my head felt thin and dry. My scalp felt inflamed a lot too.
My hair loss was most apparent in my hairline, though I did not have any noticeable recession. It was just much thinner there, and I could see my scalp. My sideburns also got patchy. And all my hair felt thin, stiff, and dead.
A lot of hairs began looking like vellus hairs. They started thining and curling. I felt certain it was MPB kicking in, with CTE making it worse.
I continued to shed and have crazy dry, unhealthy feeling hair for 4 years. It was terrible. I noticed myself staring at everyone's hairline when I talked to them. I checked out everyones hair as I walked by. I stared at my hair every night after I showered. It sucked.
SIDE NOTE ABOUT WEED (ignore if you don't smoke)
I should also mention that during this time I started smoking a lot of weed. I used to smoke a bit on occasion, but being depressed and indoors all the time and worrying about my hair made me want to smoke much more. I started smoking every night. My advice to you, if you smoke weed and you're trying to grow your hair back, is STOP.
seriously stop. I know you're gonna look around the internet and try to find articles about how weed isnt bad for your hair ,ect ect ect. If you're like me and you smoke every night and worry about your hair, you need to stop.
All weed does is make you eat irregularly, sleep irregularly, and gives you way too much time for your mind to reflect on your hairloss. I will say with complete confidence that quitting weed has helped. My mental state was at its lowest when I was high every night, staring at myself in the mirror. It made me so paranoid. Quit it now.
You tell yourself that you would do anything for a change to regrow your hair. so stop smoking you pothead.
(Sorry, this might not apply to many people, but i know it wouldve helped me a lot).
The Recovery
Looking back, I think the first step in recovery was fixing my mental state. I know a lot of people might not count this step. Its hard to imagine that emotion has a physical impact on your body, and it's even harder to prove. But I truly believe the first step to regrowing your hair is to stop worrying about it. If you find yourself reflecting on it too long, pick up a hobby.
Supplements:
Here's what I did, so you guys can study it or something.
I didn't really take biotin that much, or vitamins. I did start exercising regularly, I fixed my diet and ate regularly, and I slept a good amount every night.
A few months before recovering, I did two things that I feel COULD have impacted my hair.
1. I started using Nizoral Anti Dandruff shampoo a few times a week.
2. I took finasteride for 1 month.
I can't really say which one helped me. I switched to both of them at around the same time. I'm certain that Nizoral helped with my scalp condition. My hair felt much healthier after a few months. I only took 1 month of finasteride, because I never intended to take it for life. But about a month after starting both of these, my hair loss stopped completely.
I was in disbelief when one day, I washed my hair and only 5 or 6 strands fell out. I honestly didnt believe it. But weeks went by, then months, and I only lose 5-10 hairs in the shower now. And I'm washing my hair much harder now. My hair feels thick and healthy again, and I can tug at it without having to worry about strands falling out. I'm not back to my full head of hair, but so much has grown back that I don't really even mind anymore.
Maybe the finasteride shocked my system into normalizing??
Maybe nizoral healed my scalp and encouraged my hair to strengthen.
Maybe I was bound to recovery anyways.
Honestly, I don't know. But I do know that if my hair loss were permanent, then the follicles I lost would be dead. This wasn't the case, since a lot of it has grow back now. My hairline didn't recede (at least noticeably), and my hair is literally the healthiest it's been in the past 5 years.
I don't really have a good moral to this story, since I'm not certain what helped me, or what might help you.
But I never thought my hair would grow back. And now it has.
If your scalp is itchy and your hair feels dead, try nizoral.
Ask your doctor about taking finasteride for a month or something, idk. If you truly don't think its MPB though, i wouldn't recommend taking it for more than a month. Hopefully you learned your lesson about taking prescription drugs.
My best advice to you, though, is to stop worrying. You hear this a lot on these forums, but it really does help. pick up a hobby and wait it all to blow over.
Good luck guys.
It's such a relief seeing this post....thanks for sharing your story about hair loss.
I am in my month 4 and I lost almost 30-40 percent of my hair. I don't know if accutane is the actual cause or just a trigger that sped up my hair loss. My next appointment with my dermatologist is next week and I will definitely bring it up.
Hey guys,
I remember browsing these forums when I first started losing hair on Accutane, and it was terrifying because people rarely have any good news. It is common for people who experience recovery to forget these forums and never post their stories, but sufferers check as often as they can.
I told myself I would post my story if I ever became a success, so here I am. First, my story: The Why
I had crazy acne starting around 10th grade in High school (16 years old?). My face was oily by lunch, cystic acne all over my neck and my back was spotted all over the top half. I was pretty social, and fairly attractive (not to sound cocky), and my acne really stopped me from being as crazy or outgoing as I wanted. blah blah blah It sucked.
Nothing worked, no scrubs, no retin A, no oral antibiotics ect.
Sophomore year in college I started taking Accutane. I knew the side effects, but my brother used it without incident and it cleared his face right up. It worked magic, my face wasnt oily anymore, my cysts went away within the year, and I became a lot more confident.
Hairloss Begins
Then I started losing hair. It began when I noticed like 25-40 hairs on the floor of my shower. I shower every day (i dont shampoo every day, but I rinse my hair), so seeing all those hairs on the floor freaked me out. I doubted it at first, but after a year my hair felt completely dead. It was so thin, and not only in the sense that there were less hairs. Even the hair on my head felt thin and dry. My scalp felt inflamed a lot too.
My hair loss was most apparent in my hairline, though I did not have any noticeable recession. It was just much thinner there, and I could see my scalp. My sideburns also got patchy. And all my hair felt thin, stiff, and dead.
A lot of hairs began looking like vellus hairs. They started thining and curling. I felt certain it was MPB kicking in, with CTE making it worse.
I continued to shed and have crazy dry, unhealthy feeling hair for 4 years. It was terrible. I noticed myself staring at everyone's hairline when I talked to them. I checked out everyones hair as I walked by. I stared at my hair every night after I showered. It sucked.
SIDE NOTE ABOUT WEED (ignore if you don't smoke)
I should also mention that during this time I started smoking a lot of weed. I used to smoke a bit on occasion, but being depressed and indoors all the time and worrying about my hair made me want to smoke much more. I started smoking every night. My advice to you, if you smoke weed and you're trying to grow your hair back, is STOP.
seriously stop. I know you're gonna look around the internet and try to find articles about how weed isnt bad for your hair ,ect ect ect. If you're like me and you smoke every night and worry about your hair, you need to stop.
All weed does is make you eat irregularly, sleep irregularly, and gives you way too much time for your mind to reflect on your hairloss. I will say with complete confidence that quitting weed has helped. My mental state was at its lowest when I was high every night, staring at myself in the mirror. It made me so paranoid. Quit it now.
You tell yourself that you would do anything for a change to regrow your hair. so stop smoking you pothead.
(Sorry, this might not apply to many people, but i know it wouldve helped me a lot).
The Recovery
Looking back, I think the first step in recovery was fixing my mental state. I know a lot of people might not count this step. Its hard to imagine that emotion has a physical impact on your body, and it's even harder to prove. But I truly believe the first step to regrowing your hair is to stop worrying about it. If you find yourself reflecting on it too long, pick up a hobby.
Supplements:
Here's what I did, so you guys can study it or something.
I didn't really take biotin that much, or vitamins. I did start exercising regularly, I fixed my diet and ate regularly, and I slept a good amount every night.
A few months before recovering, I did two things that I feel COULD have impacted my hair.
1. I started using Nizoral Anti Dandruff shampoo a few times a week.
2. I took finasteride for 1 month.
I can't really say which one helped me. I switched to both of them at around the same time. I'm certain that Nizoral helped with my scalp condition. My hair felt much healthier after a few months. I only took 1 month of finasteride, because I never intended to take it for life. But about a month after starting both of these, my hair loss stopped completely.
I was in disbelief when one day, I washed my hair and only 5 or 6 strands fell out. I honestly didnt believe it. But weeks went by, then months, and I only lose 5-10 hairs in the shower now. And I'm washing my hair much harder now. My hair feels thick and healthy again, and I can tug at it without having to worry about strands falling out. I'm not back to my full head of hair, but so much has grown back that I don't really even mind anymore.
Maybe the finasteride shocked my system into normalizing??
Maybe nizoral healed my scalp and encouraged my hair to strengthen.
Maybe I was bound to recovery anyways.
Honestly, I don't know. But I do know that if my hair loss were permanent, then the follicles I lost would be dead. This wasn't the case, since a lot of it has grow back now. My hairline didn't recede (at least noticeably), and my hair is literally the healthiest it's been in the past 5 years.
I don't really have a good moral to this story, since I'm not certain what helped me, or what might help you.
But I never thought my hair would grow back. And now it has.
If your scalp is itchy and your hair feels dead, try nizoral.
Ask your doctor about taking finasteride for a month or something, idk. If you truly don't think its MPB though, i wouldn't recommend taking it for more than a month. Hopefully you learned your lesson about taking prescription drugs.
My best advice to you, though, is to stop worrying. You hear this a lot on these forums, but it really does help. pick up a hobby and wait it all to blow over.
Good luck guys.
How many mg of fin u took?
What people don't realize is there is something called telogen effluvium - its a temporary condition in which your body, after a stressful event will shed hair. This can start up to 2-3 months after the "stressful event". Some women get it after child birth, and some people get it after stopping a medication they have been on for a while. Especially if the medication is harsh and the body gets use to it. For me this happened after my 2nd course of accutane, my hair eventually grew back over the course of 5-6 months.
On 4/9/2015 at 8:27 PM, Justin039 said:Hey guys,
I remember browsing these forums when I first started losing hair on Accutane, and it was terrifying because people rarely have any good news. It is common for people who experience recovery to forget these forums and never post their stories, but sufferers check as often as they can.
I told myself I would post my story if I ever became a success, so here I am.
First, my story: The Why
I had crazy acne starting around 10th grade in High school (16 years old?). My face was oily by lunch, cystic acne all over my neck and my back was spotted all over the top half. I was pretty social, and fairly attractive (not to sound cocky), and my acne really stopped me from being as crazy or outgoing as I wanted. blah blah blah It sucked.
Nothing worked, no scrubs, no retin A, no oral antibiotics ect.
Sophomore year in college I started taking Accutane. I knew the side effects, but my brother used it without incident and it cleared his face right up. It worked magic, my face wasnt oily anymore, my cysts went away within the year, and I became a lot more confident.
Hairloss Begins
Then I started losing hair. It began when I noticed like 25-40 hairs on the floor of my shower. I shower every day (i dont shampoo every day, but I rinse my hair), so seeing all those hairs on the floor freaked me out. I doubted it at first, but after a year my hair felt completely dead. It was so thin, and not only in the sense that there were less hairs. Even the hair on my head felt thin and dry. My scalp felt inflamed a lot too.
My hair loss was most apparent in my hairline, though I did not have any noticeable recession. It was just much thinner there, and I could see my scalp. My sideburns also got patchy. And all my hair felt thin, stiff, and dead.
A lot of hairs began looking like vellus hairs. They started thining and curling. I felt certain it was MPB kicking in, with CTE making it worse.
I continued to shed and have crazy dry, unhealthy feeling hair for 4 years. It was terrible. I noticed myself staring at everyone's hairline when I talked to them. I checked out everyones hair as I walked by. I stared at my hair every night after I showered. It sucked.
SIDE NOTE ABOUT WEED (ignore if you don't smoke)
I should also mention that during this time I started smoking a lot of weed. I used to smoke a bit on occasion, but being depressed and indoors all the time and worrying about my hair made me want to smoke much more. I started smoking every night. My advice to you, if you smoke weed and you're trying to grow your hair back, is STOP.
seriously stop. I know you're gonna look around the internet and try to find articles about how weed isnt bad for your hair ,ect ect ect. If you're like me and you smoke every night and worry about your hair, you need to stop.
All weed does is make you eat irregularly, sleep irregularly, and gives you way too much time for your mind to reflect on your hairloss. I will say with complete confidence that quitting weed has helped. My mental state was at its lowest when I was high every night, staring at myself in the mirror. It made me so paranoid. Quit it now.
You tell yourself that you would do anything for a change to regrow your hair. so stop smoking you pothead.
(Sorry, this might not apply to many people, but i know it wouldve helped me a lot).
The Recovery
Looking back, I think the first step in recovery was fixing my mental state. I know a lot of people might not count this step. Its hard to imagine that emotion has a physical impact on your body, and it's even harder to prove. But I truly believe the first step to regrowing your hair is to stop worrying about it. If you find yourself reflecting on it too long, pick up a hobby.
Supplements:
Here's what I did, so you guys can study it or something.
I didn't really take biotin that much, or vitamins. I did start exercising regularly, I fixed my diet and ate regularly, and I slept a good amount every night.
A few months before recovering, I did two things that I feel COULD have impacted my hair.
1. I started using Nizoral Anti Dandruff shampoo a few times a week.
2. I took finasteride for 1 month.
I can't really say which one helped me. I switched to both of them at around the same time. I'm certain that Nizoral helped with my scalp condition. My hair felt much healthier after a few months. I only took 1 month of finasteride, because I never intended to take it for life. But about a month after starting both of these, my hair loss stopped completely.
I was in disbelief when one day, I washed my hair and only 5 or 6 strands fell out. I honestly didnt believe it. But weeks went by, then months, and I only lose 5-10 hairs in the shower now. And I'm washing my hair much harder now. My hair feels thick and healthy again, and I can tug at it without having to worry about strands falling out. I'm not back to my full head of hair, but so much has grown back that I don't really even mind anymore.
Maybe the finasteride shocked my system into normalizing??
Maybe nizoral healed my scalp and encouraged my hair to strengthen.
Maybe I was bound to recovery anyways.
Honestly, I don't know. But I do know that if my hair loss were permanent, then the follicles I lost would be dead. This wasn't the case, since a lot of it has grow back now. My hairline didn't recede (at least noticeably), and my hair is literally the healthiest it's been in the past 5 years.
I don't really have a good moral to this story, since I'm not certain what helped me, or what might help you.
But I never thought my hair would grow back. And now it has.
If your scalp is itchy and your hair feels dead, try nizoral.
Ask your doctor about taking finasteride for a month or something, idk. If you truly don't think its MPB though, i wouldn't recommend taking it for more than a month. Hopefully you learned your lesson about taking prescription drugs.
My best advice to you, though, is to stop worrying. You hear this a lot on these forums, but it really does help. pick up a hobby and wait it all to blow over.
Good luck guys.
Advising taking Finasteride it the worse advice possible. Please guys don't ever take finasteride especially after taking accutane - they are both two of the worst drugs ever invented.
Work on good health - that is you best bet.