I was givenisotretinoin to treat my acne by a dermatologist, she took me through all the side-effects etc. I agreed to go onto this drug as Ive been suffering with acne for years, I am 18 (Male) and been back and fourth the doctors for many years.
I was given 30mg to start off with, once a day. After the first few days of me takingisotretinoin I noticed that I hair hair missing just at the side of my head above the temple where my hair parton is.
I never thought anything much of it, so I continued on with this drug and mentioned it to my dermatologist who checked my hairline and see it was fine.
Anyways, that night after my dermatologist appointment, I hopped in the shower and started shampooing, then I noticed incredibly quite a fair chunk of hair on my hands, this has come from my hairline.
I have no bald patches anywhere across my head, so it seems that I have a receding hairline that was caused byisotretinoin.
Im worried everyday about potentially going bald one day, all I wanted to do was get rid of acne now Im worrying about potentially losing all my hair.
I last takenisotretinoin two weeks ago, (three weeks on Tuesday) and Im still continuing to lose long strands of hair each day, whether that will be if I run my fingers through my hair.
Same problem here. Took isotretinoin in mid dec for about a month but had to stop cause I mentioned the hair loss to my derm. Noticed Haircontinueto fall out but not bad at all during feb/march. Then at the end of March the hair loss became rapid. Probably lost 30% of my hair in three weeks. Mostly concentrated around the temples, hairline. Moderate shedding on the crown. Sides and back seem to be perfectly normal. At this point my hairline has probably receded at least half an inch. My derm did a scalp biopsy and diagnosed it as telogen effluvium so Im really hoping this is just temporary and will stop in six months or so but not holding out too much hope hearing some of the stories here. Good luck.
Same here. I noticed hair falling out while on the medication but I stopped around November. Only a few weeks ago did I see the damage it's done to my hairline. I can actually see my scalp, which isn't normal as I have always had long hair. No slowing down, or no baby hairs coming through.
For what it's worth, I take various vitamins and minerals like: Iron, krill oil, msm crystals, vit c, milk thistle, saw palmetto and baicalin.
Past few days my GP put me back onto anti-depressants because I had a history of mental health, and he saw this was making me worse.
Let's keep this topic going. It's good for support and keeping on top of things 
Just an update, Im also slowly losing my hairs from my eyelashes and eyebrows, I am not as worried as I was when it first started happening, but Im 18 years old, I dont want to go out looking like a baldy nugget.
Thankfully I dont suffer with mental health problems, every time I mention it to my dermatologist she keeps shrugging it off as a coincidence.
I have been to see a GP countless number of times, who have said they cant do anything more other than take blood sample to see if anything underlying is causing the problem.
Nizoral shampoo will reduce hair loss, and it is antifungal, which might help the acne problems of people on this thread - see below.
Accutane definitely causes hair loss - https://www.healthline.com/health/hair-loss-on-accutane
Be aware that accutane will treat ordinary acne, but it will not treat fungal acne (accutane can cause fungal acne or make it worse). If your acne is chronic, and does not get better with taking accutane, it might not be ordinary acne, and the accutane might be making the acne worse.....
11 hours ago, Aussie Scientist said:Nizoral shampoo will reduce hair loss, and it is antifungal, which might help the acne problems of people on this thread - see below.
Accutane definitely causes hair loss - https://www.healthline.com/health/hair-loss-on-accutane
Be aware that accutane will treat ordinary acne, but it will nottreat fungal acne (accutane can cause fungal acne or make it worse). If your acne is chronic, and does not get better with taking accutane, it might not be ordinary acne, and the accutane might be making the acne worse.....
Its been nearly two months since coming off accutane and my hairline is still receding and Im loosing hair from my eyebrows and eyelashes?
On 5/28/2019 at 12:15 PM, Owen2000 said:Its been nearly two months since coming off accutane and my hairline is still receding and Im loosing hair from my eyebrows and eyelashes?
Looks like youre going through exactly what Im experiencing. Ive been losing hair for over 2.5 months now although it may have slowed down just a bit lately(probably because I now physically have less hairs that can fall out). My eyebrows are also falling out, but that has slowed down just a bit too as compared to about a month ago. Although I still lose on average about 6-8eyebrow hairs a day. Not sure if this happened to you too but2.5 months ago, my armpit hair also fell out rapidly. It has now completely stopped though and if I had to guess I probably lost about 40ish percent of it. It was especially noticeable when I put deodorant on and would see about 4-5 hairs on it each time I used it. Im hoping that means that my hair and eyebrows will also stop shedding eventually once I lose about 40% of it which I guess Id be okay with. I also got a scalp biopsy from my dermatologist and was diagnosed with TE which should mean that youll shed about 50% of your hairs over time but should not go completely bald from this. Hope this helps man. Feel your pain
On 6/1/2019 at 5:21 AM, bobbyeast said:Looks like youre going through exactly what Im experiencing. Ive been losing hair for over 2.5 months now although it may have slowed down just a bit lately(probably because I now physically have less hairs that can fall out). My eyebrows are also falling out, but that has slowed down just a bit too as compared to about a month ago. Although I still lose on average about 6-8eyebrow hairs a day. Not sure if this happened to you too but2.5 months ago, my armpit hair also fell out rapidly. It has now completely stopped though and if I had to guess I probably lost about 40ish percent of it. It was especially noticeable when I put deodorant on and would see about 4-5 hairs on it each time I used it. Im hoping that means that my hair and eyebrows will also stop shedding eventually once I lose about 40% of it which I guess Id be okay with. I also got a scalp biopsy from my dermatologist and was diagnosed with TE which should mean that youll shed about 50% of your hairs over time but should not go completely bald from this. Hope this helps man. Feel your pain
I am 100% having a receding hairline, still has not stopped receding. My dad has a far back hairline, so Im hoping that itll eventually stop and I look like more of my dad than I do with like me mum.
I will eventually think about getting an hair transplant in a couple of years, depending on how the hair looks.
I just wish doctors and dermatologists will listen to us instead of shrugging it off as an coincidence, I was only on the drug for 3 weeks.
Has anybody who been on this drug that experienced hair loss, thats on head, eyebrows and eyelashes. Did any of youse lose your hair all over your face all together? Or did it eventually grow back.
So far my experience from this, even 3 months post accutane is its given me a receding hairline which still has not stopped receding, Im losing hair on my eyes brows and eyelashes too.
Hi there. I'm a female but maybe my experience will help you!
My full post is here: https://www.acne.org/forums/topic/361856-losing-so-much-hair-after-roaccutane-updated-my-recovery/#comment-3619834
The initial post was about the hair loss, then I updated it when I recovered from hair loss. Please read the post in full otherwise it might not make sense. I also just added a comment in the comments section to add clarity.
Hang in there, it gets better 🙂
On 5/27/2019 at 11:20 PM, Aussie Scientist said:Nizoral shampoo will reduce hair loss, and it is antifungal, which might help the acne problems of people on this thread - see below.
Accutane definitely causes hair loss - https://www.healthline.com/health/hair-loss-on-accutane
Be aware that accutane will treat ordinary acne, but it will nottreat fungal acne (accutane can cause fungal acne or make it worse). If your acne is chronic, and does not get better with taking accutane, it might not be ordinary acne, and the accutane might be making the acne worse.....
By "fungal acne" do you mean pityrosporum folliculitis? Because Isotretinoin is actually a known treatment option for recalcitrant pityrosporum folliculitis aka "fungal acne" and will not make it worse, as you say.