accutane and balding?

[whatisup]

HI there,
I am new here and would like to say hello to everyone.
I am currently 25 years old and at about 18 I started loosing hair rapidly. I have always had thick hair and people always would comment on how nice it was, so obviously, this was depressing. I have been off and on with rogaine and i tried propecia for a bit (but jeesh its expensive). My hair is now showing skin on the top and I don't know what exactly to do.

My question is, I have read many stories about accutane causing permenant balding. Has anyone else heard of this? I was on it twice as a teenager and I just don't understand how someone like me could be loosing what was once a thick head of hair at such a younge age. And another question, what is my best solution now?

Thanks.

 

[KDK87]

I too went on accutane as a teenager and now at 22 am experiencing hairloss. However I have been experiencing it since I was about 16. Anyhow, a lot of former accutane users have complained about premature hairloss, typically it is diffuse thinning. As for me, I suspect that accutane is the reason behind my hairloss, but that I cannot be positive of. In a lot of places I have read that the hairloss is a symptom of hypervitaminosis A. (Pretty sure I didnt spell that right but whatever.) This being because vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin meaning that it is stored in the bodies fat, sometimes for a very long time. Accutane, being a vitamin A derivative functions in much the same way. So, IF your hairloss is indeed caused by accutane then one possible recourse is to strictly limit your intake of dietary vitamin A, and also possibly supplement with Vitamin E. (I read somewhere that Vitamin E helps prevent absorption of Vitamin A? I forgot exactly what it does, but it interferes with Vitamin A somehow in certain doses.) But basically at the end of the day, theres not a whole lot else you can do at the moment. Idk, maybe file a class action lawsuit against roche? Even if you won't have any hair, maybe a fat wallet will make you feel a little better about yourself

-I have heard anecdotally of people suffering from accutane hairloss who spontaneously begin to regrow hair 7-8 or even 10 years down the line. Of course this is anecdotally, and I can't personally vouch for this.

 

[Thickandthin]

Accutane hair loss would be rather patchy or perhaps Telogen Effluvium in nature. It's not going to be classic male pattern baldness, because that would just be....well....classic male pattern baldness.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

My friend that got thinning hair from accutane has it patches of thin all over his head. One of the worst spots is behind his ear. Hes got some spots on top but in a weird pattern though and mostly patchy. Is there any way to help this? I don't think he has gotten any treatment for it and its been like this for almost 10 years. Which treatments are recommended? He mentioned it to me like over 5 years ago! I want to help him but IDK how do you approach the subject?

 

[MJT82]

Accutane, and it's effects, are very dose dependant. I also took accutane at the "full" very high dose when I was 17-18 years old. On month 5, my hair started to fall out and it seemed thinner, so I stopped treatment 1 or 2 weeks early because it was very obvious at that point that it was causing my hair to fall out. It did wonders for my skin though.

I've now been taking low dose accutane, 20mg pills, once per day, only about 3 days per week and I have had ZERO negative effects on my hair and it has noticeably slowed the progression of my male pattern baldness. I've been taking it for at least 2 years now continuously too. It also keeps my acne in check and my skin looks basically perfect.

People who scream bloody murder about accutane causing hairloss have been the ones who took a very high dosage. Accutane will not cause anyone to have male pattern baldness. It may just cause some thinning or falling out effects, which are not male pattern baldness.

 

[let-it-grow]

Accutane can cause hair loss but your hair situation goes back to normal shortly after you stop taking it. Accutane doesn't cause male pattern baldness but if you have the male pattern baldness gene then accutane could cause male pattern baldness to start earlier.

Finasteride and Minoxidil worth nothing if you try them for a little bit and stop. You need to use them for 6-12 months to see the maximal. A cheap Minoxidil is Kirkland and it's the same as Rogaine and you could order it from Ebay for $18 for a 6 months supply, very cheap. There are guys here who order Finepcia online which is a generic version of Propecia and some get Proscar and cut it to 4 pieces, it's the same effect and it saves you a lot of money.

 

[Nene]

I also took accutane when I was about 15. I would say my hairline slightly matured right around that time and then the receding got worse around 18 or 19 years old. Sometimes I think the accutane might have set off the male pattern baldness gene also. Drives me crazy that I could've caused this curse to happen so early!