acne + hair loss + oily skin

[kaos]

I have been on minocin for the good part of the last 12 months to treat occasional cystic acne and noticed an accelerated hair loss/thinning during that period. It doesn't seem to be hair with roots (there is no white part) that is falling so I hope I can still get some of it back.

I often do get itchy scalp (front area) which leads me to bealieve that I may have some sort of infection there. I also do have a very oily skin that could favor developpement of bacterias. I seem to get occasional acne in the hairline area where I used to have hairs.

From my initial search, I would start with proscar (as it is covered by insurence in Canada) that seems to reduce in some people the oilness and ichiness of the skin which I guess could, in theory, help with my occasional acne plus go with nizoral once every 2-3 days.

Is there anything else I should look for ?

I'm going to see my derm this week and I hope I can get some ideas overhere that I can discuss with her

 

[MrBen]

Hey same here! I've been on minocin for 3 years and recently dropped my dose after reading it can lead to grey teeth and huge cysts leaving big purple scars. However I'm not sure it causes hair loss, and I don't know if my hair loss is due to minocin either. My suggestion is take the lowest possible dosage. I was taking 2 100mg capsules a day but I dropped it down to 1. I hope eventually I can stop taking it. Cystic acne sucks, and so does hairloss.

 

[kaos]

I was on a 2*50mg dosage for about 4 months and then 1*50mg for the rest so it is fairly low. Hair loss is listed as one of side effects, but I have no idea of the dosage that may cause it nor how many people it affects. I guess the only method is to stop minocin and see if it grows back.

My main target is to stop the oily skin as it seems to be at the source of my conditions. I just need to find what is causing this oily skin (probably something related to my hormones) thus I'm hoping Proscar will have a positive efect.

 

[Mingebreth]

you poor bastads :cry:

 

[MrBen]

UGH! It does cause hair loss. I wonder if the effect is temporary and goes away after stopping the medication? I tried stopping it and the cystic acne came back in force. Maybe I'll try to decrease my dosage even more.

UGH.

 

[Bryan]

Don't get your hopes up that Proscar will decrease your oiliness. An early study looked at that, and concluded that it had no effect on sebum production. However, you still occasionally see anecdotes on both sides of the issue, some users claiming that finasteride INCREASED their sebum, others saying that it DECREASED their sebum.

Bryan

 

[Armando Jose]

I wonder if the initial amount of sebum it's important to decrease or increase the sebum output as resulting of the use of antiandrogens (finasteride).

Armando

 

[everysixseconds]

well, i suppose that maybe interesting to know.

my case - i have "moderate acne" and have done so for the past 7-8 years. prior to finasteride, my breakouts were common, though less severe and with longer "normal" periods in between. once i started finasteride, my oiliness increased and i got more spots within 10 days. a month later, when i switched to dutasteride, that elevated my test. levels even more so, and i continue to get more frequent outbreaks that are more severe - but still the severity of each spot is the same as before - still "moderate" acne.

this is very depressing.

 

[ghostdog]

i thought that acne itself was an androgen dependent thing and finasteride etc should help. Anyhow, i used to have it very bad and nothing worked except accutane. I recently found a cream called duac though which is by far the best thing yet with none of the sides from accutane. I recommend you check it out though i hear its quite expensive if you have to pay for it.

 

[alfonso2501]

accutane

Kaos, MrBen, I think ghostdog beat me to the punch! Why don’t you guys ask your MD to switch you to accutane? The only bad thing is that it may cause a little hair loss, but it’ll come back and it’ll treat the acne. I was on it for about 3-5 months (I don’t remember exactly, I was a kid @ the time) but it really helped me out!

 

[MrBen]

I've heard horror stories about accutane, and known someone that was on it. Sorry but I'm fine as is. RIght now I'm trying to ween myself off of it. A few months ago I was taking 2 100mg capsules a day of minocycline, then I went down to 1 a day, now I'm down to 1 every two days and hopefully this works for another few months. My face is clear and all I get is the occasional cyst while on it.