Anyone Recover From Reflex Hyperandrogenicity??

[pcas]

Firstly, if anyone wants to respond by telling me that reflex hyperandrogenicity is not a thing, you can stop right now. It has been confirmed by two doctors that this is what I have.

I went on Propecia in March of this year. Within probably two weeks I started to experience what I thought was the usual shedding. I was obviously concerned and turned to discussion boards where I found countless responses indicating that the shedding, regardless of the severity, was just part of the process.

I wanted to believe that that was the case so I carried on. I was (and still am) experiencing hundreds of lost hairs every day, increased (though admittedly not drastically) acne, increased sebum production, increased sexual function for about two and a half months. Finally, I went to see the original doctor who prescribed it and another doctor. They both confirmed that this is not anything close to normal. Actually the second doctor (not the prescriber) told me that he had prescribed Propecia to thousands of patients over the years and he had seen maybe a dozen patients who responded as I have.

Obviously I am distraught. I don't know what to do. I am one week off this poison and still shedding like crazy. I have lost maybe 60% of my hair. The loss is all over my head but it's worse on the crown and the sides (I NEVER experienced loss on the sides before Propecia). Both doctors told me that some of it may grow back eventually. The sad thing is that my male pattern baldness wasn't even that bad. I was losing my hair for sure. But I turn 40 next month and I probably would not have got to this point for a good number of years.

Like I said, if you are some shill trying to convince me that this isn't what I know it is, don't bother. Unfortunately it absolutely is a real thing. If you are one of the many who have not experienced this, then i envy you. Propecia has destroyed my hair and my confidence. What has happened is causing me severe anxiety and depression.

I would recommend to ANYONE whose thinking about Propecia to really think about it. I know the chances of success seem high. But this drug has REAL downsides. It's bad enough to lose your hair but to know you made a decision that lead to this is devastating.

I want to hear from people who have actually experienced this and can give me their story. Did any of it come back? Did you follow any regiment that you think helped or made it worse? Any responses from actual sufferers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Retinoid]

Do you have pictures of your hair? Preferably before and after using the drug? Are you using Minoxidil? Losing immense amounts of hair is not characteristic of how Androgens cause hair loss. It seems you have more of a Telogen Effluvium. Which I suffered from when using Minoxidil, especially after the foam. Feeling a crawling sensation all over and losing a lot of long hairs, even on the sides and back. This was the Minoxidil however. I still use it and it is not causing this as much.

 

[abcdefg]

I am not a sufferer, and I dont use propecia myself but might try it soon. You were on it for 4 months? That isnt very long to see if its just a shed or not. Some people have giant sheds, and it all grows back in a year or even longer it does happen. Your choice, but all the hair could grow back there are stories where that happened for people that stuck with it long enough although there are no promises. Minus propecia I dont know what other choices your going to have.
Yeah pictures are worth a thousand words

 

[pcas]

I'm not sure if the attached pics are telling the story. I don't have any closeup photos from before this misery began. Sorry.

I'm trying to comb my hair to cover my scalp but you can now see through my hair now and my scalp is entirely visible now when you stand even a couple of feet away. I don't know if Telogen Effluvium is playing a role here. I do know that my hormones have gone into overdrive. 100% this is because of the Propecia.

I can say that most of my hairs do NOT have bulbs on them. I'm not sure if you can extrapolate anything from that. The itching is not too bad (compared to other peoples horror stories at least) but I use prescription keto shampoo every day and even then the sebum production is very high.

I tried minoxidil and didn't experience anything, good or bad. So I stopped it. I had no shedding on it.

 

[pcas]

I am not a sufferer, and I dont use propecia myself but might try it soon. You were on it for 4 months? That isnt very long to see if its just a shed or not. Some people have giant sheds, and it all grows back in a year or even longer it does happen. Your choice, but all the hair could grow back there are stories where that happened for people that stuck with it long enough although there are no promises. Minus propecia I dont know what other choices your going to have.
Yeah pictures are worth a thousand words

I was on it for 3 months. If you are shedding 400, 500 even 600 hairs DAY IN DAY OUT then it's not a shed. You just have to come off it. Both of my doctors are very experienced and have no issues prescribing Propecia. Both of them told me to come off of it NOW. This is not a scare tactic. To be honest, I'm not here to scare anyone off Propecia. It may very well work for you. But it killed my hair. I'm just here to get feedback from sufferers.

 

[Retinoid]

All my hair had/has white bulbs at the end which tells it is a telogen shed. Were you using the brand name or generic? It seems you had some sort of inflammatory response. I would probably take aspirin and Zyrtec and apply an Aspirin+peppermint oil paste on the scalp to reduce the response. Looking at the scalp it seems a little pinkish/inflamed. You may look into Duasteride 3x/week.

EDIT: Also wanted to add, while topical caffeine, particularly in shampoo form, does not have a whole lot of science behind it. I have found it to be useful in the overall fight. If you use this+keto+use the paste maybe a couple of times a week, you should see some benefits.

 

[pcas]

thanks for your response. Yes, I had an inflammation response all over. I won't be trying Duasteride or any of these drugs that screw with your hormones. It's just not worth it. Aspirin and peppermint oil? Is that an actual known topical that people use?

 

[FCKW36]

Your sides are looking exactly like my ones.

 

[pcas]

Yes. Are you using Finasteride?

 

[pcas]

Dude my sides somewhat look like that, & I don't even use finasteride. Last year, I applied minoxidil to my face to stimulate facial hair inconsistently, and the result was my overall scalp quality tanking.

It looks like DUPA in my case, however, things have been looking better on the sides. I truly wonder if Minoxidil could trigger Telogen Effluvium? I even slept with it on my face at night, I could've rubbed it through my hair; wasn't a smart move.

It is my understanding that anything can in theory cause Telogen Effluvium. However applying minoxidil to your face is not something I would imagine would cause Telogen Effluvium. Typical causes of Telogen Effluvium are stress, diet, environmental toxins and (as in my case) hormonal imbalances/changes.

I actually used to put minoxidil on my face when I was younger due to having a naturally patchy beard. Unless you are using huge amounts of it or it's someone getting into your blood stream through cuts or sores, I'd find it hard to believe that it's causing scalp Telogen Effluvium. I used a lot back in the day and like I said, it had zero negative effects. I would definitely review other potential causes. But like I said, people react to things differently. Finasteride is widely tolerated but it absolutely messed up my hair.

 

[FCKW36]

Yes. Are you using Finasteride?

Yes since 8 month, but this picture is 1 year old. Today it's even worse. I have DUPA I think...

 

[AnxiousAndy]

I'm sorry to hear this man.. I too am a victim of 'reflex hyperandrogenicity' but not to as severe a degree as you.. My symptoms were similar but also different. You mentioned that you lose hundreds of hairs daily? I actually lost less hair but my roots turned from thick to transparent literally overnight and at the end of the first month I had a thin white line of invisible hair on both my temples.. Needless to say my condition never improved and has continues to deteriorate rapidly ever since. I was Norwood 1.5 at 19 now at just turned 21 I am Norwood 2.3. I've lost almost a whole norwood in 21 months when I only lost half a Norwood in 5 years of slow hair loss without finasteride. There is a slight silver lining to my story though, since adding in Cyproterone Acetate my sebum completely disappeared, itchiness has been noticeably less and I THINK my hair loss has maybe slowed down a little, but it definitely still progressing. I'm no doctor but I think the best way to combat this strange reaction is through the use of androgen blockers, since drugs like finasteride actually increase testosterone it would make sense to counteract this by using blockers. So far it has seemed to help but by no means cured me lol. Just some food for thought..

 

[pcas]

I'm sorry to hear this man.. I too am a victim of 'reflex hyperandrogenicity' but not to as severe a degree as you.. My symptoms were similar but also different. You mentioned that you lose hundreds of hairs daily? I actually lost less hair but my roots turned from thick to transparent literally overnight and at the end of the first month I had a thin white line of invisible hair on both my temples.. Needless to say my condition never improved and has continues to deteriorate rapidly ever since. I was Norwood 1.5 at 19 now at just turned 21 I am Norwood 2.3. I've lost almost a whole norwood in 21 months when I only lost half a Norwood in 5 years of slow hair loss without finasteride. There is a slight silver lining to my story though, since adding in Cyproterone Acetate my sebum completely disappeared, itchiness has been noticeably less and I THINK my hair loss has maybe slowed down a little, but it definitely still progressing. I'm no doctor but I think the best way to combat this strange reaction is through the use of androgen blockers, since drugs like finasteride actually increase testosterone it would make sense to counteract this by using blockers. So far it has seemed to help but by no means cured me lol. Just some food for thought..

Thanks for your response. Your reaction was very different to mine. To the point where I have to wonder if you may have had an allergic reaction and not reflex hyper. Idk to be honest. You're so young it's hard to tell since your hormones are naturally going to be in flux much more than mine. I can say for certain that I will not be using androgen blockers. They for sure will screw up your body. Hair loss is much more preferable to growing breasts etc. If I were you, at 21 I would stay clear
Of anything like that. Honestly.

 

[AnxiousAndy]

Thanks for your response. Your reaction was very different to mine. To the point where I have to wonder if you may have had an allergic reaction and not reflex hyper. Idk to be honest. You're so young it's hard to tell since your hormones are naturally going to be in flux much more than mine. I can say for certain that I will not be using androgen blockers. They for sure will screw up your body. Hair loss is much more preferable to growing breasts etc. If I were you, at 21 I would stay clear
Of anything like that. Honestly.

Its easier for you to say that since you are pushing 40. I'm not even in the prime of my life yet and am past Norwood 2. I'm fairly certain what I have is RH because it accelerated my hair loss 2x faster than it was before. At this age I don't mind some mild gyno if it means I'm helping my hair.

 

[pcas]

Its easier for you to say that since you are pushing 40. I'm not even in the prime of my life yet and am past Norwood 2. I'm fairly certain what I have is RH because it accelerated my hair loss 2x faster than it was before. At this age I don't mind some mild gyno if it means I'm helping my hair.

Lol. I am indeed pushing 40. But my point stands. At 21 it's impossible to know if it was to happen anyway since some people have enormous residual hormonal fluxes well into their 20s.
As for the andro blockers ask yourself this - how many guys could you name who are balding but still considered attractive? A lot, right?
How many guys could you name who have bit*h t*ts and are considered attractive? None. It's disgusting.
But it's up to you.

 

[imsupercereal]

Hey guys, so I'm at a crossroads with my hair loss and I could really use some advice from users who have taken Finasteride. I've been on finasteride for 8 months (1.25 mg/day generic) and during this time I have experienced accelerated hair loss across the entire top of my head, and my sides have gotten noticeably thinner. Additionally, I have experienced increased scalp oil, chronic mild testicular pain (has never gone away), increased ejaculatory volume, and decreased thickness of facial hair. I'm really worried that I might have reflex hypoandrogenicity, and I'm very close to just quitting finasteride altogether and relying on minoxidil/dermastamp/massage protocol for preventing further hairloss. Any suggestions? Is recovery from reflex hypoandrogenicity possible?

 

[pcas]

Reflex andro will reduce your hair count - no doubt about it. I stopped taking it over 6 months ago and my hair still has not recovered. I would say that I got maybe 60% back of what I lost. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to get it. But no doubt finasteride has taken a toll on my hair. The worst thing is that I’m naturally a diffuse shedder so I can’t even get a hair transplant. Minoxidil is a good thing to add to your regiment but sometimes I wonder if it doesn’t add largely cosmetic benefits. It makes my hair physically feel thicker because of it’s texture. Right now I’m losing maybe 50 hairs per day in the shower and when I comb first thing in the morning. Much less than the 200 300 400 per day you lose on finasteride. Ask a doctor (or two) if your loss is normal. That’s the only way to know.

 

[Mr SideEffect]

Reflex andro will reduce your hair count - no doubt about it. I stopped taking it over 6 months ago and my hair still has not recovered. I would say that I got maybe 60% back of what I lost. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to get it. But no doubt finasteride has taken a toll on my hair. The worst thing is that I’m naturally a diffuse shedder so I can’t even get a hair transplant. Minoxidil is a good thing to add to your regiment but sometimes I wonder if it doesn’t add largely cosmetic benefits. It makes my hair physically feel thicker because of it’s texture. Right now I’m losing maybe 50 hairs per day in the shower and when I comb first thing in the morning. Much less than the 200 300 400 per day you lose on finasteride. Ask a doctor (or two) if your loss is normal. That’s the only way to know.

Hi there i hope you can help me out,i have also reflex using right now finasteride for like 4 month in these 4 month my hair line got so much worse the sides got also very thin almost evrywhere on my head got so much thinner,i also have oily skin oily scalp increased in facial beard itchy scalp wich whent away because am slowly stopping finasteride, I hope you have any tips for me, how did you stop taking the drug? will it grow back or are my adrogen fckd?

 

[pcas]

Hi there i hope you can help me out,i have also reflex using right now finasteride for like 4 month in these 4 month my hair line got so much worse the sides got also very thin almost evrywhere on my head got so much thinner,i also have oily skin oily scalp increased in facial beard itchy scalp wich whent away because am slowly stopping finasteride, I hope you have any tips for me, how did you stop taking the drug? will it grow back or are my adrogen fckd?

Some of it will grow back and some will not. It's impossible to tell. I had discussions with two doctors who are supposed experts in the field and all I got were should shrugs and a 'it might grow back.....I don't know'. Honestly- it's anyone's guess. What I do know is that the longer you stay on it, the less will grow back. I stopped it cold turkey. I honestly would find it astonishing if someone told me that tapering off it was the best approach to keeping more hair. If I were you, I would stop immediately. But it's your call. It's not just your hair your risking by staying on this btw. This stuff can have devastating effects to your entire endocrine system, which effects your overall health and longevity.

 

[genetically_cursed]

Some of it will grow back and some will not. It's impossible to tell. I had discussions with two doctors who are supposed experts in the field and all I got were should shrugs and a 'it might grow back.....I don't know'. Honestly- it's anyone's guess. What I do know is that the longer you stay on it, the less will grow back. I stopped it cold turkey. I honestly would find it astonishing if someone told me that tapering off it was the best approach to keeping more hair. If I were you, I would stop immediately. But it's your call. It's not just your hair your risking by staying on this btw. This stuff can have devastating effects to your entire endocrine system, which effects your overall health and longevity.

so r u on minoxidil now?