Been on Propecia for 5 months, need some advise please

[jason_in_cali]

Hi Everyone,

I've been on Propecia for the past 5 months and have been on 5% min and nizoral for the past year. My hair loss has almost come to a complete stop with the addition of finasteride to my regimen, but I am having one major problem.

Ever since I have added Propecia to my regimen, my skin has been incredibly oily and I have consistently been getting cystic acne. I understand that it is normal to experience this in the beginning while your body attempts to adjust to hormonal changes, but it's been 5 months and the cystic acne is still relentless. I had moderate acne in high school and college--I'm now 26--but never cystic acne.

At this point I need to make some changes, and am considering 3 options:

1) Dropping finasteride and adding more Topicals. Sticking with minoxidil and adding 5% spironolactone cream and folligen. I used revivogen a few years ago and spironolactone just before getting on finasteride. The results from revivogen and spironolactone may have made some difference, but from my experience were definitely inferior to finasteride.

2) Staying on current regimen and adding a low dose of Accutane. I took Accutane at a regular dose in college (80mg/day) and had to stop after experiencing bad side effects like chronic eczema all over my face among other things. Some of these side effects have been hanging around to this day, although they are fairly minor compared to before. I'm thinking a low dose of Accutane at around 10mg-20mg/day could be beneficial.

3) Switching to dutasteride. It's a little scary since dutasteride has such a short track record, but I've heard that it has cleared up acne for some people in addition to it's obvious effects on hair loss.

I'm leaning toward option 1 right now, but I would appreciate input from any of you guys on this matter. Frankly, the cystic acne is pretty unbearable. Also, I'd love to hear from anyone on here who has also experienced cystic acne while on finasteride.

Thanks

 

[BadHairDecade]

Moved to MGHLD

 

[chewbaca]

acne is the lesser evil compared to male pattern baldness....i suggest continuing the regiment if u dont have other serious side effects...

 

[drinkrum]

Just give it some time on finasteride. The acne is due to extra testosterone, which your body will regulate back to normal with some time. Finasteride, actually, will probably get rid of your acne problems to some extent after you pass this small hurdle.

D.

 

[Fallout Boy]

dude just get a good face wash or something .. dont drop the finasteride over acne .. you will be kicking yourself if you do .. especially if youre a responder

oh and i thought accutane could thin hair or speed up male pattern baldness or something of that sort.. i read it somewhere nto sure if its true.

 

[talbin]

I acutally had the same problem man. I just got back on accutane and its already going away and my skin looks great. I have really oily skin anyway so its fine. Just get on 1 40MG pill a day for a couple months and it should clear it right up. Accutane is also the only thing that has gotten rid of those itchy red bumps that you get on your head too.

 

[jason_in_cali]

Well, looks like I'm actually going with option four. I've dropped my dosage on finasteride from .25mg to .1mg per day. I had already dropped my dosage from 1mg to .25mg months ago because I was getting cystic acne REALLY bad all over my face.

I'm hoping that with the addition of spironolactone and folligen to my regimen along with the .1mg dose that I can at least maintain what I have. Obviously I realize that the .1mg dose is less than ideal, but it is better than taking no finasteride at all. I've looked at the studies, and the .1mg dose should still reduce DHT levels to ~40% below baseline and will reduce my testosterone levels a bit below where they are currently as a result of taking finasteride. The cystic acne is definitely a result of elevated testosterone, but I can't risk waiting and hoping that my body will balance out (I've seen guys on this forum who continuosly had problems with acne while on finasteride) since I've already experienced scarring from the acne.

If this .1mg dose minimizes the cystic acne I'll consider upping the dose slowly over the course of time until I'm back at .25mg (which almost completely stopped my hair loss by the way) and if I start losing hair rapidly at the .1mg dose I'll up it immediately and jump on accutane.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[DJW]

Hi Everyone,

I've been on Propecia for the past 5 months and have been on 5% min and nizoral for the past year. My hair loss has almost come to a complete stop with the addition of finasteride to my regimen, but I am having one major problem.

Ever since I have added Propecia to my regimen, my skin has been incredibly oily and I have consistently been getting cystic acne. I understand that it is normal to experience this in the beginning while your body attempts to adjust to hormonal changes, but it's been 5 months and the cystic acne is still relentless. I had moderate acne in high school and college--I'm now 26--but never cystic acne.

At this point I need to make some changes, and am considering 3 options:

1) Dropping finasteride and adding more Topicals. Sticking with minoxidil and adding 5% spironolactone cream and folligen. I used revivogen a few years ago and spironolactone just before getting on finasteride. The results from revivogen and spironolactone may have made some difference, but from my experience were definitely inferior to finasteride.

2) Staying on current regimen and adding a low dose of Accutane. I took Accutane at a regular dose in college (80mg/day) and had to stop after experiencing bad side effects like chronic eczema all over my face among other things. Some of these side effects have been hanging around to this day, although they are fairly minor compared to before. I'm thinking a low dose of Accutane at around 10mg-20mg/day could be beneficial.

3) Switching to dutasteride. It's a little scary since dutasteride has such a short track record, but I've heard that it has cleared up acne for some people in addition to it's obvious effects on hair loss.

I'm leaning toward option 1 right now, but I would appreciate input from any of you guys on this matter. Frankly, the cystic acne is pretty unbearable. Also, I'd love to hear from anyone on here who has also experienced cystic acne while on finasteride.

Thanks

If I were you I would probably seriously consider a recourse that doesn't involve Accutane. I'm not sure if you're aware but hair loss is most definitely a side effect of Accutane, and it's one that seems to be more common than you would expect if you take a look around the internet (granted only the people that have problems will post). The reason Accutane can cause hair loss is because alopecia is a side effect of hypervitaminosis A or Vitamin A toxicity - Accutane is basically an enormous dose of Vitamin A I believe. The reason I felt the need to respond to this post is because you mentioned having eczema as a side effect when you were on Accutane. I believe such a side effect is also a side effect of vit. A toxicity, and if you were susceptible to one side effect it seems that you were probably at elevated risk for others.

If you knew all of this already...please ignore

 

[gollum88]

re:

Have you just tried all the prescription topicals like Differin and Azelex.
I would recommend Azelex(also called Skinoren). It was pretty much a miracle cure for me. Everybody is different, but its worth a try for a couple of months.

 

[jason_in_cali]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I've been on the .1mg dose for two days now, and it is definitely helping with the acne. The handful of cysts I had are healing nicely and I can't feel any forming under the surface--and trust me, you can feel them well before they are visible. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will work!

If I were you I would probably seriously consider a recourse that doesn't involve Accutane. I'm not sure if you're aware but hair loss is most definitely a side effect of Accutane, and it's one that seems to be more common than you would expect if you take a look around the internet (granted only the people that have problems will post). The reason Accutane can cause hair loss is because alopecia is a side effect of hypervitaminosis A or Vitamin A toxicity - Accutane is basically an enormous dose of Vitamin A I believe. The reason I felt the need to respond to this post is because you mentioned having eczema as a side effect when you were on Accutane. I believe such a side effect is also a side effect of vit. A toxicity, and if you were susceptible to one side effect it seems that you were probably at elevated risk for others.

DJW,

Yes, I'm aware that one of the reported side effects of Accutane is hair loss, although it is general hair loss all over the head. I never experienced this side effect when I was on a 80mg/day dose. It seems to be a result of vitamin A toxicity and the sebacceous glands shrinking, although no one has been able to pinpoint exactly why it occurs in some people. Biotin supposedly can help stave off hair loss from Accutane, and it is also commonly recommended for people taking high doses of B5 (which can also cause hair loss). If I do get back on accutane it will probably be at 20mg/day, which is about 1/4 the typically prescribed dose for my bodyweight. From what I hear, side effects are pretty rare at 20mg besides a bit of dryness.

I acutally had the same problem man. I just got back on accutane and its already going away and my skin looks great. I have really oily skin anyway so its fine. Just get on 1 40MG pill a day for a couple months and it should clear it right up. Accutane is also the only thing that has gotten rid of those itchy red bumps that you get on your head too.

Talbin,

Experiencing any side effects at 40mg/day of accutane?

Have you just tried all the prescription topicals like Differin and Azelex.
I would recommend Azelex(also called Skinoren). It was pretty much a miracle cure for me. Everybody is different, but its worth a try for a couple of months.

gollum88,

I am familiar with the two medications you recommended. Differin, which is a retinoid, is really only effective on comedones and other forms of mild acne. In general most topicals are not very effective on cystic acne since it is hormone related and also because the acne develops deep under the surface of your skin. Azelex has the same ingredient that Dr. Lee puts in his minoxidil to make Xandrox. I believe it works as an androgen blocker, but i'm not sure. Some of the other posters on this forum could probably shed some light on the exact mechanism by which it works. I do know that it causes hypo-pigmentation in some individuals. I experienced it first hand when I was using Xandrox. Azelex may have some positive effects on cystic acne, but in general most topicals are not very effective. At the moment the lower dose of finasteride seems to be getting rid of the acne, but if for seem reason it doesn't in the future or if I need to up my finasteride dose I will consider Azelex as a potential treatment. I have used topical retinoids in the past and they didn't do a whole lot, so I probably wouldn't try differin.[/quote]