Can Nizoral cause your hair to thin out even more?

[Todd]

There are dozens of clinical trials that proves ketoconazole increases the number of anagen follicles and thickens the hair shaft. There's even some studies that demonstrates how ketoconazole alone can stop male pattern baldness.

No, I won't bother to link to these, because a simple search on pubmed, or even in google scholar, will give you these articles right away.

But yes: hair loss is a side effect of nizoral. It's also a side effect of minoxidil. Do the math; if both minoxidil and keto increases the number of anagen follicles, why do you think both treatments induces hair loss early on in the treatment?

 

[gh05]

Re Todd's post (from Dec 2009)...is it still accepted that Nizoral can help slow down or even stop hair loss? I've only ever heard of the one small scale study and top hair transplant doctors like Dr Rassman of balding blog say that there is no scientific evidece that it can help prevent hair loss.

I've also noticed my hair getting thinner since using it. Whether this is down to the keto or just natural male pattern baldness process, I don't know.

 

[hairhoper]

Yeh there are only 2 very small studies suggesting it helps hairloss. I'm pretty skeptical myself.

However there does seem to be truth in its antiandrogen properties (probably very mild when applied topically as a shampoo, especially at the anti-fungal dosage on the bottle).

I know quoting wikipedia is lol but hey, you can google round for the studies involving ketakonazole as a prostate cancer treatment yourselves. Here's what wikipedia says:

As an antiandrogen, ketoconazole operates through at least two mechanisms of action. First, and most notably, high oral doses of ketoconazole (e.g. 400 mg 3x/day) block both testicular and adrenal androgen biosynthesis, leading to a reduction in circulating testosterone levels.[16] Ketoconazole produces this effect through inhibition of cytochrome P450 and 17,20-lyase, which are involved in the synthesis and degradation of steroids, including the precursors of testosterone. Due to its efficacy at reducing systemic androgen levels, ketoconazole has been used as a treatment for androgen-dependent prostate cancer.[17] Second, ketoconazole is an androgen receptor antagonist, competing with androgens such as testosterone and DHT for androgen receptor binding. This effect is thought to be quite weak, even with high oral doses of ketoconazole.[18]

[16] Witjes FJ, Debruyne FM, Fernandez del Moral P, Geboers AD (May 1989). "Ketoconazole high dose in management of hormonally pretreated patients with progressive metastatic prostate cancer. Dutch South-Eastern Urological Cooperative Group". Urology 33 (5): 411–5. PMID 2652864.
[17] De Coster R, Wouters W, Bruynseels J (January 1996). "P450-dependent enzymes as targets for prostate cancer therapy". J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol. 56 (1–6 Spec No): 133–43. doi:10.1016/0960-0760(95)00230-8. PMID 8603034.
[18] Eil C (August 1992). "Ketoconazole binds to the human androgen receptor". Horm. Metab. Res. 24 (8): 367–70. doi:10.1055/s-2007-1003337. PMID 1526623.

Despite all that I've found personally it makes f***-all difference to my hair so I've stopped using it.

 

[RP3X]

Interesting info from posters...

I notice on the 2nd day my hairs floppy and can see my skull... its not the best look. nizoral is great but I have noticed even using baby shampoo and other shampoos its similar.

Really am stumped, mind you I belive a number of things factor into this for one thing if people have long hair or grow out there hair and then wash it, your hairs gonna sorta span out naturally after 2 days and thus look like crap and thin hair.

I feel perhaps I just need a good hair cut again lol

I still have gut feeling nizoral is not doing much for my hair apart from making it look thick for 1 day and getting rid of the itch! just for the itch its still worth it lol

 

[hairhoper]

Yep, if you have thin hair you need to keep it shortish and wash it every day I reckon (especially if you're using minoxidil!!).

My hair's too long at the mo and looks like sh*t, but I'm scared of hairdresser's now, which is so pathetic I know. :/

 

[park3662]

I started using generic nizoral for a scalp dermatitis issue, and 4 months later i started freaking out convinced i was having hair loss. I realized the hairloss was a product of the nizoral and it may have not even been hairloss, it might have just been giving my hair the appearance of being thin. I stopped using it a week and a half ago and my hair has already improved.

 

[Georgie]

I always shed like crazy when I used it. Hair melted out of my head in the shower.

 

[abcdefg]

Nizoral being part of the big 3 is a stretch IMO. You may as well say saw palmetto, stinging nettle, or a hundred other things might help with male pattern baldness. So so often we get a few small studies that suggest something like SP helps with DHT, yet real world results dont always agree with that.
I think keto works to help with androgens a little, but a shampoo just isnt significant enough to make a big difference. It needs to stay on the scalp for hours not minutes if the dose of 1 or 2 percent is even enough. male pattern baldness needs MAJOR androgen changes to get results. 5 or 10 percent local inhibition wont do much.
Using nizoral probably wont hurt, but long term its pretty insignificant IMO to be part of the big 3 or really should be big 1 - propecia.

 

[Georgie]

Nizoral being part of the big 3 is a stretch IMO. You may as well say saw palmetto, stinging nettle, or a hundred other things might help with male pattern baldness. So so often we get a few small studies that suggest something like SP helps with DHT, yet real world results dont always agree with that.
I think keto works to help with androgens a little, but a shampoo just isnt significant enough to make a big difference. It needs to stay on the scalp for hours not minutes if the dose of 1 or 2 percent is even enough. male pattern baldness needs MAJOR androgen changes to get results. 5 or 10 percent local inhibition wont do much.
Using nizoral probably wont hurt, but long term its pretty insignificant IMO to be part of the big 3 or really should be big 1 - propecia.

I tend to agree. Not enough time for absorption, not a high enough dose of ket. Topical antiandrogens which stay on the scalp ie your topical spiros, fluridils, RU’s probably a better way of attacking dht topically.

 

[Timii]

I just want to reopen this thread. I have the same problem. Hair looks so horribly thin that I can see my skull under light. I don't know if I should trust those studies. Should I suffer temporary because of this cosmetical thinning effect but get rewarded with denser hair in the long run or is it simply destroying my hair?

 

[Zohaib Khan]

So is Nizoral a yes or no?

 

[Timii]

So is Nizoral a yes or no?

Look up my thread on it

 

[whatevr]

All this crap did was dry out my hair making it look like sh*t-thin straw. I was on it for a year, and after I quit it made no difference to my hair whatsoever. f*** ketoconazole, and f*** whoever said this sh*t should be a part of the 'Big 3'. Amen.

 

[couldntthinkofaname]

yes definitely...dont use it more than 1xper week, i would even say not more than 2x per month


my hair look never shittier than when i used nizoral 2/3 times per week

 

[couldntthinkofaname]

All this crap did was dry out my hair making it look like sh*t-thin straw. I was on it for a year, and after I quit it made no difference to my hair whatsoever. f*** ketoconazole, and f*** whoever said this sh*t should be a part of the 'Big 3'. Amen.

i noticed this thin straw look too

exactly the same

 

[persistentone]

I will add to the chorus here. Ketoconazole 2% is giving me a terrible result. My hair starts to shed within days of using it, and I get increased itching on the scalp. I have learned over time that the shed rate closely corresponds to me to scalp itching and inflammation. That's an easy way for me to know if something is acting therapeutically, as the sudden increase in itching is almost always a sign that shedding will start as well (and it always does).

I asked my doctor about the studies on ketoconazole and he said they were highly contested studies, and he is claiming that post marketing studies on ketoconazole are listing alopecia as a possible side effect. I asked him to link me to studies and he could not, but if I find them I will come back and post here.

 

[djhype]

You know how bad the big 3 suck when Nizoral is part of the trifecta

 

[Yar]

Heya,

I posted here a while ago with some pics of my hair... A few people thought I may have been thinning, so I purchased some Nizoral 2% shampoo and started using it close to 2-months ago. It didn't really look like I was balding but I felt my hair thickness had really started to change and given my family history I figured better safe than sorry. I also suffer from some dandruff so I felt I was killing two birds with one stone.

At first I noticed the nizoral was making my hair much thicker and healthier looking... But over the last few weeks I've noticed my hair is getting extremely thin on top... When it's wet it looks like I have hardly any hair covering the top of my head! When dry it looks much better... But still, it is quite clear that my hair has really, really thinned out over the past month or so. Even my family notices the difference.

My question is, could Nizoral have caused my hair to thin out and is this normal? I never really see my hair falling out... It just seems to get thinner. Is this just shedding? I find it hard to believe my hair could have thinned out this bad in less than 2-months.

I'm really worried that this is some sort of super-aggressive form of male pattern baldness. I'll be seeing the Doctor sometime this week to talk to him about Propecia... But has anyone else had similar experiences with Nizoral 2%?

I'll add some before/after nizoral photos later to give you guys a better idea...

Yes, if you wash it often it leads to the fact that it inhibits DHT, and DHT is the grease of the head, fat is necessary for hair. I also noticed this, it helps when you

 

[James Carwell]

Heya,

I posted here a while ago with some pics of my hair... A few people thought I may have been thinning, so I purchased some Nizoral 2% shampoo and started using it close to 2-months ago. It didn't really look like I was balding but I felt my hair thickness had really started to change and given my family history I figured better safe than sorry. I also suffer from some dandruff so I felt I was killing two birds with one stone.

At first I noticed the nizoral was making my hair much thicker and healthier looking... But over the last few weeks I've noticed my hair is getting extremely thin on top... When it's wet it looks like I have hardly any hair covering the top of my head! When dry it looks much better... But still, it is quite clear that my hair has really, really thinned out over the past month or so. Even my family notices the difference.

My question is, could Nizoral have caused my hair to thin out and is this normal? I never really see my hair falling out... It just seems to get thinner. Is this just shedding? I find it hard to believe my hair could have thinned out this bad in less than 2-months.

I'm really worried that this is some sort of super-aggressive form of male pattern baldness. I'll be seeing the Doctor sometime this week to talk to him about Propecia... But has anyone else had similar experiences with Nizoral 2%?

I'll add some before/after nizoral photos later to give you guys a better idea...

I have to agree as the same thing happened to me. I was receding a little, started using Nizoral and boom the more I used it (every second day) the more I could see my hair thinning faster and faster. I've got a sneaky suspicion Nizoral actually causes hair thinning.

 

[-Synergy-]

The brand name Nizoral is complete garbage. Take that stuff in the back yard and hit it with a baseball bat. I can only speak for the brand name Nizoral as it has sulphate in it. It drys the hair so bad it is ridiculous and I lost a ton of hair because of it. Maybe keto is ok and helps without the sulphate but I have no idea and never tried it that way(to afraid now). A dry scalp is not a healthy scalp. Damage the stratum corneum through transdermal water loss and watch your scalp turn into a ball of fire and your hair jump ship.