I'm a 21 year old guy, and I was on minocycline from August of 2003 to March 2004. I began experiencing hair loss (that I noticed at least) in late October 2003. My hair loss looked like receding only at the corners of my hairline, but I realized soon that it was pretty diffuse throughout the entire top of my head all the way back to the crown.
I went to the derm then and asked him if anything that I was taking could cause hair loss after reading online that excess vitamin A can cause hair loss (I was also using topical vit A. derivatives, Differin in the morning and Tretinoin at night; from perusing some other hair loss boards on the net it *seems* that more than a few people experienced hair thinning while using Differin). He said to me then he was 80% sure that it was male pattern baldness but if anything was causing the thinning it was likely the minocycline. He gave me a trial bottle of 5% minoxidil and I was on my way.
I began reading the boards around then, and I was pretty close to starting propecia. I decided just to shave my head and wait a year to see if anything improved. It is now pretty much a year and a month later and, while my hair is still thin at times, I feel like it is vastly improved. I'm fairly ositive that my hairline is coming back, and it *seems* that the corners of my temples are returning as well. I also see a lot of little hairs growing throughout the entire top of my head which I did not notice in March of 2004, and I believe I inspected pretty closely. The most objective way I can tell that there has been improvement since I didn't actually take pictures is that I am able to use gel again to hold the hair up.
I should make a disclaimer though that *if* my hair loss wasn't male pattern baldness, there are also a few other factors besides the acne treatments that might have played a role. I was living outside the dorms for the first time in Sept. 2003 and my diet became pretty bad, nothing but canned soup and cereal. The house I was living in was also very, very old, and a roommate of mine also experienced some overall thinning on top (both he and I are Asian as well). Both he and I are living in a newer house this year, and his hair has rebounded fairly nicely from what I can tell.
Sorry to write the long book, but I know how distressing the uncertainty of hair loss can be. I still fall back into it every now and then.
