Retino-A is this fake???

[Bod]

I recently bought some Retino-A from InhousePharmacy but I dunno if this stuff is the real McCoy, after reading other postings about Retin-A its suppose to burn your head and some people are only able to use it twice a week, this stuff I am using will allow me to use it twice a day and my head hasn’t burnt once, does anyone have any experience with Retino-A and can they vouch for its authenticity?

 

[hair_tomorrow]

I recently bought some Retino-A from InhousePharmacy but I dunno if this stuff is the real McCoy, after reading other postings about Retin-A its suppose to burn your head and some people are only able to use it twice a week, this stuff I am using will allow me to use it twice a day and my head hasn’t burnt once, does anyone have any experience with Retino-A and can they vouch for its authenticity?

I JUST received my first tube of this stuff. Haven't even opened it up yet as I have at least 1 more hit of the real stuff (Retin-A).

Keep this topic alive and I'll try and report back in about 1 week. I'll be able to tell if it's the real deal or not. I assume it is. Maybe I'm just being naive - but I have faith in United Pharmacies which is where I purchased my Retino-A.

Now that I think of it - there are different strengths of retino-a (and retin-a) available - Telogen Effluvium strongest being the .05%. I believe it also comes in lesser strengths. What strength is yours? I went for the .05% retinoa.

 

[Bod]

I have got the 0.5 Retino-A so its the strongest one, I just found out from the Inhouse website that Retin-A and Retino-A are made by the same company Janssen-Cilag but Reino-A is made by the Indian Janssen-Cilag, so you would of thought that it would be the same!

Keep me updated hair_tomorrow when you apply your Retino-A will be intresting to find out your results.

 

[docj077]

I still do not understand why people are so quick to use Retin-A. It's a Vitamin A derivative just like Accutane. Accutane has been shown to cause hair loss by the same downstream mechanisms as androgenic alopecia and that's why they are trying to develop TGF-beta receptor antagonists for people taking the drug, so they don't begin balding.

Is everyone here positive that Retin-A has only benefits?

I know that it modulates the outer follicular epithelium so it doesn't keratinize, but it would seem to me that the long term effects would be totally detrimental to any regimen.

I'd be very interested to know why one vitamin A derivative causes one response in the skin and causes balding while another is used for male pattern baldness.

 

[hair_tomorrow]

I still do not understand why people are so quick to use Retin-A. It's a Vitamin A derivative just like Accutane. Accutane has been shown to cause hair loss by the same downstream mechanisms as androgenic alopecia and that's why they are trying to develop TGF-beta receptor antagonists for people taking the drug, so they don't begin balding.

Is everyone here positive that Retin-A has only benefits?

I know that it modulates the outer follicular epithelium so it doesn't keratinize, but it would seem to me that the long term effects would be totally detrimental to any regimen.

I'd be very interested to know why one vitamin A derivative causes one response in the skin and causes balding while another is used for male pattern baldness.

Doctor - I can't provide any answers to your questions except to say that retin-a has never been all that great for me - just another weapon in the arsenal.

Supposedley it's good on its own (right Bryan , plus is supposed to increase the effectiveness of minoxidil by 10%.

I still use it sparingly.

Beginning last fall, I used it every 2nd or 3rd day - stopped totally during the summer months because it does make your skin more susceptible to sun damage and just recently started up again every 2nd or 3rd day.

As long as its not doing me any harm - I'll continue to use sparingly in the hopes that it does help.

Anecdotally, I do have several new pubic hairs popping up in my right temple - so maybe it is helping somewhat.

Plus, the users of Spectral DNC and Dr. Lee's 5% w/ retin-a can't be all wrong

The only other info I have is that recently I read a study stating that the lower percentage retin-a is just as effective as the higher percentage stuff in treating balding. Because I don't overdo it anyway - I thought I'd still stick w/ the higher percentage stuff.

 

[ceee]

I still do not understand why people are so quick to use Retin-A. It's a Vitamin A derivative just like Accutane. Accutane has been shown to cause hair loss by the same downstream mechanisms as androgenic alopecia and that's why they are trying to develop TGF-beta receptor antagonists for people taking the drug, so they don't begin balding.

Is everyone here positive that Retin-A has only benefits?

I know that it modulates the outer follicular epithelium so it doesn't keratinize, but it would seem to me that the long term effects would be totally detrimental to any regimen.

I'd be very interested to know why one vitamin A derivative causes one response in the skin and causes balding while another is used for male pattern baldness.

I second this, all forms of retinoids are known to cause hair loss. I've seen numerous people saying they use retin-a and was wondering why, it appears like they don't know why, either.

 

[Strat54]

Retin-A (Tretinoin) and Accutane (Isotretinoin) are both Vitamin A derivates, but Retin-A is much weaker than Accutane. Just check the side effects of both drugs:

Accutane side effects:
• an allergic reaction (difficulty breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives);
• changes in vision, blurred vision, or decreased vision (especially at night);
• painful or constant dryness of the eyes;
• depression including feelings of sadness, crying spells, irritability, changes in sleep patterns, unusual tiredness, trouble concentrating, loss of appetite, and/or suicidal thoughts or other mental problems;
• stomach, chest, or bowel pain;
• rectal bleeding, or severe or bloody diarrhea;
• difficulty or pain when swallowing;
• new or worsening heartburn;
• yellowing of the skin or eyes or persistently dark urine;
• severe headache or dizziness;
• seizures;
• nausea and vomiting;
• joint or muscle pain or bone problems;
• hearing problems or hearing loss;
• trouble breathing;
• fainting;
• increased thirst or urination;
• slurred speech or problems moving;
• leg swelling;
• increased levels of cholesterol or triglyceride (types of fat) in your blood (detected by blood tests).
• Other, less serious side effects are more likely to occur. Continue to take Accutane and talk to your doctor if you experience
• inflammation, dryness, or cracking of the lips;
• dry skin, dry mouth, dry or bleeding nose, dryness of the eyes and/or difficulty wearing contact lenses;
• itching; or
• increased sensitivity of the skin to the sun.

Retin-A side effects:
More common

Burning feeling or stinging skin (severe); lightening of skin of treated area, unexpected; peeling of skin (severe); redness of skin (severe); unusual dryness of skin (severe)

Rare

Darkening of treated skin

Other side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine.

I’ve used the strongest concentration (0.1%) on my face, daily, without any problems. Dosage and strength depend on how your skin reacts to the drug. A higher concentration doesn’t give you better results, but you get results faster.
On your scalp you should use 0.025 or 0.05 because you are also applying other topicals that are irritating.


You should avoid washing the skin treated with tretinoin for at least 1 hour after applying it.

Avoid using any topical medicine on the same area within 1 hour before or after using tretinoin . Otherwise, tretinoin may not work properly or skin irritation might occur.

 

[bubka]

i think you have to be freaking nuts to use it, i thought it was an androgen derivative... used for acne, skin problems... maybe not, but still, when you see people with awesome results with drugs like finasteride / dutasteride, and you go with something else... crazy

 

[Old Baldy]

Doctor: Studies show Retin-A can:

1 - Improve the effect of minoxidil, (or any topical I imagine),

2 - Reduce the amount of AR's, (about 40 percent IIRC),

3 - Causes the follicles to produce more stem cells.

These are the "other" benefits I remember from my reading about Retin-A besides the removal of excess "skin" accumulations on our scalps and allowing the scalp to grow more "youthful" skin. I just can't remember all of them.

 

[docj077]

Doctor: Studies show Retin-A can:

1 - Improve the effect of minoxidil, (or any topical I imagine),

2 - Reduce the amount of AR's, (about 40 percent IIRC),

3 - Causes the follicles to produce more stem cells.

These are the "other" benefits I remember from my reading about Retin-A besides the removal of excess "skin" accumulations on our scalps and allowing the scalp to grow more "youthful" skin. I just can't remember all of them.

I guess there must be a difference between taking a retinoid internally vs. applying it as a topical. Retinoids seem to be quite harmful when taken internally.

 

[Old Baldy]

Doctor: Studies show Retin-A can:

1 - Improve the effect of minoxidil, (or any topical I imagine),

2 - Reduce the amount of AR's, (about 40 percent IIRC),

3 - Causes the follicles to produce more stem cells.

These are the "other" benefits I remember from my reading about Retin-A besides the removal of excess "skin" accumulations on our scalps and allowing the scalp to grow more "youthful" skin. I just can't remember all of them.

I guess there must be a difference between taking a retinoid internally vs. applying it as a topical. Retinoids seem to be quite harmful when taken internally.

Accutane causes hair loss from what I've read Doctor.

 

[docj077]

[quote="Old Baldy":26d3e]Doctor: Studies show Retin-A can:

1 - Improve the effect of minoxidil, (or any topical I imagine),

2 - Reduce the amount of AR's, (about 40 percent IIRC),

3 - Causes the follicles to produce more stem cells.

These are the "other" benefits I remember from my reading about Retin-A besides the removal of excess "skin" accumulations on our scalps and allowing the scalp to grow more "youthful" skin. I just can't remember all of them.

I guess there must be a difference between taking a retinoid internally vs. applying it as a topical. Retinoids seem to be quite harmful when taken internally.

Accutane causes hair loss from what I've read Doctor.[/quote:26d3e]

That's what I've read, as well. I just want to know why their is such a difference between taking accutane internally and retin-A externally. I'm very curious to see the studies that say there was a decrease in androgen receptors with retin-A as I want to know if this was in-vitro or in vivo with it being applied as a topical. If it was in vitro, then those studies would have used retin-A the same way accutane would work in the body and demonstrate it's internal effects and not it's topical effects. If androgen receptors were decreased when used as a topical on in vivo hair follicles, then I would feel better about people taking it.

 

[Old Baldy]

Doctor and College: IIRC Retin-A was tested on prostate cells and found to reduce AR's. Study was done in about 1993 or 1994 IIRC.

 

[docj077]

Doctor and College: IIRC Retin-A was tested on prostate cells and found to reduce AR's. Study was done in about 1993 or 1994 IIRC.

So, it must have been an in vitro study using cultured prostate cells. That doesn't help with people using that as an excuse to use the product topically.

 

[Old Baldy]

Doctor: It was a biopsy study I'm pretty sure. Same as the Dr. Sawaya study where she extracted follicles from men before and after using finasteride. for 6 months. She found AR's dramatically increased because, most likely, due to using finasteride.

I don't know how else you could do a study like this? Transection or biopsy that is.

Anyway, you're right. Just because Retin-A reduced AR's in the prostate doesn't mean it will automatically do that in follicle cells. However, it does provide some strong evidence that it would doesn't it?

Also, like you alluded to before, I read a study where Retin-A increased catagen by an effect on TGF(?) or some such growth factor, etc.

Here it is (from the 2000 EHRS Conference):

P40 RETINOIC ACID INDUCES CATAGEN BY TGF-ß2 UPREGULATION IN HUMAN HAIR FOLLICLES IN VITRO

1Tanja Spexard, 1Ralf Paus, 2Ursula Halsner, 2Sibylle Eberle, 1Karoline Krause, 1Ingrid Moll und 1Kerstin Foitzik. 1Department of Dermatology, Univ. Hosp. Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany, 2ArteMedicMeditra GmbH, Gräfelfing, Germany

Retinoic acid can have adverse effects on human hair follicles. While systemic intake of retinoic acid is able to induce telogen effluvium, topical treatment of human scalp hair follicles with tretinoin may also result in a prolonged anagen phase. Therefore, we have investigated the influence of all-trans retinoic acid (RA) on the growth of human hair follicles in culture.

Human anagen hair follicles were dissected, and organ-cultured in supplemented Williams E Medium for 2, 4 or 6 days with retinoic acid (10-8, 10-11 M), and length of the hair shaft was measured every second day, before follicles were embedded for cryosectioning. Hair shaft length decreased already significantly after two days in the RA-treated group, compared to control. Staging of the hair follicles showed that approx. 80% of the RA-treated hair follicles at day 6 had entered catagen, compared to 30% of catagen follicles in the control group. This corresponded to a relative upregulation of TUNEL+ cells and a downregulation of Ki67+ cells in the RA-treated follicles. Since TGF-ß2 has recently been implicated as an inducer of catagen in human hair follicles, we next studied whether RA treatment had any affect on follicular TGF-ß2 expression. TGF-ß2 immunoreactivity was detected in the outer root sheath (ORS) of normal, untreated anagen VI scalp hair follicles. The lower portion of the hair bulb and the dermal papilla were negative for TGF-ß2. In catagen follicles, TGF-ß2 was also expressed in the regressing epithelial strand. After 4 days of RA treatment, TGF-ß2 was significantly upregulated in anagen hair follicles in the dermal papilla and the dermal sheath. In addition, the intensity of TGF-ß1 and TGF-ß receptor type II (TGFRII) immunoreactivity was increased in the ORS of RA-treated hair follicles, compared to control. We demonstrated that RA is indeed capable of inducing catagen in human hair follicles in vitro and that RA upregulates TGF-ß2 in the dermal papilla and TGFRII expression in the ORS. This shows that RA can induce catagen, possibly via induction of TGF-ß2 and upregulation of its receptor.

So, like you say, in-vitro results can be different than in-vivo results.

 

[Private Ryan]

i posted similar topic sometime ago at HairLossTalk.com when i didn't get the so call side effect from it...

i used both retino-A and Retin-A which the later i got from pharmacy...

there is no different for me and i pretty sure Retino-A is also the real stuff...

 

[Bod]

i posted similar topic sometime ago at HairLossTalk.com when i didn't get the so call side effect from it...

i used both retino-A and Retin-A which the later i got from pharmacy...

there is no different for me and i pretty sure Retino-A is also the real stuff...

I just found your post on HairLossTalk.com, you posted that back in 2003, are you still using Retin-A and have/did you get good results?

 

[tchehov]

I recently bought some Retino-A from InhousePharmacy but I dunno if this stuff is the real McCoy, after reading other postings about Retin-A its suppose to burn your head and some people are only able to use it twice a week, this stuff I am using will allow me to use it twice a day and my head hasn’t burnt once, does anyone have any experience with Retino-A and can they vouch for its authenticity?

I got my Retin-A from Inhouse and I'm sure it's OK - applied a little, tiny amount, and it seared the scalp. Now my crown is bright red.

Like Doctor says, anything which has such a drastic impact on the skin gives cause for concern. I'm using it because I've read everywhere it's good for regrowth and I haven't seen any reports of it causing actual hair loss. But if I was to go on my own first experience of it, I wouldn't touch it again. In a way all this relying on evidence gleaned from the net is unsatisfactory - but it's the best resource we have.

 

[CCS]

Yeah, I'm currious about this too. I heard if you take vitamin-A mega doses orally, it causes hair loss.

But reducing the number of androgen receptors by 40% sounds very appealing. I also want to use it on my face. I'm thinking of putting 2mL of 0.025% retin-A in my minoxidil to make a 0.001% solution, and go with a higher dose on my face. I have not yet bought it, though. Still thinking about it.

 

[CCS]

I just ordered 0.025% retin-A at http://www.minoxidil.com. I hope it does not require a prescription so my order does not get rejected.