Category: Drugs (Cause Hair Loss)

Doc,

Was put on antibiotics for a persistent infection. After 3 weeks of cipro was switched to doxycycline. 2 weeks into that noticed extra hair loss. one week was looking at my hair commenting how well it was doing and a week later noticed much more thinning at the hairline and crown. Are you familiar with any connection between these drugs and hair loss in clinical practice? I suppose any drug could cause TE, huh?

Ironically on some hair loss sites I’ve seen references to monocycline to actual hair growth.

Thanks

Why are people so caught up trying to associate hair loss with a certain medication? First of all, you’re taking antibiotics to treat an infection. It is just a wild guess, but have you considered other reasons why you would be losing your hair… such as the infection that you are taking the antibiotics for, or genetic causes, or just coincidence?

While it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the medication could be the cause of your hair loss, neither doxycycline or ciprofloxacin list hair loss as a common side effect. I don’t know that either officially list “hair growth” as a side effect either, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone attributed weird side effects to various treatments.

I started propecia about 7 months ago, I stopped it one time for a span of about 2 weeks and then restarted and have been consistently using it since. Prior to starting the medication I never saw any shed but my hair was thinning a lot which started when I was in High School. My hair is thin on top and maybe a bit thinner in the back as well. I have read about telogen effluvium and is it possible that propecia has sparked the onset of this? I shed from the sides and the back as well, it’s hard to know to what extent but I feel like the shed from the front and crown would be normal but why would a person shed from the non-affected MPB areas? Is this normal and why would it occur? I will send you pictures along with the post via email.

First, thank you for allowing me to publish your photos. Click them to enlarge.

Thinning hair on the sides and back of the head is not typical from Propecia or from male pattern baldness. You have a somewhat unique problem, but without an examination I really can not draw any conclusions. I would want to perform a miniaturization study of your entire scalp, check the density in various parts, and perform a pull test for telogen effluvium, which I obviously can’t do over the internet.

Perhaps this unusual thinning is coincidental timing to the start of Propecia and there is some underlying medical condition. Diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA) is something your physician may consider, as I don’t want to waste your time making guesses and ultimately problems like yours (which are a bit off our usual case) deserve the best that can be offered, which makes an examination with a good doctor critical.

Hello doctor. About 3-4 weeks ago, I was prescribed tretinoin gel(Vitamin A acid – mild gel 0.01%) for my facial acne. I haven’t noticed anything, but as I was browsing the balding blog entries, I noticed that someone in the past had brought up a question about acne medication causing hair loss.

My question is: does tretinoin gel(Vitamin A acid)cause hair loss if it is applied to the face/cheek region? My doctor did not go over the side effects and the box doesn’t mention anything about side effects. I was told to take one cream and night and another one at morning.

Thank you very much.

Hair loss is listed as a known common side effect of tretinoin (also known as Retin-A), but it is also used by some people in conjunction with minoxidil to grow hair.

Here’s what I wrote in a blog post a few years back — “Retin-A is applied to the skin and can produce burns to the skin. It is believed that a light burn will make the skin more able to absorb other medications (like minoxidil for hair loss), because increased vasculatiry is induced by the burn.”

So will it make you lose hair even if you apply it only to your face? I can’t say for sure, but it is a possibility.

Hi.. I’ve seen a lot of people talking about propecia contributing to loss of body hair, yet it’s not really listed as a side effect. I’ve been taking fin for about 5 months now, and the hair on my legs is now patchy and thin, and very short. The hair on my back also seems much thinner, and I think there is less of it in general. I don’t care about either (I guess it’s kind of nice? that may sound weird). I have noticed my hair loss stopped pretty much at the 2 month mark.

Now my question is: Do you think this could be any indication of future regrowth or thickening?

Also is hair thickening considered regrowth (I’ve always wondered this)?

I love your blog by the way!

I have heard from a small number of patients who describe what you are going though with the less body hair growth, but after a few years of Propecia use. At least your scalp hair loss has subsided… and who could be upset about less back hair, right? Regardless, it doesn’t indicate any future regrowth or thickening, but may be one of those rare side effects.

Finally, hair thickening is not considered regrowth. Hair thickening is… hair thickening.

Hi Im 22 years old and my hair has been thinning really really bad for like the last year or so.

I just started on my second month of propecia and I know its too early to see any changes, but my problem is that I also have an acne problem and my dermatologist is going to put me on Accutane. I know accutane contributes to hair loss also so i just wanted to know if I could be taking both at the same time? or just any advice you can give me.

I doubt that Propecia (finasteride) will protect against possible hair loss from Accutane (isotretinoin). There aren’t known interactions between the two medications, but this subject needs to be discussed with the treating doctor, not with us over the web.