Drugs – Page 288 – Balding Blog

January 17, 2007

Took Accutane at 16, Propecia Not Working at 21 – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman

Thank you for taking the time to listen to me. I am a 21 year old male. I noticed my hair loss at 19 which included a receding small hair line and complete thinning of the hair on the top of my head and upper sides. In less than a year of first noticing hair loss, it became extremely thin and I started to take Propecia. 14 months after Propecia, never missing a dosage, I have seen no results and have very noticably thin hair. Its so thin Im close to the point of shaving my entire head with a razor. Every time I try Rogaine my head is so irritated I can not continue for more than 2 to 3 days. My concern is I took a 6 month dosage of Accutane at 16 and I have absolutley no family history of hailr loss besides a small receding hairlines. I have not noticed any side effects of propecia to the smallest extent. If I pull on my hair, I cannot pull it out except with more than nessecary force. I had extremely thick hair,like everyone in my family, and in less than year my hair thinned in considerable amounts. My doctor hasn’t been to helpfull, more less doesn’t seem too knowledgable. How common is it that 21 year old males have completely bald heads with no history of family hairloss except for receding hairlines? Are the illness I should be worried about? I am not really worried about regrowing my hair, I would more less like to know that im okay. At this point I would be completely satisfied knowing that Accutane caused this and its just bad luck. Is there any way to find out if Accutane cause this? I don’t really know who to talk to, my dermatolgist told me that I have Male Patter Baldness and if I go off propecia i’ll loose all my hair(I am pretty close). In a couple of months it will be 2 years that I first even would have thought I was loosing my hair. If someone had not seen me in this period of time and I were to do my hair the same way, Strong hair products to spike up my hair, they wouldn’t beleive their eyes.

Sorry for the length, any adivce or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

A thorough examination of your hair can easily determine whether you have male pattern baldness or not, so get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to know if this is your case. Although it is typical to see a family history of baldness in balding patients, androgenetic alopecia can affect only one member of a family with no obvious baldness in other family members as it can skip generations.

Accutane (isotretinoin) is an anti acne medication and hair thinning is one of its known side effect independent of genetic balding. It may also accelerate the male pattern hair loss if taken in the active balding phase. Many people do report thinner hair shafts after using Accutane. I don’t believe Accutane has a delayed effect on hair growth spanning years, therefore I would guess that the hair loss that you have now should not be the result of using Accutane a few years ago.

January 16, 2007

My Doctor Said Shock Loss After a Hair Transplant Will Regrow – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello,

Towards the end of November I underwent hair transplant surgery. Recently, I’ve been experiencing incremental hair loss and I’m becoming concerned. I spoke to my doctor and he said that additional hair loss or shock loss commonly occurs in post-op patients and that the lost hair will grow back in time. Well, after reading some of your blog entries it seems that my doctors explanation is conflicting. As such, I was hoping for your expert opinion in respect to my particular case. As background information, I’m 26 years old and I’m taking both Propecia and Rogaine. Thanks in advance for your help, as well as the informative blog.

As you are on Propecia (finasteride 1mg), you are taking the most effective step at preventing shock loss after a hair transplant. In young men, my experience has shown that shock loss is rare when the patient is on Propecia, but if it is the original miniaturized hair that you are losing, it may not come back. Hopefully, the new hair from the transplant will more than offset the hair lost from shock. I have no crystal ball, so you must wait out the regrowth cycle (3-5 months).

January 16, 2007

Took Propecia and Minoxidil, Then Just Propecia, Now I Want Both Again… – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello, I know people thank you all the time for this blog, but I think you deserve it again. Thanks!

Well, unfortunately for me, life threw me a curveball. My hairline started to recede already at the age of 18. I’m 20 now and have been on propecia for a year and seven months. My hair hasn’t gotten worse since I’ve been on propecia. I started taking minoxidil through the Extreme Hair Therapy regimen. It made my hair look a little better, but eventually, I ran out of patience. After 10 months of taking the minoxidil, I stopped. That was about 4 months ago. My question to you is, if I decide to start using minoxidil again, will I regain what I may have lost having stopped it? Bare in mind that when I stopped using the minoxidil, I still continued taking propecia.

I want to preserve as much hair as I can. Eventually, I want to get a transplant done so I can fix my frontal hairline.

Thank you very much for taking time to read this.

I am not clear. Did you lose hair after stopping minoxidil? If so, there is value in it and you should continue its use again. If you lost no hair after stopping minoxidil, I would not go back on it and just stick to the Propecia. I can not say if taking minoxidil will help, but it is worth a try if you had a clear benefit from its previous use.

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January 15, 2007

How to Transition from Taking Propecia at Night to Taking it In the Morning? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi,

I’ve been taking propecia in the evening for a little over 2 months now. I have read your comments that state it is better to take propecia when you wake up and I was wondering what the best way to make the transition is. Should I skip a dosage at night then take it when I wake up and continue taking it in the morning after that?

Just take one the next morning. A 50% increase in the dose for one day will be insignificant in the management of your hair loss.

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January 15, 2007

My Dermatologist Prescribed Olux Foam for Hair Loss Prevention – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

My dermatologist recently prescribed me olux foam to apply to my scalp to help prevent mpb, not really sure what it does or why he prescribed it, any ideas? thank you in advance

Olux Foam is a topical corticosteroid. As such, it has no value for the prevention of male patterned genetic hair loss. The chronic use of any steroid is bad for you. It does get absorbed by the body and if you take it over prolonged periods of time it might suppress adrenal function. Steroids are known to cause hair loss, although the dose of skin application may not be enough for that complication. This drug is used mostly for psoriasis. Are you sure that this is not what your doctor is treating?

January 12, 2007

Taking Propecia with Liquid – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Sorry for the naive question, but would Propecia’s efficiency be affected if not taken with water (i.e, Milk, Cola, etc)?

Propecia will work even if you take it with whiskey (although if you take it in the morning and take it with whiskey, then you probably have an alcohol problem and not just a hair issue). Water, milk, or cola will do just fine.

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January 12, 2007

Why Might Propecia Not Work for Some Men? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Dr. Rassman, I’m a 22 year old male and have been on Propecia for a little over a month now. I’ve heard you say that it takes 8-12 months to see if the drug is effective and I’m just curious, why would the drug NOT work for all men? We all have DHT and this drug has the ability to eliminate or reduce the amounts of it in our body. Do some men have larger amounts of DHT than others? Thank you for your time and thank you for your blog, I have to say it is the most helpful website on the Internet. Take care!

It is my belief that Propecia works in 100% of men your age. What I mean by “works” is that it will slow, stop, or reverse hair loss. As you have been taking it for only a month, it is far too early to judge just what your benefit is. Did you get your hair mapped out for miniaturization? Such mapping will give you a measurement by which to judge any benefit. The amount of DHT your body makes is a direct relationship to the testosterone made, as it is a breakdown product of the testosterone. Men with lower testosterone might have lower DHT levels.

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January 12, 2007

A New Drug for Hair Loss, NEOSH101 by Neosil – Balding Blog

Hello and thanks so much to you and your colleagues for creating this wonderful resource.

I recently read an article about phase II results of a new experimental topical hair loss treatment called NEOSH101 by a company named Neosil. The study includes statistical results, but I am not sure how these results compare to those of mainstream solutions such as Finasteride. Assuming that the results are true, how does this treatment stack up?

Please see this link for the info: http://www.sys-con.com/read/319216.htm

If the link is dead please search for NEOSH101 in google to find the press release. Thanks

There’s some information at these 2 links:

This is a drug in early clinical trials. Time will be needed to see if its value is as significant as finasteride or minoxidil (this comparison with minoxidil is in process at this time). I am encouraged by such clinical research and hopeful that it will be better than minoxidil.

January 12, 2007

Could Pre-Existing Gynecomastia Return with Propecia Use? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Is it possible to increase a pre-existing case of gynecomastia when taking Propecia? If the gyno is surgically removed, is it possible for it to return when continuing use of the drug?

If you had gynecomastia without the Propecia and it was successfully treated by surgical excision, the impacted target organ (the particular breast tissue that was the cause) is now gone, so I would be surprised to see you get it again from Propecia.

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January 12, 2007

I’m Mostly Bald In the Front — Am I Still at Risk of Shock Loss? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dear Dr Rassman

Recently you replied to a young man who had a transplant with you that:

“More importantly, having surgery too early may actually accelerate hair loss and you may end up with negative (worse off) results”

Were you referring to shock loss? I am 26, and also considering FUE surgery, but in the front of my head where it is actually bald now. I was told that I am not in much risk of shock loss because of this, and that transplanted hairs will not be in between existing ones. Would you agree?

I dont want to make my hair loss worse, is there a chance of this even though I will not be going near my existing hair (which is actually quite full). Thank you for your time.

Any 26 year old is at risk for shock hair loss after transplantation. Propecia (finasteride 1mg) is your best protection against it. What you already lost may be permanent, but the remaining hairs and all of the miniaturized hairs that are still present could be lost. What did the mapping of your scalp for miniaturization show? That will define the hairs at risk. Even in areas where your ‘eye’ says it is full, there still might have 50% miniaturization in which these miniaturized hairs could fall out. You need to know the answer to mapping question for a fully informed patient.

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