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A Story From Yemen – A Child with Alopecia Universalis

Hello, my name is Samah and I am from Yemen. I want to share my prolonged journey with Alopecia. I was diagnosed with Alopecia when I was ten years old. I had suffered since then going through all different stages of it until I reached the last stage where I had not a single hair on my body. I have tried many medications to alleviate my problem and not many of them were of any good. I am currently using Diphencyprone and it is serving me better than the previous prescriptions I had taken. However, I have to keep using it for the rest of my life in order for its effect to last.Since I got the disease, my biggest worry was to pass Alopecia to my children. I was so scared of the idea that any of my children could actually inherit it from me and suffer the way I did. I am 31 years old now and married with two kids. I was happy that my first child was healthy, but my fears came about in my second child (Hassan).

Hassan was a healthy happy child, but giving the war situation and the fear we have lived in, Hassan’s psychological health was affected by the air-strikes and bombings which left him vulnerable to Alopecia. One day, I painfully noticed a small bald spot in Hassan’s head. At first I thought it was a temporary thing and that it would go away after a while, but unfortunately, his hair kept falling until he reached the last stage of Alopecia with no hair left. I felt helpless and hopeless knowing how many doctors I had tried with no use.

One day, I accidentally watched a video on YouTube about a doctor from UAE who was talking about a new natural medicine that helped many people with the same problem. I thought back then to myself “why don’t we try that!” So I contacted the doctor and told him about Hassan. He was interested in Hassan’s condition and suggested he tries the medicine and apply it for a sufficient period of time. The doctor had pointed that since the remedy is made of natural components, it will take time for it to show real results. Therefore, I got the medicine and kept applying it on Hassan for over six months. Fortunately, Hassan’s hair was restored and kept growing normally until he is fine again.

With hope being brought back to my heart, I am writing this because I am truly thankful and hope that my story could help any kid who is suffering from the same problem to get the right help.

Here are some pictures of Hassan before and after applying the medicine:

This is a touching story from war-torn Yemen about a loving mother and her strugle with alopecia universalis for herself and her children. We read and hear much about the war in Yemen, the cruel deaths and the starvation and we all feel great empathy for the people, but we rarely get a glimpse at the very human elements of a mother/child bond like this unique situation, something what reaches many people in the US. Alopecia Universalis is a genetic disorder that may still yet impact her child in the future. These pictures could be of my grandchildren or yours!


2018-01-08 01:35:33A Story From Yemen – A Child with Alopecia Universalis

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What is the story about ‘Brain Fog’ caused by finasteride?

I’ve been on the Fin and Minox for about a year and a half now. I wasn’t aware of the brain fog side effect of Fin until a few days ago when I researched it, I’ve been struggling with bad brain fog for the past year. I feel dissociated, tired, weak, and like my brain is working at 50% capacity. I chalked this up to me going through a tough time in my personal life but I’m past all of that and the brain fog is still there. I’ve been taking 1.25 mg and I just recently started cutting those in half, so about .625 mg daily before bed. For those who have/had brain fog what would you recommend here to reduce or get rid of brain fog?

If you are one of the few that get ‘Brain Fog’ from finasteride, then stop the drug. We have known that there are central nervous symptoms caused by finasteride since the original research was done, although it was very infrequent.


2019-04-10 06:05:58What is the story about ‘Brain Fog’ caused by finasteride?

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Storing Propecia in a Cool Place

Hi Dr Rassman,

I need some help with storage of propecia. I live in an area where the weather usually goes up well above 30C (sometimes up to 42C). On the box of propecia, it says it must be stored below 30C. I cannot keep it in the bathroom anymore as its too hot. Should i keep it in the fridge or is that too low of a temperature?

how low can the temperature be for storing purposes? thanks heaps!

In your case, I would store it in your refrigerator, as the temperature in there is going to be below 30C unless it is broken (considering a fridge is normally around 5C). I would wrap it in an insulating type cover, because you would want to avoid condensation.

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Stopping Rogaine

doctor,
i have been using rogaine for about 4 years. i went to the 5% a couple of years ago, not too long after that, i only have been applying it a night, because it does tend to irritate my scalp. i thought it was helping me keep the hair i have, no regrown hair at all, but now at age 40, in the last 6 months i have seen an increase in hair loss. i have a good amount of hair on the top, but it is thinning worse and my bald spot has gotten bigger. should i stop rogaine even though i only use it at night, and if i do stop it will it accelerate my hair loss because i have been using it for the last few years? i realize i should have kept up with my dermatologist. any info is appreciated.

The use of Rogaine once a day has poor value. Twice a day is the recommended dosage. If you are a male and you have not started Propecia, then I would suggest that you do so,as it is the best way to control the crown loss and possibly reverse it. That does require a doctor’s prescription and should be accompanied by an examination of your head for miniaturization. If you have any Rogaine dependence (unlikely with a once a day treatment) then withdrawing it might risk more hair loss. So if you are a male, then continue what you are doing and make only one change, taking Propecia for 8 months. If you are a female, then there is no other choice but to go on Rogaine twice a day.


2005-12-13 11:16:22Stopping Rogaine

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Stopping Propecia After a Month

I am 27 yr old male. Slight thinning in crown for 1 yr. So I took Propecia for 1 month but decided to stop since my thinning process is rather mild. My concern is will my thinning condition worsen with the stopping of propecia after 1 month of consumption. Is my hair already dependent or addicted to the medication? Will my hair thinning process goes back to original speed or end up with accelerating thinning speed?

I doubt that one month of Propecia will have caused dependency. Before you stop it, you should discuss this with your prescribing doctor (as with any prescription medication), and you should be getting your hair mapped out for miniaturization to find out a baseline for genetic hair loss. Maybe you don’t have it, maybe you do. Be smart with the decision and find out.

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Stopping minoxidil before a hair transplant

I started using minoxidil earlier this year for my temporal recession (I’ve already been on finasteride for a while). I’ve decided that I would like to pursue a FUE transplant for my temples, eventually. When I think about it, it seems to make sense to stop minoxidil and to wait for the dependent hairs to fall out before getting the transplant. That way, the hairline that is not dependent on topicals emerges, and the transplant can fill those areas as fully as possible. Does that make sense? I haven’t had an initial consult yet and I think I may want to even put that off until after I stop the minoxidil so I can get an evaluation for my hairline without it and then pursue a transplant shortly after.

I tell my patients to continue it for up to 3 days before the hair transplant and then pick it up again at about 1-2 weeks after the transplant so you don’t lose the minoxidil dependent hairs.


2020-11-02 12:33:20Stopping minoxidil before a hair transplant

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Stopping minoxidil and finasteride

Is it possible to keep some of the growth you had if you stop minoxidil and/or finasteride? Or will it eventually fall back to where you started initially?

Any improvements depend upon continuation of these drugs. Stopping them, causes catch up hair loss

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Stopping Minoxidil After Just 3 Months

Hi Dr Rassman
I’ve been taking propecia and minoxidil for about 3 months. Now i feel there is improvement in my hair. I am thinking of quiting minoxidil and use propecia only. Would i maintain my hair if i use propecia only. Thanks.

If the minoxidil gave you any improvement, stopping it would see those benefits disappear. Propecia will not maintain any minoxidil benefits for you (and vice versa). If the improvement you saw was from the Propecia, then stopping the minoxidil will be fine. Unfortunately, since you started both at the same time, the only way you’ll really know which medication was working is by stopping one and hoping you made the right choice.


2009-09-01 14:27:00Stopping Minoxidil After Just 3 Months