I took the depo shot for 3 years, but I haven’t taken it in 7 years and now I’m having hair loss. Could it be from the shot? I did have it after I had my baby 7 years ago.
The use of such medications may contribute to the onset of genetic balding. The mechanisms are not clear, but once the process starts, it is possible that it may not reverse. This would explain the persistence of some thinning over time.
Doc…I’m really scared, confused, and upset with myself.
I had some thinning and receding at the hair line, and a little bit on the crown of my head. I decided to give rogaine a try to improve the situation. I used it about 5-6 times, but also used it on the front of my hairline. After a few days, I noticed that the hair seemed to be thinning a lot, and that my hairline had receded, especially at the temples. So after using the rogaine for a few days, I went from some thinning in the temples and crown to having a receding hairline, with even greater thinness in the temples and top. At this point, when my hair is wet, I see much more scalp, and it makes me want to throw up. It basically thinned out my hair everywhere, especially in the problem areas. Basically, I feel that I took a situation that wasn’t really that bad, and made it much worse. I’m kicking myself for having not just left it alone.My questions:
1) Since I’ve stopped the rogaine, will the hair that seems to have fallen out return? If it will come back, about how long will it take to go back to the way it was before I used the rogaine? (I’ve read on some forums about rogaine “shed”, but does this hair come back all of the time?)
2) Can rogaine cause a receding hairline? Could I have done permanent damage to any of the hair by using the rogaine (such as if the follicles were already thinning/in trouble)?Thanks so much for your help. I’m really struggling with this, and I’m looking for some peace of mind.
Hair shedding from Rogaine is temporary. New hair should grow in a few months. Hair growth works in cycles. When rogaine causes hair shedding it may induce the hair shaft to fall off; the follicle would then enter a dormant phase in the cycle (temporarily) while the matrix is restructured for future growth, hopefully with a thicker and stronger hair shaft. Thus, initially, you may appear to lose more hair, but after waiting for many months you may have thicker and stronger hair with any new hair growth, assuming the Rogaine works. It is very scary for some patients to experience the shedding phase (unusual) and considering the extreme reaction to the Rogaine, I wonder if the statistical probability of working in your situation offsets the risk of continued hair loss. If it works, it generally takes 6-8 months. More significant growth may occur (in less than half of patients) who take this medication. In general Rogaine may cause either more hair growth, stop further hair loss, prolong the hair cycle where hair exists in its best ‘show’ state, or it may be limited to slow down the hair loss process if it works at all.
How long will you think CURIS take to be produced commercially? Also, does it have capability to grow hair on already balded areas?
This is a most interesting and exciting technology in its early stages. A great deal of work will be required to take this from the animal study into the human realm and it may not transport easily. What this does show is the many faces of the regrowth phenomenon in hair regeneration. Generally this process, under FDA regulation, will take years. To answer your question, I really do not know exactly how the medication works, but as I find out more, I will let the blog readers know. Thanks for pointing this out to me.
For those interested in learning more, please see Curis Presents Study Showing Stimulation of Hair Growth by Small Molecule Hedgehog Pathway Agonist.
is there any blood pressure medication that will not cause one’s hair to fall out. i have been on lisinopril for 6 months and have noticed my hair thinning greatly. i was taking metformin but stopped because i heard it too can also cause hair loss. Is this true? PLEASE HELP!!!!
My advice is for you to review all of the blood pressure medications through the internet search engines such as Google or Yahoo. The drug side effects on hair loss are clearly published. Your blood pressure control must take a higher priority than hair loss, but moving between drugs with a good doctor helping you is a good idea. It is possible that the drugs are not the cause of your hair loss and you are just experiencing hair loss from an acceleration of the genetic process, so get a hair doctor to help you with that as well.
As a doctor in the hair transplant field, I take affront to this blog, the general tone of it and your almighty view of ethics that you published last week. You are forgetting your roots. Your ego-centric sanctimonious approach gets me sick. I hope your readers can see your self-serving motives here and I sincerely hope that you become a victim of your words.
I normally would not publish this type of statement, but it looks like it illustrates the points I made in my blog entry from just last week, The Truth About Cheap Hair Transplants. I think that this doctor is forgetting his roots, which lie in the Hippocratic Oath taken when he became a doctor. Maybe his Mercedes and mansion mortgage burdens are clouding his priorities.
I’ve been reminded that my blog posting from way back in June entitled Doctor Availability, may have also contributed to this doctor’s rage.
What type of a specialist do I need to go see if I am expereincing hair loss/thinning as a result of taking accutane?
You need to see a dermatologist who would first look at the accutane treatment, determine its value and then ascertain the risks of taking the drug as they balance against the benefits. There are substitutes for accutane in some people. Hair loss is a high price to pay, but a good dermatologist can balance this process for you.
My frontal hair line is receding and i want to bring it back to a decent level. This is affecting my confidence. I have been advised to cut all my hair off with a blade finish to bring back my original hair line. Is this true will it work? Please suggest to me any form of medication that will quickly bring back my frontal hair line. Thank you.
Cutting or shaving your hair to make it grow faster, better, and stronger is a myth. Shaving your face, does not make your beard grow.
For the hairlines in Caucasian men, a change occurs sometime between 18-29 years of age when (in about 95% of men) it rises about 1/2 inch from the middle to about 1 1/4 inch on the sides. The higher corners make us take on the somewhat typical mature male look, which is distinctly different from the rounder corners found in the typical female hairline (or child’s hairline). You should have yourself evaluated by a good doctor to find out if you have genetic hair loss, do something about your problem and find out if it is real, or not.
On some movie stars and male models who need their youthful hairline, I have put it back where it was in their more youthful days. These men should also take Propecia to prevent more hair loss. It seems that their jobs (and their very high incomes) depend upon the very youthful look so transplanting it back is easy for a skilled hair transplant surgeon.
can cortizone sprays help hairloss?
Cortisone is an androgen and can in itself, cause hair loss. It can also slow down hair loss in individuals with autoimmune causes of hair loss. This will most likely confuse you if you are not a doctor or an expert; get a doctor to manage the process correctly.
Does saw palmetto work like propecia? Will it help at all in hair loss?
If saw palmetto works as a DHT blocker, it is a weak one. The problems I see with it is that you don’t know what you are getting when you buy it. Every manufacturer seems to have a different dose. I believe that in high doses, it will depress the sex drive in men. What I like about Propecia, is that its dose is known and the side effects are well documented. You get just what you buy and the results on long term hair loss is well known, published in scientific journals, and FDA-certified as safe and effective.
Dr. Rassman,
I will try to keep my inquiry short. I am 23 and have been taking propecia for 15 months. I do not think that I have regrown hair and due to my obsessive practice of frequent checking, it is nearly impossible for me to tell how much hair I have kept or if I am continuing to bald. While I do not have a bald spot and have no discernable loss along my hair line, my crown has thinned significantly. I have read your posts regarding dutasteride. I am under the impression that you do not perscribe it. I have reached a point where I am desperate for hair regrowth and I would like to try the drug. My concern is regarding the supression of nearly all dht in the body. I am a natural bodybuilder and concerned that supression of DHT will have a negative effect on my muscularity. I cannot find an article or study relating to this specific inquiry. If you could help me I would greatly appreciate it. Additionally, I have actually visited your los angeles facility and impressed by the professionalism of the doctor I spoke with, he informed me that I would not, at my age be an acceptable transplant candidate.
I do not know for sure, but I would suspect that the testosterone levels will increase to substitute for the DHT drops in effectiveness. Now with that said, you should be evaluating the degree of miniaturization to find out what is happening. In addition, I have no idea where your hair loss pattern is now, so before you jump into more drugs and act blindly, get the assessment properly done.
