December 5 2005, 11:01 am PT | Posted in: Drugs + Drugs (Cause Hair Loss)
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.
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Balding Forum
dont use this product after one year not even 3% of my hair rogaine caused me to lose grew back………
i started losing my hair last year(2007) and went to the store and bought rogaine as well…
the thing is that NO ONE who is going to buy rogaine is going to want to use it if it makes their hair fall out!!
it certainly made mine fall out… in CLUMPS.
and no one wants to lose more hair when using a product that alleges to grow hair –such as rogaine–and then have to be told that one must wait an ADDITIONAL 8 months for their hair to (maybe hopefully) grow back… all to make a company some money (” o, keep using it it will work” cha-ching)
never mind rogaine… if it makes one’s hair fall out ( which is the opposite of whats advertised, and damn sure not mentioned ANYWHERE on their product as a potential side effect).. i empathize with the above person cause the same thing happened to me..
verily, my hair loss is a lot worse since last year, and sice i have just turned 32, i’m in the process of losing more hair up to an inch from my once normal hair line. i choose to try tea tree oil, selenium shampoo from head and shoulders, drink more water and green teas.. ANYTHING that doesnt involve a man made chemical (we all know pharmaceutical companies have to add a man made chemical to a product in order for it to be considered a drug… they cant exactly patent plants!!!)
dr rassman gets kickbacks from johnson and johnson, for recomeding rogaine thats why he endorcs it
Oh please. I get no kickbacks. The medication is FDA approved to treat hair loss. That is why I recommend it.
WOW. I never in my life have seen a blog where things get deleted by the blog owner. Yesterday i was here and there was someone saying the doctor gets kickbacks from Johnson and Johnson and the doc stated that Rogaine is a FDA Approved drug and now those entries are apparently history. Well it is true that Rogaine is FDA Approved but that doesnt necessarily mean thats its safe…..
Just look at the FDA Recalls of MEridia, Vioxx, Baycol, The list goes on. Now why on earth would a product that is supposed to regrow your hair also cause a prevalent dependency in its use? Ok Doctor the product causes shedding which means your hair falls out and then its supposed to regrow with newew thicker hair but if you stop using it the newer thicker hair goes along with the hair that shed in the first place leaving you possibly balder than you were in the first place. sounds like you have to use it for the rest of your life.
FDA=Money
The drug administration doesnt care about people they only care about money and getting more and more of it. I think Rogaine is addicting and harmful and needs to be taken off the market until it doesnt cause your damn hair to recede worse than when you started using it. Otherwise your endorsement of this product so vehemently doesnt increase your level of credibility in anyones eyes.
Now i wonder how long it will be before you delete my post you prick. I am going to copy and paste this page and continually repost until you have to hire someone to continually monitor the damn site if you delete this………
by the way i dont use Rogaine but i was planning on using it to prevent hair loss but now i say to hell with it.
You must have problems reading words, because I didn’t delete any comment. Why are some people so quick to cry foul? I’m one of the most outspoken people in this industry and yet for some people that isn’t enough.
3 things you should realize —
1. Rogaine has been on the market since the 1980s, so it’s not some new, untested medication. Everyone is different and no medication works perfectly for every single person. If you can’t wrap your head around that basic bit of information, just stop reading this site altogether because it’ll be of no help to you.
2. You should learn to read things before you get so upset and fly off the handle. Please calm down. It’ll be better for your blood pressure.
3. Rogaine doesn’t prevent hair loss. Finasteride does. Rogaine (minoxidil) grows hair. It’s a good thing you said “to hell with it”, since you shouldn’t be using medication if you don’t know what it does.
Hello doc,
I used propecia for about 3 years after my two hair transplants. I stopped a year ago because I couldn’t take the sexual side effects anymore. A month off propecia and my sex drive and my lumber came roaring back. (Hot Damn!) Like I said, it’s been a year since I’ve taken Propecia and I’m experiencing major shedding around my grafts (hairline and vertex).
So far for 7 months I’ve been using 10% minoxidil with Azelaic acid twice a day. I know minox can make you shed for the first few months. So my question:
Is there such a thing as getting a double shed from stopping one treatment and starting another? And does azelaic acid really block dht?
dr rassman my anger comes from a product sold over the counter which is very powerful and can change the hair ,, rogaine market this drug along side shampoo as if it where as safe ,, they relly dont wont to explain the real way this drug works, my hair fell out in clumps and never regrew,, i also had many other sideefects,, my question how does a bloodpressue drug to be adminsterd by oneself without a doc supervision exsist OTC,,, i lost so much hair do to rogaine ,, it can take up to eightyears for a hair to regrow so what the point,, So how can you reconmend this unproven bloodpressure drug to me administerd without a doc supervision
I have noticed that my hair is really thinning after visiting the steam room for 3-4 times a week, for 30-40 minutes sessions. My body is really improving and my skin rashes and body smells are gone, so in that respect my health and body are really improving. I no longer have to take steroids for my rash. My skin is clear but my hair is going. Should I cover my head in the steam room?? I have done this for 10 months. Should I be patient? Does heat destroy my hair?? Should I sacrifice my new clean body and skin for my hair? Thanks
rogaine destroys my scalp, dryness , super itchy, massive hair falls out every time i start using it, double shedding? try quadruple shedding or above. horrible horrible product. fda take a blind eye if there is some crappy study done for a few weeks. be careful people, that sh@t kills my scalp, lost so much goddamn hair from rogaine its not funny, when i stop using it the hair loss is minimal. i think people can be allergic to that nonsence POS product and i am one of them. what crap. dont believe everything the fda approves.
Doc,
This stuff is bogus man!! I’ve been on rogain for years and its marketed as a method for retaining, growing new hair, and/or slowing the loss. This whole thing about “going through a phase” where you actually lose more hair or go through a phase of “SHEDDING” is no where mentioned at all. I’ve lost a ton of hair using this produce. Straigh up Sheddding, like a dog doc! Come on man throw me a bone…. what am I going to do now?
Gabriel and Rachel, you are two of the most ignorant poster i’ve ever seen on hair loss sites. Rogaine states on the package itself that it may increase hair loss for the for several weeks of use, you idiots. Listen to what the doc says, he knows what he’s talking about,but it doesn’t take a doctor to read the back of the minoxidil package.
Loss is temporary and may even be an indicator that the product is working. This guy here in his question to Rassman says he has only used it for a few days. You’ve gotta give it much more time…and Gabriel, are you serious when you say rogaine is “addictive”, what on earth do you mean by that?
O, and to the genius rob, so you’ve used rogaine for years but never managed to learn to read the package have you? That figures. Go to rogaine.com or type in “minoxidil shedding phase” on google and you’ll get your bone.
I have the same issue. After a whole month of using that stupid product, everybody tells me this, “Is it just me or what? Your hair got thinner.”
Now, my hair got super thinner. Every time I put my fingers through my hair or get out the shower, a lot of hair would shed & fall out. I am sooooOO embarrassed. I don’t even want to put my hair down anymore.
I know they do warn you that “shedding phase” is “normal.” I should have never used this product. My doctor actually recommended using it to preserve the hair I had because I was worried about my receding hairline. I applied the product for at least 6 months. I figured after the shedding it would fill in nice and thick. NEVER HAPPENED!! My hair in the crown was actually thinning which had never been an issue for me. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe there is baldness on the crown anywhere in my family!! Now my hair is very thin and patchy wherever the rogaine was applied and has not grown back. I was there was a class action lawsuit we could file but of course, there is “no way to prove” that the rogaine caused these effects. DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME, MONEY AND HAIR ON THIS PRODUCT!!!
I’m 26 and have been thinning for the past year on top/crown and my hairline is receeding a little. I have finally started rogaine and just found out about “shedding”. This makes me very nervous, and I have some questions:
1. What percentage of men who experience shedding?
2. What are the side effects if I discontinue rogaine during the shedding phase?
3. How many men who report shedding also report not regrowing the hair that was shed?
4. If rogaine doesn’t prevent hair loss and finasteride does why isn’t finasteride prescribed over rogaine?
5. If rogaine only regrows hair and doesn’t prevent hair loss how is it helpful in maintaining a full head of hair?
6. How many of your patients who use rogaine see results?
7. Do you recommend Propecia and, if so, why?
Thank you very much,
Alfred