June 21 2006, 9:35 am PT | Posted in: Drugs (Cause Hair Loss) + Hair Loss Causes
Hello Dr. Rassman last you told me to go to a doctor in ny, I went to see him but he stated that he just didn’t know. I a 3rd round of accutane over 2 years ago, and have experienced hair thinning since.. I am very distraught since I thought the ny doctor could give me more answers and explanations as to how accutane could possibly damage hair follicles forever. I’ve been researching but its all about people like me complaining aobut the accutane induced hair loss, but no reason how it could do this damage. I was told that accutane works by reducing your sebacous gland. I had no idea that sebum would play a role in thinning or damaging hair.. I don’t know why doctors are saying it can be permanent, when in the past they said its only temporary.. and its been over a year, my hair is so thin. I’m taking biotin and I’m not even sure if that will work. I have no one to turn too. Can you explain to me what needs to be done, or how it can damage the hair follicles, if accutane only effects the sebacaus glands. thanks.
Medical clinical science is as much a descriptive science as a biological science. That means we describe what we see, possibly more than we understand what we see. Do not be too hard on the doctor, because I am sure he told you what he knows. As for scholarly doctors, that doctor is as scholarly as they come. We know that Accutane does, at times, cause permanent hair loss (that is what we see) but if we really knew why, then we could surround the cause of it and maybe fix it. I do not have the answers you are looking for, nor do others I have asked. Sorry!
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Balding Forum
My son took Accutane for only six months when he was 17, yet his hair has started to thin since then. He is now 24. I went to a doctor who said if it was Accutane, when it finally came out of his liver, he would not experience any more loss. However, you say in your blog that it is sometimes permanent.It is thinning along the front, and he is becoming increasingly bald and is extremely distressed. He has been using Rogain for years to no avail. Also, our family does not have MPB, so is there ANY information concerning Accutane baldness that we can count on?
I was Accutane for only a few weeks 11 years ago and I can attest that the hairloss is permanent. I have tried everything(Biotin, Rogaine, Propecia) and nothing has helped. Prior to taking Accutane, I didn’t have any hairloss and has thick hair. My hairloss began (2) weeks after starting Accutane. I stopped taking it shortly after but the hairloss has never stopped. It’s very frustrating talking to doctors about this because everyone plays stupid and says it’s not Accutane but MPB which doesn’t run in my family. I think it’s a big cover-up. For those of you that have bad acne, make a decision if you want zits or want hair on your head.
I can also attest to the hairline recession. Although, at 27 years of age,I still have a good bit of hair, I have noticed over the years a recession in my hair line and also a small bit of thinning in the back “crown”. My father has the crown, so I was expecting that, but I took accutane 10 years ago and started to notice the hairline recession about 2 years after taking the drug… I would choose, hands down, the drug over some thinning because I had severe acne and people now can’t even tell I had it. It was a life-changing drug for me.
Took Accutane when I was 18. Began to lose my hair in diffusion pattern RAPIDLY and am now very bald at 27. Does it sensitize the hair to androgens? Does it damage sebaceous glands? Doctors don’t give straight answers, and my hair is long gone.
I TOOK ACCUTANE 2 YEARS AGO AND I STILL HAVE THINNING HAIR. iT USED TO BE LONG AND BEAUTIFUL, NOW I CAN’T EVEN WEAR IT DOWN ANYMORE…SO SAD! I WISH THERE WERE A CURE
I can attest to the baldness after accutane. Three of our sons who are now in their twenties are going very bald. They literally had a very, very thick “carpet” of hair which everyone always commented on…Extremely thick…Now at ages 26,24 and 19 they have less than half their hair to about 1/3 only. They each started accutane in the 11th grade and within two months of stopping (six months they took it) they lost vast amounts of hair.
they would have rather had the scars and kept their hair at this point…it is very very sad..our oldest wears a cap most of the time and has lost much confidence.
I also can attest to Accutane-related hair loss. I started taking the drug in 1995 when it was still very new. I was a high school senior with very bad skin - nothing else had worked - and I couldn’t imagine going to college with a face that made me not want to look anyone in the eye. I took 3 courses of Accutane, and I started noticing hair loss after 1 year. Mind you, my hair was so long, curly, and thick in high school that I wanted to get it thinned! Makes me so sick now to think about it. My hair has steadily fallen out since, especially in the hairline and crown. I am devastated. I have tried Rogaine and gotten a hair transplant but it seems pretty useless since all the hair around the transplants is falling out now. For all the women out there (we are an underserved market), check out the PK Walsh Salon in Needham, MA - it is a dream come true for me.
Anyway, like Mike said in his comment, make sure you decide whether you want acne or hair — that is the choice you are making when you are thinking about taking Accutane.
I was on a 5 month course of Accutane in 2004. My skin looked great afterwards, but at the expense of my hair. I barely have any density across my head. My hair line is about 85% bald.
2 days ago I took a chance and went to a salon to get a rollerset. I felt like crying when I saw the stylist struggling to style my hair. It was so thin. It looks like I’m sick.
I have had this problem for 4 years and I am praying that the problem eventually reverses. I recently started eating 2 eggs daily , taking iron supplements, and rubbing a mixture of essential oils on my scalp. I really hope this helps. I am also going to start applying Miconazole Nitrate 2% to my entire scalp.
hi all,
I also took this drug. Wish I hadn’t… although i had very very bad acne. And since then my hair has suffered, since i was 19. That’s a bit early. And nothing has helped, though i’ve tried everything. Here are my symptoms:
1. woke up one morning, to find a large patch of hair had disappeared from the corners of my frontal hairline.
2. over time hair growing thinner, hair receding.
3. over time hair growth slows, and cycle shortens. I’m unable to grow longer hair than around 2-3 inches long. even the back of the head hairs (although to a lesser extent).
4. This process has continued to worsen over the years, since only a month or so since i stopped taking Accutane. I took this drug first without problems, then a year later as I noticed more acne appear again and grew worried of a reoccurrance of my acne, for only a few weeks. It is after these few weeks, having stopped, that I first noticed problems with my hair.
It began at around age of 19, and now I am 32. I still have a full head of hair although now noticeable recession at the temple, and unable to grow longer hair.
5. I have tried minoxodil for many months without success.
Also tried finesteride products without success (also for many months). And now I use caffeine hair loss products, such as shampoos and hair lotions. No noticeable success, of course there is the psychological addition now, with the idea that perhaps without using this stuff, the hair loss would be faster!
If Accutate really did trigger my hair problem, as i believe it did, and have believed this for years, It is a terrible thing. I only took it in the first place because my self-esteem was very low due to my very severe acne. And so now i have exchanged one physical appearance problem for another.
I just thought i would let you guys know what you are suffering from… Alot of derms keep this covered up as the actual treatment of the type of hairloss accutane induces is very hard to manage….
But anyway the type of hairloss that you are all suffering from is diffuse alopecia areata. I have had it for two years since i stopped accutane, it began one month after finishing.
I shed hair over my entire head and at one point was losing alot of body hair eyelashes, eyebrows etc.
my dermatologist is the top in the UK he has me using topical steroids to supress the inflammation. My hair has held up well, i only have about 3/4 of an inch of recession at the temples and about 30% less density than i used to have, maybe 40% less.
I personally can’t use minoxidil but if you combine minoxidil with the topical steroids the results are very impressive, i used the combo for a few months and regrew alot of hair on the hairline. I had to stop the minoxidil though.
There are other options such as sulfazaline, other systemic potent anti inflammatories and even things such as cyclosporin which will likely restore most of your hair, which can then be maintained with the topical steroids as i do.
Anyway you have options, do your research.
I DEFINITELy started losing my hair immediately after taking the accutane treatment (which I took when I was 15)…I struggled with hair loss resulting from the accutane for 4 1/2 years after that—tried Rogaine, which didn’t do much.
FINALLY, when I was a freshman in college and my hairloss was getting EXCESSIVELY WORSE, I went and saw a Physician/doctor who specializes in diets. He put me on:
*SAW PALMETTO EXTRACT, a good multivitamin, grapenol extract, fish oil pills, and *ADRENAL SUPPLEMENTS phytisone (the * ones are the supplements that I think are most responsible for regrowth)
I have experienced results like NO OTHER! I have been on this combination of supplements for about 4 1/2 months and I am almost back to a normal looking hairline! And before this, my hairline had been about 40% lost
I know now FOR SURE that at least SOME Accutane hair-loss sufferers out there can regrow at LEAST SOME of their hair, so I’m just praying that it continues the way it has been.
So another option is to try talking to a physician about those two supplements in particular:
SAW PALMETTO extract, PHYTISONE Adrenal Supplements (Thorne is the company that makes mine)
in addition to:
Fish Oil extract pills, a good multivitamin, zinc vitamin, grapenol extract
Especially for those without MPB (which my family never gets until their late 50’s), this might be a combination to at least try for 6 months.
i took accutane for about six months and during that time my hairline receded in the corners of the hairline only…..now the remaining hair in my hairline is all dry and crispy when i touch it….no doubt is that due to accutane as it stops your hair making oil i heard????? ive been off it for about a year now and i dont think its got any worse, or better for that matter, and i have my dads thick curly black hair and he is not bald or receding! GUTTED! scribble back! x
It’s a scam. The acne comes back. They should be telling people to stop drinking milk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acne
Wish I’d known it as a teenager. Still have long thin hair at 39 but my dad had hair this thick in his 60’s.
My acne came back in a few years but the hair never did.
Just don’t take it.