October 4 2006, 9:32 am PT | Posted in: Drugs + Drugs (Cause Hair Loss)
hello. I was taking minocycline for about 3 months due to acne. 10mg total a day. I stopped the treatment and through out I noticed that my hair was falling out, but not too much to cause concern. during this past 2 weeks my hair is falling out in big patches and i don’t know what to do? what do you recommend? thank you!
As I’ve said before, many drugs can cause hair loss, but if you are losing big patches of hair, then you need to be evaluated by a doctor (dermatologist) and can not assume that this is caused from the drug you had taken. You need to get a complete physical exam and history reviewed by this doctor. With all of that being said, I do not know of a direct link between minocycline and hair loss.
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i, too, had been on antibiotics for breakouts. i was on various antibiotics(doxy, tetra, mino) for 2 years(way too long). during that time i had minimal to no hairloss. 1 month after i went off, i have started thinning in the hairline. very interesting
i went on mino for acne. during this time my hair started to fall out more rapidly. doc says its not the mino but my hair was fine until i started mino and now its alll falling out
My daughter has been taking minocycline for the past two months and another acne drug for the past 9 mons. I just started noticing that her hair is thinning. This is unacceptable!
Yep, I went on minocycline about 2 months ago, was told to take when breakouts (acne) occurred. My hair has been getting thinner and thinner on top.
I keep hearing people say that it’s not the minocycline, but I didn’t have this problem until I started taking it. You can be damn sure I’m gonna stop.
I’ve been taking minocycline for 6 months to treat severe acne. Recently, I’ve noticed that my hair is thinning. I know my body and know that it’s more than just coincidence. Before I started taking minocycline, which worked wonders on clearing up my face, I had very little signs of a receding hair line and my hair grew out very fast. Now, my hair is receding at an alarming rate and I’ve noticed a slower rate of hair growth. I guess it comes down to making a choice between having acne or being bald.
Hi!..I had started taking minocycline a few years ago to treat my acne. I would use it for an average of 3-4 months and then would stop for another 4 months. I continued this trend for about three years. I have been complaining to my doctor about my thinning hair. I realized after reading all the comments from the rest of you that I did not have this problem prior to using minocycline. I had a head full of long hair. Now, I keep it short, so that the thinning isnt so obvious. Anyway, I went back to my doctor a few days ago inquiring about my acne, and he put me back on minocycline! I’m hesitant to go back on it, wondering if it’ll lead me to the ultimate end of becoming bald! I guess it is a choice as Tim said, it’s either treating the acne, or risk going bald. Acne, I believe can be treated, through perhaps other methods. Hair restoration on the other hand can in most cases be permanent. This sucks.
yeah ive been taking minocycline for like 4-5months and the 1st month i noticed a lil hairloss but it remained the same didnt grow back or keep receeding so yeah i hope its not the medicine
I truly believe there is a connection between long-term antibiotics and hair loss.
I first started taking antibiotics (minocycline) for acne a couple years ago and took it for many months. When I started, I had no visible signs of hair loss. A few months after starting the drug, someone pointed out my thinning crown. I brought this up to my doctor, who said she didn’t know of any connection between minocycline and hair loss. Even so, she decided to put me on a different antibiotic (doxycycline). I took doxycycline for many more months, and my hair kept getting worse and worse. At the same time I was using Propecia and Rogaine for the hair loss, which did not even do anything to maintain - the hair just kept getting worse. At this point the doctor decided to do a scalp biopsy, which did show signs of EARLY genetic balding, but ALSO that something else was causing an increased amount of shedding. At this point she told me to stop the antibiotic.
I have been off the drug for about 6 weeks with no improvement in hair (I know it would probably take longer). I am terrified that none of the hair I have lost will grow back. The thinning is diffuse all over the top of the scalp. If the drug was not solely responsible for the thinning, I believe it in some way triggered a genetic pattern.
I am in my 20s with no family history of balding that I know of (I have two significantly older brothers who show no signs, and my father and grandfather showed no signs). The doctors won’t tell you of a connection between hair loss and antibiotics simply because they don’t know and because they will not see it listed as a common side effect.
If you are considering taking a long-term antibiotic for anything that isn’t life-threatening, SERIOUSLY RECONSIDER. Acne isn’t forever. Hair loss can be.
I am a forty something female, who started taking antibiotics some 10 years ago. I started taking erythromycin and then progressed to minocycline. I feel that the over-use of antibiotics has caused some serious problems. Minocycline can cause hair loss, and it does. My hair has is shedding after another course. I think the best thing is to find out what is causing the acne and then treat the cause. Minocycline is excellent as a treatment for acne, however side effects are awful. I also experienced depression and fever/chills. I have decided to suffer acne, and try and understand what the underlying cause is.
Antibiotics are not the answer.
Im 18, have been taking minocycline for 3 years, and for the first 2 years had no problems with it, but for the past 6 months my hair has been falling out in the bath, on my pillow, and even when I touch it. I have always thought that it was just Male Pattern Baldness, yet my mother phoned my Dr and told him about the hairloss and he revealed that Minocyline IS linked to alopecia. Ive been advised to stop the medication and have just been for blood tests today. Im hoping my acne does not return. My Dr has also revealed that when discontinuing Minocycline, it can take up to a year to see hair re-growth.
I was on Minocycline off and on for 3 years. Worked pretty well for acne, but after starting another cycle in January, I noticed immediate hair thinning, joint pain, fatigue and cold sensitivity. I have been off for 5 months now. Joint pain is much better, as is the fatigue and cold sensitivity. Hair is a slight bit better, but not even close to where it previously was. There is no doubt in my mind this is all related to Mino. I am reading a lot about Candida overgrowth caused by long term antibiotics as well. It really disrupts your whole system. I wish I never took mino.
I have to concur with Raj. I was taking Tetracycline (minocycline derivative) for 10 years for acne. I stopped taking it and a great deal of my hair has fallen out diffused over my entire scalp.
Here is something I found on the net that backs up this theory: http://www.hairloss-research.org/antibiotics.html
Except: As I have posted in the past, minocycline has been touted by some doctors as an effective treatment for halting MPB (minocycline also inhibits MMP). I can attest to this, since I have tried it myself and found to be the most effective treatment that I’ve tried to date. However, full doses of minocycline did a number on my brain (headaches, etc.). I am wondering now if micro-doses of either doxycycline or minocycline would be effective in MPB. The low doses may also limit the extent of side-effects.
RE: my last comment
Except = Excerpt