hair loss

[Jade]

Hi Everyone,

It has been a long time since I reported in and just when I thought my hair was really finally recovering, it's started to shed again! It's been going on for the last month or so, but I've been in denial until finally I've really realised that it's shedding again in a big way. It will be 3 years in Nov this year since I stopped accutane and I'd have to say that over the last year, my hair progressively thickened up. It still shed more than it did pre-accutane, but certainly not like now. It's coming out in large amounts. I can already see a difference in the volume just in a month! I'm so sad as I finally started to wear my hair longer again and could see real progress. It's very depressing.

I broke my wrist a couple of weeks ago and was on pain pills for a week and it's been quite stressful. However, I think it just made the shedding worse. My diet and sleeping over the last couple of months has also been terrible. I believe that's what has caused this. Problem is, I don't have as much hair as I originally did that I can stand to lose! I've read on so many sites that hair needs a regular healthy diet and regular sleep. I'm thinking that my hair has really been trying to recover and that I've messed up the recovery due to my eating and sleeping! Well, I don't know what else to do but start eating 3 regular meals at regular times every day with lots of protein and sleeping regularly and sufficiently. I've also started with iron tablets again.

I would love some positive stories and encouragement though! I'm going to give it a month of this new diet and sleep plan and see if it slows the shedding.

Best of luck to all.

Jade

[Anno1304]

Jade - It has been 3 years since you stopped taking it. Tests show that Isotretinoin does not stay in blood 4-5 days after the last dose. Most of its by-products should be gone within 10 days after the last dose. I would suggest you go see a doctor if it's stressing you that much as it may be related to something else (ie.Stress, hormones, multiple diseases etc.)

[Belle]

Anno1304, i'm not a doctor, but i think that even though the product is not in your blood anymore, it still can be stacked up somewhere in your body (liver...?)
Anyway, Jade, my shedding has stopped since 6 months now, but since a week or two it also started again. However, my derm told me august/september are typical shedding-months, are you sure it is not just that ?

[lily]

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to say that my hairloss stopped after 5 months. I took minoxidil 4 months and last month I stopped with it. But also without the minoxidil I don't have hairloss anymore. In june I lost more again but I also have to say that I didn't brush my hair very often and also washed it fewer than normal because I was afraid of more hairloss. But then my hairdresser told me thats also a reason of the hairloss. Sorry for my bad english but I only wanted to tell you that now 6 month after taking accutane everything is normal again. My hair is growing back and I have full hair.(I have taken accutane only for 3 weeks and then I suffered 5 months from hairloss)So it is definitely possible that your hair revovers.
All the best lily

[Anno1304]

Belle wrote:

Anno1304, i'm not a doctor, but i think that even though the product is not in your blood anymore, it still can be stacked up somewhere in your body (liver...?)
Anyway, Jade, my shedding has stopped since 6 months now, but since a week or two it also started again. However, my derm told me august/september are typical shedding-months, are you sure it is not just that ?

Hi Belle,
If it's an ongoing issue it can be a number of things as you said best bet is to see a doctor.
TC

[INXS]

This is my accutane success story.It was always said that when people get there hair back they never come back to forums like this and give updates. Fortunatly, I can report some good news for those who are as worried as I was a year ago. I took Accutane for 5 months and I was on a dose of 80mgs a day (male,160lbs). I broke out pretty badly at first and my hair became dry, curly and brittle. My self esteem was very low. By the end of the 5 month treatment, my hair was in very rough shape and i was constantly checking forums simiiar to this to see if there was a chance in getting my old hair back. At one point, i shaved my entire head because the roots of my hair were so weak that i couldnt maintain much length. Well, it has been 9 months since i took my last accutane pill and my hair is thick and full once again. My advice would be to shampoo 2 or 3 times a week max. avoid overbrushing and overstyling. shower in cold water. let your hair dry naturally. and drink water..

ps - my skin improved dramatically but i still cannot say if it was worth all of the pain and suffering

[carl]

I have done accutane 4 times in the past 5 years. I just completed a one year cycle in june. My face is already breaking out again. Everytime I have done accutane I have had some hairloss, but it always seemed to grow back. It feels like it took a few months though after finishing the accutane for it to really come back. I am done taking accutane, its proven to be ineffective for me. My next step is to see if I have some kind of a food alergin.

[Belle]

Carl, have you tried Differin cream ?
i've had some pimples again since 2 monhts, and the differin really helps

[Bruce]

Im almost done with my 6 month accutane course. Skin is clear now (only the redness is annoying) I used to have a thick head of hair and its considerably thinner now. Lost about an inch at the temples too. I remember standing infront of a mirror over a light right over my head and i could see right through the scalp over my crown.

For the past 2 months ive been using Himalaya Protein Hair cream and so far i think its been working well for me. My hair is thicker (not as thick as it used to be) but i no longer see my scalp when i stand over a light and i dont shed as much hair as i used to.

[TRS]

So i've been taking accutane for a little over a month and a half and just recently noticed my hair is starting to fall out in clumps. After reading some of the posts on here I don't know whether i should continue with this drug. I dont want acne but i also dont want to lose my hair at such a young age. Has anyone stopped early in and noticed a decrease in shedding? Should I stop taking the medicine now?? I haven't had a chance to get in touch with my dermatologist (aka she wont call me back) so i was seeing if anyone has any solutions that has had this happen to them until i get in touch with my dr. who probably isn't going to help me anyways
Thanks

[oli girl]

Your derm will probably tell you it is temporary.....Accutane usually causes TE or Alopecia...If you have a family history of MPB then it will speed up the process.

If you develop TE then you will probably recover some in 6-18months. If your scalp is dry try a dandruff shampoo. You can try Bioton, but for some it has caused Acne.

Basically you will have to decide which is more important hair or acne

Read through some of the other posts on what others have done.

[TRS]

well i talked to my dermatologists medical assistant today and she said "she's never heard of accutane hair loss" she suggested i stop the medication until i see my actual dermatologist in a couple weeks..now that my hair has already started to fall out should i stick on the medication or will it stop if i stop taking the medicine bc some of the posts i've read says that once the hair has started to fall out its not going to stop and i dont want the 2 months that i've been on accutane to be a waste i've been battling with acne for almost 8 yrs now and im finally starting to see an improvement just to have my hair fall out in return...

[oli girl]

No, your hair may still fall out. Yes, there are many who have had hair loss....Roche say 1 in 10,000 I believe. If you think of how many have taken Accutane, then well it's not that rare.

Good Luck

[lily]

hey
i just wanted to inform you that 2 months after i stopped minoxidil, the shedding is present again,(i have to deal with hairloss from accutane since february)but i also have to say that i found out that my ferritin is very low, so this probably get together with the accuane
i'm in a desperate state...

[oli girl]

Lily,

Have your thyroid checked also if you have any other symptoms. I was found to have low ferritin levels which sometimes run in conjuction w/ low thyroid. Accutane known to deplete both. My hair did return some getting the levels back up, however it still sheds at times and not as healthy as it use to be.
Get Some good iron pill not sure about in Australia, but ferrix plus is a rx or if there is slow Fe is over the counter.

good luck

[Matthew]

I am starting Accutane again after only taking it two months last time. I got worried because I started seeing a bunch of hair when I washed or gelled it (not much on pillows or anything). So without knowing I started taking a daily vitamin which had 3g of Vitamin A in it which obviously made the problem worse.

This time around I went out and got Biotin, Flax Seed Oil, Complex B, and Iron supplements and am starting them at the same time as the Accutane.

But I read this forum and freak the hell out. But on the other hand I think common sense should prevail for those of you that are worried beyond recognition:

1) Everyone here is taking everyone's word for it. Many people here are not giving a full medical history and can't accurately say the Accutane is causing the hair loss. Especially if you have been on it for half a year, that is a significant amount of time that could be the difference in losing some hair through genetics or not.

2) Some people are overreacting. The girl that sounds like she wants to kill herself after taking the meds for 15 days is an obvious case of this.

3) I am guessing a lot of you, considering you are here, are obsessing and freaking out about your hair, causing stress and therefore more hair loss. When I started seeing hair loss the first time (maybe 15 strands of hair per hand when washing) I started freaking out, checking myself in the mirror constantly, seeing how much I could pull out at any given time, etc etc. Stress and obsession is going to lead to more hair loss. This is very similar to a woman missing her period and getting stressed about it. I once dated someone that had her period late by about 3 days. She began obsessing about it, freaking out, worrying, you name it. Her period ended up not coming for 5 weeks!

My point is that the stress of the situation is probably exacerbating the hair loss and causing you guys more hair loss which in turn leads to a vicious cycle.

I really hope that everyone here improves. The hair loss should really be temporary.

I'll keep you guys updated what happens this time with all the additional supplements and not taking Vitamin A to make the problem worse (unknowingly).

[Kristen]

thank you MATTHEW! that's really helpful and interesting to get the psychological point of view. I've been on here before and I've been off of Accutane for 8 months now, and I'm still having thinning hair and my scalp feels tingly and strange sometimes, BUT I have loads and loads of stress just from every day life so I'm POSITIVE that's contributing.
Matthew is right everybody, I considered this a long time ago too, but the more I went to forums and help stuff, I started stressing and freaking out way too much, like matthew said " seeing how much hair I could get out at a given time" , that's when you know it's bad. Worrying your life away until you find out what's gonna happen, won't stop it either way, and will waste good valuable days completely away. So allow yourself some time each day to think about it if you have to, then get it out and don't let it return, get rid of the fear.
I'll be thinking about and praying for everyone here, and hoping that we're all just terrified for nothing. Chances are, it will come back, let's just eat good foods, take the right vitamins, and minimize as much stress as we can, and have faith that we can get through it!

thanks again matthew and do keep us posted. Everyone else: it's gonna be ok! I'm going through it too but we all need a little more positivity

[Matthew]

Just to give an update I've been on it about a week now at 60mg a day. I am also taking the Zinc, B Complex, Biotin, and Iron supplements at the same exact time each day.

So far I've got nothing in the way of side effects. I'll keep everyone updated on my progress in the upcoming weeks.

The first time I took Accutane I noticed the hair loss within a month, then stopped by the second month because I was stressing too much about it.

[Matthew]

I also wanted to post this article. Notice that the type of hair loss from stress is IDENTICAL to the type from Accutane:

Stress and Hair Loss:
You may have heard that stress can cause hair loss, and it’s true. Excessive physical or emotional stress, like that associated with injury, illness or surgery, can cause one of two types of hair loss:

* The more common type is called telogen effluvium. With this less severe type of hair loss, the hair stops growing and lies dormant, only to fall out 2 or 3 months later. Then it grows back within 6 to 9 months.
* The other type of stress-induced hair loss is known as alopecia areata, and involves a white blood cell attack on the hair follicles. With this type of hair loss, the hair also falls out within weeks (usually in patches), but can involve the entire scalp and even body hair. Hair may grow back on its own, but treatment may also be required.