Androgenic Alopecia

[Guest]

Hi, I'm new here and I hope I am posting this in the right section. I am 32 years old and started losing my hair at the age of 18. I am a female, BTW

 

Anywho, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian disease at the age of 24. This condition is the contributor of my hair loss. I went to a dermatologist a few years ago who prescribed men's strength Rogaine which I ended up using faithfully for 3 years because I was diagnosed with androgenic alopecia. I stopped using Rogaine about a year ago because it was not helping. I remained hopeful for years of using it, but finally gave up.

 

I went to the dermatologist again back in April - this was a different one. he also confirmed the androgenic alopecia and said that since Rogaine didn't work for me, there is nothing else out there I could use. Someone please tell me there is something I can still try.

 

I have been wearing wigs for quite a long time now and it's just very costly.

 

I will be seeing a reproductive endocrinologist since PCOS is an endocrine disorder, but I just need some hope that I can get my hair back I feel less of a woman and NEVER let my husband see me without my wig because my natural hair just makes me feel ugly.

 

Sandra

[Guest]

Hi, I'm new here and I hope I am posting this in the right section. I am 32 years old and started losing my hair at the age of 18. I am a female, BTW

 

Anywho, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian disease at the age of 24. This condition is the contributor of my hair loss. I went to a dermatologist a few years ago who prescribed men's strength Rogaine which I ended up using faithfully for 3 years because I was diagnosed with androgenic alopecia. I stopped using Rogaine about a year ago because it was not helping. I remained hopeful for years of using it, but finally gave up.

 

I went to the dermatologist again back in April - this was a different one. he also confirmed the androgenic alopecia and said that since Rogaine didn't work for me, there is nothing else out there I could use. Someone please tell me there is something I can still try.

 

I have been wearing wigs for quite a long time now and it's just very costly.

 

I will be seeing a reproductive endocrinologist since PCOS is an endocrine disorder, but I just need some hope that I can get my hair back I feel less of a woman and NEVER let my husband see me without my wig because my natural hair just makes me feel ugly.

 

Sandra

[Bill - Seemiller]

Sandra (Magnolia),

 

I'm sorry to hear about your hair loss condition. As of man, it's a difficult thing, but for a woman, I can imagine it's even that much more difficult.

 

You are amongst friends here and hopefully we will be able to help encourage, support, and offer real time solutions for you.

 

I am confused however, as to the cause of your hair loss. Is both ovarian disease AND androgenetic alopecia causing your hair loss? These are two totally different things.

 

Not knowing anything about polycystic ovarian disease, is there a treatment, remedy, or cure for this? If so, treating the condition might help regrow some of the lost hair this condition has caused.

 

However, if this is combined with androgenetic alopecia (genetic hair loss) your hair loss may be even more progressive.

 

What is the current condition and pattern of your hair loss?

 

If you are losing hair only on top and the hair on the sides and back of your head is healthy, strong, and dense, you may be a good candidate for hair transplantation with an elite Coaltion hair transplant surgeon.

 

However, if you are losing hair on the sides and back of your head, you will most likely not be a good hair transplant candidate because there is no "safe" donor hair to use to transplant into balding areas.

 

I hope you will stick around and I'm sure you will find the members of our forum community helpful and supportive.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Imissme]

Hey Magnolia,

 

Unlike Bill, I regrettably cannot offer any medical advice. What I can do however, is relate. I'm pretty much in the same position you are which is the same reason you probably came here. Looking for help and advice.

 

My hair loss and the fact that I have used stuff to make it look different than it is, is the equivalent to you wearing a wig. It limits everything I do and it's suffocating.

 

I don't leave the house unless it looks right, and as a matter of fact just this week I missed a day of work because I felt so crappy about how it looked. When I have days like that...well I just don't want to have any more days like that.

 

Same thing for swimming. My head can't go beneath the water, etc.. etc.. The list just goes on and on and frankly, I'm just so tired of it.

 

I don't know about you but...what I'd do to just feel normal again. Like I said before, you can't put a price on that.

 

Keep your chin up. There has to be something that can be done. Seek and ye shall find.

[Guest]

Hello and thanks for the reply!

 

Oh yes, it is very difficult because women are expected to be beautiful and perfect, and i don't feel that way with the condition of my hair. At first I was able to wear weave which I, myself, would blend in with my own hair. Then it came to a point where it didn't work anymore because too much hair was lost. So i went to wigs. It's sad because I am a cosmetology school graduate and worked as a hair stylist. I have no advice for myself.

 

Anyhow, polycystic ovarian disease is an endocrine disorder which causes the ovaries to produce an overabundance of male hormones - specifically androgens. This overproduction of this hormone can cause male type balding, weight gain, acne, hirsutism, infertility, etc. Luckily my problem is the hair loss although I think I'd rather deal with acne.

 

This is treatable but it is hard finding a DR who will treat it properly. Gynecologists will treat it with special birth control pills which are supposed to suppress the production of androgens, but in my case, that did not help. I was put on metformin which is actually for diabetes, but has helped women with infertility problems and regulation of androgen production. However, that did NOT work for me either. i was told that the medication would more than likely help stop the hair loss but it didn't. I seriously think I need a combination of things to get this all worked out.

 

I'm currently 7 months pregnant so I can't do much as far as treatment goes at the moment, but when I am done having this baby, I am seeing an endocrinologist. Hopefully he can evaluate just how many androgens my body is producing and can give me some sort of hormone therapy or something. Maybe then the Rogaine would actually work. I don't think it was all that effective because the androgen production continued on if that makes sense. I really hope that this is an answer to my problem. If not, I'm all out of ideas.

 

My pattern of hair loss is mainly just on top. I am not losing hair on the sides or anything like that. I actually have a bald spot on the top of my head. :*(

 

Sandra

 

 

 

Originally posted by Bill - Moderator:

Sandra (Magnolia),

 

I'm sorry to hear about your hair loss condition. As of man, it's a difficult thing, but for a woman, I can imagine it's even that much more difficult.

 

You are amongst friends here and hopefully we will be able to help encourage, support, and offer real time solutions for you.

 

I am confused however, as to the cause of your hair loss. Is both ovarian disease AND androgenetic alopecia causing your hair loss? These are two totally different things.

 

Not knowing anything about polycystic ovarian disease, is there a treatment, remedy, or cure for this? If so, treating the condition might help regrow some of the lost hair this condition has caused.

 

However, if this is combined with androgenetic alopecia (genetic hair loss) your hair loss may be even more progressive.

 

What is the current condition and pattern of your hair loss?

 

If you are losing hair only on top and the hair on the sides and back of your head is healthy, strong, and dense, you may be a good candidate for hair transplantation with an elite Coaltion hair transplant surgeon.

 

However, if you are losing hair on the sides and back of your head, you will most likely not be a good hair transplant candidate because there is no "safe" donor hair to use to transplant into balding areas.

 

I hope you will stick around and I'm sure you will find the members of our forum community helpful and supportive.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Guest]

Hi!

 

Oh yes, I know you can relate. I read some of your posts and I pretty much feel the same way about things.

 

I hate not being able to swim or anything. I hate having to wear a wig. And like you stated, it IS suffocating.

 

I wish I could feel normal again. I used to have such long, thick hair. people always admired my hair .... if they could only see it now LOL.

 

Originally posted by Imissme:

Hey Magnolia,

 

Unlike Bill, I regrettably cannot offer any medical advice. What I can do however, is relate. I'm pretty much in the same position you are which is the same reason you probably came here. Looking for help and advice.

 

My hair loss and the fact that I have used stuff to make it look different than it is, is the equivalent to you wearing a wig. It limits everything I do and it's suffocating.

 

I don't leave the house unless it looks right, and as a matter of fact just this week I missed a day of work because I felt so crappy about how it looked. When I have days like that...well I just don't want to have any more days like that.

 

Same thing for swimming. My head can't go beneath the water, etc.. etc.. The list just goes on and on and frankly, I'm just so tired of it.

 

I don't know about you but...what I'd do to just feel normal again. Like I said before, you can't put a price on that.

 

Keep your chin up. There has to be something that can be done. Seek and ye shall find.

[Guest]

Bill,

 

Do you know anything about the herbal remedy "Saw Palmetto?"

 

I googled PCOS and androgenic alopecia and came up with a link that lists treatment. Saw palmetto was listed on there and this is what they say:

 

"Several studies have shown that saw palmetto is as effective as finasteride in men. Saw palmetto is a natural substance that inhibits the action of testosterone, the hormone primarily responsible for female hair loss and hirsutism."

 

http://www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/female-hair-loss.html

 

I wish I could find people who have actually tried this Saw palmetto stuff and if it actually worked. How exactly does Propecia work?

 

Originally posted by Bill - Moderator:

Sandra (Magnolia),

 

I'm sorry to hear about your hair loss condition. As of man, it's a difficult thing, but for a woman, I can imagine it's even that much more difficult.

 

You are amongst friends here and hopefully we will be able to help encourage, support, and offer real time solutions for you.

 

I am confused however, as to the cause of your hair loss. Is both ovarian disease AND androgenetic alopecia causing your hair loss? These are two totally different things.

 

Not knowing anything about polycystic ovarian disease, is there a treatment, remedy, or cure for this? If so, treating the condition might help regrow some of the lost hair this condition has caused.

 

However, if this is combined with androgenetic alopecia (genetic hair loss) your hair loss may be even more progressive.

 

What is the current condition and pattern of your hair loss?

 

If you are losing hair only on top and the hair on the sides and back of your head is healthy, strong, and dense, you may be a good candidate for hair transplantation with an elite Coaltion hair transplant surgeon.

 

However, if you are losing hair on the sides and back of your head, you will most likely not be a good hair transplant candidate because there is no "safe" donor hair to use to transplant into balding areas.

 

I hope you will stick around and I'm sure you will find the members of our forum community helpful and supportive.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Guest]

Here is something else I found. I'm going to post this because you never know who else may come along with the same problem as myself - that evil PCOS that causes hair loss LOL. Did you know that many women have hair loss due to PCOS but don't even know it? It's commonly not properly diagnosed, which is pretty sad IMO. Took them 11 years to diagnose me. I ran from one DR to the next explaining ALL of my symptoms and they were all dumbfounded. Only reason it ended up getting diagnosed by the time I was 24, is because I went in for infertility problems. Treatment for the whole condition was still confusing for DR's though because I never received proper treatment.

 

Anyhow:

 

What can be done to arrest the progression of baldness due to excess androgens in PCOS?

 

Since some of the tendency to baldness is genetic in the environment of high testosterone, the only factor that can be altered is to lower the level of testosterone in the blood of women with PCOS. Testosterone is highly bound in the blood to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and only about 1% of it is free and active on the hair follicles. This free testosterone is converted to dihydrotestosterone by an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. In order to decrease hair growth then, the mechanisms would be to:

 

* decrease the manufacture of testosterone in the ovary - anti-androgenics

* to lower the amount of free testosterone in the blood by increasing sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) - spironolactone (a diuretic), estrogens,

* to impair the action of 5-alpha-reductase enzyme - saw palmetto extract, finasteride (Propecia?®), and flutamide (Eulexin?®)

 

So, I guess I know what I need to do now! Hopefully it will work. I'm becoming more and more interested in Saw Palmetto! I have now found it in at least 7 articles and they all compare it to Propecia.

 

I think God intended for me to be a man with all this testosterone going on LOL. <------- Gotta keep a sense of humor with all this. Wish I would have found this info a long time ago.

 

 

 

Originally posted by Bill - Moderator:

Sandra (Magnolia),

 

I'm sorry to hear about your hair loss condition. As of man, it's a difficult thing, but for a woman, I can imagine it's even that much more difficult.

 

You are amongst friends here and hopefully we will be able to help encourage, support, and offer real time solutions for you.

 

I am confused however, as to the cause of your hair loss. Is both ovarian disease AND androgenetic alopecia causing your hair loss? These are two totally different things.

 

Not knowing anything about polycystic ovarian disease, is there a treatment, remedy, or cure for this? If so, treating the condition might help regrow some of the lost hair this condition has caused.

 

However, if this is combined with androgenetic alopecia (genetic hair loss) your hair loss may be even more progressive.

 

What is the current condition and pattern of your hair loss?

 

If you are losing hair only on top and the hair on the sides and back of your head is healthy, strong, and dense, you may be a good candidate for hair transplantation with an elite Coaltion hair transplant surgeon.

 

However, if you are losing hair on the sides and back of your head, you will most likely not be a good hair transplant candidate because there is no "safe" donor hair to use to transplant into balding areas.

 

I hope you will stick around and I'm sure you will find the members of our forum community helpful and supportive.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Al - Moderator]

Magnolia,

If you're sure it's your ovaries that are causing the problem then why not think about having them removed after you have the baby. I realize that's a difficult thing to do for some women, but you will already have a child (don't know if you have others) and if it solves the problem, then maybe you should think about it.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Magnolia,

 

Thank you for the additional information about polycystic ovarian disease and how it works to increase the risk of hair loss.

 

Am I correct in saying then, that PCOs tends to increase testosterone?

 

If this is true, then PCOs doesn't appear to cause hair loss but facilitate the onset of androgenetic alopecia that is caused by genetics. The higher levels of testosterone increases the levels of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the hormone responsible for genetic hair loss.

 

Lowering the amount of DHT or testosterone therefore, would certainly be helpful to you.

 

Be careful however, with the Saw Palmetto treatment. There have been similar warnings for women on the use of Saw Palmetto as with Propecia, about pregnant women shouldn't use it.

 

Learn more about Saw Palmetto.

 

Apparently spironolactone can be taken orally or topically. Whereas I have not studied taking it topically to date, when taken orally, there are risks of a number of extreme side effects.

 

Learn more about oral spironolactone.

 

I am not trying to discourage you though unfortunately, the news in itself is discouraging. Keep researching!

 

Bill

[Guest]

Oh no, LOL, don't tell me that! I wasn't planning on using the Saw palmetto right now since I'm pregnant, but thought about it in the future. However, if it has bad side effects, etc., I don't wanna use it.

 

And yes, PCOS causes my body to produce an abnormal amount of those lovely male hormones. Somehow it is all tied in with insulin resistance and weight gain as well. Some women have stopped producing too many male hormones by losing weight. However, I am not really overweight. I've done more research today and really think that going to an endocrinologist is my best bet so that he can come up with a treatment plan to stop the production of these male hormones. I read that an anti-androgenic drug along with estrogen treatment can help.

 

I'm confused! LOL

[Guest]

Originally posted by BeHappy:

Magnolia,

If you're sure it's your ovaries that are causing the problem then why not think about having them removed after you have the baby. I realize that's a difficult thing to do for some women, but you will already have a child (don't know if you have others) and if it solves the problem, then maybe you should think about it.

 

 

I thought about that too but was told not to do that. I cannot recall what reason I was given though since it was a few years ago. However, about a year ago, I was told that they can do ovarian drilling, which is supposed to reduce androgen production. They puncture about 4-20 little holes in the ovaries. Then an electric current is passed through the needle and a small portion of the ovary is destroyed.

 

I am reading so MANY different things currently and am just overwhelmed and confused. It's so much information. I will go with an endocrinologist to get the disorder treated and if then, my hair loss does not improve, I am gonna get a HT.