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What can I do about hair loss from stims?

C

CSM25

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Hi. I am not sure if this is the right board to put this in.
IF not, could a mod plz put it in the right spot. TY!

I am wondering about the side effect of amphetamines - hair loss. I am 27. I never had appreciable loss until November or so, after only 2 days on medication.
I took 10 15mg Adderall XR over 2 weeks last Nov. 2-3 days in, massive shedding. ON my pillow, when I stroke through hair. I started counting and taking photos...
I switched off. I switched to vyvanse (bad), ritalin (anxiety), and then 6 wks off to Dexedrine. Best one for me besides adderall, no reversal yet. Less shedding - not great tho.


My parts look wider.
Note: Dad lost hair in early 20's. Bro started too. And has a big bald spot. He stopped it with Fin and Minoxidil. I had amazing hair up until 6 mo ago.
MAYBE some non-notable hair thinning in early 20s but I only questioned it during time of haircut. No one thought I was losing any then (early 18 to 26).
I tried Rogaine last yr 2 months. I quit. It caused some water weight gain and made hair worse looking.

Plz help me if you can. Thanks!!
God, why me, why me... I had so many things I wanted to do... So many things I missed out in my youth especially dating and now this.


IMGUR:
http://imgur.com/ai17rbx&DI8d1xG&ng3yp0u&a1kVGPI&TtCffGQ&UCf5lqD&GNL0ygT There's oil in my hair. So, you can see it even without me pulling it aside. Usually only seen when wet a bad angle.
 
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I've heard about minoxidil as well and propecia (you can get from a doctor). It looks like hair loss is in your genes. Have you had a consultation check up with a doctor just to make sure you really are losing hair? Also too, diet is important and make sure to avoid stress at all times.

Another important thing too is if you are washing your hair, use mild shampoo and also, it is important not to subject your hair to constant heating procedures and dyes.
 
Hair loss can happen with some medications like chemo-therapy and radiation if someone is getting cancer treatment; but otherwise it's genetic and use or abuse of stimulants does not cause hair loss. Also in normal healthy people who are not going bald it's normal to lose up to as many as 100 hairs per day. It sounds like a lot but hair grows really fast. You wrote about how your dad lost his hair in his 20s so there is your answer as to why you are losing yours now. If you want to go on medications for it like the ones mentioned or rogaine talk to a doctor.
 
Rogaine isn't gonna work in a small period of time. You have to wait 4 months or so...
5a reductase inhibitors like finasteride are pretty effective for hair loss.
Do you stop losing hair when not taking amphs?
Other than that, make sure you're eating healthy and you may wanna take a multivitamin.
 
Yeah thanks for the replies. I mean to get my thyroid checked, but I've just been a disorganized mess lately.
True that dad lost hair in his 20's but I mean, off of dex one day now and I barely shed compared to yesterday (about 5 days on, a one day break, and 8 on or so).

I mean 3 days... I didn't wash my hair, I brushed my hand thru my hair for over a minute and counted 80. I literally see hair fall to my computer when on it.
And it thinned like crazy and didn't seem to worsen. Also the quality is odd.

I see strange jagged hairs that look like I was fried. Plus many hairs are LONG that fall out. Not miniaturized. Sure, I do have genes for it. But, I feel like maybe I would bald 20-30 yrs from now, or maybe not at all, and in either case maybe caused its onset OR exacerbated it with the speed.

Doing the pull test at 5 am now, almost no hair comes out. Yesterday after 5 days on... much more.
It could very well be alopecia, but no one will tell me it did or did not occur from this... fucking sucks either way.

Have a mate that took/takes dex for narcolepsy. And her hair thinned a lot... she cut down, really adjusted diet as best she could and used sulphate free shampoos and conditioners. I've done all that... maybe some deficiencies too. Maybe, I'm just fucked...

Also I have a lot of stress right now. Considering (unrelated) surgery. School... etc.
I cannot take propecia... already have sex side effects from SNRi's. Fixing that slowly by abstaining from contact.

http://www.americanhairloss.org/drug_induced_hair_loss/
http://dermnetnz.org/hair-nails-sweat/alopecia-drugs.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2805578/
 
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It seems that stims are in fact the cause of your hair loss.
There are other types of drugs like modafinil that can treat your ADHD. Therapy can be effective too, although it takes some time to start working.
If modafinil works for you, switch to it...
 
Hey flyhighk. Thanks for the suggestion.

Thought about it and forgot. Had no imsurance. Just activating some. I know its expensive. Is modafinil/ provogil avail in Canada?

Is it less likely to cause shedding?

Long term I need other interventions.
I meditate and will really get back into bodybuilding soon enough. I hope that helps a lot. It did back in the day, but things were easier.
 
Modafinil doesn't work in the same way as stimulants afaik. So it shouldn't cause shedding... in theory at least.
Are you taking any other drug or supplement?
 
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