I think my hair loss if from acyclovir Because, I have a friend who has MM and was on antivirals for many months, almost a year and her hairdresser commented how thin her hair got. Well she had a surgery for MM, which she will post about soon and has stopped antivirals for 2 months now and she sees new hair growth. and her hair is much shinier since she's off them. So to be bald to no vertigo.. as vain as I am with my hair I'll go with no vertigo. But it definitely sux! My bangs got even thinner than the pic I posted. I keep make them deeper, taking hair from further back and cutting them as bangs, I remind myself of those bald men coming their hair way over from the side to hide their bald spot LMAO!!! I'll take another maybe later to show you all. I did not start the Rogaine because the Dr I saw for my allergies and started me on her famous formula didn't want me to start anything new. She wants my system calm as I start her treatment.
Alopecia Treatment Taking omega-3 fatty acids in the form of fish oil is a very good first step towards slowing hair loss. There are two other natural approaches you can try. The first is to increase your iron intake. A three-year study of hair loss in women conducted in the late 1990s identified iron deficiency as the cause of hair loss in 72 percent of pre-menopausal women. But you don't need to be anemic to start losing your hair from lack of iron: Even deficiencies that don't qualify for an "anemic" diagnosis can contribute to this problem. Fortunately, increasing your iron intake is relatively simple to do through your diet. Dried fruits, fish, meat, legumes, and dark leafy greens have high iron content. But if you find that eating more of these foods doesn't help, you might need to take an iron supplement -- although if you do so, you should seek the assistance of your physician. Another way to combat hair loss is to supplement with MSM (methylsulfonyl methane), an important component of proteins found throughout the body, like the ones in your hair, nails, skin, and tendons. Since MSM is a sulfur-containing supplement, be sure to take a small amount of another nutrient called molybdenum along with it. Molybdenum helps your body metabolize sulfur.
Vicki I'm sorry to hear that this has continued. I had high hopes but that was when I thought you had started the Rogaine. I think John may have a point and it can't hurt to try any supplements that may counteract this condition. I'm wondering if anyone else on the antiviral treatment have experienced this same thing. My hair has thinned, but as you said, my hair is thicker and fuller than most. I contribute my hair loss to age and post menopausal lack of hormones. I have and will never take hormone replacement therapy but I will take John's advice. I hope your Dr. Can enlighten you more about this problem. You're still beautiful to me and you do NOT look your age! Keep me posted.
Thanks Bea I will see what I can do to treat this (Rogaine, what John suggested) after my next appointment with the Dr/Allergist. I hope my bangs are not all gone by then
I saw my dermatologist today for skin cancer checkup and he examined my scalp when I told him about the hair loss, he said my hairline on the sides and front have receded some and my hair has thinned a bit in front. He took a history of my family and their is hair loss on both sides. When I asked him about acyclovir he said it is not a common side effect. (contrary to all the posts I have read on google searches people saying they have lost hair being on it) He gave me a script to check some vitamins, iron, thyroid, hormones and maybe some other things I don't recall. I am going to take the blood tests tomorrow. I should have the results within a week. I can get them online a couple of days after they send them to my doctor. I see him again in 3 weeks.
I went back to my dermatologist today and all my bloodwork came back normal, which is weird because I am far from normal So he believes its female pattern baldness YIKES!!!! how awful sounding. He suggests I start the Rogaine as did my endocrinologist, but forgot to ask my new allergist but will next time which is in 2 weeks. She didn't want me to do anything new and keep my system calm. But tomorrow I take more bloodwork ordered by my endo which includes besides my regular bloodwork more tests to see if something other than hereditary is causing my hair to thin. The worst part is I asked my derma if its thinning just in front or all over..so he checked again and its all over my head, front, sides, top. I am soooo not happy about this. To be continued...................
Vicki, (((((Hugs))))) You are one of the most beautiful people I know and always will be regardless of your hair, smile and know I /we are here for you. Your friend Joe
Well the interesting part, of course, is that there is such a broad range of what is considered normal in blood work - yours could have changed "just" enough to cause this. From what I have read (since you know I am going thru it too) stress can cause it as well - and what you are seeing/noticing now is from what was going on 9-12 months ago. The stress causes the higher cortisol and shuts down the follicles. Now the two of us just have to get them woken back up! I wish that your answer was more definite than the one I got...but since it was basically the same...we will figure this out together. Or we can trade wigs later.
This sounds weird but......I noticed something the other day, the hair on my legs are just about gone..haven't needed to shave them, I'm wondering if my hair thinning on my head is due to heredity, why would I have a lot less hair on my legs,..., I will ask the dermatologist when I see him again if the lack of hair on my legs and the hair thinning on my head points to a side effect from acyclovir rather than heredity. If this is the case at least I will know for sure why my hair on my head is thinning.
I just found this Alopecia Following Oral Acyclovir for the Treatment of Herpes Simplex Keratitis http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3959052/ The authors report acyclovir-induced alopecia in a patient treated for herpetic keratouveitis. A 32-years-old female was diagnosed with herpetic keratouveitis. She was placed on prednisolone acetate (1%) suspension four times a day, atropine sulfate (1%) thrice a day, and oral acyclovir 400 mg twice-daily. Three weeks following oral acylovir, keratouveitis improved, but she developed alopecia without any drug eruptions. Oral acyclovir was discontinued. Three months later, alopecia completely resolved. Alopecia may be considered a possible complication following oral acyclovir. entire abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3959052/
yup it is and when I search acyclovir or valtrex or famvir and hair loss, tons and tons of posts by people say they lost a lot of hair from being on antivirals. Which is odd the study I posted above said it wasn't reported before that study. "Though oral acyclovir is widely used in most countries, alopecia induced by its usage has not been previously reported." Some times patients know a lot more than doctors when it comes to certain things because we are the ones using it or going through it, not them. So another question I am wondering about. If my hair loss is due to acyclovir, am I supposed to stop using it? or is it a side effect that will not hurt me besides losing my hair (which is horrible but is still better than having vertigo IMO)
Hair update: After researching and found many things said to promote regrowth of hair, I decided on 3 things, that I would be comfortable in trying, I changed the time of day I take acyclovir, I started taking B complex vitamin supplement, and I bought extra virgin coconut oil and use it 1-2 times a week for a deep conditioning treatment. A couple of days ago I felt my hair in the back and it felt thicker, also there seems to be a less hair is in my comb and less hair in drain when I shower and wash it. I am not sure that was my imagination or not but then... I lifted up my bangs where most of the hair thinning has taken place and lo and behold I have new hair growth along my hairline especially on the sides. I was amazed and in disbelief so I showed it to my neighbors daughter in law who is a hairdresser and she confirmed that in fact it is new hair growth. I ma hopeful now my bangs might become full again..fingers crossed!
I'm glad you've made progress Vicki. I know how important this is for you. On the lighter side, I wish the hair on my legs would go away!
LOL well thathas hapeend to me too, the hiar on my legs is a lot less I hope they don't get hairy again now LOL