I received an email asking me about the hairloss problems and treatments (from someone going throught he same thing) after my last entry on here. I will cut and paste most of my reply below just in case it helps anyone else… I only know the following from personal experience, what I’ve read, and advice I have received in the past… so discuss these things with your health professional (print it out of you like):
“There a few few medications that can be prescribed for this symptom of PCOS. I believe the most common is Spironolactone (which has various brand names). Hair loss treatment is not it’s main use… (I think it’s usually for blood pressure issues), and the dosage for hair loss needs to be quite high in comparison to have any effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spironolactone
Neither this, nor any of the other medications for male pattern hair loss in PCOS, are suitable during pregnancy. So unsuitable, in fact, that they can not be taken even if you are considering pregnancy, as the problems they cause (feminisation of the male fetus) occur very early… possibly before you know you are pregnant and have time to cease medication.
You need to be on Spironolactone for several months before the effects are obvious, but apparently they do happen. I was on it for one week though, and had to cease as the side effects were simply not worth it for me. To be honest, the gas it caused was so severe that I couldn’t go anywhere in public for the whole week… and I felt sick as well.
Rogaine is an option (topical minoxidil), and I have tried it a couple of times. I also found the side effects of it to be too much. I did grow hair on my head… in fact sooner than expected. I also grew a lot of hair all over my face, and it caused acne severe enough to possibly cause permanent scarring. Also the solution is alcohol based and needs to be applied twice a day… so all of my hair was looking like you’d expect it to if you doused it with methylated spirits twice a day for a few months. As soon as I stopped using it, the side effects went away, and any hair it helped me grow fell out.
The possibility of Nizoral 2% having at least some effect… at least in slowing hair loss down, is talked about a lot. The jury is still probably out on that, but there is no harm in making it part of your routine a couple times a week, as it’s pretty easy… and it make you scalp cleaner regardless. Make sure it’s the 2% (which you may have to ask the pharmacist for) rather than the 1% (which is likely to be sitting on the shelf).
http://www.nizoral.com/
There is some evidence to suggest that drinking green tea is beneficial for this… which is why I’m taking it up again. I did feel better in general when I was consuming it before anyway, so I figure… why not? However, the story is that to be beneficial for this purpose, at least 3 cups have to be consumed each day… and adding milk destroys these qualities. I’m lucky enough that I like the taste of it and am happy to drink it without adding anything.
I’m also going to get back into the Saw Palmetto supplements like I said. Like I indicated… there is frustratingly little solid info that I can get my hands on about it. But from what I can find… out of all the supplements that there suggested for this purpose… it seems to be the one that warrants a giving a fair go (and also warrants more research). If you’re looking for it in shops… you may find it labelled as a prostate tonic, as that’s it’s primary use.
I also take Biotin and Zinc for the hairloss reasons.
What I am really hoping is that when I am back into my gym junkie mode (I am really into it, but have had to take more than a year off for other reaons – now all I have to do is get over the flu and I’m back to it)... then that will do it… along with diet. I am trying to find info suggesting that it will work to actually regrow hair, but can’t seem to.”
