I Take Excessive Retinoids and Have Hair Loss

I’ve been taking excessive retinoids for quite some time now. I started coincidentally thinning (just a little bit to the point of being 100% unnoticeable) around the end of last summer. I stopped taking the acne medications towards the end of the first semester of college (which was right around October/November). Then I went back on the retinoids in February, but developed a full, thick head of hair. I eventually upped my dosage and went on a more intense medication.

Side note: I also went vegan right before college. Second semester I ended the veganism. I was also taking a medication called doryx, which had reported side effects of hair loss, on and off. My slight hair thinning continued throughout the rest of the semester. I went to a dermatologist who didn’t really look at my hair, but prescribed propecia and rogaine. It completely ruined my hair and made it 70% thinner, more brittle, and with bald spots within 2 months. I took propecia and rogaine together for a total of 29 days.

My hair is still falling out rapidly. I also was taking acne medication throughout that period, but stopped in the middle of my propecia dose. I am no longer a vegan and no longer take retinoids or doryx, but my hair is still falling out severely. My dad started having thin hair in his 40s–same with my grandpa. I am only 19 years old. What exactly is going on?

Oral retinoids have been linked to hair loss if you take excessive doses (source), but there’s really no way for me to pinpoint what the exact cause of your loss is considering the medication you took, the change in diet, and your age. I don’t know your complete family history, and just because your dad lost hair in his 40s, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you would too.

You may have the genes for balding and the diet change or medication caused the loss to begin sooner. Or your genetics alone could be responsible for the hair loss starting at 19. Or you don’t have genetic male pattern balding, but the medication or supplements are causing it.

There’s just too many variables that make it impossible to come to any definitive cause.