Will Steroid Induced Hair Loss Reverse After Discontinuation?

[Woodyy]

I recently did a 10 week cycle of testosterone decanoate at 500mg p/w, towards the mid-way point of the cycle I noticed one of my temples was receding/thinning and then towards the end of the cycle the other one started receding/thinning as well. It's been 3 weeks since my last injection and I'm still shedding a decent amount.

After doing some reading on propecia/proscar people were claiming it reduces DHT levels by about 70%?

Surely if this is the case, once my testosterone/DHT levels revert back to normal (which would be a drop of over 70%) hairloss should stop as well, considering I had no previous hairloss whatsoever before steroids.

Could I hope for the hairloss to stop and even for regrowth or should I take some action now? I've read quite a few posts online about regrowth after steroids but then a lot of contradictory posts as well.

Cheers :turned:

 

[mobjack]

I don't think there is a definite answer because different people will respond differently. I would say that getting treatment would increase the chances of your hair growing back.

One thing for sure is that you have the genetics for hair loss if you respond to steroids that way. You will probably lose your hair eventually and the earlier you treat it, the better the results will be.

 

[ladysmanfelpz]

My guess is if you don't have any history of male pattern baldness or you haven't started balding yet that it should revert back. My theory is us baldies have an overactive enzyme that increases our dht and causes us to bald. Non-baldies have a normal enzyme that converts the correct amount of T to DHT and their hormonal balance is correct. While on steroids your T is elevated and enzyme still operates at the same rate, but since more T is in your system you will have more DHT as well, causing premature balding. Once levels go back to normal your hair should slowly start to come back. If finasteride, meaning lower amounts of DHT in the body, will bring back hair, a normal person with lower DHT should start to get their hair back. If you look around on the forums you will see it definitely takes a lot of time tho. I would consider propecia and if you do another cycle definitely stack finasteride with it.

 

[Woodyy]

My guess is if you don't have any history of male pattern baldness or you haven't started balding yet that it should revert back. My theory is us baldies have an overactive enzyme that increases our dht and causes us to bald. Non-baldies have a normal enzyme that converts the correct amount of T to DHT and their hormonal balance is correct. While on steroids your T is elevated and enzyme still operates at the same rate, but since more T is in your system you will have more DHT as well, causing premature balding. Once levels go back to normal your hair should slowly start to come back. If finasteride, meaning lower amounts of DHT in the body, will bring back hair, a normal person with lower DHT should start to get their hair back. If you look around on the forums you will see it definitely takes a lot of time tho. I would consider propecia and if you do another cycle definitely stack finasteride with it.

That was my thinking as well, in terms of family history my dad has a good head of hair in terms of coverage (although its a bit thin) at 57, my grandad on my mums side has a great head of hair at 94 and my grandad on my dads side, from what I can remember, had a good head of hair at 68 before he died.

I know there are cases where people are set up genetically to not be predisposed to male pattern baldness and still get it but I reckon chance must be on my side?

Anyway, got some propecia on the way and got some minoxidil yesterday, I'm not going to use either as it stands, it depends on if hair loss persists or not.

And I'll never do a cycle again, I don't regret it, I was just testing the waters with a pretty mild cycle.

Anyway, cheers for your responses guys.

 

[SuprisedGuy]

If you have the male pattern baldness gene then no, you've just kick-started your balding if it hadn't started already. Since you've stopped cycling then the hair loss should slow or maybe stop for now but steriods seem to switch the balding gene on pre-maturely for those who are pre-disposed. However getting on finasteride/rogaine could get your back hair back to it's original state.

 

[jabbathehair]

this is why if you have male pattern baldness or are worried you should stick with anavar, primbolan and deca! dont touch test or winny! read up on it. if you have used test and have started losing your hair then you DO have male pattern baldness! look up zyzz. he was on TREN which destroys hair if you have male pattern baldness yet he had very thick hair all over with no sign at all just like his brother.

 

[Woodyy]

Can't believe I have male pattern baldness when considering my family history, any close relative who is a male in my family has a good head of hair for their age.

Is there no way I could lose some hair on a test cycle and not have male pattern baldness or is it set in stone?

 

[jabbathehair]

you can inherit male pattern baldness from a great great GREAT grandfather. 500mg isnt even that much tbh. did you stack it with anything? I've never heard of 500mg of test making someone shed who does not have male pattern baldness. honestly are you sure its not paranoia and now you're just taking more notice of your hairline so now you're seeing things you never saw before. if you have male pattern baldness even a 250mg can activate male pattern baldness. BUT its possible that your male pattern baldness could just be a receding hairline and thats it.post a pic?

 

[SuprisedGuy]

Can't believe I have male pattern baldness when considering my family history, any close relative who is a male in my family has a good head of hair for their age.

Is there no way I could lose some hair on a test cycle and not have male pattern baldness or is it set in stone?

Although unlikely, you can still get the gene for a very distant ancestor even if no one in your family is balding. You could also have severe hair loss on both sides of your family and not inherit the male pattern baldness genes. Look at Jay Cutler, roided to the nth degree but has a perfect head hair i.e. doesn't have male pattern baldness genes.

 

[Woodyy]

Hmmm, as soon as my propecia arrives I guess I'll jump on that then, what ****ting luck that I've inherited the gene from a distant family member.

i never thought hair loss from steroids = male pattern baldness gene 100% of the time but going on the above I guess I'm well and truly ****ed.

- - - Updated - - -

you can inherit male pattern baldness from a great great GREAT grandfather. 500mg isnt even that much tbh. did you stack it with anything? I've never heard of 500mg of test making someone shed who does not have male pattern baldness. honestly are you sure its not paranoia and now you're just taking more notice of your hairline so now you're seeing things you never saw before. if you have male pattern baldness even a 250mg can activate male pattern baldness. BUT its possible that your male pattern baldness could just be a receding hairline and thats it.post a pic?

I didn't stack it with anything.

And definitely not paranoia, I've been living in ignorant bliss the last few weeks trying to convince myself it was paranoia but its not.

If I run my hands through my fringe/temple area 75% of the time 1-3 hairs will come out, but doing so to areas not prone to male pattern baldness rarely returns hairs, surely this isn't normal?

And I tried taking pics but due to lighting and my blonde hair it's hard to see where my hairline actually starts, besides, my hairline is still pretty normal, slightly receded at one temple, it's the thinning that's noticeable.

Im not afraid to say I'm way too proud to have someone take a proper picture for me at this point, nothing is near being noticeable at the moment and no one has commented on it so I don't really want to bring it to anyone's attention.

 

[roberto522]

lol i know alot of bald dudes that took steroids ...not a good idea ...rather have my hair and small muscles then other way around

 

[Woodyy]

lol i know alot of bald dudes that took steroids ...not a good idea ...rather have my hair and small muscles then other way around

Yeah me too, thought I was one of the few that could have both but doesn't seem like it anymore haha.

After doing some research I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to fight this but it's just gonna be a bit of a pain in the ***.

waiting for my propecia to come now.

- - - Updated - - -

Just come home today for the weekend and saw my parents, neither commented on it so I'm pretty sure it's not noticeable at this point and just paranoia.

Really just hoping it's going to stop itself at this point, according to a PCT calculator at this point in time my test levels should be at "126.8mg T, 0mg E/D/T" when considering the cycle dose and length I did, is this approaching a normal level? Means nothing to me.

I can still see little baby hairs at the temples where my hairline used to be so I know the follicle isn't completely dead, hopefully they can recover either naturally or with the use of propecia, that's still a good 2 weeks away from arrive though which is a bit worrying.

 

[abcdefg]

I would guess no like normal male pattern baldness its not reversible after you stop the androgens all the hair doesnt grow back. You might get some regrowth but probably not all of it. You just sped up or triggered the normal male pattern baldness process so its just like treating male pattern baldness now.

 

[Woodyy]

Hair seems to be slowly thickening up.

What I'm certain about it my hairline is filling in again at the temples, where it was bare before loads of hairs are growing through.

My hairline is completely back to normal again now, just not as substantial at the temples, glad it's growing back, hoping it will keep thickening up.

Weird part is when I comb my hair after a shower I still get about 7-10 hairs in the comb, not sure if it's normal or not, never took much notice before..

Anyway, progress... it's just a waiting game now.

 

[Woodyy]

Visually hair seems to be looking better than a few weeks back, still shedding albeit less than before.

After doing a lot of research I've realised the fact that the hairs I'm shedding not having tapered ends is a good sign, they all seem to be pretty much consistent thickness all the way through.

I'm thinking (maybe just hoping) that this is telogen effluvium or however it's spelt, I know steroids can act as a "stressor" to start this process and normally shedding will start a few ~2 months after the stressor is introduced which would be almost exactly in time from when I started my cycle (November 21st)

I'm slowly stressing less and less about it now which is probably a factor in helping me out.

Sorry for updating every few days, I just see this as a journal for myself now lol.

 

[USMC1371]

Woodyy,
I did 2 cycles of Test E 500mg per week (in 2006 and 2009). Used finasteride @ 1.25mg a day, nizoral 3 times a week and rogaine foam 2x a day and everything stabilized a month or so after pct. It seemed to thin very slightly but mine came back 100%! Keep faith and get on a solid program! My last cycle was about 3 years ago and although I am suffering from Telogen Effluvium now from a completely different situation, the test never gave me any sort of permanent loss. Everyone of course is different but I thought Id share my story. Have a good one bro!

 

[Woodyy]

Woodyy,
I did 2 cycles of Test E 500mg per week (in 2006 and 2009). Used finasteride @ 1.25mg a day, nizoral 3 times a week and rogaine foam 2x a day and everything stabilized a month or so after pct. It seemed to thin very slightly but mine came back 100%! Keep faith and get on a solid program! My last cycle was about 3 years ago and although I am suffering from Telogen Effluvium now from a completely different situation, the test never gave me any sort of permanent loss. Everyone of course is different but I thought Id share my story. Have a good one bro!

You don't know how happy I am to read things like this, my hair is slowly looking better but I'm only about mid-way through PCT at the moment, I'm not expecting hair to get better to a large degree until after PCT.

My finasteride *should* arrive tomorrow, would you suggest me getting on it ASAP or waiting it out a bit longer and see if my hair sorts itself out naturally?

I'm not at all scared to get on finasteride, if I knew 100% my hair was going to keep getting worse until I used it I'd jump on it straight away, I just hear loads of people say that their hair sorts itself out naturally by a few months post cycle.

 

[meetjoeblack]

I don't think there is a definite answer because different people will respond differently. I would say that getting treatment would increase the chances of your hair growing back.

One thing for sure is that you have the genetics for hair loss if you respond to steroids that way. You will probably lose your hair eventually and the earlier you treat it, the better the results will be.

This I agree with. I think genetics plays a part. My dad was almost 60 before noticeable hairloss was evident. Receeding hair like a M and crown loss. I would shave it by then likely. With steriods much like accutane, it induces male pattern baldness is you have the gene. I contemplated steriods but I stopped it due to fear of side effects. I did go on accutane and experienced side effects. I was noticing effects but, it seems fine now. The sides seem effected slightly. If it got bad I'd cut it short.

 

[Woodyy]

This I agree with. I think genetics plays a part. My dad was almost 60 before noticeable hairloss was evident. Receeding hair like a M and crown loss. I would shave it by then likely. With steriods much like accutane, it induces male pattern baldness is you have the gene. I contemplated steriods but I stopped it due to fear of side effects. I did go on accutane and experienced side effects. I was noticing effects but, it seems fine now. The sides seem effected slightly. If it got bad I'd cut it short.

Yeah, I think what steroids have taught me is that I will experience hair loss later in life naturally, steroids just sped up the process.

My hair is slowly looking better I think, the temples have potentially slightly thickened up and my fringe is looking better.

I will now have propecia and minoxidil on hand if hair loss ever gets really bad again, or even if I continue to keep shedding as I am currently, but as it stands I'm prepared to ride this out naturally for a while and see what happens.

The one thing I'm confused about is I'm sure my hair is looking better than a few weeks back and yet I'm still shedding?

Is this normal? Surely shedding can only make your hair worse. The hairs I'm shedding 90% long hairs with a consistent thickness so I don't think they are miniaturized, when I compare them to the hairs I pluck out of my sides/back they are the same.

Any thoughts?

 

[Woodyy]

Small update:

1) Shedding seems to be slowing almost as rapidly as it started, yesterday in the shower I ran my fingers through my hair and got about 8/9 hairs out, later on that night doing the same thing I couldn't get any hairs to come out at all (I know I really shouldn't be touching my hair all the time but the hairs that come out from doing this would probably have come out naturally very soon anyway), and then this morning after my shower I ran my fingers through my hair again, nothing, did it again, nothing, did it again and 1 came out. Absolutely no idea how I can go from shedding so much to so little in the space of 24 hours.

2) The website I ordered my proscar from messed up my order and so it doesn't look like I'll be getting it any time soon, they had to reship it this morning. Good news though in that it didn't cost me anything for them to reship it and they threw in an extra 30 pills, now I'm going to have 60 proscar pills that I probably won't even need to use anymore (if shedding keeps slowing down as it is), that's at least 240 days worth and I was probably planning on cutting the pills into 1/8's or 1/4's and taking it EOD meaning I have 480 days worth of finasteride on it's way + 3 months supply of minoxidil that I'm probably not going to need either now.

I don't know what to do really, I mean I guess I could just sell these pills on really cheaply and get most of the money back I paid for them, is that even legal to do that? Might just keep them in case the shedding gets worse again or male pattern baldness hits me later in life.