To use rogaine or not with Telogen Effluvium: please help me out.

Guest · Jul 5, 2007

ok, i have never had any hair problems in my life untill about a month ago when i started shedding like crazy for no reason. it has been going for about the past 4 weeks or so and seems to have slowed down a bit in the past week, but still shedding much more than normal. after about a month of this, my hair is getting kind of thin on the top, with no hairline problems, just diffuse thinning. my doctor syas i'm just having an abnormal hair cycle and it will grow back within a few months.

now here's my problem. i want to start using rogaine foam to speed up the regrowth process so that i might have at least some regrowth by the time school starts in the fall. i've heard that with Telogen Effluvium cases, rogaine can spark regrowth sooner. however, i've also read that rogaine can cause a lot of shedding after you start using it, which would be counter-productive to me because i'm already shedding and it should grow back, i don't want to shed any more than i don't have to.

but. here's what else i was thinking. rogaine causes shedding not by putting hairs into the resting phase, but by shedding the ones already in the resting phase so new hair can grow in. i'm thinking i'm already shedding the hairs in the resting phase, so rogaine may not have an effect on their shedding at all, being as i'm already shedding them.

any input?

Guest · Jul 5, 2007

anyone?

hairforce9 · Jul 6, 2007

what makes you think you have Telogen Effluvium...
alot of ppl think they have Telogen Effluvium when they start losing hair aggressively just as an excuse to give them hope that their hair will naturally grow back. I though I had Telogen Effluvium also when i aggressively and i mean aggressively started losing hairs. Funny thing is i actually had a stressful incedient and a couple of months later i started losing the hair which is the definition of Telogen Effluvium. So I decieded to do nothing cuz i though it would reverse as Telogen Effluvium should but it didnt and this was a year ago. and i dont mean to scare you but i did reasearch on Telogen Effluvium and i read that Telogen Effluvium can be an onset to male pattern baldness. after reading that i decided to go on rogaine and my shedding stopped ive been using rogaine for 2 months now and i only shed very small skinny hairs only like 3-5 in the shower as oppose to 20-30 long hairs prior to rogaine. But like you i still think i have Telogen Effluvium, so wut im gonna do is i have a derm appointment and im gonna get the Doctor to check my DHT lvl and if its high im gonna start propecia. I need to know for certain that i have DHT affecting my hair before i start propecia cuz frankly im afraid of using that pill and i think every1 who is thinkin aobut starting propecia shuold check their DHT lvls.
anyways good luck i hope wut i said makes sence, i will add however if i could turn back the time to when i started lossing my hair i wish i started rogaine immediately!!!!!!

Guest · Jul 7, 2007

well i went to the doctor the have him check it out, he said he saw no signs of male pattern baldness, and there is no family history of male pattern baldness. my hairline is fine and it has just been a sudden onset of diffuse shedding. i have never had any hair problems before. i started on rogaine anyway to speed the whole process up. i suppose it could be male pattern baldness, but i seriously doubt it. also i had the flu a few months ago, the doctor seems to think that was the trigger.