topical spironolactone, the risks?

[morpheus]

spironolactone is a synthetic steriod, hydrocortisone is also a steroid, and use of hydrocortisone on the scalp for psiorrasis and male pattern baldness is hazardous, because whilst initiatly it will clear psiorrasis and promote hairgrowth, it eventually causes severe thinning of the skin, and permanent hair loss.....

I know spironolactone is androgen like, and hydrocortisone is a naturally occuring steroid made and used by the body to conteract an inflammatory response, so there is a physiological difference in effect of these two hormones, However, would topical spironolactone have the same nasty side effects as topical hydrocortisone??

 

[Stingray]

Huh?

This is a first. I'm interested too.

I think you got misinformed though.

 

[Guest]

spironolactone is a synthetic steriod, hydrocortisone is also a steroid, and use of hydrocortisone on the scalp for psiorrasis and male pattern baldness is hazardous, because whilst initiatly it will clear psiorrasis and promote hairgrowth, it eventually causes severe thinning of the skin, and permanent hair loss.....

I know spironolactone is androgen like, and hydrocortisone is a naturally occuring steroid made and used by the body to conteract an inflammatory response, so there is a physiological difference in effect of these two hormones, However, would topical spironolactone have the same nasty side effects as topical hydrocortisone??

I believe sprio is an anti-androgen.

 

[Guest]

From Dr Lee's website


TOPICAL SPIRONOLACTONE IN THE TREATMENT OF ALOPECIA
AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE


ODORLESS 5% SPIRONOLACTONE LOTION NOW AVAILABLE

Purchase a large enough quantity of 5% Xandrox or 5% minoxidil solutions
to get your 5% Spironolactone Lotion free.

Price and discounts are explained in the Secure Order Form at:
http://www.minoxidil.com/scripts/webcar ... =minoxidil



It’s been firmly established that alopecia. androgenetica, more commonly known as male pattern baldness or just pattern baldness, is initiated by dihydrotestosterone (DHT) attaching to the receptor sites on the hair follicles [1.2.3.4.].

Genetically, only the follicles on the top of the scalp are encoded with the receptor sites [5.6.24.], which explains why hair follicles along the side of the head and in the back of the head do not atrophy. The attached DHT on the receptor sites is perceived as a foreign body and the immune system begins to destroy the hair follicle, shortening the growth phase and causing the hair shaft to become progressively finer in texture [6]. In extreme cases, only a microscopic vellus hair remains. The good news is that these follicles have the inherent capacity to mature to their former size and thickness.

Encouraged with the success of finasteride to reduce the amount of DHT in the scalp of patients with male pattern baldness (male pattern baldness), doctors and scientific researchers took another look at existing medications that are known to act as anti-androgens.

There have to be stringent criteria for an anti-androgen that can be used to combat or even reverse pattern alopecia.

The ideal anti-androgen should have the following properties:

(1) It must have potent anti-androgen activity; (2) It should selectively prevent or successfully compete with DHT without changing testosterone levels; (3) It should be effective topically, so it can be conveniently applied with minoxidil solutions or lotions and (4), It should be easily absorbed into the skin, but should have no systemic effects where it is not applied.

That’s a tall order. Surprisingly, there is such a medication: spironolactone. And it’s not a new medication [7.8.]. For over thirty years spironolactone has been used for its anti-androgenic effects in both males and females [14.15.]. Taken orally, it is such a potent anti-androgen that, although it is an effective anti-hypertensive drug, it is rarely used to treat men with hypertension because of its feminizing properties which can include painful gynecomastia [16.17.].

Applied topically, however, spironolactone does not have systemic side effects [12.18.19.20.]. Clinical evaluators of topical applications of spironolactone concluded, "as far as the topical use is concerned, spironolactone seems to be highly effective with absence of systemic effects"[19]. Physicians have been treating patients for male pattern baldness for well over fifteen years and there have not been any reports of systemic side effects. In my own research, the use of topical 5% spironolactone along with Xandrox 5% solution yielded improved results as compared to the use of Xandrox 5% alone. Likewise, the combination of 5% spironolactone with Regrowth's 5% minoxidil yielded improved results as compared to the use of 5% minoxidil used with daily 1 mg doses of finasteride (with the added advantage of zero side effects).

Among its other properties as an anti-androgen, spironolactone is a potent competitive inhibitor of DHT at its receptor sites [21]. Therefore, spironolactone effectively prevents DHT from attaching to the receptor sites on the hair follicles [22].

As a result, the follicles no longer atrophy and can mature again to their normal size. And it does so without decreasing the circulating levels of DHT in the body. By comparison, finasteride inhibits the formation of DHT, causing troublesome side effects in many patients.

Multiple studies in various medical centers document that spironolactone is effective when applied topically [22].

In studying the anti-androgenic effects of topical spironolactone at the Department of Dermatology at New York University School of Medicine, researchers established that spironolactone concentrations of 0.01% to 5% produced a dose responsive decrease [23]. When both topical 5% spironolactone and topical 5% minoxidil are used daily in the treatment of male pattern baldness, the effects of the medications are synergistic. Whereas neither medication alone is particularly effective for the majority of patients, the success of the combination has been experimentally proven. Our own success rate with this formulation has been approximately 75-80%.

Our extensive R&D have finally produced a spironolactone lotion which almost totally eliminates the inherent disagreeable smell of spironolactone. In addition to the 5% concentration of spironolactone in the lotion, there are small (1 to 3 mm) vesicular pockets of pure, unsuspended micronized spironolactone powder. This should be spread onto the scalp with one's fingertips to optimize the effects of the application.

Do not combine medications containing spironolactone and minoxidil in the same container. The medications slowly react with each other, resulting in a compromise of their pharmacological activities. However, since it requires many hours for spironolactone and minoxidil to chemically react with each other, they can be consecutively applied to the scalp without compromising each other.

Regrowth's 5% Spironolactone Lotion has a shelf life of more than 18 months when kept at normal room temperatures.



Bibliography

 

[Redbone]

Morpheus if that were the case doctors wouldn't prescrib spironolactone, to their patients for male pattern baldness. As for hydrocortisone Dr. Lee puts it in his Xandrox and he is a doctor.

 

[morpheus]

I personally (dont think) hope it doesnt have the same effects as topical hydrocortisone. I wouldnt personally use any product that contained hydrocortisone topically on the scalp or anywhere else on skin, hydrocortisone is good when its used for acute inflammatory responses, such as an allergic reaction to a bee sting etc, but long term use of hydrocortisone on the skin is best avoided due to the side effects mentioned in my previous post, plus over time significient levels of hydrocortisone can be absorded through the skin leading to adrenal supression, eg people treated for conditions such as asthma with prednisolone (a synthetic hydrocortisone) can become addicted to it if the dose issufficent, in that if they stop taking it, their natural hydrocortisone production will not have enough time to recoil, and they can develop acute and life threatening pulmonary oedema as well as other severe inflammatory responses...

back to using hydrocortisone in male pattern baldness, look up any H&S data sheet, patient information, side effects and contra indications on the use of hydrocortisone on the scalp, and you will find what I have stated above, so for this reason I would never use it, yes, i fancy the idea that it will initially stimulate hairgrowth, but i dont really like the idea of my scalp skin thinning away gradually, and also the fact that any newhair growth with it is about as temporary as you can get, in fact i remember reading somewhere that the follicles become much less able to produce new hair once theyve been treated with hydrocortisone for any length of time...

spironolactone instead is a much more exciting possibility and I gather so far that it does not have the same side effects. I know from your response that a lot of male pattern baldness specialised Drs use it, but as far as im aware, it has never actually been liscenced for this use, certainly not in the UK anyway, where are the controlled pharmaceutical studies? and why is it not listed in the BNF (british national formulary) for this use? therefore if there are no controlled studies for this use, there will be no data on any side effects associated with this use of spironolactone....

Its the only body youve got, and do you really want to mess around without having any idea of the consequences?

Ive been using fina for about 8 months, and im not too impressed with my observed side effects so far, ie im begining to find it hard to get and sustain an erection during sex with my girlfriend, the orgasms arnt as strong as they used to be a few months ago, not as much semem, also im begining to suspect fina is having an impact on my immune system, ive recently developed an abscess in my jaw that seems resistant to metronidazole, co-amoxiclav and fluclox, Ive been ill several times over the last few months with d&v flu, colds etc.. I have no medical history, I am not diabetic, asthmatic etc, i dont drink...
Im thinking of dumping fina, and switching to spironolactone for the reasons above, but i dont want to open another can of worms...

 

[Redbone]

Lee, uses the argument that store bought Hydro contains 10% like Lanacain and his stuff contains only 1%. There are strong arguments in your favor supporting what you say- that is why you can order Lee's stuff without BV-Hydro