Doryx and hair loss

[holly_berre]

I am 32 years old and have been prescribed Doryx and a topical acne medication for slight facial and back acne.  I have been taking the medication 5-6 weeks and for the past week or so I am noticying hair loss.  (roughly double the normal amount of hair I would loose in a day.)  My hair is noticably thinning.  Could this be a side effect of the medication I am taking?  Has anyone else experienced this?  On a side note, my skin is now completely clear.

[sonyaralphhotmailcom320]

omg this is happening to me now, hair is everywhere. how did your hair grow back?

[grandmoo1]

I've been taking 20 mg of Doxycycline off and on for about five months for Rosacea.  I've had some mild tingling and itching in bouts.  I just discovered several bald spots (one is larger than a quarter) on the back of my head and receding hairline at the back of my head and sides.  I've had no changes in diet or life and no one in my family has experienced this.  The only thing that changed was taking this drug.  

In addition, the drug companies have severely jacked the prices up on this drug and some other antibiotics, all of which used to be super cheap.

[s_eastman]

I have been off doryx for about seven months now and my hair loss stopped around 3 1/2 months and I noticed my hair starting to grow back around the fourth or fifth month. I took biotin, lysine, and vitamin e, which has been keeping both my skin and my hair healthy.

[mjb200]

Wanted to share my experience with Doxycycline. I'm a 24 year old male. I was prescribed Doxycycline for mild acne by my dermatologist in October 2012. I realize now how ridiculous that was and I wish I hadn't trusted her and had researched it myself. Guess I've learned my lesson now, whatever good that does me. I was on Doxycycline for a week and I started noticing my hair falling out at a pretty alarming rate. I didn't connect the two until 2 weeks in, when I found this thread. I immediately stopped taking it and threw it out. Well it is now February 2013 and my hair loss hasn't slowed down one bit. If it continues at this rate (which I expect it will) I have resigned myself to shaving my head in 2 months. The George Costanza would not be a good look for me. I am taking a range of supplements: saw palmetto, biotin and dht blockers. I have been using 5% monixidil foam for a month. It is incredible how much damage an anti-biotic can do. Judging by the fact that nobody has ever come back here to say their hair has returned I don't expect mine to. But I do hope that this helps somebody who was smarter than me and didn't just take whatever their doctor prescribed them without looking into it themselves. F*ck doxycycline.

[aprilzephyr]

I wanted to share that I have experienced hair loss with this too! And I plan to make this known to my doctor and pharmacist esp if hair loss hasn't been officially declared as a side effect of doxycycline.  

In mid-Dec '12, I started taking a generic version of Doryx called Doxylin 50 (50mg of doxycycline) once a day for 5 weeks to treat 3-month old cystic pimples that weren't healing.  In this time, I noticed chunks of my hair falling out every time I showered - visible handful chunks of hair... nothing like I've experienced ever before.  It was as if a hairdresser had taken a razor to my hair to thin it out!  I'm a 29 yr old S.E. Asian woman and my hair is normally healthy, lustrous and dense - I haven't dyed or chemically treated my hair in 10 years.  I actually I'd go as far as to say that my most notable physical feature would be my hair!

I didn't make the connection until two days ago when I thought to look up others' experience with this drug and found this thread.  I'm not on any other medication (incl the pill) so needless to say, I was convinced it was the Doxylin and threw the rest of it into the bin.  It's been two days since I stopped taking it and today I didn't had any chunks of hair falling out in the shower to my relief...  

Acne-wise the doxycycline was effective in healing my pimples and my skin is clear again.  They healed in two weeks but I kept on with the prescription recommended by the doctor to my hair's demise...

[alexa21]

I am relieved to have found this forum! I have been devastated by my hair loss that started recently.  I was prescribed doxy at the end of December. Within a few days my spouse noticed a small bald spot on top of my scalp. Within a week my hair was at 60% loss!  It is RAPIDLY SHEDDING!!  I had long thick hair in December. Now by January I am going bald! I went to a dermatologist and he arrogantly told me it was Alopecia Totatis and there was nothing I could do. He did not even ask if I had been on recent meds. I just started researching on my own & came across this. I am shocked that there is not more acknowledgement to this devastating side effect! I am having a really hard time with this.  :(