Caffeinated Drinks and Hair Loss(Coffee,Green Tea,Soda)

[cs2257]

So a little background...

For the last year I've been noticing a strong itch within several minutes of having Coffee, Green Tea, or any Caffeinated Soda.
When I rub or scratch the itch, hairs fall out in that region.
The same beverages also put me on edge to a degree. Why would it causes the itch/hairloss?

When I cut out soda/caffienated beverages, the itch is gone/I shed less.

Does this indicate anything? Has anyone else had the same experience?

[Mike K]

Here's a quote from wikipedia's management of hair loss page, "Caffeine stimulates human hair growth in vitro, and reduced testosterone-induced follicle growth suppression. It has been demonstrated that the addition of caffeine to a shampoo-formulation is effective in administering caffeine to the hair follicles in the scalp. Further research must be done to evaluate the efficacy and adequate dosage of caffeine in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia."

In other words, it seems like caffeine would be beneficial, not harmful, to treatment of male pattern baldness. I drink tons of energy drinks and coffee and my hair looks much better than it did almost 2 years ago when I started finasteride. If you have male pattern baldness you really can't blame this on anything other genetics and hormones. Many shampoos such as Alpecin have caffeine added to fight hairloss, but really you gotta fix your hormones or its a losing battle.

[cs2257]

There should be a distinction between ingestion and a topical solution.

It's possible that it just increases my cortisol levels, but from what I understand stress induced hairloss is delayed. Where as, my scalp starts tingling/burning within minutes.

When I dont drink caffeine, my scalp is relatively calm and I do shed less. Perhaps it aggravates a skin condition or something?

[TwoInchCircle]

Green tea raises dht by something like 200%. I started drinking green tea a few years ago and I shed like a madman for about four months. I never really ever worried about hair loss back then, so when I started shedding THAT MANY hairs all of a sudden, I started googling around. I found a post on another forum that informed me of that little factoid. When I discontinued green tea, my shedding took a nosedive virtually over night.

I STRONGLY advise against drinking green tea.

As for coffee or soda, I have no clue. I've been drinking coffee for a long time and I've never noticed an increase of shedding from it. I really only itch when I'm thinking of my hair loss or on these forums, so I'm not the best candidate to bring up the timing of itching.

According to my own reading, coffee actually lowers testosterone by something like 20%. But I invite you to do your own reading.

[cs2257]

Green tea raises dht by something like 200%. I started drinking green tea a few years ago and I shed like a madman for about four months. I never really ever worried about hair loss back then, so when I started shedding THAT MANY hairs all of a sudden, I started googling around. I found a post on another forum that informed me of that little factoid. When I discontinued green tea, my shedding took a nosedive virtually over night.

I STRONGLY advise against drinking green tea.

As for coffee or soda, I have no clue. I've been drinking coffee for a long time and I've never noticed an increase of shedding from it. I really only itch when I'm thinking of my hair loss or on these forums, so I'm not the best candidate to bring up the timing of itching.

According to my own reading, coffee actually lowers testosterone by something like 20%. But I invite you to do your own reading.

I can corroborate this. I didnt notice my hair loss until I started drinking green tea. I was shedding like a mofo. My desk at work at the end of the week was covered with hair....
So I stopped green tea/coffee mostly... But every now and then I indulge.
Im just wondering if its indicative of an underlying issue.

For me though.. Im noticing a Pepsi has a similar affect, but to a lesser degree. My scalp itches pretty badly for probably about 12+ hours.

Maybe Im pre-diabetes or something...

[cs2257]

Anecdotal, but check out this article.

http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-allergy-top-20-symptoms

Most Common Allergic Reactions to Caffeine
1.Skin problems such as hives, eczema, rashes, acne, severe itching.
2.Headaches/ migraines.
3.Anxiety and panic attacks.
...

Number 1 its itching...perhaps its related... I'll look for my articles on the topic.

[redy]

I highly doubt green tea is causing hair loss...

If anything, it should help / do nothing.

Actually, I swear that since I've started drinking tea in the last few months my shedding has decreased. As I have been shedding massively the entirety of 2014 so far.

[cs2257]

http://nutritionresearchcenter.org/healthnews/4-ways-coffee-may-be-damaging-your-health/

[Aeroes]

What a load of Crap!! Green tea does not increase your DHT by 200%, show me a backed scientific article on that. It's actually really beneficial for your health to drink it and can even help with reducing your fat. It's a natural antioxidant and contains caffeine how can that increase your DHT? FEAR MONGERINGG RAAHH!!!

[cs2257]

What a load of Crap!! Green tea does not increase your DHT by 200%, show me a backed scientific article on that. It's actually really beneficial for your health to drink it and can even help with reducing your fat. It's a natural antioxidant and contains caffeine how can that increase your DHT? FEAR MONGERINGG RAAHH!!!

Step back for a second.

I do not know how or why this happens, so Im not going to point to DHT. I do know that my scalp starts to tingle/itch whenever I have caffeine. I had gone 2 months without caffeine(believe it or not...I have some resolve) because I had noticed this being the case. Today I felt I needed a pick me up...and boy did things get itchy.

It doesnt necessarily have to relate to MPB directly. It could be caffeine and some unknown factor causing this. For me though, green tea and coffee exacerbates my hairloss/makes my scalp uncomfortable, which is why i choose to abstain as much as possible

I'd like to mention that when my hairloss started I was under intense stress, took sleeping pills/drank a lot.....and dosed on caffeine. (GF Cheated on me, New job stress, crushing student loan debt....)

Since starting propecia the itch is mainly gone and the hairloss has slowed....possibly due to propecia. However, whenever I have caffeine im back to square one with oily hair and an itchy shedding scalp.

[Aeroes]

Step back for a second.

I do not know how or why this happens, so Im not going to point to DHT. I do know that my scalp starts to tingle/itch whenever I have caffeine. I had gone 2 months without caffeine(believe it or not...I have some resolve) because I had noticed this being the case. Today I felt I needed a pick me up...and boy did things get itchy.

It doesnt necessarily have to relate to MPB directly. It could be caffeine and some unknown factor causing this. For me though, green tea and coffee exacerbates my hairloss/makes my scalp uncomfortable, which is why i choose to abstain as much as possible

I'd like to mention that when my hairloss started I was under intense stress, took sleeping pills/drank a lot.....and dosed on caffeine. (GF Cheated on me, New job stress, crushing student loan debt....)

Since starting propecia the itch is mainly gone and the hairloss has slowed....possibly due to propecia. However, whenever I have caffeine im back to square one with oily hair and an itchy shedding scalp.

I occasionally get dermatitis on my scalp when i'm really stressed which I use corticosteroids or aloevera gel really helps. Stress screws with your hormones a lot man, My scalp is so much less irritated when i'm relaxed and balanced.

[cs2257]

I occasionally get dermatitis on my scalp when i'm really stressed which I use corticosteroids or aloevera gel really helps. Stress screws with your hormones a lot man, My scalp is so much less irritated when i'm relaxed and balanced.

So would you imagine that a cortisol spike caused by caffeine intake could trigger this?

I've read that hairloss due to stress comes months after the event.

In the case of caffeine though, the result seems to be instant.

[35YrsAfter]

So a little background...

For the last year I've been noticing a strong itch within several minutes of having Coffee, Green Tea, or any Caffeinated Soda.
When I rub or scratch the itch, hairs fall out in that region.
The same beverages also put me on edge to a degree. Why would it causes the itch/hairloss?

When I cut out soda/caffienated beverages, the itch is gone/I shed less.

Does this indicate anything? Has anyone else had the same experience?

Dr. Sharon Keene in Arizona wrote a series of articles focusing on identical twins with diverse lifestyle habits including smoking, alcoholism, sunburn, etc. This was a series of epigenetic studies designed to zero in on what is generally beneficial and detrimental to healthy hair growth. Coffee was found to be beneficial to healthy hair growth. Not sure if it's the caffeine or what. I will occasionally have a "Monster" energy drink that's loaded with caffeine without any hair shedding side effects. Keep in mind that some individuals react differently. For example, I have a friend who is at risk of anaphylactic shock from eating peanuts. Everybody's distinct while a minority of people are radically different. Although there are general rules for improved hair growth, it's always best to follow a general time-tested plan to determine what works best for you as an individual, and what doesn't.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
forhair.com
Cole Hair Transplant
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Alpharetta, Georgia 30009
Phone 678-566-1011
email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

[burtandernie]

Sometimes my faith in medicine is pretty low. If androgens controlled MPB completely and solely then your really finding different variables between people but its not really controlling or related to MPB but the statistics might falsely lead you to believe it is and even show as statistically significant. I just dont know if its really true that say drinking coffee actually helps with hair or if its just a coincidence less bald men drank coffee or that less bald men drank more of it. The coffee itself might not be doing anything related to MPB. Then its a question of what in the coffee even does it?
The big problem is there is no way to sift through those variables and figure out what causes what and that is partly why medicine is so bad at complicated problems like MPB that could have many factors or just a few undiscovered ones in combination with known ones. Then since we cant everyone guesses and snake oils galore like we have.

[Aeroes]

Sometimes my faith in medicine is pretty low. If androgens controlled MPB completely and solely then your really finding different variables between people but its not really controlling or related to MPB but the statistics might falsely lead you to believe it is and even show as statistically significant. I just dont know if its really true that say drinking coffee actually helps with hair or if its just a coincidence less bald men drank coffee or that less bald men drank more of it. The coffee itself might not be doing anything related to MPB. Then its a question of what in the coffee even does it?
The big problem is there is no way to sift through those variables and figure out what causes what and that is partly why medicine is so bad at complicated problems like MPB that could have many factors or just a few undiscovered ones in combination with known ones. Then since we cant everyone guesses and snake oils galore like we have.

Well it's pretty factual that androgens cause mpb just
Look at young guys who take steroids and go bald. It could be the androgens setting off different reactions but at the end of the day our
Follicles are sensitive to androgens. I hear ya dude. The problem is not scientist would disregard someone else's studies to
Look elsewhere if the information is already there about androgens and hairloss. It's all about masking with the pharms