Antihistamines for pattern hair loss?

[NeedHairASAP]

Over the years, a few people have been interested in the ability of antihistamine drugs to completely reverse baldness. For instance, in a small group of ten women with so-called androgenic alopecia an antihistamine called cimetidine showed good to excellent regrowth of hair in seven out of the ten women.[1] In addition to hair regrowth, acne, seborrhea, and hirsutism, which were present in three of the patients, showed significant improvement. Most of the women said that the scalp had become less greasy similar to Hamilton's famous immune-to-baldness castrates.

more at

http://www.dannyroddy.com/weblog/antihistaminebaldnessstress

[Demeter]

Taking systemic anti-androgens for guys is no bueno unless you want all the side effects that go with it. For women it might be a good option though.

Fin/Dut already has bad enough side effects and they only target specific enzymes for one androgen.

It would be interesting to see if they would work in a topical formulation (like ketoconazole), however they're such a low-profit, generic medication we're unlikely to see people do any decent clinical trials on it.

[JohnMPB]

Lots of ppl tried topical cetrizine for hair loss. Do a Google search and you'll see. Barely anyone using it now...that should probably tell u something

[barfacan]

Maybe they all grew their hair back and stopped posting?

[tipsfedora]

There are people who have been taking fin since 18s and still having no problemos with it. Stop saying taking Fin or Dut WILL cause you side effects. The reality is THEY MIGHT, but MIGHT NOT.


Dr. Rassman did his personal studies and he noticed 25% of men had sexual side effects on Finasteride. But guess what, the placebo had 24% of sexual side effects. There are lot of factors.


That being said anti histamines also target enzymes and have been more or less safe for decades.

[NeedHairASAP]

Lots of ppl tried topical cetrizine for hair loss. Do a Google search and you'll see. Barely anyone using it now...that should probably tell u something

that tells use that cetrizine doesn't work. What about the other 50 possibilities?

[NeedHairASAP]

The heavy focus on androgens and “the genes” as causes of baldness have led people to believe that pattern hair loss is a compartmentalized problem rooted in vanity that has nothing to do with their metabolism or lifestyle. Confusion about the role of androgens probably relates to testosterone’s conversion into estrogen during metabolic stress and that dihydrotestosterone (DHT), like DHEA, can increase to buffer the effects of metabolic stress, for example, as an anti-estrogen.[48,49]

[Chemical]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimetidine

It has also been found to possess clinically significant albeit weak antiandrogen properties at high doses that are especially noticeable in men.[16][17][18][19] It directly antagonizes the binding of testosterone and DHT to the androgen receptor in animals.[20][21]

The effects of histamine H2 receptor antagonists on androgen action in vivo and dihydrotestosterone binding to the rat prostate androgen receptor in vitro.

Several histamine H2 receptor antagonists have been tested for antiandrogenic activity by determining their effects on accessory sex organ weights in castrate testosterone propionate (TP) treated rats and on [3H] dihydrotestosterone (DHT) binding to the androgen receptor of the rat ventral prostate in vitro. When given in high doses cimetidine and metiamide possessed antiandrogenic activity whereas the other H2 receptor antagonists SK&F 92456, SK&F 92994, SK&F 92629 amd SK&F 93479 did not Cimetidine, metiamide and SK&F 92456 inhibited (3H] DHT binding to rat ventral prostate androgen receptor in vitro whereas SK&F 92629 and SK&F 93479 did not. SK&F 92994 affects DHT binding only slightly. Of the compounds that are similar to cimetidine in their potency as H2 receptor antagonists only metiamide was antiandrogenic. However SK&F 92994 and SK&F 93479 are not antiandrogenic despite being more potent than cimetidine as H2 antagonists. It is concluded that the antiandrogenicity of cimetidine and metiamide was not related to their activity as histamine H2 receptor antagonists.

Cimetidine is an antiandrogen in the rat.

Cimetidine has been associated with gynecomastia as a side effect. Because other antiandrogens have been linked to the development of breast enlargement in men, the suggestion by earlier workers that cimetidine possessed antiandrogenic properties prompted us to study the endocrine effects of cimetidine in rats. Cimetidine directly antagonized the effects of exogenously administered testosterone on androgen target tissues. Ventral prostate and seminal vesicle weights were less in cimetidine-treated castrate adult male rats androgenized with testosterone-filled subcutaneous silastic capsules than in vehicle-injected controls. Cimetidine possessed no intrinsic androgen-like bioactivity in prepubertal male rats when given in doses of 50 mg/kg/day for 1 wk. Cimetidine competitively inhibited DHT binding to its cytoplasmic receptor and decreased specific nuclear uptake of [3H]dihydrotestosterone in rat ventral prostate slices. No effects on plasma gonadotropin or testosterone concentrations were observed. We conclude that cimetidine is a nonsteroidal-antiandrogen and that this property may contribute to the production of gynecomastia in cimetidine-treated men.

I've known about cimetidine's ability to reduce T production by interfering with the cytochrome enzymes but had no idea it had AR blocking properties. Awesome find OP! Now we need to figure out if it goes systemic when applied topically although I have a feeling it does.

I would encourage you guys to post studies and citations rather than blog posts/articles, helps keep things scientific and factual.

[JohnMPB]

Maybe they all grew their hair back and stopped posting?

Yes that must be it

[NeedHairASAP]

I would encourage you guys to post studies and citations rather than blog posts/articles, helps keep things scientific and factual.

Danny Roddy's blog posts are the most well cited of any blogs around