Recommendations for a great doctor in Houston?

[razzer]

I've been experiencing hair loss that seems to stem from an antibiotic. My story is outlined here - http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=13824

After visiting with a doctor who acknowledged antibiotics can (although rarely) cause hair loss he recommended I see a specialist but didn't endorse anyone specifically.

Can anyone here recommend a good doctor or dermatologist in Houston with a specialization in hair loss?

At this stage I'm looking for an investigative, humble doctor that can diagnose my condition, not someone who will simply eyeball my scalp and throw prescriptions at the problem or try and push a procedure.

Before I treat this problem I would like to find out what's causing it, if it is already improving, and/or how long it will take to improve if it will improve...

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. It's tough man.

[sawbaldmetto]

I've been experiencing hair loss that seems to stem from an antibiotic. My story is outlined here - http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=13824

After visiting with a doctor who acknowledged antibiotics can (although rarely) cause hair loss he recommended I see a specialist but didn't endorse anyone specifically.

Can anyone here recommend a good doctor or dermatologist in Houston with a specialization in hair loss?

At this stage I'm looking for an investigative, humble doctor that can diagnose my condition, not someone who will simply eyeball my scalp and throw prescriptions at the problem or try and push a procedure.

Before I treat this problem I would like to find out what's causing it, if it is already improving, and/or how long it will take to improve if it will improve...

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help. It's tough man.

I'm sorry I have nothing to offer you in terms of the doctor route but I will add to the discussion.

I took Doxycycline October 2012, and although it was only a few doses, I noticed a HORRIBLE dramatic shift in my hair texture 2ish/2.5/3 months later. I don't know if it's the cause, and I never thought of it until I read your post, but I shed for a solid 5 months and then it slowed a bit. My hair loss may have been caused by more than one thing and it may very well be genetics but I know that there was a 2 or 3 month lapse between my intake of this and hair texture variation. I'm guessing it's extremely dry and it went from wavy to brittle, dry, and straight? Or at least straightened up a bit?

http://xpil.medicines.org.uk/ViewPil.aspx?DocID=18078

I also found that ^.

[razzer]

I'm sorry I have nothing to offer you in terms of the doctor route but I will add to the discussion.

I took Doxycycline October 2012, and although it was only a few doses, I noticed a HORRIBLE dramatic shift in my hair texture 2ish/2.5/3 months later. I don't know if it's the cause, and I never thought of it until I read your post, but I shed for a solid 5 months and then it slowed a bit. My hair loss may have been caused by more than one thing and it may very well be genetics but I know that there was a 2 or 3 month lapse between my intake of this and hair texture variation. I'm guessing it's extremely dry and it went from wavy to brittle, dry, and straight? Or at least straightened up a bit?

http://xpil.medicines.org.uk/ViewPil.aspx?DocID=18078

I also found that ^.

Exact same thing happened to me. I didn't put two and two together until I randomly decided to Google search the problem and found out a LOT of people experience it. It completely altered the hair on my head...

Did you recover from it? If so, how long did it take? Or was that the beginning of ongoing trouble for you?

[sawbaldmetto]

Exact same thing happened to me. I didn't put two and two together until I randomly decided to Google search the problem and found out a LOT of people experience it. It completely altered the hair on my head...

Did you recover from it? If so, how long did it take? Or was that the beginning of ongoing trouble for you?

eh, I guess it may be the beginning of ongoing trouble, I'm not sure. My hair has become healthier in the past 4 months or so, maybe 5. But yeah, I still shed a bit. Oddly enough my hair was affected pretty bad in December but that has actually seemed to make a slow recovery (my sister informed me it looks "much better" than it did then) but the sides of my head and the very back is where it's thin...it's weird, all the MPB spots are actually pretty okay.

[razzer]

Yeah, I think me and you are probably dealing with something similar. Hair loss spurred on by doxycycline. From what I've read, stopping the cycle doesn't result in immediate recovery. I've read it takes anywhere from 3 months to 2 years.

What I haven't found is a consistent, proper treatment for the problem. I've read about vitamin supplements like biotin, vitamin b complex and b6. I've heard about collagen injections. Stem cell therapy. I've also heard doxycylcine can eliminate the good bacteria from your gut (flora) which can lead to hair loss and/or fungal yeast problems - which means take a probiotic. Another theory is that doxycycline makes your skin sensitive to the sun, if your scalp is exposed to the sun you kill off hair follicles - not sure if recovery is even possible if that's the case.

Have you had a scalp biopsy yet? Did your scalp go from normal to dry/itchy?

I don't want to start Propecia, Rogaine or shampoos until I have a diagnosis.

[sawbaldmetto]

Yeah, I think me and you are probably dealing with something similar. Hair loss spurred on by doxycycline. From what I've read, stopping the cycle doesn't result in immediate recovery. I've read it takes anywhere from 3 months to 2 years.

What I haven't found is a consistent, proper treatment for the problem. I've read about vitamin supplements like biotin, vitamin b complex and b6. I've heard about collagen injections. Stem cell therapy. I've also heard doxycylcine can eliminate the good bacteria from your gut (flora) which can lead to hair loss and/or fungal yeast problems - which means take a probiotic.

Have you had a scalp biopsy yet? Did your scalp go from normal to dry/itchy?

I don't want to start Propecia, Rogaine or shampoos until I have a diagnosis.

Yep, yep, yep. But that also could be DHT scalp...it's just weird, my blood-brother has a low cut straight across hairline, and I did, until about a year ago. But where my hairline is, is not the problem. I also have weird hair thinning (too much info ahead, read with caution) down there and *had* a weird hair-less (not zero hair, but incredibly sparse) on my left leg...which are normally super hairy. That recovered. My mustache was ridiculously...I mean ridiculously patchy/bald this past december and that has recovered a fair bit, I'd say 75%...but yeah the hair on my head goes through doing okay to eh.

[razzer]

Have you been doing anything to treat the problem? What did the doctor say?

[sawbaldmetto]

I had a blood test done
-TSH
-Complete metabolic panel
-various mineral levels (zinc, magnesium, copper)
-Vit D.

Copper was low, vitamin D, and iron was low for a guy (40ng/mL) despite the fact that this is in "range", most guys have a ferritin level of 80+. So I discontinued blood donation and have upped iron intake by eating iron rich foods. I dabbled with biotin which may have given me a breakout, but biotin deficiency is so rare and I'd have so many other issues if that were my case that I found it an ill-suited treatment. I will be going to an endocrinologist (here's where my username plays in).

I heard on acne message boards that saw palmetto can alleviate hormonal related acne. So me being me ordered an extract online that happened to be double the dosage. Well lo-behold I never realized this and already decided to take 3x that dosage. Well...you can see where this is going. I'm not sure, but I may have along with all the other idiotic things I had done (call me an idiot - it's a compliment at this point) disrupted my hormonal balance. Lesson learned not to willy nilly throw things into my system.

Ooops.

But I'm looking to find out once and for all if this is genetics or my idiocy or both at play..

[razzer]

I'm actually trying to find an endocrinologist myself, but I'd also like a scalp biopsy. Biotin can make you breakout but I believe antibiotics can interfere with your body's ability to absorb/process biotin. You might be underplaying the effect doxycylcine had on you. But like you I'm still trying to figure out what happened. Getting an actual diagnosis has been difficult for me thus far.

[sawbaldmetto]

I'm 100% with you.

[sawbaldmetto]

http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/doxycycline/hair+loss

Read...

[razzer]

http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/doxycycline/hair+loss

Read...

I've seen that, or something similar. I wouldn't put too much merit in it. Note this lone from the bottom -

* Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.
** Reports from social media are used.

I mean yeah, it's obvious people experience the problem but I'm not sure how accurate any of that is.

[sawbaldmetto]

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchentable/msg080919414041.html

And now it seems doxy + sun exposure = hair loss?!?!

[razzer]

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load...919414041.html

And now it seems doxy + sun exposure = hair loss?!?!

Yeah, but I haven't heard why or what happens. Is the damage temporary? Permanent? What's the treatment if any?

Hard to find a good doctor for these questions....

[sawbaldmetto]

http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/hypoparathyroidism

I don't know whether the damage is permanent or temporary...I honestly wouldn't put it past our luck that it is indeed permanent since I have not heard of any "regrowth" from people taking doxy and losing hair. But I will say - to answer your question about what I'm doing to rule out everything else, is I'm boosting my vitamin D levels since mine were pretty low (22ng/mL). It's said that anything below 30 is bad, let alone below 50. A healthy vitamin D level is ~65-70ng/mL. Hypoparathyroidism which can be caused by Vit. D deficiency does cause hair loss - especially patchy hair loss which is what I'm experiencing.