Does Viviscal hair lotion induce a shedding phase too?

[Apun94]

Hello,
So, I have started using Viviscal hair lotion (recommended by a dermatologist) for about 3 weeks, and I feel like a have lost quite some hair since then. I searched online and it seems that people using Minox or Propecia do experience a shedding phase but hair starts growing back in subsequent months. But, I couldnt find a lot of reviews for the Viviscal hair lotion.
So, do I need to worry?

[Biltmore Hair Restoration]

Hello Apun94,

It could be possible it could cause and initial shed.

[NSix]

Whats the reason for it 'possibly causing an initial shed'?

[Apun94]

A quick update. Almost 4 months now (started in early September) and the hair are still falling. The fallen hair is mostly the short, weak hair. The temples have thinned to a large extent now.
After about 2.5 months, I noticed the coarseness of the scalp skin where the hair had shed. Any idea what that means?
I went to the dermatologist, who prescribed Viviscal lotion (along with novophane tablets, once a day, and Nanogen shampoo), for a checkup after 3 months, and he told me to continue the treatment for another 3 months. Also prescribed Clobederm-S to apply an hour before the Viviscal lotion at night. (He didnt seem to know about any "shedding" phase experienced by the Minox/Rogaine users, when I complained about the accelerated hairfall after starting the Viviscal lotion)
Any advice guys? I would love to get any sort of input from users who have used Viviscal lotion to treat hair loss. Really struggling here.
Is Viviscal the same thing as Minoxidil?

[BaldingEagle]

A quick update. Almost 4 months now (started in early September) and the hair are still falling. The fallen hair is mostly the short, weak hair. The temples have thinned to a large extent now.
After about 2.5 months, I noticed the coarseness of the scalp skin where the hair had shed. Any idea what that means?
I went to the dermatologist, who prescribed Viviscal lotion (along with novophane tablets, once a day, and Nanogen shampoo), for a checkup after 3 months, and he told me to continue the treatment for another 3 months. Also prescribed Clobederm-S to apply an hour before the Viviscal lotion at night. (He didnt seem to know about any "shedding" phase experienced by the Minox/Rogaine users, when I complained about the accelerated hairfall after starting the Viviscal lotion)
Any advice guys? I would love to get any sort of input from users who have used Viviscal lotion to treat hair loss. Really struggling here.
Is Viviscal the same thing as Minoxidil?

Get a new dermatologist. Viviscal isn't going to come anywhere close to saving your hair. It's not causing a shed, you're just balding and it's doing nothing.

You need propecia to have any chance of stopping loss long term, sorry but this is just the fact of the matter. Better chances if you add rogaine. But Viviscal stopping or even slowing MPB? That's hilarious. Nobody who is educated on androgenetic alopecia would ever put you on that regimen for your hair loss.

[Apun94]

Get a new dermatologist. Viviscal isn't going to come anywhere close to saving your hair. It's not causing a shed, you're just balding and it's doing nothing.

You need propecia to have any chance of stopping loss long term, sorry but this is just the fact of the matter. Better chances if you add rogaine. But Viviscal stopping or even slowing MPB? That's hilarious. Nobody who is educated on androgenetic alopecia would ever put you on that regimen for your hair loss.

First of all, thankyou for your advice.
Secondly, about the bold part. Have been balding but I definitely think the hair loss substantially increased since I started using Viviscal. Have lost A LOT of hair for the last 3-4 months. Before that, people didnt even know notice my receding hairline if they werent closely paying attention to it/looking for it. Now, several people have asked me about my "sudden" loss of hair.
Will definitely look into going to another dermatologist. Shame, since he was recommended by several people.
A couple of questions:
1. Any idea about what Viviscal truly does, if not treating hairfall?
2. Will the hair that I have lost since starting Viviscal come back. I have heard that you do get back the "shedded" hair back if you stop using that medicine, atleast back to the stage since you started. I know, since I am balding that I will lose that hair eventually but I would still like to be atleast back to the stage where I was before I started this treatment

[BaldingEagle]

Balding can slow down or speed up randomly. There is no steady predicable rate. All Viviscal is are a mix of marine extracts, pretty much snake oil.

If you want to get that hair back and potentially thicken more talk to a dermatologist about getting propecia and use rogaine twice and day. That gives you to only real shot in this world right now, and many people thicken up significantly, myself included.

Also get generic propecia to save money, and get rogaine foam, its far easier to apply and not messy at all.

[Pavi]

Balding can slow down or speed up randomly. There is no steady predicable rate. All Viviscal is are a mix of marine extracts, pretty much snake oil.

If you want to get that hair back and potentially thicken more talk to a dermatologist about getting propecia and use rogaine twice and day. That gives you to only real shot in this world right now, and many people thicken up significantly, myself included.

Also get generic propecia to save money, and get rogaine foam, its far easier to apply and not messy at all.

viviscal is not a snake oil. Go to pubmed.com and look up the research studies done on the aminoMAR protein. Is viviscal as effective as finasteride or minox? Absolutely not, but the company is not a snake oil. It has been around for 25 years and has some decent research behind it. You could also you low level laser therapy. Another therapy that gets a bad reputation with a lot of science behind it.

[jamesst11]

sorry, have to agree this stuff is snake oil.

[Vic]

Any hair loss treatment that works for an individual 1st causes a shed. The shed consists of weak hairs that'll be replaced by treatment dependent hairs.