Hair loss and marijuana

[Rocker]

I've seen nothing written in stone about this, but have read it over and over again in blogs relative to this question: Can excessive smoking of marijuana cause hairloss?? I've been an everyday, multiple times a day, high-end (no pun intended!) smoker for probably about 20 years. There is no history of hairloss in my family (in fact, quite the opposite, on both sides), and multiple rounds of bloodtests have shown nothing substantial. I just finished an entire round of steroid shots to the scalp with no improvement (except possibly for less shedding, but that always comes and goes, anyway). I have been slowly (noticeably) losing my hair for about 10 years now and have probably lost about 2/3 of what I used to have (luckily, it was very thick to begin with). I have yet to stop smoking for a while to see if this could be the cause (its my only vice), but I'm curious . . . in your realm of experience in this field, do you think this could this be a potential culprit, as smoking this particular plant does tend to negatively effect hormones?

P.S. By the way, I do plan on coming in for a consultation, as well!

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!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!!
This is an update for anyone reading this thread since for some reason I can't post a new message: I ultimately found a doctor who specializes in orthomolecular medicine (at a HIGHLY reasonable cost, which is very hard to find), and after more extensive testing than I have ever had in my life (done through my regular doctor so insurance would cover most of it) - turns out I have extremely high levels of heavy metal toxicity, virtually NO Vitamin D whatsoever, almost no Protein or Potassium - all of my excitatory neurotransmitters are high, my natural body tranquilizers are low, very high testosterone (no one who knows me was surprised about that one) and lots of other stuff. Uh, yeah, I'm all sorts of "off" - several of these things can be contributing factors in hairloss. I've had terrible eating habits since gradeschool and other than the heavy metal stuff - it all comes down to nutrition. These are things that were never picked up by my regular doctors, despite multiple rounds of testing. Its not easy changing these habits (requires alot of determination and a strong focus on food, which I hate having to do having battled weight my whole life - I can go all day without eating anything and not think twice about it), but we've been slowly leveling things out nutritionally with the help of better diet, protein shakes, vitamins, herbs and some other natural supplements (i.e., for the heavy metal toxicity), and the hairloss seems to have pretty much stopped! My hair looks pretty awesome right now, actually - and its really long. THANK GOODNESS!!! I also had a tendency to have massive mood swings, from childhood - these have also appeared to even out (I melted a thermometer in my mouth when I was a kid trying to fake a fever when I stuck the thermometer in hot soup then right back in my mouth - this could have all started at that point).

For the record, I also finally decided to give my body a break and quit smoking for the next two months about two weeks ago. After the amount of time I've been a die-hard smoker - its been surprisingly easy. No real withdrawal symptoms other than a decrease in appetite, which makes focusing on food that much harder, but . . . that's about it. No strong cravings even if someone is smoking around me, and, truth be told, my singing voice has most definitely benefitted from the lack thereof. I pound my vocal cords harder than most (think Joplin, Heart, Tedeschi, etc.) - and after singing for 3 hours straight at rehearsal two nights in a row - I still had a crystal clear voice. But the hairloss stopped before that, so . . . ?? Regardless, it can only help. Just thought anyone interested might like to know this.

P.S. Dave Solazzo - in a rocking blues band (definitely the harder rockin' side of the blues - somewhat obscure but INCREDIBLE material) and we're about to fire our keyboard player - wanna come audition?? Can you rock a Hammond??

[WIDOWSPEAK]

My girl thinks the same thing. She says ever since I began smoking that my hair was thinning gradually. I never paid her any mind.

[davesolazzo]

i always thought that pot suppressed testosterone and increased estrogen just like alcohol does. so if that is the case then smoking may actually be good for your hair. but dont quote me here, this is just pure speculation. who really knows? if i had to guess id say that it probably doesnt have any effect at all on your hair. its got to be hard on your lungs though, especially if you're smoking multiple times a day and have been for 20 years. i actually have a friend who has been smoking everyday for about ten years and ive always thought that he should be a little balder than he is. his father is a complete norwood--head like glass. and he is just starting to thin and he is in his mid 30s. so in his case maybe the trees helped slow things down a bit. but again who knows--its hard to really tell.

[Rocker]

Actually, the lungs are in pretty good shape (go figure) and, according to my last test, I have the lungs of someone 10 years my junior. But that may be because I'm a singer (with a really biiiiiig mouth) and use them pretty extensively. Or maybe I should really have the lungs of someone 20 years my junior instead of 10 if I never smoked anything. Luckily, I can still run around the room and climb and jump off the furniture, belting it out without a hassle. Although I DID stop using a bong for that very reason. I couldn't hold those crazy long notes quite as well and found myself running out of breath during gigs. Vaporizers rock, dude. Unfortunately, there is so much that has NOT been medically proven about this herb - but there are countless people writing in blogs about how they started toking and their hair started to fall out - so they stopped and it stopped. So I'm thinking there may be something to that. Curious as to what the hormone doc has to say about it. At least I know stopping won't be much of a problem - I've done it before just to see how hard it would be. It wasn't - I just . . . stopped (and I know how lucky I am that its so easy). But I liiiiiiiike it! Regardless, I plan on experimenting with this and stopping for a couple/few months, see what happens. I kind of hope it does turn out to be the cause . . as much as I'll miss it, at least then I'll have a reason for it and can do something substantial about it. I like my hair more.

[davesolazzo]

hey so you're a singer...cool. im a keyboard player. we should do a gig together sometime. do you have your own band? and what kind of stuff do you do?

[Rocker]

I've been singing professionally for over 25 years and can sing anything from legit to heavy metal. But I'd rather not talk about that stuff on this blog, so give me your email address and I'll email you from my personal account. I'm thinking it better to remain anonymous on this forum, considering the subject matter. People can be really stupid sometimes, know what I mean?

[Geoffrey Redmond, MD, FACE]

I've seen nothing written in stone about this, but have read it over and over again in blogs relative to this question: Can excessive smoking of marijuana cause hairloss?? I've been an everyday, multiple times a day, high-end (no pun intended!) smoker for probably about 20 years. There is no history of hairloss in my family (in fact, quite the opposite, on both sides), and multiple rounds of bloodtests have shown nothing substantial. I just finished an entire round of steroid shots to the scalp with no improvement (except possibly for less shedding, but that always comes and goes, anyway). I have been slowly (noticeably) losing my hair for about 10 years now and have probably lost about 2/3 of what I used to have (luckily, it was very thick to begin with). I have yet to stop smoking for a while to see if this could be the cause (its my only vice), but I'm curious . . . in your realm of experience in this field, do you think this could this be a potential culprit, as smoking this particular plant does tend to negatively effect hormones?

P.S. By the way, I do plan on coming in for a consultation, as well!

Unfortunately objective evidence about health effects of marijuana is limited. The question is confused by the legal issues in which many have strong opinions not based on scientific evidence.

Smoking marijuana may cause health problems including lung damage and cognitive dysfunction. It can cause lung damage as well. With respect to throat and lung cancer, studies have been inconsistent; some have shown increases and some have not. None have excluded the possibility.

Regarding hair, at least one study in men showed an association of tobacco smoking with balding. This is thought to be due to the blood vessel damage associated with tobacco smoking. There is also evidence of adverse cardiovascular effects with marijuana and any situation that impairs the circulation of blood to the hair follicle might impair hair growth. .

I have not found any studies with respect to hair and marijuana in women. But then there is not enough research of any kind on female hair loss.

For the reasons above, I think there are many good reasons not to smoke marijuana. If it has any effect on hair it will be an adverse one.

At the same time, I am greatly opposed to the extreme penalties that our legal system haphazardly imposes on use of a substance that seems to cause far less social harm than alcohol.

My attitudes are also affected by my more than 20 years of daily meditation practice because I have come to feel that what is best is to develop insight into ones unaltered consciousness. I felt it only fair to state my personal view on this.

[Rocker]

Dr. Redmond, that was probably the best response you possibly could have sent. I want to come see you more than ever now!! I will be stopping before the month is up, anyway - it can't possibly hurt in any respect. However, if I don't notice a difference after several months (not quite sure how long I should give it?), or if the fallout becomes too much to keep hiding (and its coming off the top front, so its getting harder and harder) - you'll be my next step.

Thank you so much for your response. Much appreciation!

Looking forward to meeting you - Pam