The scalp inflammation/itchy/burning/tingling thread

[lacazette]

I took serious dosages of accutane when I was 18. Cleared my skin wonderfully, but stopped me growing facial hair and made my hair brittle. Once I came off it thickened back up until I took steroids.
Anyway, It could be something to look into maybe

DUDE you took high dose accutane treatment like me, we have CCC ALOPECIA!!!

PLease come here I describe everything : https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/thread...ne-isotretinoi...

That comes from researchers at the last 2015 hair science meeting!! Alteration in VitaminA metabolism and signaling = CCCA

And that CCCA comes from a lymphocytic inflammatory process (LLP) (an autoimmune reaction of our cells), that lead to a slowly permanent hairloss!! We need to act my friend,

so everyone who had take full treatment for months, the drug played with our retinoids receptors, signalling, etc.. FOR LIFE! so please come on the thread! It is FOR SURE aggravating our baldness!

[Sizzling]

Hi guys,

Although this is my first post in this forum, I have seen this thread 2.5 years ago. It is a little disheartening that after such a long time, nobody has found the solution to the scalp inflammation.

Allow me to share my story. I am from Singapore, age 34. When I was 17, I had bad cystic acne, and that really screwed me bad. Accutane got me out of that shit but by then the scars were already there. Anyway, I see some people mentioning that the scalp inflammation could be caused by Accutane. I think that's possible, but for me, it certainly wasn't the case. I was sure it was Finasteride.

In Dec 2012, a colleague commented that my hair was getting thin at the top, and that comment really affected me. So I surfed the net and in many of the hairloss forums, the message was unanimous - jump on the big 3 to save your hair.

So without much thoughts, i got a prescription for propecia and that's when the nightmare began. Within 2 weeks, i started to develop itch and a tingling sensation in my scalp. The below are the symptoms I experienced, which are 100% consistent with many of you guys:

1. Itchy and Oily scalp
2. Sebum plugs
3. Warm radiating pain, especially around the crown
4. Prickly sensation
5. Tingling sensations, like hair breaking off and droping out
6. Super sensitive scalp - could feel pain even when the ac at the entrance of shopping malls was blowing down on my scalp
7. Scalp feels charged - like electric currents passing through

It was a very emotional and distressing time. I felt alone as none of my family, including my wife believed what I said. They told me I was imagining it and I was too focused on my hairloss.

Just like some of you had shared, I felt I was not shedding much. Just that my hair seems to be in a terrible state - miniaturized, lifeless, limp, brittle

So i buzzed down to a zero, hoping that the use of Nizoral and other medicated shampoos would helped. Nothing did.

And that was when I discovered something really scary.

I washed my hair in the basin and realized that there were many tiny strands of hair that came out. Not only are they miniaturized, but they are wriggly looking, and most of them are curled up. When i tried to straighten them, I realized they can be much longer than they look

There is no way you will see them when you shampoo your hair because they get camouflaged in all the bubbles.

If you do not believe what I say, try washing your hair in your white wash basin without any soap or shampoo, or when taking a shower, after you shampoo, instead of rinsing, rub the soap bubbles on the white tiles of your shower cubicle. The shampoo bubbles will slide down slowly and you look closely at the tiles you will be able to see these tiny hairs. If you are using a smart phone, sometime this little wriggly hairs will stick to the screen. Pay close attention and you should see some.

I believe this is the main reason why we see our hair thinning so quickly but do not see much shedding. I believe most or all of the hair we shed on a daily basis have been replaced by these tiny wriggly hairs.

Do not freak out if you see them. I did. The only consolation in the last 2 years was my tingling did go away till it was almost non-existent. About 2 months after I started having the tingling, and after much research on the internet, I read that one guy had success after removing all supplements from his diet. His reasoning was that the liver was overloaded with too much medicine (in this case was finasteride for me) and supplements and it was necessary to allow it to rest. I was then also on biotin, B12, spirulina and stuff. I also tried to calm myself down as much as possible. Too much emotions also hurts the liver - this is the hardest because we know how soul destroying hairloss is.

Anyway, the tingling did go away, thankfully, and my scalp felt better, but i can feel that it is not the same like before. It still feels oily, sensitive and itchy every now and then. I had oily skin and hair since puberty, but i never had this sensitive scalp before finasteride.

Anyway, many people seem to agree that DHT is attacking the hair follicles. I do not disagree on this. But if you study the trends, this scalp inflammation seems to affect those with diffused hairloss and not the standard MPB that much. I have asked a friend who lost his hair in his early 20s. He is NW7 by the way. Zero itch.

I also discover that the itch is worst when the scalp is oily. When it is clean (right after shower) the itch is less, but the warm radiating pain seems to set in more often.

I have been to many doctors and they seem to all point to Seb derm. I think this is possible, because in my case, finasteride caused hyper androgenicity to have set in to unleash a serious bout of seb derm.

I still have the itch and sensitive scalp on and off, but it is much better than my first couple of months after I got off Finasteride. I felt the need to post my experience here and hope it may be helpful to some of the guys here. To have that constant tingling to remind you of your hairloss is a horrible feeling, but it is possible that the feeling will go away, at least it did in my case, even though not 100%

[Not giving up]

DUDE you took high dose accutane treatment like me, we have CCC ALOPECIA!!!

PLease come here I describe everything : https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/thread...ne-isotretinoi...

That comes from researchers at the last 2015 hair science meeting!! Alteration in VitaminA metabolism and signaling = CCCA

And that CCCA comes from a lymphocytic inflammatory process (LLP) (an autoimmune reaction of our cells), that lead to a slowly permanent hairloss!! We need to act my friend,

so everyone who had take full treatment for months, the drug played with our retinoids receptors, signalling, etc.. FOR LIFE! so please come on the thread! It is FOR SURE aggravating our baldness!

I don't know bud. I messed up my hair because of steroids. Once I stopped accuttane my hair was glorious, it did get a bit britle when I was taking it but I only have myself and steroid use to blame for the accelerated loss of late.

[Dench57]

Hi Sizzling,

Your story sounds exactly the same as mine. All those sensations you describe I also had within a few weeks of starting Propecia. And like you, the hairs that I shed are all kinked, curled and so thin/brittle you can barely see them, when before they were long and straight. However I don't have diffuse loss, mine is the standard horseshoe pattern with receding temples. Thankfully my forelock is still in good shape, for now.

How long roughly did it take for you to recover since quitting Propecia?

[Soonbald]

I am getting scared, because I am five months now, have increased shed and am experiencing some burning, tingling and occasional itchiness... man, this drug is confusing the F*CK OUT OF ME!

I don't understand why, but I randomly came across one thing that has helped me - When I am just sitting, watching t.v. or something, I notice the sensations more... I take my hand and firmly place it on my crown, apply pressure and and like rotate my entire scalp around, in circular motions, stretching the skin. THE SENSATIONS IMMEDIATELY STOP!! They most often return 3-4 minutes later... but the completely stop. It makes me think that the itchy/tingly/ burning definitely has something to do with blood flow, and perhaps stagnant blood being "trapped" in the tiny capillaries in the scalp. It makes sense that this would occur, especially if the scalp is inflamed... the blood needs to move. This is why we itch when we have a scab or other dermal tissue injury.

james maybe you just explained "one" of the reasons for "MPB" clogged blood+trapped DHT=MPB I mean why do some people get regrowth from "scalp exercises" ? or scalp massages or even scalp brushing?...I have read forums of people getting regrowth or stoppage of hairloss by doing one of these... maybe it just works for "some" guys and some it doesnt obviously..

[Sizzling]

Hi Dench57,

After I stopped Finasteride, I still had the tingling for another couple of months. It only started to die down when I stopped all supplements. I am not sure if mood has a part to play. Once the tingling reduced, my spirits were greatly lifted, and it definitely have a positive effect on things.

Whenever I feel down because of the thinning hair, I always have a sensitive scalp for the next few days

[Ziggyz123]

That was a good post, sizzling. I and probably everyone else in this thread experienced hyper androgenicity. The weird thing for me is it happened after a year on fin. Supposedly it happens much sooner to people. My shedding was a massive one though wth increased libido, oily scalp, the whole 9. The wieird thing for me is it really only hit the left side of my hairline and it like blew a hole where my temples meet the sides of my hair.

I actually ran out of finasteride for the pat three days so I'm trying to see how things are going to go. I'll tell you this though, reflex hyper androgenicity DEFINITELY triggers sebborrheic dermatitis. I became and still am sensitive to certain foods I eat. Not sure if there is anyway for this to stop, but I'm hoping setipiprant will be the answer.

[Dench57]

The wieird thing for me is it really only hit the left side of my hairline.

This is the weird part. As you know I had the same where it just seemed concentrated on one spot on my right hairline. If we assume it's DHT, then does that mean your left, and my right side, were more genetically predisposed to be sensitive to DHT in those areas? Loads of people have asymmetrical hairloss/recession.

It just doesn't seem to add up. The equal burning along my hairline makes sense, all those follicles are more sensitive to DHT than anywhere else on my scalp. But why such an intense burning on the right side when there is very little on the left? That seems more like a traditional inflammation, which hits random patches, rather than DHT which generally follows a pre-defined genetic pattern? It doesn't make much sense.

[Sizzling]

That was a good post, sizzling. I and probably everyone else in this thread experienced hyper androgenicity. The weird thing for me is it happened after a year on fin. Supposedly it happens much sooner to people. My shedding was a massive one though wth increased libido, oily scalp, the whole 9. The wieird thing for me is it really only hit the left side of my hairline and it like blew a hole where my temples meet the sides of my hair.

I actually ran out of finasteride for the pat three days so I'm trying to see how things are going to go. I'll tell you this though, reflex hyper androgenicity DEFINITELY triggers sebborrheic dermatitis. I became and still am sensitive to certain foods I eat. Not sure if there is anyway for this to stop, but I'm hoping setipiprant will be the answer.

Hi Ziggyz123

I hope this is really seb Derm. At least we have a diagnosis that we can work on. Still I think this seb derm is not your average case. I read that people don't have thinning or hairloss directly because of seb derm. I guess for us it is kind of an auto immune reaction causing our immune system to flare up and burning off the follicles.
I have read in some cases even ladies get the same problem, after taking a long course of anti biotics. I have also read that psoriasis, eczema and seb derm are all triggered by auto immune problem.

All these conditions are bitches and can be life long. Many people can't seem to get a cure and can just rely on medication to curb the symptoms

Some people have had success controlling eczema with steroid cream but this only suppresses the immune system instead of getting it back to the right balance. Stuff like hydrocortisone can provide relief but in the long run thins out the skin. I am quite sure I do not want to thin out my scalp. Thin hair is bad enough

[Dench57]

My Sulfasalazine has arrived, but I'm waiting to see my endo next week and basically telling them I'm going to use it with or without their permission but ask if I can have regular blood tests at my local GP. I should also get my DHT results back next week so will update you guys next week.