posted
This was suggested to me in another hairloss and thyroid thread. I can attest it's true in my case as well, when I was taking Augmentin back in December and January of this past year, my hair stopped falling out.
Anyone know the specifics of what Amoxicillin is working on, how it's doing it, and why neither Minocycline, Azithromycin or Bactrim can produce the same effect?
posted
Amoxy definitely worked for me, although I may have been the one you were talking about that suggested this in the original post.
I didn't even realize how much hair I had lost until all of these little sprouts started coming out of my head. I'm sure it was because of amoxy, and honestly I believe for me that it's because it has always been very effective for me; more effective than almost anything else (though harder to take b/c of the herxes). At first I thought the sprouts were breaking hair, but they just kept getting longer and longer. I have a LOT of hair, so it blended in, but my hair stylists always noticed my weird sprouts and then the strange lengthed layers as it all grew in.
I have been on zith, mino, as well as biaxin, and it did not happen with those. This could just be my experience though.
Posts: 453 | From TX | Registered: Aug 2008
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Actually I think it was Six who mentioned she knew some people who had stopped hair loss with Amoxicillin.
Wait, VB.. Are you saying you lost hair, and then you sprouted new hair in that area while on Amoxicillin?
I've lost hair all around. But, it's really affecting my crown right now. It's also so dry and brittle. Which all made me think THYROID, but I still don't know. Hopefully I'll have more answers on Thursday when I see my doctor.
Would like to hear more from you before I go, because I might make a case to be put back on Amoxicillin unless I can pinpoint the real problem.
posted
Yes, the new sprouts were while on Amoxicillin!
I lost hair all over, and would pull handful after handful out for the longest time when I would run my fingers through it, but I had definite patches near my temples that I definitely noticed were thinning.
I am a girl, so that was scary, and I was thinking "great, I feel like crap and soon I'm going to look like a freak with male pattern baldness".
The sprouts I got started sticking straight out of my head and I though it was hair that was breaking off, but it was all over, esp on my temples, back "corners" of my skull and definitely along my hairline. It just kept growing and growing and finally stopped sticking straight out when it got a little less than an inch long.
That was about a year ago now, and so it's pretty much grown in by now.
It's funny because while I was first on amoxy (started with 1g per day), it made me herx for so long (like 2 months straight) that I thought it wasn't working and I almost stopped taking it. Every time I increased my dose, I herxed for a very very long time. I am now back on it and taking about 4 grams/ day). I think it is more effective on me than any other medication (although please note that I am combining it with a LOT of other meds right now, including Flagyl, Biaxin and others).
If you are having problems with dry hair, I found a product called "Moroccan Oil" that has saved my hair from dryness. It is a little expensive, but now I can't go without it. I have naturally curly hair that I straighten, and I have tried almost everything out there for dryness. If you buy it on Amazon, make sure to buy the more expensive one with the good reviews, because there's one on there that is apparently an imitation.
Posts: 453 | From TX | Registered: Aug 2008
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canefan17
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 22149
posted
Amox is a penicillin.
zithro, doxy, biaxin are macrolides/tetras
Amox and ceftin are probably much stronger. And many believe it drives lyme into cyst form.
So maybe you are just driving lyme away faster and stopping the auto-immune response(which can cause hair loss)
Because I'm not sure that amoxcicillin is directly causing your hair to regrow. Abx's in general are known to cause hair loss.
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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posted
"I am a girl, so that was scary, and I was thinking "great, I feel like crap and soon I'm going to look like a freak with male pattern baldness""
Sorry, this made me laugh.
Just cause I'm a guy it doesn't mean it I want to look like a freak with male pattern baldness! I'm only 26, I don't want to be the only bald man in the family...
Your situation sounds a lot like mine, and gives me hope!
What happened when you went of Amoxicillin? It's obvious you're still battling Lyme and co., so I'm assuming your reward didn't last. :[
canefan17 wrote:
"Because I'm not sure that amoxcicillin is directly causing your hair to regrow. Abx's in general are known to cause hair loss."
I've heard that, but the first thing I noticed when I started Augmentin was that my hair stopped failing out. And, I was on that ABX for a sinus infection.
That's why I started this post. I'm hoping someone versed in medicine and the body might chime in to what's actually happening with that causes the Penicillin to stop the hair loss. I would like to find other effective ways that promote the same kind of healing for hair loss that Penicillin does.
Posts: 829 | From MD | Registered: Dec 2009
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posted
I understand. I can imagine that even as a guy sudden hairloss wouldn't be ideal either.
Per canefan's comment, I don't think amoxy directly causes hair to grow either. If that were the case, big pharma would have figured that out by now and would be selling it by the pound to all of the non-lyme bald men across America.
I do however believe that it helped kick back lyme enough for me that my hair stopped freaking out. I feel that for some ppl, amoxy is a very very powerful drug against lyme.
Also, like you, before I knew what the heck was wrong with me I took Augmentin. I actually faked a sinus infection at a doc in the box, just to get abx and see if I could possibly have some type of bacterial infection going on that was causing my nightmarish health problems. I had the biggest herx of my life about 24 hours after my first dose. It was the best/worst feeling ever and after it lifted, I felt so much better (though far from well, obviously), but it was at that point I realized I most likely had lyme and not Parkinson's or MS (or whatever).
I was on amoxy for about a year, increasing up to 3g/day plus probenecid, but it was too hard for me to handle the die-off, so went off for a few months and started Omnicef & Claforan IM (along with Flagyl and Biaxin still). I did not find those effective though and last week started Amoxy again at 4g (plus Flagyl, Biaxin, levaquin, etc etc). When I was off, I did not notice that my hair fell out again though, so like I said earlier, I think once you kick lyme back enough your hair will grow back. For some this is with Amoxy, for others it could be a different med. It may be for you, like me, amoxy is particularly effective for some reason.
I would just be sure not to take it as monotherapy because I too have read that it can cause lyme to convert to cyst form. So take with a cyst buster and prob an intercellular abx as well if you can. Also, needs to be at levels of at least 3g/day to cross BBB, from what I've read.
Posts: 453 | From TX | Registered: Aug 2008
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canefan17
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 22149
posted
I think it has to do with it's anti-inflammatory effects and hitting lyme, thus slowing down the auto-immune response.
Which again... causes hair loss.
(The body wrongfully attacks hair follicles)
Posts: 5394 | From Houston, Tx | Registered: Aug 2009
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posted
one more thing to note... amoxy is bactericidal, and I think the others you listed are bacteriostatic.
cidal = actively kill bacteria by breaking down cell wall static = keep bacteria from replicating and they eventually die off
To me it stands to reason that the bactericidal could possibly promote faster die-off, a stronger herx, and potentially faster results. Just a theory though
Posts: 453 | From TX | Registered: Aug 2008
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posted
It's almost 7 weeks I am using Amoxcillin. I did not see any difference in my hair fall. It's is falling out like crazy, I am getting scared that I may become bald.
Posts: 96 | From Germantown | Registered: Mar 2010
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