Hair Loss page 119

what causes alapicia in dogs?? (hair loss) is their any treatment?

What are the causes of Pug dogs having spotty hair loss?

Please help. My mother had stage 1 breast cancer and had it removed. Why is she now dying?

stumped...vet is also...?

What should i do for Hair loss?

What should i do for hair loss...?

hair loss/nutrition....?

Hair loss & nutrition in vegetarian diet?

who is the best doctor for hair-loss treatment?

Spironolactone aka Aldactone is an old medication approved for treatment of heart failure before the FDA began requiring more safety in medications. Years ago it was discovered that spironolactone was an anti-androgen, i.e., it lowered the body's production of testosterone and also blocked the body's testosterone receptors thus preventing or greatly reducing the body's ability to actually use the testosterone that was left. In fact aldactone is such a potent anti-testosterone drug that it is often used by men undergoing sex change operations to cause chemical castration in advance of actually being castrated surgically. Aldactone's most common use now is for women who have an excess amount of testosterone (both sexes produce testosterone not just men), which causes women to develop acne or to grow excess hair in the form of mustaches, hair on the chest and stomach, etc. Aldactone reduces there testosterone levels and reduces women's body's ability to use testosterone and in so doing usually causes women's excess hair and mustaches, a condition known as hirsutism, to stop growing completely. The terrible thing is that when Aldactone is prescribed for men who have heart failure, it also reduces their testosterone levels and can cause men who take the drug, especially for months or years, to suffer the effects which loss testosterone has upon them. This includes impotency, erectile disfunction, loss of sex drive, loss of muscle mass, physical weakness, mental fatigue, loss of initiative and loss of personal drive. It can also cause the growth of men's facial or body hair to slow down or even stop, just as it does with women. And testosterone loss from Aldactone also can cause gynomastia, a condition in which grow breasts that begin to look like women's breasts. I know. Five years ago when I was 50 I underwent emergency cardiac bypass surgery and was very ill and in the ICU for 20 days. My surgeon required that I undergo a total body shave for surgery. When I left the hospital I was given about 7 new medications one of which was aldactone (spironolactone). For the next year I noticed that the hair on my legs, under my arms and around my penis was growing very slowly and what was growing was fine and more blonde. Likewise my beard grew back very slowly. I also noticed that I had zero sex drive and could not develop an erection. I had no desire to initiate anything. I became placid. I mentioned all these thing to several of my doctors including 4 different cardiologists who continued to prescribed spironolactone for me but no one ever mentioned that it was a testosterone blocker. I looked up the side effects of my drugs and nothing was mentioned for any of them about testosterone. Then I stumbled across a mention of spironolactone which called it an anti-androgen and that's when I learned all the above. I also discovered that there was another drug which performed the same function as spironolactone without blocking testerone production and use. It's call Eplerenone. So it isn't that Aldactone is the only drug that can serve the function of treating heart failure. There has been an alternative for 10 years, I started taking the new drug immediately but from what I understand it could take 1-2 years before things get close to normal again if at all. If you know why physicians continue to prescribe a drug for straight men that blocks testosterone so well that it is used as a chemical castration drug, I'd like know why. I'd also like to know why I was not warned by a single one of the pharmacists who dispensed this vile drug to me without assuring if I understood what it can do to men. Do you know? btw, if this was a drug which reduced estrogen in women there is no way this drug would still be given to them regardless of its cardiac value. It would probably be off the market. Because it reduces 'evil' testosterone apparently it is okay regardless of the bad effects it has upon a mans ability to live a normal life. Why is it still approved by the FDA to prescribe to men considering these ridiculous and avoidable side effects?

Spironolactone depending on it's use is a very safe and effective drug. The FDA have no reason to stop approving it. That being said you should not have been prescribed it due to the extreme side effects the drug produces in men. There should be restrictions on the drug for what it's intended purpose is. To be honest i'm very shocked that any doctor prescribed this drug to you and didn't mention it's adverse effects. You are right that transsexual women use this drug to chemically castrate themselves and stop producing testosterone and that is the only reason i know anything about this drug, because spironolactone is the most common anti androgen prescribed for transsexual women. I don't at all agree with this statement you made: "btw, if this was a drug which reduced estrogen in women there is no way this drug would still be given to them regardless of its cardiac value. It would probably be off the market. Because it reduces 'evil' testosterone apparently it is okay regardless of the bad effects it has upon a mans ability to live a normal life." That's not true, doctors have been messing around with female hormones for years causing all kinds of negative effects like rapid weight gain, hot flushes, ill health, fatigue etc. The very first forms of the pill often made women rapidly gain weight. But to answer your question, the problem is not the drug itself but what it's intended for. Many women and transsexual women need this drug to control testosterone levels and men may also need the drug as an alternative treatment for heart conditions. There needs to be restriction on it's usage, but saying that any informed knowledgeable doctor would never have prescribed you this drug in the first place. I don't think you should be blaming the drug, you should be blaming your doctors for allowing this to happen. The drug itself when used properly is a very effective and necessary treatment for certain individuals. As a side note to you, i would advice you look into testosterone treatment to improve your testosterone levels and overall health. Testosterone treatment is very safe and has massive benefits in improving energy levels, higher sex drive, desire, muscle tone, strength etc. You need to see a knowledgeable doctor who can advice you further.

"I mentioned all these thing to several of my doctors including 4 different cardiologists who continued to prescribed spironolactone for me but no one ever mentioned that it was a testosterone blocker." Nobody is going to advocate for you medically as well as you will advocate for yourself. Consider this a lesson learned that you should research EVERY drug you put in your body. At the same time, when you discovered your low libido, and slow-growing body hair, why did you not speak to an endocrinologist? They would have told you immediately what the problem was. You must have had an unusually low testosterone level to begin with because at the dosages normally prescribed for heart patients, the side-effects should not be that pronounced.

Would you rather be dead? The side effects does not affect all men and have been well known for a very long time. Transexuals typically take massive doses of spironolactone to encourage breast growth, the doses required for these side effects for most people are much larger than the doses given to heart failure patients. It is in fact the transgender community that claims it has anti-testosterone effects. Some people are actually adamant that it doesn't have any feminizing effect. The steroid community uses spironolactone to increase their testosterone though that is not a community known to improve their testosterone. In truth it's the side effect of gynecomastia ( breast growth ) that is at issue and for some patients that may be less with Eplerenone then with Spironolactone. Bald people also use spironolactone and spironolactone creams to increase hair growth and some female patients have complained about facial hair growth while on spironolactone. In truth spironolactone blocks certain effects of testosterone not the testosterone itself. Spironolactone actually helps reduce the scar tissue in damaged hearts. Eplerenone is also an aldosterone antagonist just as Spironolactone is but it's only recently been accepted for heart failure. Ten years ago, spironolactone was also a cross-label product for heart failure. The physicians are probably discounting your comments as being based on junk science found on the web, spironolactone has been proven to benefit heart patients and the side effects are minimal. A far more likely cause of your problems would be the beta blockers that you are most assuredly on, they have a 98% chance of erectile dysfunction over time but nothing viagra or cialis doesn't solve. I've been on spironolactone for perhaps a decade and I have never had problems with sexual arousal except that I would like more while girlfriends want less. In my opinion, you're just looking for something to blame. You really have no grounds to question the decision of four cardiologists that you should take spironolactone based on your incomplete and inaccurate view on what the medication does. You're of course free to ask for an alternative but the cardiologists are also free to point out why their recommendations are what they are. They are also free to discontinue serving you on the basis of liability if you insist on self medicating.

As it has been said here already, these side effects are usually from high doses of spironolactone. The main issue is why you need to take it. The answer is that the benefits outweigh the risk. As a potassium sparing diuretic, one of the purposes is to reduce fluid retention without lowering your potassium level which can lead to sudden cardiac death. The diuretic effect is very important to protect from going into Cogestive Heart Failure. Other diruretic drugs are not potassium sparing. There is much more of an immediate need to prevent complications of HF then side effects of this drug.

IMO your story is bunk. Doctors know the side effects. These side effects are well published. Next, most doctors don't even prescribe Spiro to cardiac patients anymore. It's been replaced by other medications. Next, the dosages used by transsexual women is usually 4-8 times the amount you were probably given. Next, it does NOT block testosterone production, just your bodies ability to use it, hence it being called a "blocker". Nobody considers testosterone "evil" as you indicate, you're getting a little carried away. "chemical castration drug" Really? You are over the top. Spiro doesn't castrate anyone. You said: "I started taking the new drug immediately but from what I understand it could take 1-2 years before things get close to normal again if at all." That's complete, Grade A BullSh*t. Last, this is a rant and not a question. .

As to the person who suggested as an answer that it was the questioner who was at fault for not researching the side effects on his own i suggest that they take at look at the major drug info sources online. I believe that they will find no mention in their side effects sections that spironolactone reduces the general level of testosterone available for use by men OR women. What the will possibly find is a statement that gynecomastia is a potential side effect for men. However, gyncomastia is not so much an effect of the lowering of testosterone as it is a raising of the estrogen levels available to the man. What they will not find is any suggestion that spironolactone will cause other conditions which reflect the sorts of conditions which are indicative in men of low testestone levels such as those pointed out by the person seeking an answer to their question. Someone else attempts to suggest that the attribution to spironolactone as being an agent lowering a males ability to take up and use testosterone is a flat out myth. The fact the the person includes a citation to authority gives that assertion some appearance of credibility until we find when go to the link provided that it is not a scientific study he references but rather a site for a hawkster attempting to sell herbal testosterone lowerers. Really no, how credible is that? But since the very fact that the underlying assumption of the question is challenged it would seem to be a good idea to cite to a more credible site than a potpourri seller. How about the Mayo I would tend to go along with the first answerer in his analysis although it did seem to be important to point out some of the nonsense that masquerades as science on Answers.com. "A 30-year health professional". Sounds to me as likely to be a bedpan emptier or a vetrinarians assistant as an endocrinologist. People proud of their 'professional' status actually list their profession. Just as sales clerks say they are "in retail" when asked what they do, so too do nurse's assistants say they are medical professionals. I was prompted to look into your question here not becaus the question interested me but because all but the first answer appalled me. I don't want your vote, just the satisfaction of being able to tell these 'experts' what amateurs they really are.