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Famvir (thinning hair?)

m1she11e

Senior Member
Messages
333
Location
Florida
Ive been slowly noticing my hair is thinning. I dont have bald spots but it has slowly been getting worse and worse. The only thing I have done differently is the Famvir Im taking.

Anyone else notice this? Im not sure Famvir is the culprit but just trying to figure it out.

Thanks!
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,086
Location
australia (brisbane)
i shave my head so cant really tell, probably going bald due to aging, which i think cfs speeds up. Being a male im not concerned about my hair too much, hopefully some other ladies chime in and help. Do u think nthe famvir is still helping you?

cheers!!!
 

m1she11e

Senior Member
Messages
333
Location
Florida
Thanks anyway Heaps!! I dont think there are many on Famvir and the few I know are men. I did find other people on line that said they had horrible hair loss from Famvir and Valtrex. Im sure it doesnt happen to everyone. I AM on a huge dose. Im going to cut way back on it and hit the Lysine and other natural anti virals for a bit and see what happens. Of course Ive done those before so I know they are only so effective.

I felt way better long before I got into all these anti-viral drugs and such. I spent a ton on supplements but could work full time and was full of hair... :))
 

Enid

Senior Member
Messages
3,309
Location
UK
I wonder if thyroid tests are OK - without anti-viral drugs (we get nothing here) excessive hair loss improved over time with now regular thyroxine treatment.
 

redo

Senior Member
Messages
874
Thanks for posting about it mishelle. I got the same symptom from another antiviral combination. Do you get a generalized worsening of other symptoms as well?

Please let me know if you find a way to pull out of this.
 

alice1

Senior Member
Messages
457
Location
Toronto
I was on Famvir for only 1 month and 6 months later my hair is still thinning.I did a search and found that indeed ant-virals can thin hair.Saw-palmetto is supposedly helpful in preventing hair loss.160mgs 2x daily.Also search nettle tea.
 

m1she11e

Senior Member
Messages
333
Location
Florida
Wow, I forgot about this thread because I started to assume no one had experienced possible hair thinning from Famvir or other anti virals.

I have backed off of Famvir to one a day, instead of 500mg, 3x a day. I cant say I feel and better or worse taking it but it is keeping some of my viral titers lower. If it really made me feel better, I would probably just deal with the thinning hair.

I ordered Silica and a hair vitamin combination and am taking that. I did see the Saw Palmetto info too. I might try that too. Oh, and I am drinking the Nettle tea.

I wonder why it would cause the hair to thin?? Must be doing something in the body that isnt too good.

Thank you very much for the responses!!
 

undcvr

Senior Member
Messages
822
Location
NYC
I don't think I have ever experienced hair loss from any of the AVs or ARVs I took but I have experienced hairloss from time to time, much less so not. But I think it is based on another theory that when the immune system malfunctions in an auto-immune sort of way and starts to attack body cells indiscriminately, the cells of hair follicles on the scalp is particularly sensitive. That is the theory behind a german made shampoo thymuskin and its scalp tonic. It uses thymus to treat the condition.
When ever I have had this condition, it would feel like my scalp is burning and itching all over and it would feel like dandruff and seborrhea. I would use shampoos with lots of sulphur, msm, and mild topical steroids to treat it. I also noticed that it happens in the winter alot.

If you take Silica, make sure it is of the very bioavailable kind, it is hard to get silica into the body becos in its natural form it is a very hard mineral or like sand or glass. Horsetail has very bioavailable silica and so does Biosil. I take Saw Palmetto too and 5mg of Biotin twice a day. I also take high levels of Zinc at night before bed.

I think that for us with CFS the immune system is malfunctioning anyway and you nvr know what kind of reaction you will get when you try a new treatment becos you dont really know what level the damage is ( its all fun fun fun ). So many pple respond badly to things that are supposed to help you and at the other end of the ironic spectrum, many pple respond to a treatment after being on it much longer that we are supposed to. It really sucks.

Btw you are responding to Famvir, I am guessing that the viruses that you are taking it for is not the main culprit that is causing your CFS, it could be something else. Did you get the same response from Valtrex ?

Another way of looking at hairloss can be from the point of stress, that taking the AV is stressing your body and stress causes the hairloss. The question is why tho if you look at the Famvir from a strictly AV point of view. The Famvir stops virus replication, there by awakening the immune system that has been suppressed by the said virus. The immune system wakes up after been suppressed for so long that it does not know what to do, attacking indiscriminately causing the hairloss. At this point you would need to change the supplements to take and 'teach' the immune system how to function correctly, ie shifting it more towards the th1 arm, adaptive immunity.

This is the whole theory about IRIS and HIV drugs, otherwise known as Herx in the alternative medicine field. It is a very real phenomena. I nvr used to believe in it.