It's been a while since I lurked here... finally found a doctor who knew something about PCOS (HOORAY!) and I'm starting to lose weight and regain my sanity...however the hair loss thing has become a major issue with me. I had thinning hair on top of my head before. She put me on the spiro to help with this and the excess hair everywhere else. It's been five months and I'm on the maintenence part of it. I really think I'm continuing to lose hair .
It seems thinner further back though still on top.

Another thing is that area always feels like it's burning... almost like a sunburn but I don't have one. It tingles or burns constantly. I'm almost afraid to touch the top of my head with a brush anymore!

Please share info on this drug and hair and anything else you may be able to tell me! Kelley

I finally found a doctor (after years with others) who was finally able to recognize my symptoms as PCOS. He gave me spironolactone for hair loss, too.

It did work for me, up to a point, but it took some time. And at first, I did feel some burning on my scalp, but it went away. When hair did grow in, it was fine, and sometimes the new hair fell out, too, but it was enough that people noticed the difference.

Cutting my hair so that it was short made a huge difference, since the additional weight makes it fall out easier. My doctor also suggested that I use Prograine shampoo and conditioner. It doesn't have any medicine in it to cause regrowth, but it was designed for thinning hair. It won't weigh it down.

The MOST important thing, though, was for me to take the spironolactone regularly. I am bad about taking pills every day. One time I quit for a while, and then when I had been taking it for a while my hair started falling out even worse...even the new ones. My endocrinologist said that hair growth runs in two to three month cycles, and that my body was reacting to the time I quit taking it.

That being said, be patient. It will probably take a couple of months for you to see results.

sprinolactone is a good medication for pcos related hirsutism and hair loss. it does take several months to reach peak effect; also try to bear in mind that your hair goes through its shedding cycles about every three months. so loss that you are having now is related to something months ago. i tried going off the spiro once for financial reasons and i noticed an increased amount of shedding hair. (ugh!) i'm just now back on it and i am hoping to see results soon! also, there are some medications that help. diane-35 is a birth control pill sold everywhere except the u.s., but it contains a small amount of cyproterone acetate which is a potent anti-androgen. i've been having some success with it. (i do have to order it from the uk though.) saw palmetto and evening primrose oil are supposed to help as well; they can take a few months to reach peak effect though.