Dr. Rachel Rubin

Another medication with surprising, very commonly given for acne, for hair loss, you know, how does it work and why would it change?

So when I teach, you know, I would say when you play with hormones, there are consequences, sometimes good, sometimes bad.

So if it's good for your hair, it's probably bad for your genitals.

And so that's like my go-to, right?

If it's a hair loss medication, it's probably bad for your sex life.

I don't know why God made it that way, but it tends to be true.

But so if it blocks testosterone, it might be good for your skin.

It might be good for your hair.

But again, you need testosterone and hormones for the oils of your body, for the lubrication of your vagina, right?

Accutane dries everything out.

So it's going to dry out your vagina and may cause pain and changes with arousal and orgasm.

A finasteride for men can cause horrible sexual side effects in a certain population that we don't know which it will be, and no one seems to study it to the level that it needs to be studied.

We see, again, spironolactone is one.

I think patients who exercise too much and don't get periods, right, they're having hormone changes.

Yeah, hypothalamic suppression.

The patients with disordered eating are having hormone changes and problems.

And so we have to understand that medications of all kinds, even supplements, right?

If you're, you know, Saul Palmetto is one of the men that we can see that can lower testosterone levels.

And so people are taking these supplements to try to help with hair, which again, if that's your priority and you're okay with any side effects that you have, you do you.

Like, I'm not here to tell you not to do something.