Comment by Joy on February 9, 2010 at 8:47pm

If you google the words Vytorin and hair loss it seems hair loss can be a side effect of this drug...unless your dr knows something different. It would be great if there was a medicine that could cause hair growth (other than rogaine)!!!

Comment by Regina Hastings on February 10, 2010 at 1:57am

See when i googled it i seen that too...i dunno she said it was hot off the press that she had just been told about it. I'll try it and see..maybe but if not oh well.

Comment by Longaa doc on February 11, 2010 at 10:05pm

Hi Regina,

Your doctor is right. Vytoin (generic name: simvastatin plus ezetimibe) has been shown to be beneficial in alopecia totalis and universalis in case reports. This drug is not used commonly for treatment of AA but as you can see from following two articles, it has supposedly induced hair regrowth in totalis and universalis pts. This medicine has never been tested in randomized double blinded placebo controlled trial for AA but case reports are encouraging.

First article published in 2007 by a physician from Florida:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17941369?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEn...

Second article published in 2009 by physicians from Houston, Texas:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20120427?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEn...

As far as Vytorin causing hair loss as a side-effect, just remember that medicine is not a 100% science (and this is coming from a practicing physician). It is especially true about AA. Another example of similar situation is, methotrexate. Hair loss is a known side effect of methotrexate but at the same time it has been shown to induce hair regrowth in totalis and universalis patients. Here is the link as a proof:) :

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17010743?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEn...

Once last thing I will say. Whatever you decide to try for treatment of AA, try it regularly and try it long enough. I suggest trying regularly for AT LEAST 9-12 months before deciding whether it is working for you or not.

Hope this helps.

Comment by Regina Hastings on February 12, 2010 at 12:27am

Thanks for that info i have started taking it i guess we will see. I'll keep ya updated. :)

Comment by mtran2000 on January 10, 2017 at 7:26pm

My dermatologist showed me an article on this and since I have take a statin anyway I am going to ask my regular doctor to switch me to Vytorin.

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