I get a lot of emails regarding the specific androgen index of birth control pills. I haven’t found the full and complete definitive list available online, however, the American Hair Loss Association lists a small number of pills from lowest androgen index to highest. The list is as follows:
Desogen, Ortho-Cept, Ortho-Cyclen, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Micronor, Nor-Q D, Ovcon-35, Brevicon/Modicon, Ortho Norvum 7/7/7, Ortho Novum 10-11, Tri-Norinyl, Norinyl and Ortho 1/35, Demulen 1/35, Triphasil/Tri-Levien, Nordette, Lo/Ovral, Ovrette, Ovral, Loestrin1/20, Loestrin 1.5/30.
Of course very last you’ll see Loestrin listed has one of the highest androgen pills. It wasn’t until recently it all clicked, loestrin sounds like LOW ESTROGEN. That is the pill of doom that I took that started this whole hair loss process for me. I suppose it is all luck of the draw. Many women have probably taken that pill and never had the hair loss troubles I have been dealing with for the past 8 years. But there is no denying the hair loss birth control pill connection, messing with hormones can results in some unpleasant occurrences. Depending on the doctor, some will openly admit that hair loss can occur from taking the pill, others will dismiss it as merely coincidence. The packet insert of all the pills that I have seen clearly state it as a possible side effect. Women of all ages need to be aware of this before considering taking any pill, don’t expect to hear that little tid bit of information from the doctor prescribing it to you.
Low androgen birth control pills are also commonly prescribed with the anti androgen spironolactone as a treatment for women losing their hair.
I would love to find a complete listing of all birth control pills and their androgen index. If anyone knows of any please send me an email so I can post it on the site.
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One of our members in the 
Just to reiterate what many other women have said, this website is a wonderful and empowering resource. Here’s my story:
The Women’s Hair Loss Project is looking for creative, passionate and knowledgeable volunteer hair loss writers to write original articles for our blog. You must have a good command of the English language and be able to effectively communicate your thoughts through words. You don’t have to be a professional writer by any means, just need to be passionate and with a desire to help other women and write articles that other female hair loss sufferers can relate to and learn from.
I cannot believe I have not written about this before. So many women want to be able to test their hormones for imbalances, but either cannot get their doctor to do it, or cannot get it does as frequently as they would like. There is an online service called 
If you had a test that would tell you with some degree of certainty whether or not you were destined to lose your hair, would you take it? We don’t really have to make that decision because it isn’t available for women, however, men now have that choice. There has been much buzz surrounding the new genetic test called, “Hair DX.” According to their website, ” HairDX reports about a genetic variant found in more than 95% of bald men. Scientists found that people with this genetic variant are at 60% risk of going bald by the age of 40. HairDX also reports about a less common genetic variant of the same gene, that if present indicates a greater than 85% likelihood of not going bald before the age of 40. ”
A friend of mine sent this to me in an email, I’ve never actually spoken about my hair loss with this person so of course I’m thinking… SHE KNOWS!! But she sent it to like 50 other people at the same time so I guess that is me just being paranoid. Or is it? :) The story is about attitude, but the subject matter was of particular interest to me. Here it is:
