Birth control causing hair loss.

[Stacey21]

Hello :) I don't know if people are aware of this already or not but I thought I'd pop it up here in case. So i've been losing a lot of hair recently and really could not think of anything that may have been triggering it. I was on the contraceptive implant and I was having a lot of trouble with it so got it removed yesterday. I asked the nurse if this could be contributing towards my hair loss and she told me that yes in rare cases this can cause some hair loss. She said I should be a lot better now it's out. So for anyone in a similar situation it may be that you are one of the unlucky rare people aswell!

[MonaMayfair]

Going on (or coming off) birth control is a pretty common cause of hair loss. An awful lot of medications have the potential to cause hair loss (even very common things like Ibuprofen)

[junkyschristmas]

Good post! My friend had this issue with the IUD last year (Mirena I believe). Once she had it removed the hair loss stopped.

[LadyCelestina]

I believe it is one of the side effect that's mentioned in the paper that comes with the BC package,at least here,but I never had issues with hair loss.In fact my hair is thicker,but I don't contribute that to use of the pill.

[Evadne]

When I was 17, I got the depo shot. I read in the side effects paper that I was given, that hair loss was one possibility, but being a teen, I didn't think it would happened to me.
I was wrong! I was at my boyfriends house, brushing my hair and it just kept coming out. I knew something was weird, so I actually made a pile of it so see how much I lost in a single brushing. It was insane how big the pile got and it showed no signs of stopping. Needless to say, I never went back for my 2nd shot. So yeh, hairloss is a possibility with birth control, unfortunately.

[hippie girl]

If you have trouble with hormonal based contraceptives, please look into the Para guard IUD. I have relied on one for years and have had absolutely no problems with it. At least a few of my friends have had these too, based on my recommendation, and are happy with them. We have had very few, if any side effects. The effectiveness rate of the Para-guard is 99.4%.

I'm always confused why they are not more popular than the hormonal based IUD or the pill or shot. I assume it is because once it is in, it is good for 10 years, which means no one is getting paid monthly or yearly or what have you. One and done, so to speak. (Yes, I am a bit conspiratorial, but it is the only reason I can come up with as to why they are not more frequently used. No one is getting paid more than once. :rolleyes:)

Anyhow, ask your doctor about the Para-guard, it might be a good solution.

[panffle]

I have been taking birth control pills for almost a year now and fortunately never experienced hair loss, same thing with my thyroid condition - I never lost more hair than what's considered normal.

[shutterpillar]

This is one of my biggest fears. I just began taking birth control (Quasense) a week ago because it was discovered that I have endometriosis. I need to take it so I wont have so many periods, thus hopefully preventing new cysts from forming. I've already lost one ovary - i'd like to keep the other one. So all in all, hair loss is the least of my problems, but it still freaks me out. :(

[hippie girl]

Keep the faith, shutterpillar! You are right about the hairloss though, there are far worse problems. Hairloss is never fun, but remaining healthy is pretty important. It is a great thing that you are taking care of yourself.

I've not taken birth control pills in forever, and even then it was only for a short time till I began using an IUD. Therefore, I don't have and good advice about that.

I do think it is totally possible that you will not have that side effect at all, and that it will do exactly as planned, preventing new cysts. :) Hoping for the best for you!!

[northernsky]

My thyroid went bonkers after quitting the pill (ortho cyclen), and I was losing hair by the handful for months. It threw all my hormone levels off when my body was no longer getting its monthly dose of synthetic hormones. It was almost like I was going through menopause, even though I am only 33.

[MrsGuther]

I went on the birth control progesterone only pill (mini pill) for about two months. My hair started falling out, so I stopped taking the b.c. immediately. I feel like my hair is quite a bit thinner now, unfortunately. Stupid birth control. :(