Thread on how birth control affects your hair?

[nikolette]

Is anyone interested in this?

I know birth control affects your hormones, which indeed affects your hair....
and there are notable changes to hair during pregnancy so there must be a change from birth control as well....?

Anyone note any difference or know someone who experienced differences in their hair growth, texture, etc?

I would love to get some opinions/stories on this!!

[Johannah]

As far as I can remember, nothing changed. And I guess pregnancy messes up your hormones waaaay more than birth control ever will ;)

[ladonna]

I had the mirena iuc for a year, it made my hair very thin especially around my hairline. I don't think bc pills had any noticeable effects on my hair.

[Katlette]

My hair can go a bit longer between washes when I am on birth control. I haven't noticed any changes in growth or thickness or anything otherwise.

[Lirona]

I'm another who hasn't noticed any differences at all on the pill.

[sarahmargera]

My hair got VERY thin while on birth control. I definitely stopped taking it.

[Long_hair_bear]

I haven't had a difference in it.

[Larki]

No difference for me either. I'm sure it depends on the type of birth control you're on, there are so many different kinds of the pill.

[Tota]

My hair was way thinner and greasier while I was on BC.

[brickworld13]

Mine didn't really change much while I was on BC, but when I had to quit due to some pretty nasty side-effects I had a major shed and the worst mood swings of my life.

[louzen]

My hair was thinner, duller and had less volume. I'm pretty sure it ruined my hair while I was on it. Since I've come off it (18 months ago), my hair has become much much better. Even my family have noticed the change. I will never go back on the BCP ever again. I was on Yasmin.

[Pocahontash]

I've gone on and off of the pill several times and each time I do (for example I only stop taking it if it's not available to me, I worked up in far northern mn for the summer far from my regular doctor or any clinics and ran out of a month supply.) My hair sheds very bad.

[Becs]

I was on the pill for a while but then I stopped about 4 months ago. I did not have any abnormal shedding either when I was on it or when I stopped.

[Hedera]

My hair is slightly fuller when I'm on birthcontrol pills, I lose some when I go off them.

[nikolette]

We should create a poll for this! I never noticed any difference but then again I don't think I am super in touch with my hair health until recently...

[lapushka]

No difference here either.

[starlamelissa]

my hair sheds when ive gone off the pill, but stays consistant during the fact. right now i have an implant, implanon, and its very smooth sailing.

[Sparklylady82]

Is anyone interested in this?

I know birth control affects your hormones, which indeed affects your hair....
and there are notable changes to hair during pregnancy so there must be a change from birth control as well....?

Anyone note any difference or know someone who experienced differences in their hair growth, texture, etc?

I would love to get some opinions/stories on this!!

I'm interested too! I was going to post this thread haha! Thanks for doing it for me :-)

[MJ1972]

As far as I can remember, nothing changed. And I guess pregnancy messes up your hormones waaaay more than birth control ever will ;)

That's one reason why I've avoided pregnancy like the plague. The pill messed up my hormones to an absurd and frankly dangerous degree. If pregnancy hormones are worse, I don't ever want to experience pregnancy hormones.


Mine didn't really change much while I was on BC, but when I had to quit due to some pretty nasty side-effects I had a major shed and the worst mood swings of my life.

I hear you on the mood swings. I was depressed for ten years -- the very ten years of my life I was on birth control. The moment I stopped taking the pill, the darkness lifted and I became a much less neurotic person. Quitting birth control was the best decision I've ever made.

I have to admit I didn't really notice a change in my hair while I was on the pill, but then I wasn't really looking...

[ExpectoPatronum]

I guess I'm one of the few who's noticing a difference.

My hair sheds WAY less now that I'm on the pill than it did before. I used to lose 100+ hairs in the shower. Now I lose maybe 35 at most.

While stopping my shedding wasn't my reason for going on the pill, it's a very very welcomed bonus.

I haven't been on it long enough to tell if there are any other changes besides the shedding. I'll update after it's been a few months maybe.

(It's also fixing other issues I had, namely very heavy irregular periods, so I'm very happy with the pill at the moment.)

[Kaelee]

I didn't notice any change with Kariva.

[kelseyxface]

I don't notice a difference. As one user said, I think it depends on the pill and just your body in general! My friends sister had a baby a few years back, went from having thin flat hair (much like her sisters) to fuller curlier hair.

[tigereye]

When I was on the regular combined pill, I didn't see much difference. When I switched to the mini-pill, I had a major shed where I lost an inch off my previously 4" ponytail (which volume-wise actually worked out to be 40% loss). The two periods of exam-related stress shedding since that time means that although I have lots of new hairs growing in, my thickness hasn't recovered yet. I'm hoping it will when I no longer have 6-monthly exams to deal with.

[ashke50]

I've been on the mini pill for years, and haven't noticed any change in my hair from before I started.