Hair loss due to antidepressants?

[Aaroo]

I have recently started citalopram (SSRI family) as depression/anxiety caused by PMS and winter was really beyond my tolerance. It is a bit more than a week and I am having a horrid hair loss, which has obviously thinned my pony tail and although I have not measured yet, I think I might have to update my hair type info soon if it is going to continue like this. It is falling in balls of hair rather than strands, and nothing has changed besides taking this medicine. I was dealing with that depression for a few months so it could not be caused by that itself.

I did a bit of online research and apparantly hair loss is not a side effect of SSRIs, but I am losing my hair. Anyone has any experience similar to this? I thought maybe others have had such an experience and might be able to help. And do not worry, I am not going to stop taking my medicine because of this ;)!

[Ambrielle]

so sorry to hear about your hair loss Aaroo. I am familiar with citalopram, took it many years ago and i absolutely hated it, so much that i lasted 5-6 weeks on it :( it gave me strange hallucinations and i was nauseous every day while on it. However i can't report any hair loss while on that or any other anti depressant. Normally i would think anxiety to be the trigger but you mentioned not experiencing hair loss when before starting the meds. Sorry i am of no help, hopefully someone else will have a clearer insight.

[Aaroo]

Thanks Ambrielle. I only had the nausea for one day and since then my mood has been better in general, so I think it is doing its job well. This is another reason that I think the hair loss is not due to depression/anxiety as I am feeling better. But I can't see where is the hair loss is coming from :(

[sarahmargera]

I'm currently taking citalopram, and I have been doing so for 3 years now. I had an illness that made a lot of my hair fall out and then of course, because I was sick, I was also anxious and depressed. Once I got acclimated to citalopram, I noticed my hair stopped falling out as much because my anxiety wasn't nearly as bad. It did take a little while for it to kick in, though. Sometimes SSRI's affect people differently, but it could be hair fall due to depression more than anything else. Hang in there!

[arr]

I took it too and had absolutely no hair loss, though I had other side effects of course. I have family members who have been on it for years and they have thick healthy hair. I would start to look elsewhere for a cause. Could it simply be a seasonal shed? Or since you are depressed, maybe you haven't been eating well, sleeping well and getting adequate exercise? All of those basics can be very hard to do when one is feeling low, and that can definitely affect hair health. I truly hope you start to feel better soon.

[Baby]

Usually depression gets worse before it gets better when starting treatment. To contact healthcare, see doctors and to start treatment can be stressful. Have you started with counseling aswell?
My suggestion is to talk with your doctor before you stop the treatment. Maybe s/he can offer an alternative meducation.

[Arctic]

Hair loss can start as long as 6 months after a particularly stressful events.

It's also very normal to have seasonal sheds, sometimes even big ones. But yours does sound very extreme if in a week's time you are noticing considereble thinning.

I don't really have any genius ideas other than talk to your doctor and maybe give the caffeine rinses a try. Apparently they might help with shedding.

[Baby]

Oh, you said also that you had winter/seasonal depression? That can be due to vitamin D deficiency, which can also cause hair loss.

[DreamSheep]

I'm sorry to hear this Aaroo!
I'm on an SSRI too (though a different one), and I think hair loss was listed as a possible side effect (but I don't think I have this one).

I guess it could be the medicine - or a delayed effect of the stress from depression.
My best suggestion would be to consult your doctor - could it be affecting absorption of nutrients that would affect hair?

[monaaa75]

try using kalonji oil, it stopped my hair loss immediately. it wasnt caused by depression or anxiety but I guess you are looking for any solution that might work. good luck

[Aaroo]

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I do have vitamin D tablets but I've been lazy. I should start them, and I will try caffeine rinses and kolanji oil. The shed is so much almost as much as what I had after my pregnancy and It never came back to where it was before :( Before that I couldn't grab my hair with one hand, then it reduced to one hand and now I think my index finger alone can cover my pony tail...Sad and Not so sad at the same time because I knew that I had too much hair anyway!
It might be a delayed effect of the depression. I will see my doctor next week so I will discuss it with him as well.
Thanks again for your suggestions :flower:

ETA: I have not received any official diagnosis of SAD or PMDD or depression/anxiety. The doctor was a bit strange. I told him that the situation is getting really bad and beyond my control, and he asked my what do you think you need? I told him I want to start taking medication and he gave me this prescription. Very quick and short! I have been referred for counseling as well but I haven't heard back yet.

[Arctic]

I hope your mood will improve soon and that you'll get to see a counselor. And ofcourse, that your hair loss will stop!

Here's a link to the caffeine rinse thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=121903

[gwenalyn]

Keep at it! It sounds unlikely to be a side effect of the SSRI, but the good news is that many SSRI side effects go away after a few weeks on the drug.

Congratulations on taking this step toward mental health. Sometimes that's the hardest thing to do. I wish you luck <3

[lapushka]

I'd get thee to a doctor to get some blood drawn. Just to be sure. This amount of hair loss sounds alarming and could indicate iron deficiency or something worse. Get it checked. :flower:

[lapis_lazuli]

I, too, think your best course of action would be to consult your doctor about it. I'm also on an SSRI and did experience some nausea and fatigue. Luckily, this passed after a few days; likely, if your hair loss is a side effect of Citalopram it will also subside.
I wish you all the best and always remember you're not alone. :flower:

[Aaroo]

Thanks everyone!
Arctic I was actually trying to find that thread, thanks for sharing the link :)
Gwanelyn Thanks for the encouragement. Yes It was hard to take this step and I really regret that I didn't do it earlier and in previous episodes of depression that I had. I thought it is such a miserable thing to be on medicine for mental problems and I should avoid it as much as possible, while my situation was miserable in fact! I really hope no one repeats this mistake but I know many do.
Lapushka and lapis_lazuli Thanks for your words. I will bring this issue up in my next appointment.

[chen bao jun]

Aaroo, I don't know.

I take citalopram. I am tapering off it now (or at least, trying to, taking less than I did and seeing how I do with that). I have taken it since 2011, spring, so that's almost 4 years. I took it before, during the year 2001 for the whole year. I was taking 10 mg. Have gone down to 5 mg (they don't make doses that small, I have to cut the pills in half). The dr. had tried to put me on 20 mg, which is supposed to be the smallest dose that does most people good, but I truly couldn't tolerate it, either time. I just slept all the time and was in a fog. But I function well on 10 mg and it fixed the issue I went on it for (panic attacks so that I literally couldn't leave my house) and crippling anxiety.

I have never had my hair affected in any way by being on citalopram. I haven't heard of people having their hair affected by it, either. Which is not to say that that's not what is going on with you. sometimes medicines affect people in odd ways that aren't documented. For instance, I was on a medicine for bone density once that I swear, caused constant hemorrhaging, like so bad that I thought my life was in danger. I didn't know why I was having this hemorrhaging, the dr. was checking everything and it was not in the side effects. One of my friends told me that she hemorrhaged on this medicine and then I looked it up online and saw a whole group of women who said the same thing had happened to them. but its not in the literature. The dr. said this was impossible. However, when I stopped taking it, the hemorrhaging stopped IMMEDIATELY. Like the next day. (but I did this under the dr. s supervision and bone density medicine is not like an SSRI, which you can't just suddenly stop without extreme danger).

I would suggest you ask your dr if perhaps you could switch to another SSRI if the hair loss continues?

The way he prescribed for you sounds a little curt, also, you might want someone who talks to you and who listens to you a bit more. My counselor suggested citalopram to me (and talked to me extensively about it first). He can't prescribe, he's a counsellor. He sent me to my dr. who talked to me at length again. Both of them were very involved and both worked with me to find the right dosage for me, which was, as I said, less than the usual dosage. Sometimes the amount you are taking makes a difference too.

What I heard that citalopram usually does is cause some weight gain. It hasn't for me.

It is true and it is a complicating factor that stress can make your hair out, and furthermore that it doesn't do it at once, so you could in fact, as others said, be having an extreme hair shed because of something that happened six months ago that is just showing up now and not from the medication at all. I believe that I had a stress hair shed about 4 months before I began taking the citalopram. The event that caused all the stress was in the spring of 2010 and I remember my mom visiting in fall 2010 and saying, she couldn't believe the amount of hair that I was shedding when I combed, she was really shocked. And she's used to me losing a lot of hair, I've always been a big shedder. But I was in so much of a fog at that point that it was like I kind of heard her from a distance. My least concern in the world was my hair (and I was really in a fog, could barely comprehend people. It was like everything was slowed for me, like I was in a stupor). So I don't actually know that I had a stress shed, because I wasn't noticing much, but looking back, I m pretty sure I did. I got on LHC 2 years later, in spring 2012, and I was still on citalopram, so I've been on citalopram the whole time I've been on this forum and I CAN tell you that my hair noticeably thickened up the first year I was on this forum, from spring 2012 through winter 2013. I already had a massive amount of hair (another reason that its hard for me to tell about sheds) but it was VERY noticeable how much more hair I had by December 2013 than I did in spring 2012, and I was taking citalopram that whole time and I still am. And I didn't do anything hair inducing, except drink rooibos tea every day. I don't know whether or not that alone made my hair thicker, which was not one of my goals.

Oh, this post is already too long, but I do want to add...my mom was thinning to the point she had visible bald patches and we used JBCO on her and she not only doesn't anymore, but the hair where she was bald is inches and inches long. So for people who are losing hair, JBCO is worth a try I think.

Good luck to you and I'm sorry about whatever it is.

[Aaroo]

Thanks a lot for this informative post Chen! It really helps a lot. Actually I thought something similar to the hemorrhaging that you had might be the case, a side effect not that much observed. However after reading about the delayed effects of depression I think that might be the case. I agree that the way he prescribed it for me was a bit odd. I thought it takes much more investigation and discussion but it had helped me anyway even though I do not know what is the name of my condition!

I will see the doctor this week and discuss it with him, though the citalopram at the 20 mg dose that I am taking has been good for my depression and mood so far. Thanks for suggesting JBCO, I will add that to my -to try list- too!

[Waverly]

Hello Aaroo. I don't normally 'out' myself on the web but I am from a medical background. Let me just state quite clearly though that I'm not your doctor, I'm not giving you medical advice and I would never recommend discontinuing your medication without your own doctor's blessing and an alternative treatment plan.
Having said all that I will also tell you that yes, hair loss is a reported side effect of citalopram. It's described as an anecdotal effect as it wasn't recorded in the drug trials but many patients have since reported it so it might not be in your patient information leaflet. Hair loss should always be reported to your doctor so please book another appointment with him or her. Because hair loss is so distressing it can lead to you stopping your medication however much you don't want to so you and your doctor need a backup plan.
I've put a link below to the ncbi web article which describes how a particular brand of multivitamin helped a patient in a similar position but please please go back to your doctor :blossom:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC181211/#!po=4.16667

[Angelica]

Hello Aaroo. I don't normally 'out' myself on the web but I am from a medical background. Let me just state quite clearly though that I'm not your doctor, I'm not giving you medical advice and I would never recommend discontinuing your medication without your own doctor's blessing and an alternative treatment plan.
Having said all that I will also tell you that yes, hair loss is a reported side effect of citalopram. It's described as an anecdotal effect as it wasn't recorded in the drug trials but many patients have since reported it so it might not be in your patient information leaflet. Hair loss should always be reported to your doctor so please book another appointment with him or her. Because hair loss is so distressing it can lead to you stopping your medication however much you don't want to so you and your doctor need a backup plan.
I've put a link below to the ncbi web article which describes how a particular brand of multivitamin helped a patient in a similar position but please please go back to your doctor :blossom:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC181211/#!po=4.16667

It isn't listed as a side effect in the leaflet I have. I have been on Citalopram for some years now and have had no problem. Thank God. My hair is fine enough and thin enough as it is. Luckily (touch wood) I don't shed much.

I am sorry that OP is experiencing it though and I hope a visit to the doctor solves the problem.

[Unofficial_Rose]

I'm on Citalopram too (have been for18 months) and it does cause hormonal changes. My hair had thinned due to stress before I went on it, even haidressers commented on it. However I've recently noticed that it's somewhat thicker these days possibly because the meds have made me calmer or maybe it's the hormonal effect (has also sent perimenopause into reverse so I have regular periods again - sorry if TMI).

What I'm trying to say is that my experience was similar to Chen's. Since hairloss generally occurs a few months after the stress period, could this coincide with the start of your taking Citalopram?

I'm sorry you're going through this. It's very upsetting to experience hair thinning and I hope it sorts itself out. :grouphug:

Oh, I've just remembered: the first couple of weeks on Citalopram generally make people feel worse than ever - it makes you feel worse before you feel better. But you say it's been helping for the depression so maybe that's not the case for you?

[Aaroo]

Hello Aaroo. I don't normally 'out' myself on the web but I am from a medical background. Let me just state quite clearly though that I'm not your doctor, I'm not giving you medical advice and I would never recommend discontinuing your medication without your own doctor's blessing and an alternative treatment plan.
Having said all that I will also tell you that yes, hair loss is a reported side effect of citalopram. It's described as an anecdotal effect as it wasn't recorded in the drug trials but many patients have since reported it so it might not be in your patient information leaflet. Hair loss should always be reported to your doctor so please book another appointment with him or her. Because hair loss is so distressing it can lead to you stopping your medication however much you don't want to so you and your doctor need a backup plan.
I've put a link below to the ncbi web article which describes how a particular brand of multivitamin helped a patient in a similar position but please please go back to your doctor :blossom:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC181211/#!po=4.16667

Thanks for this very informative comment. While I do have a biological research back ground I had not thought about looking up Pubmed, just Google :D Thanks for sharing the link to that article.


It isn't listed as a side effect in the leaflet I have. I have been on Citalopram for some years now and have had no problem. Thank God. My hair is fine enough and thin enough as it is. Luckily (touch wood) I don't shed much.

I am sorry that OP is experiencing it though and I hope a visit to the doctor solves the problem.

Thanks. I will see the doctor soon and hope it helps too.


I'm on Citalopram too (have been for18 months) and it does cause hormonal changes. My hair had thinned due to stress before I went on it, even haidressers commented on it. However I've recently noticed that it's somewhat thicker these days possibly because the meds have made me calmer or maybe it's the hormonal effect (has also sent perimenopause into reverse so I have regular periods again - sorry if TMI).

What I'm trying to say is that my experience was similar to Chen's. Since hairloss generally occurs a few months after the stress period, could this coincide with the start of your taking Citalopram?

I'm sorry you're going through this. It's very upsetting to experience hair thinning and I hope it sorts itself out. :grouphug:

Oh, I've just remembered: the first couple of weeks on Citalopram generally make people feel worse than ever - it makes you feel worse before you feel better. But you say it's been helping for the depression so maybe that's not the case for you?

Well my problems have been sort of cyclic which is why I have thought of PMDD so it might be just because of the phase that I am feeling better. I don't know if it is that or citalopram is making me feel better, and with the very quick prescription I doubt the doctor knows either. I hope whatever the hair loss is from gets better soon!