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View Full Version : Anti-depressants & hair loss



MariaPon
October 29th, 2016, 02:29 AM
So... I haven't been around for quite some time. The main reason behind that is that I've lost a lot of hair and didn't feel like I was in any way relevant to the forum. I've started taking various supplements, trying not to "notice" my hair, but that was ruined every time a chunk of hair came out onto my brush or when my mother would tell me how tiny my bun has become. I thought that hennaing my hair was to blame, that maybe it was a seasonal thing (though when it lasted over 3 months I kind of gave up on that idea), but the facts remained the same- I am losing a lot of hair. And by that I mean that in a few months my ponytail circumference has gone down an entire inch. I'm feeling really self conscious, since I always loved my rather thick hair, but now having it down I feel naked, having it in a bun or in a ponytail just seems puny, and my self esteem has gone way down because of it.
However, yesterday my parents asked me if maybe the antidepressant I'm taking for my OCD has anything to do with it. A quick google search revealed that yup, my specific medicine (fluoxetine) is known to cause hair loss. Now I am terrified and don't know what to do, because I've been taking the highest dosage possible for over half a year now, and I'm DYING to just stop taking it altogether, but I'm just at a loss. Of course, I'm going to talk to my doctor about it and see what can be done.

Does anyone have any tips for now? Has anyone gone through that and came out of it back to the way their hair was? Any support is welcome :(

josabeth
October 29th, 2016, 03:22 AM
I was shedding an alarming amount because of welbutrin. It was the best drug for my bipolar depression I had ever been on up to that point, but my doctor (and I!) felt that the distress of losing my hair wasn't worth it when there were so many other options out there we hadn't tried yet.
We agreed that welbutrin would be a great baseline to come back to as we experimented with other drugs since it works- and a last resort if need be. We're trying something else, and it seems to be working without much in the way of side-effects so far. So it's worth trying something else if your doctor is willing to work with you on it.

I know some people (not all) say that the shedding eventually stops but I really didn't want to wait to find out. Switched to a drug that isn't known to cause hair loss at all. I stopped taking welbutrin 3 weeks ago, and it took about a week and a half for the shedding to slow appreciably. I wouldn't say it's totally stopped yet but that could be paranoia. In any case, I'm sure it will stop if it hasn't. So, my situation is very much still developing. Luckily, our type of hair loss (telogen effluvium) would be the same if it really is our meds. So! That's super good news. Our follicles just decided to quit a growth phase early. Meaning they're not dead or anything, and are perfectly capable of growing in new hairs. Just need to stop the crazy fast shedding.

I've poked around the Internet and people seem to agree it grows back. I often see "six months" cited- I have no idea if they mean it took six months to stop shedding, six months to notice new growth or if they even mean on or off the med. I'm not a trichologist, but if it really is just a sudden boost in the number of hair follicles entering the rest phase...I see no reason why they won't go right on their merry way into a growth phase when they stop getting signals to jettison the hair.

While I wait for my follicles to work their magic I'm making sure to take my Dr-approved vitamins (just those needed to stave off deficiency), and keep generally healthy. Lots of protein for my recovering hair. Also considering going back to scalp monistat- it reduced my shed rate a lot when I tried it years ago and now I'm feeling too clingy to let my hair shed at it's usual rate >.<

gypsycolleen
October 29th, 2016, 08:43 AM
Oh dear! I take fluoxetine for fibromyalgia. Maybe that's why my hair seems thinner! I had no idea! I've used welbutrin before, too!

kuroi
October 29th, 2016, 08:48 AM
Yeah antidepressants can cause hairloss sadly. But it's also reversible luckily. You say your on the highest dose right now so maybe a lower dose is all it takes to stop the hairloss. You obviously have to discuss that with your doctor and check if you ocd won't become worse. Otherwise you can try another antidepressant.

hopefulred
October 29th, 2016, 09:11 AM
Iv just had this realisation, Iv not shared this before but I had been put on anti depressents because of whats happened to my hair (Totally fried by hairdresser facing having to have it shaved to 3cm healthy hair) its effected my confidence and life hugely causing depression and anxiety so have been on sertraline for the last few months until I saw the side effects being hair loss!!! I think doctors should warn you of this before prescribing as obviously hair loss can cause depression too!!! After finding that it can cause hair loss iv spoken to my doctor as the reason im on them is because of my hair being ruined so if they then cause hair loss I'm going to feel even worse so am dropping the dose to come off them and have got CBT sessions to start to get me through this hair situation. I hope you find a solution hun its awful when you lose your confidence because of such a visible physical attribute.