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View Full Version : Hair loss/ Thinning/ Damage - due to medicine?



Busybee
July 25th, 2011, 11:58 AM
Don't know if there is already a thread for this, so I apologize if there is....... and I DID post in the Newbie thread my "story" but I am hoping to reach a greater audience by narrowing the search field, I guess you'd say.

Who out there has suffered hair loss/thinning/damage due to medicine?

I feel like this is a whole different ball of wax compared to those who lost hair due to stress, post-partum, Alopecia, etc.

Regrowing hair and regaining hair thickness is important to me, so ANY advice is appreciated. But I am truly interested in any stories of medicinal hair loss/thinning, and how you recovered from it. Products and methods - please do tell!

My hair is 1 year in from the damage, that I did not discover the cause of until last week (Elmiron). Trying to find out from LHC members if my damage will be perminent, or if there is hope for this wiry thin mess.

Thanks to all

KLin
July 25th, 2011, 06:50 PM
Had hair loss with change in hormone replacement medication. Huge shed with loss in hair thickness and diameter. Hair was more fragile for a while.

Did some deep conditon treatments once a week for a month, tried oiling with EVOO, Coconut and settled on jojoba. Would oil heavy and let stay in braid for two days or so.

Removed cones and SLS long time ago. Like AVC rinses and will do a beer rinse once a month.

That helped the condition, but have to wait for healthy hair to grow while finding a hair care plan that you can do going forward.

Good luck

BlazingHeart
July 25th, 2011, 07:29 PM
I've lost hair for medical reasons 3 times. Once was due to simple body stress, I was sick over and over and over and just kept not recovering and had a major shed, which...hmm, I think it recovered very slowly over the course of about 6 months. Once was a hormonal imbalance (er, more than once, but it's happened repeatedly because of this one), and again, a slow recovery over 6 months or so once the hormones were balanced correctly. The third one...I had an allergic reaction and in addition to having a horrid painful rash all over my skin, I lost maybe 1/4 of my hair. It was very distressing. I don't remember how long it took for me to recover, but I know my hair was back to normalish when I had it cut short the summer after...hmm, can't remember when during the school year the reaction was though, sorry.

Best of luck to you!

~Blaze

JadeTigress
July 25th, 2011, 09:25 PM
I'm pretty sure my huge shed is due to taking Topamax. I stopped taking the medicine a few months ago, but my shed is still just as bad as ever. Various LHC tips (CO, oiling, BBB, rooibos tea, a few others) have improved my existing hair, but havn't lessened the shed at all.

And my mom had to start taking methotrexate. Her doctor also put her on a huge dose of folic acid, but mom started slacking off on it. She started shedding and her eyebrows started thinning, but she didn't think much about it. After her doctor told her that the folic acid was what was keeping the methotrexate from making her hair fall out, she started taking it again. Her eyebrows filled back in pretty quick and she stopped shedding.

I'm going to try out the folic acid (though the regular over-the-counter dose, not mom's huge prescription one), and hope and pray that it helps my shed.

Busybee
July 27th, 2011, 08:46 AM
Thank you ladies for sharing your stories. It is terrible to say this - but it makes me feel BETTER to know that I am not alone.

I feel like I am so vain..... worrying about my hair this much. But I guess you all are too - so again - not alone - hahaha.

I am trying "no cones" and only been at it for 2 weeks, but my hair seems to have no shine. I think I am stressing over all aspects of what is happening, and scrambling to make things better at whatever cost, whatver method. It's hard for me to calm down and discipline to one method at a time!

But I will be stopping the Elmiron, and seeking a Dermatologist, who can maybe recommend a medication to help kick-start the hair growth/ density............... unless any of you think that stuff is a crock?

BTW (Nioxin makes my hair break off so ....NO)

WickedLady
July 27th, 2011, 08:52 AM
Thank you ladies for sharing your stories. It is terrible to say this - but it makes me feel BETTER to know that I am not alone.

I feel like I am so vain..... worrying about my hair this much. But I guess you all are too - so again - not alone - hahaha.

I am trying "no cones" and only been at it for 2 weeks, but my hair seems to have no shine. I think I am stressing over all aspects of what is happening, and scrambling to make things better at whatever cost, whatver method. It's hard for me to calm down and discipline to one method at a time!

But I will be stopping the Elmiron, and seeking a Dermatologist, who can maybe recommend a medication to help kick-start the hair growth/ density............... unless any of you think that stuff is a crock?

BTW (Nioxin makes my hair break off so ....NO)

though once you start stuff like that such as perscription, nioxin, or rogaine for instance you have to continuously use it. once you stop the shedding will continue again.

GoldberryHair
July 27th, 2011, 09:18 AM
I swear by Biotin (I take 5000 mcg a day, it sounds like a lot but remember its MICRO) and I couldn't live without it.

Busybee
July 28th, 2011, 02:15 PM
I swear by Biotin (I take 5000 mcg a day, it sounds like a lot but remember its MICRO) and I couldn't live without it.

Yeah, I have been on daily Biotin for over a year. Added Fish Oil 2 months ago. My nails ROCK - but with the medicinal damage to my hair - I am not seeing a difference on my head.

Maybe with quitting the damaging medication, using some Castor oil and just wearing it up all the time, things will change.

It's just hard. Having no shine...yet. Having wiry impossible texture, that looks ugly worn down - period.

Having support from all these women with GORGEOUS tresses..... I am grateful, but I feel worse about my hair - you know? :violin:

But I am grateful, ya'all

Busybee
July 28th, 2011, 02:18 PM
though once you start stuff like that such as perscription, nioxin, or rogaine for instance you have to continuously use it. once you stop the shedding will continue again.


Good point about the medication continual usage..... Never talked to anyone who's had to use it, and if they needed to continue use to continue results/repair.

Maybe I'll just stick to al' naturale methods for 1/2 year, and pray that works!

JadeTigress
July 28th, 2011, 04:57 PM
though once you start stuff like that such as perscription, nioxin, or rogaine for instance you have to continuously use it. once you stop the shedding will continue again.

That's what I thought, too, because I thought about trying rogaine and I was looking into that and hair loss and anything else I could find. But after reading some stuff, from what I could gather, whether or not you can ever stop using the rogaine depends on what's causing your hair loss. I was looking at stuff about telogen effluvium in particular, and it said that if you can figure out what's triggering the shed and eliminate that, then you can eventually stop the rogaine and you won't lose all your hair. But if you don't figure out the trigger, then you can't stop using it if you want to keep what you've gained.

BlazingHeart
July 28th, 2011, 05:13 PM
If you're looking for natural methods, the three things I've heard of working best are these:

1) Rinses. Rooibos is something a lot of people swear by, but some caffeinated things like tea and coffee work well for other people. If your hair is light and you want to try something caffeinated but don't want your hair getting colored by it, go with green tea. Spritz your scalp daily, and use it as a rinse on your scalp when you wash.

2) Scalp massage. Use the pads of your fingers to massage your scalp for 5 minutes every day. You may find you shed slightly more while you are massaging your scalp, but that is generally hair that would have fallen out over the next 24 hours anyways, as long as you're gentle.

3) Castor Oil. I don't know as much about this one, but I've noticed a lot of LHCers mention it as helping their hair.

Busybee
July 29th, 2011, 09:43 AM
Well, I did try the castor oil last night with a couple of drops of EO Lavender. Felt very thick and greasy, but smelled relaxing. Rinsed this morning just fine with usual CWC.

Intend to start taking Nettle supplements as well.

I think it will take a while for me to see any difference in the texture of my hair, as the medicine damaged it to feeling wiry and rough (although there are no split ends).

The breakage from the damage makes me appear to have several layers all-over my head, which sucks too. Can't find the right combo of products yet to make it ALL lay down without being grease-bomb or coney.

Just want this stuff to start thickening back up, growing where it needs to, and looking healthy again!

Hard not to be bitter though...... If I had done it to myself with heat damage or bleach, I could blame myself and move on. But it was medicine :brickwall I should have taken a stab at this being the culprit..... but I never guessed. I feel more bamboozled.

pixi_stix
July 29th, 2011, 10:48 PM
I'm pretty sure my huge shed is due to taking Topamax. I stopped taking the medicine a few months ago, but my shed is still just as bad as ever. Various LHC tips (CO, oiling, BBB, rooibos tea, a few others) have improved my existing hair, but havn't lessened the shed at all.

That evil Topomax (Or dopamax as users have nicknamed it) made me lose so much hair, I thought I'd eventually go bald. My carpets were constantly covered in a layer of my hair and people got sick of my hair shedding all over when I visited. It took over a year after stopping the evil drug for my hair to stop shedding so much and to stop feeling as if I had backcombed it (Which of course I never do).

I was also taking Domperidone, which is more evil than Topomax and this also created havoc with my hair. It is a dopamine blocker, which caused my calcium and Vitamin D levels to drop. I was on prescription supplements for years, which also helped my hair start growing long and healthy.

Busybee
August 2nd, 2011, 10:41 AM
That evil Topomax (Or dopamax as users have nicknamed it) made me lose so much hair, I thought I'd eventually go bald. My carpets were constantly covered in a layer of my hair and people got sick of my hair shedding all over when I visited. It took over a year after stopping the evil drug for my hair to stop shedding so much and to stop feeling as if I had backcombed it (Which of course I never do).

I was also taking Domperidone, which is more evil than Topomax and this also created havoc with my hair. It is a dopamine blocker, which caused my calcium and Vitamin D levels to drop. I was on prescription supplements for years, which also helped my hair start growing long and healthy.

WoW! This is certainly an eye opener. There are so many medicines out there that will harm your hair tremendously - and if someone hasn't experienced it personally, it's like people don't get it.
A shame that "medicines" that are meant to stimulate hair growth can also backfire, or require consistent usage - making them just another medicine dependancy. Sheesh

Busybee
August 3rd, 2011, 12:12 PM
Don't know if there is already a thread for this, so I apologize if there is....... and I DID post in the Newbie thread my "story" but I am hoping to reach a greater audience by narrowing the search field, I guess you'd say.

Who out there has suffered hair loss/thinning/damage due to medicine?

I feel like this is a whole different ball of wax compared to those who lost hair due to stress, post-partum, Alopecia, etc.

Regrowing hair and regaining hair thickness is important to me, so ANY advice is appreciated. But I am truly interested in any stories of medicinal hair loss/thinning, and how you recovered from it. Products and methods - please do tell!

My hair is 1 year in from the damage, that I did not discover the cause of until last week (Elmiron). Trying to find out from LHC members if my damage will be perminent, or if there is hope for this wiry thin mess.

Thanks to all

As a Follow-up to my own thread here...... wanted to post a picture of how bad the thinning/breakage is from the medicine damage....

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/6005655591_5d33d06be2_z.jpg

Hard to know what is the right method to regian my density and health. Trying to take one step at a time and not get depressed.

headtrip_honey
August 3rd, 2011, 12:57 PM
About a year and a half ago I took Accutane for my skin - I knew hair loss was a possible side effect although very rare, but my skin caused me no end of anxiety and depression, so I took the risk (after trying just about everything else out there).

I was fine until the sixth month of my course, when I started having a massive shed.

I finished Accutane just over a year ago, and I'm still dealing with the repercussions.

It didn't help that after my Accutane course I was sick constantly for about 6 months, and that I've been planning a wedding. So, major medication plus illness plus stress = buh bye hair.

Outside observers can't tell my hair has thinned - it still looks normal, for the most part. My hairdresser did note that I was shedding a bunch last October/November, and confirmed in June that the shed was much less. But I have lost hair thickness - my ponytail is a smaller (although not much...4 wraparounds instead of 3), a barette that I used to struggle to put in now goes in easily, and a little more scalp is visible when my hair is wet. But my hair is still in the "normal" category re: thickness (2.75" ponytail circumference), so I'm counting my blessings.

So I think I'm on the road to recovery.

I'm trying to treat my hair gently (meaning no more yanking a brush through it while wet, no more blowdrying), treat myself gently (taking vitamins, eating well, resting more), and trying not to stress about the whole thing.

Not easy, but hey. You do what you gotta do.

Busybee
August 4th, 2011, 08:38 AM
About a year and a half ago I took Accutane for my skin - I knew hair loss was a possible side effect although very rare, but my skin caused me no end of anxiety and depression, so I took the risk (after trying just about everything else out there).

I was fine until the sixth month of my course, when I started having a massive shed.

I finished Accutane just over a year ago, and I'm still dealing with the repercussions.

It didn't help that after my Accutane course I was sick constantly for about 6 months, and that I've been planning a wedding. So, major medication plus illness plus stress = buh bye hair.

Outside observers can't tell my hair has thinned - it still looks normal, for the most part. My hairdresser did note that I was shedding a bunch last October/November, and confirmed in June that the shed was much less. But I have lost hair thickness - my ponytail is a smaller (although not much...4 wraparounds instead of 3), a barette that I used to struggle to put in now goes in easily, and a little more scalp is visible when my hair is wet. But my hair is still in the "normal" category re: thickness (2.75" ponytail circumference), so I'm counting my blessings.

So I think I'm on the road to recovery.

I'm trying to treat my hair gently (meaning no more yanking a brush through it while wet, no more blowdrying), treat myself gently (taking vitamins, eating well, resting more), and trying not to stress about the whole thing.

Not easy, but hey. You do what you gotta do.

I'm right there with ya, lady! Trying methods on LHC for more gentle and natural approaches. Wish there was some miracle cure for density too.

headtrip_honey
August 4th, 2011, 09:36 AM
I absolutely agree!

It's amazing - I wouldn't consider myself a "long hair" by any stretch - I've been a shortie for the last several years (honestly, I'm just lazy - I get it cut to just below my chin, then wait six months or so before getting it chopped again. I rarely ever get split ends, so I can stretch hair cuts like that.).

I've been growing my hair out because of the wedding - the updo I want requires hair that doesn't have short layers like I had...pieces would fall out otherwise.

Anyway, I forget what google search sent me here, but I'm so glad it did. I thought I might get depressed looking at nothing but gorgeous hair, but it has actually raised my spirits. So many ladies here have hair thinner than mine that is JUST FABULOUS.

It's so hard when you watch TV and everyone has huge manes of hair (likely all fake, but it's hard to tell yourself that when you're feeling down). You just feel like crap about your own hair.

But coming here? Felt so good. I've felt better about my hair than I have in a long time.

So even though I'm not planning on growing my hair super long (I suspect I don't have the patience for it), I'm loving all the hair care info and support.

pixiedust
August 4th, 2011, 10:24 AM
I've had two big sheds over this year due to weight/meds, one being in december and one over the past three weeks. I have found that the following things are EXTREMELY HELPFUL for me (:

1. Keep your hair entirely protected in sun/wind, especially if it gets very hot/humid in your area and you find yourself going in/out of air conditioned buildings. With random hair lengths and weak roots, tangles will form easily in these conditions and pull the hairs out. This means wear hats, headscarves, headbands, etc.

2. Apply small amounts (2 tsp or so) of solid unrefined coconut oilfrom roots to ends (concentrate on ends and nape) on dry hair at night and sleep with a bag on your head. CO it out in the morning.

3. DO NOT TOUCH HAIR WHEN WET. Especially right after shampoo/conditioner. Wring hair out, put a towel around your head and allow to dry almost if not completely before touching.

Detangle, ends to roots when dry. Do so right side up and upside down. I prefer to wash upside down after this so I move less between wet hair and the towel.

Good luck ! I know how you feel. :)

headtrip_honey
August 4th, 2011, 10:32 AM
I've had two big sheds over this year due to weight/meds, one being in december and one over the past three weeks. I have found that the following things are EXTREMELY HELPFUL for me (:

1. Keep your hair entirely protected in sun/wind, especially if it gets very hot/humid in your area and you find yourself going in/out of air conditioned buildings. With random hair lengths and weak roots, tangles will form easily in these conditions and pull the hairs out. This means wear hats, headscarves, headbands, etc.

2. Apply small amounts (2 tsp or so) of solid unrefined coconut oilfrom roots to ends (concentrate on ends and nape) on dry hair at night and sleep with a bag on your head. CO it out in the morning.

3. DO NOT TOUCH HAIR WHEN WET. Especially right after shampoo/conditioner. Wring hair out, put a towel around your head and allow to dry almost if not completely before touching.

Detangle, ends to roots when dry. Do so right side up and upside down. I prefer to wash upside down after this so I move less between wet hair and the towel.

Good luck ! I know how you feel. :)
I agree, except for not de-tangling your hair when wet.

With my hair, unfortunately, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get out snarls unless I de-tangle it when wet. I use a wide tooth comb and am as gentle as possible, however.

I do let it dry some before de-tangling, but there is a threshold past which I cannot get tangles out. So damp it must be. :)

Busybee
August 4th, 2011, 02:11 PM
sleep with a bag on your head.

Girrrrrl..... there are days when I want to walk around with a bag on my head!

HAHAHAHAHA

I know I took that sentence totally out of context, but it made me stop and laugh.
Thank you, seriously though, for your well meant advice.

BTW - Pixiedust - your hair looks like glossy wood that just got some Pledge waxed into it, it's that redonkulously shiny and smooth........which is probably the wierdest compliment I've ever given.....but it's a compliment. :D

Raekwon
August 4th, 2011, 02:15 PM
I heard that spraying this stuff onto your scalp was swag.

http://www.retane.com/


EDIT:

http://i.imgur.com/CqXrZ.png






I haven't tried it yet, but I want to get some because of some bad braiders that pulled my hair too hard, which caused braid scars on the top of my dome.

pixi_stix
August 5th, 2011, 07:36 PM
As a Follow-up to my own thread here...... wanted to post a picture of how bad the thinning/breakage is from the medicine damage....

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/6005655591_5d33d06be2_z.jpg

Hard to know what is the right method to regian my density and health. Trying to take one step at a time and not get depressed.

That is quiet a difference. But you must be doing something right because it still looks fairly healthy to me. Mine was so bad when I was on the meds that even my hairdresser told me to consider having it chopped from waist to BSL and she would never normally suggest such a huge chop for me. Thankfully I managed to get my hair looking better within 6 months thanks to LHC

Busybee
August 10th, 2011, 11:20 AM
That is quiet a difference. But you must be doing something right because it still looks fairly healthy to me. Mine was so bad when I was on the meds that even my hairdresser told me to consider having it chopped from waist to BSL and she would never normally suggest such a huge chop for me. Thankfully I managed to get my hair looking better within 6 months thanks to LHC

Thank you for your kindness - the camera and flash don't do justice to the kinky texture and low shine/softness. It did however capture the severe thinning and overall breakage.

You say LHC helped you in 6 months.......Any particular methods you used or would recommend?

I really want advice from folks like you who suffered medicinal damage, as I think the hair's reaction and recovery is a whole different ball of wax then, say dye or heat damage.

At the moment, I feel as if I am at a standstill. The hair is shedding, but not as much. The texture and thinness just stare me in the face every day. What am I waiting to see - is regrowth the only answer?

Busybee
August 14th, 2011, 12:33 PM
Update for anyone who's interested:

I do have some progress in my condition. I have new hair sprouts!!:cheer:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6129/6042638952_c14d326e0c.jpg

I don't know if it's 1 or a combo of these 3 things:
A) From quitting the medicine 4wks ago
B) Castor oil (+1 drop Lavender EO) scalp massages every 3 days (night before I wash)
C) Nettle 300mg supplement 2x a day.

All I know is that I have new growth. I would love to be able to get the already long and damaged follicles to feel better than wiry velcro.... but I'll take improvement where it's given.