Drugs (Cause Hair Loss) – Page 45

January 18, 2006

Cortisone Shots and Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Would cortazone shots cause hair to fall out in large quanities? I had a shot about 2 weeks ago, would this cause it. or maybe my age 55 in mentapause time something to do with it?

On occasion, cortisone shots into the head can precipitate hair loss. In women who are predisposed to genetic hair loss (in those who do not have an autoimmune cause of the hair loss), cortisone may add to the many precipitating factors for hair loss, which occurs more frequently in post menopausal women. Any stress can precipitate the process. Although some doctors use steroids to treat hair loss, I do not understand the rationale for such use, unless there are autoimmune influences suspected as a cause of hair loss.

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January 16, 2006

Hair Loss from Procerin – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I noticed hair loss in my hair line back in august and about 2 months ago started taking an herbal supplement called Procerin. Since then instead of just losing it in the hair line the whole top of my head is falling out. I read something about a shedding phase that sometimes occurs when products of this nature are taken. Can you shed some light on this for me please? Thank you VERY much for you time!!

Unfortunately, since Procerin is not regulated by the FDA (as most supplements are not) there is little to no information in the medical literature regarding side effects and very few (if any) scientific studies. To complicate matters, humans will go through a shedding phase naturally and it is nearly impossible to tell if your hair loss is normal or due to some substance (like a supplement) you have added to your diet. You could do a hair count (count all the hairs you shed daily for a week – average should be no more than 100), or you could also just wait and see if the accelerated loss subsides on its own. If it continues, however, I would suggest seeing your doctor (or a dermatologist or a hair loss specialist) to get evaluated for other medical conditions which could be causing hair loss. Get your scalp hair mapped out for miniaturization. Just do not assume that the one thing you may have identified is the only cause of your hair loss; you have too much at risk.

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January 10, 2006

Hair Loss InformationZelnorm, Birth Control, Diet and Hair Loss in Teenage Female – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i am 19 years old / female. when i was younger, in my middle teen years i had thick, thick hair, now its so thin. whenever i take a shower i lose so much hair its ridiculous. i’ve been using mousse for my hair for a long time. i started really using it when i was about 14-15 years old, but now i use it frequently in my hair but i never put in on my scalp. i always put it in the middle to the ends of my hair. i colored my hair once and that was when i was 15-16 yrs. old, and i’ve been smoking marijuana for about 2-3 years, but not every day. i also started two new pills, one is a birth control pill levora. i’ve been taking that for a year and the other the one is zelnorm. ive been taking that for 4 months now. my question is what could be the cause of this? my mother has noticed my hair loss, and i’m scared i could go bald at a young age. i’ve lost so much hair in the past year or two. could what i’m doing or taking be the cause or what????

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Birth control pill could potentially cause hair loss. However, Zelnorm does not directly cause hair loss. Zelnorm is for (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) IBS with constipation symptoms. Patients with IBS may have a nutrient deficiency leading to hair loss, so a focus upon your diet may be appropriate. There are many causes for female hair loss. I recommend that you visit your physician for blood work to rule out anemia and hypothyroidism, which could also potentially cause hair loss. The general causes for hair loss are hypothyroidism, alopecia areata, androgenic alopecia, repeatedly over plucking, eyebrows lifting, trichotillomania, stress, chemotherapy, radiation, eczema, seborrhea, scleroderma, lupus, hormonal imbalance, psoriasis, parasites, fungal, autoimmune disorders, poor diet, poor nutrients, burn, trauma, leprosy, and drugs. The common medications which may cause hair loss are beta-blocker, coumadin, oral contraceptive pill, antibiotics and chemo-medications.

Genetic hair loss starts in some women as early as 17-19 years of age. You need a complete examination for miniaturization to make the diagnosis, one way or the other. Get a good hair doctor, as that is critical for you to have a better understanding of what is happening to you.

January 5, 2006

Hair Loss from Tuberculosis? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

My 17 years old daughter was diagnosed with inactive tuberculosis about 8 months ago and has been taking INH. However, about 18 months ago she started losing her hair. Could this be caused by the tuberculosis alone?

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I have written on this medication with tuberculosis before (see Tuberculosis Drug and Hair Loss). The disease itself is a wasting disorder which is known to produce hair loss, as with other wasting disorders. The same recommendations I made before apply: good diet and appropriate vitamin therapy. A full work-up for female hair loss is in order here as there are many diseases that cause hair loss in women (see Female Hair Loss category). Read these pages carefully and seek out a good doctor to follow through with a thorough examination of your daughter. Also, you might want her to see a hair specialist who will study her for female genetic hair loss and assess the miniaturization of her hair to see if the pattern is typical of female genetic hair loss.

January 4, 2006

Hair Loss InformationSafe Steroids for Hair? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am 22. I have always have had thin hair. Three years ago I was thought to have alopecia areata, and was given kinacrt injections for about 4 months. They helped a bit, then I took natural cream for a while. How do you find out what you have and if you have the MPG gene? Does body building itself (without the use of steroids), given the fact you have a ok diet,impair your hair or help hair loss? There is talk about some steroids being safe for your hair. Does this include people that have thin hair or are suffering from MPB? Thank you

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Steroids are not always safe to use, and that is why it is regulated by prescription administration. I think that your question is: Will body workouts where muscle mass is built cause hair loss without taking exogenous steroids? If that is the question, I would think not. But if you had Alopecia Areata, then there is much going on that requires an expert to understand your questions. Please address them more specifically either with your doctor or to me if I did not answer what you had on your mind.

January 4, 2006

Tryptophan and Hair Loss? – Balding Blog

I am a 39 year old female experiencing hairloss all over, with more concentration in the frontal area. I became infertile with low estrogen in my early 30s, went on testosterone cream supplement for 8-9 months after that, but primarily suspect that my hair loss is due to the L-tryptophan I’ve been taking for the last 2 years for my mood, which has worked wonderfully for me as an antidepressant (from 1000 mg to 2500 mg.).

If I get off the Tryptophan will my hair grow back? Otherwise, I may need a referral for a doctor in the San Jose or San Francisco Bay Area, and to find another anti-depressant…that doesn’t cause hair loss???

Thank you

There are some suggestions that tryptophan can cause hair loss and yet other suggestions that it does not effect hair loss. As a metabolic intermediate in the conversion of tryptophan into serotonin (5-HTP), some believe that in selective sensitive patients it may cause hair loss in its derivative form. Chemotoxicity is not my specialty and this is frankly beyond my skills and knowledge. Your conclusions on finding a doctor that can manage your anti-depressant medications is appropriate, but I do not have a referral for you. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.

December 27, 2005

Hair Getting Thinner with Rogaine Use – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am nearly 23, and my hair has begun to thin out quite a bit (in my opinion). There doesn’t appear to be a pattern at all, so I believe this may be diffuse thinning. About six months I felt that the front of my scalp felt thinner, but the rest didn’t. When I got my hair cut two months after, I became alarmed at the thinness of my hair behind my hairline and decided to go on Rogaine in September. I spoke with a dermatologist, and he described it as “minor thinning” and after a blood test (nothing abnormal although I initially tested positive with the lupus test), he prescribed Propecia for me which I went on in the beginning of November. Since I initially have gone on Rogaine (about 3 months), I have noticed that the thinning has seemed to spread throughout my hair – in fact my hairline has thinned (not receded) significantly in my opinion. I know without a miniaturization test (I’m going to go back to my dermatologist in a month to do this), it is difficult to diagnose, I would like your opinion on my prognosis. Although the thinning only is noticable to me (my parents can’t tell in pictures and no one has commented on it to me) when I apply the Rogaine in the morning and at night, it looks quite thin in parts, particularly behind the hairline. I don’t know if I’m responding to the Rogaine yet (it has only been three months on it, and since its diffuse thinning, it would probably be difficult to see results at this point), although on my hairline, I do feel small hairs (which could either be new hair or old hairs being miniaturized).

My maternal uncle and grandfather both had receding hairlines and went bald at young ages, but my father still has an extremely thick head of hair. I have always had thick and coarse hair like him, but in the last six months I feel that I have lost half the density of my hair. The dermatologist described it as “minor thinning” and said usually when he sees hair loss in someone my age, it is usually stress (I moved to New York to begin a job in finance six months ago), but I don’t believe it’s TE as I don’t shed (either on my pillow or in the shower to the best of my knowledge), nor have I. I would appreciate your advice/opinion.

Thank you.

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Nothing replaces a good exam, but it sounds as if you are experiencing (possibly accelerated) genetic hair loss, regardless of your Dad’s currently thick hair. Rogaine typically takes at least nine months for maximum results and the Propecia needs about that long to show a change as well. It will be difficult for anyone in your position to make an objective assessment because of the emotions involved with losing one’s hair. Before starting more medications, you will want your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to determine if you have premature genetic balding. I suggest the following:

Stay on the Rogaine/Propecia for at least a year. Neither of these drugs are associated with hair loss unless you stop them. Be patient and 9/10 times you will see results.
Each month, have a good friend take a photo of your head where you are concerned about the loss. I will warn you that hair loss often looks worse in photos (especially if you use the flash), but the benefit is that if you standardize the lighting and the pose in the photo, you will be able to compare them over time and make an objective assessment.
Do follow up with your dermatologist or a good hair surgeon (since you are in New York, I recommend Dr. Bernstein) to both document any miniaturization and classify your hair loss according to the Norwood-Hamilton Scale. These people can take photos for long term documentation as well.

December 27, 2005

Did My Pain Pills Cause My Hair Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i am 21 years old and i started loosing some of my hair when i was 19. It was all of the sudden after i had a kidney infection and was put on pain killers and cipro. it began to grow back until i got my wisdom teeth out which required me to be on pain pills for a month which caused significant hair loss. That was about a year ago and although i feel it doesnt fall out in the same large quantities i feel that the hair that has grown back is fine baby hairs. Is there anything that can reverse this or will i loose all my hair?

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Physical stress and sickness are known causes of temporary hair loss, as are adverse drug reactions. That being said, pain pills are not a known cause of hair loss and are unlikely to be the reason your hair thinning orfalling out, so it may be a coincidence since when you were sick both times you had to take pain pills as part of your recovery. Therefore, the most likely cause of your hair loss is that the physical stress from your sicknesses caused the hair to have weak growth and/or shed.

Hair can take some time to recover, especially if your body is still recovering to full health – getting healthy is the best way to reverse this sort of loss. You may want to get evaluated by a dermatologist or a knowledgeable hair doctor to see if there is some component of genetic/pattern loss and get your hair mapped for miniaturization, but you should be reassured that it is unlikely you will permanently lose all your hair due to the events and medications you describe, unless you are amongst the unfortunate few who has hair shaft thickness changes early in life.

December 23, 2005

Sarcoidosis and Female Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Female – In 1986 I was on a high dose of prednisone for sarcoidosis.The disease affected my eyes and my lungs.Within 3 weeks of taking the medication, my hair was thinning. I ended up being on the drug for a year. Needless to say all my hair fell out. Even after being off the drug, my hair never grew back. To this day I am still bald. I do believe that the sarcoidosis was started from fumes. I worked with a very strong glue and liquid rubber at work. Some of my co-workers were having nose bleeds also .I find the whole ordeal very upsetting. But I didn’t know how to prove the the fumes were the cause of my problem. Being on prednisone has been a life time nightmare for me. I kept the hair loss a secret for 14 years.I wore wigs or glued on weaves. I finally decided to tell my family in 2000. This situation has caused me much grief. I can’t date because I’m afraid that the person will reject me because of no hair. Thank for reading this.

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Your hair loss maybe due to both Sarcoidosis and steroid. Sarcoidosis involves inflammation that produces tiny lumps of cells in various organs in your body. The lumps are called granulomas because they look like grains of sugar or sand. Sarcoidosis can occur in almost any part of your body, although it usually affects some organs more than others. Thus, in theory, Sarcoidosis could cause hair loss. I am not certain about fumes causing sarcoidosis, but that is clearly a distinct possibility and more research would be a good idea (not something that I can do through the site). You may want to see a dermatologist and ask for a referral to a toxicologist for better evaluation of your hair loss and possibly biopsy the scalp to rule out inflammation and disease that may cause your hair loss. Good luck and please let me know the outcome from the referral sources I discussed here.

December 21, 2005

Ortho Evra and Hair Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I have been using ortho evra for now about 3 months, and I realized that I have been losing a enormous amount of hair…This has been happening since I started using the patch…If I stop using the patch, how long does it take to leave my system, and will I regain my hair???I have lost so much hair that it is depressing at times for me to see that I have lost so much….
I would appreciate a response from you asap…
Thank You!!!

I’ve answered a similar question before: Severe Hair Loss from Ortho Evra

The use of hormones and birth control medications will produce hair loss in genetically prone females. I do not have an answer to your question on the timeline for any reversal, though. There is no assurance that it will be reversed if the hormones precipitated the expression of the hair loss gene, but I would stop using it and consult with your doctor as early as you can.