Category: Drugs (Cause Hair Loss)

I’ve seen several sources on the internet saying that SSRI’s like Zoloft CAN cause hair loss. But how likely are they to cause hair loss in terms of percentages? Do they have a 10% chance to cause hair loss, or maybe a 20% chance?

I’m a 31 year old male and have been taking Zoloft for the past 6 or 7 years, often at 250 milligrams, or 2 and a half pills per day. Whenever I got out of the shower, I always noticed that hair would be clogging up the drain. However, I never worried about it because I never looked like my hair was thinning or balding. Now though, my hair has been noticeably thinning for about 1 and a half years with a receding hair line on both sides and thinning on top and in front. Is it likely that taking Zoloft over an extended period of time caused me to lose hair at such an early age? Or could the Zoloft have caused male pattern baldness to affect my hair sooner (at 30 years old) rather than later? Could that likely have happened?

As we’ve said over and over, the most common cause of hair loss in men is androgenic alopecia (AGA). This is often referred to as male pattern baldness (MPB). It’s a genetic issue and just as the term implies, the hair loss happens mostly at front and top (as you describe, in a pattern). Certainly many medications may list “hair loss” as one of its MANY side effects, but medications are often the last culprit. In other words, your loss may be completely unrelated to the medication.

There is no documented percentage of patients who experience hair loss from SSRIs that I am aware of, but in the end you need to speak with a doctor about this. With your doctor, you can discuss your options and obtain a good diagnosis of your particular cause of hair loss.

On a side note, for those who are always preoccupied about the sexual side effect risks of Propecia (1-2%), I believe SSRIs have a much higher percentage of sexual side effects than Propecia has.

Dear Dr.Rassman

First I want to thank you for your awesome blog, I am a regular here for almost a year and the information you have provided prevented me from taking many wrong decisions in my battle with MPB. And now for my question:

I am a nw3 and used 3% minoxidil for 6 months along with Finpecia and saw very good results on temples, it almost filled entirely although not very thick but all my temple area was filled with newly grown hairs. it made a real different visually.

Then for past 2 months or so I switched to 5% Minox to see even better results but to no avail! during this time i saw massive shed and almost lost all my previously grown hair on my temples and lost even more ground in my hairline. now my hairline is very thin in front and I am starting to freak out since its getting worse everyday. now what should I do? switch back to 3% or continue 5% Min?

Your opinion on what should I do next is highly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance. Best Regards

I do not know what to tell you. If you follow this site, I’ve said many times that there is no cure for genetic hair loss. So all I can offer are hypotheses. Maybe it is just coincidence you are losing more hair on 5% minoxidil. Maybe switching to 3% may (or may not) help. Maybe you are noticing the shedding that many people report from starting on minoxidil.

My best advise is to not freak out and make harsh decisions based on emotions. Weigh out your options and choose your course. There is no wrong answer. Have you thought about seeing a physician and finding out what a professional thinks your course should be?

Last week I asked readers to share their stories about body hair growth (increased or decreased) while taking Propecia…

Hi Dr. Rassman,

About the body hair thing..

Background on me….I am a 25 year old male, started finasteride about a year ago. Thanks to YOU and YOUR blog I decided to walk into Dr Bernstein’s office one day and do something about my early hair loss. Without your blog I would have gone into further denial, waiting until I was a NW3 or NW4 to finally accept the fact I had MPB. Thanks to the information you provide, I started early. Dr. Bernstein classified me as a NW2.5 and prescribed 1/3 of a 5mg pill daily (normally he said he gives 1/4 but I am a pretty big guy). Now, a year later, I have not missed a dose my hair definitely has not gotten any worse. I think it has gotten slightly better actually. Either way, I am content with what I have. Would I like to have hair like Reagan or Clinton? Of course. However, I am pretty darn happy that I have what I have and started early. I have hair like a Bush or Carter and thats good enough for me! So thank YOU Dr Rassman for being so informative and helpful.

About the body hair. I have always had a lot of body hair – arms, legs, thighs, chest, back and shoulders. This is hair I keep groomed. The finasteride has DEFINITELY slowed the body hair growth. It is definitely not in my imagination, I am positive. I have always been conscious of my back hair and kept it shaven. I also trim my chest, armpit, and pubic hair. However, I now do it every 2 months instead of every 2 weeks. So it has been a good thing for me.

If you are still reading this you should also note that Dr Bernstein suggested Rogaine along with the finasteride. I decided to do a year of finasteride BY ITSELF first. Now a year later, things are looking fine with finasteride alone. I made this decision based on information you have provided about the two drugs in the past. So thank you again for the knowledge you provide. If I had used the Rogaine, I’d now be wondering which drug was doing the work. I might try it some day, but for now finasteride is doing the trick.

I should also note that other side effects are not present

Thank you again

This is not an atypical story. Most men who do their research and keep a level head about the hair loss problem will tackle it with logic. The logical steps are clearly defined in this and other good websites. I’m glad it has worked out for you thus far and thanks for sharing your story.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m part of an email group of hair doctors where we share patient experiences, share medical knowledge, and discuss various advances in hair loss treatments. Recently a doctor in the email group reported that one of his patients lost all of his body hair on Propecia.

For whatever reason, I’ve received a few emails via BaldingBlog lately about body hair growth or body hair loss where the writer assumes it is related to Propecia, so I was particularly interested in what other physicians in the email group had to say.

Medical literature and even Merck (the maker of Propecia) did not validate that body hair loss is a known side effect, and many doctors responded to the email with the opinion that this finding seemed isolated with the one patient who reported it. I have seen this side effect once in my own practice, so as unusual as it seems, I am posting this here to ask the readers out there if they’ve experienced body hair loss with Propecia or finasteride. If you have had this experience, please send me a note privately or leave a public comment.