Posted , 17 users are following.
Hi all you wonderful people. Is hair loss normal for a side effect of pred?
Luckily, I have alway had very thick hair, but, not anymore, this winter it seems to be coming out extraordinarily heavy. I wish it were so on the face.
0 likes, 34 replies
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judith90525 patricia43291
Posted
Unfortunately hair loss is a side effect of pred Patricia.
Try using an epilator on the face it works a treat on all that pred induced facial fuzz. It's bit painful but QUICK!!
judith90525 patricia43291
Posted
Unfortunately hair loss is a side effect of pred Patricia.
Try using an epilator on the face it works a treat on all that pred induced facial fuzz. It's bit painful but QUICK!!
Vicki200252 patricia43291
Posted
same with me
Reeceregan patricia43291
Posted
Fraid so. Started 50mg pred beginning June 2017 , reduced to about 15mg by Feb 2018 ...and then whammo, out fell my beautiful thick long blonde locks. I was mortified as long hair is my "thing". Haven't had short hair since I was 12 and the Twiggy imp cut was in all those years ago. It was so short and wispy I resorted to hair extension just to my shoulders. I started using Nioxin shampoo and conditioner and took Biotin supplements. It is now growing, its thick on top as it grows down and oh so damn curly, (it was straight before). It's hard to manage as its all lengths and all over the place BUT IT IS GROWING and thats a plus.
Anhaga Reeceregan
Posted
A friend of mine had a bad time a few years ago - not PMR but another auto immune disease - and as she recovered her hair was "all over the place". I suggested the long wispy hair was only reminding her of the bad time, she'd even been in hospital a couple of weeks, so why didn't she get her hair cut short and then she could enjoy the new healthier hair which was already showing. She actually followed my advice and she looked super! She's since let her hair grow back to the length she wore it before.
Reeceregan Anhaga
Posted
HI Anhaga,
yes, I had to do the same because it seemed to fall out from underneath, leaving it thin with bits of top hair left behind. I lopped it off to just above the shoulders and then added a few extensions to thicken it so my scalp didn' t show. The new hair is curly and the old hair was straight so like you said, it not only stuck out over the curls it was a constant reminder. It had to go.....
Fizzyjam patricia43291
Posted
oh gosh Patricia ..thats a yes from me and like you I'd always had thick hair.I was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism,which has the same side effect,coupled with being pretty ancient ( 77) just thankful I have any at all!
EileenH patricia43291
Posted
It can be a side effect of pred - it doesn't happen for everyone though. Are you on any other medications? How long have you been diagnosed and with what?
Being ill can have quite a dramatic effect on hair condition but it often takes a few months to show up. GCA especially can result in hair loss, possibly because the blood supply to the scalp isn't as good as it should be. But because they see it after starting pred people assume it is the drug and not the PMR/GCA.
I don't think I lost a tremendous amount of hair but it was more than usual, and it grew back OK. Most of the loss was in the 5 years I had PMR without pred so it was definitely not pred. On prednisolone it became curly again. I later had about 8 or 9 months on Medrol/methyl prednisolone and my hair quality changed, it turned from smooth to something more like a brillopad and it just didn't grow! When I stopped taking Medrol it did return to normal although I find the underneath hair at the nape of my neck is frizzier still - maybe because of sweating around my neck.
Like Judith I find my epilator ideal for my face too - bit nippit but very quick and it lasts for weeks. It is interesting that I don't notice this fine downy hair I get now at 15mg Lodotra as much until I've "done" my face! The black beard I developed with Medrol was a bit of a shock though!
Reeceregan EileenH
Posted
Once again you make a lot of sense EileenH. As I pointed out above I was on pred for 9 months before my hair fell out and I couldnt work out why, when I was finally tapering to a low dose, out it came. I do have GCA as well as PMR so maybe thats it, its the reduced blood flow. I wasn't on any other medication at the time, although I'm now on Prolia, but it fell out before I started that. And yes, whats with the fuzz growing round the nape of my neck?? The rest of it is course and curly....and then there's the fuzz. (sigh)
judith90525 Reeceregan
Posted
I used to be so vain but PMR has cured me! Now I am grateful for days I feel well and for the little pleasures of life. The weight gain, hamster face, fat stomach .......... not pleasant BUT ........
I am alive and have so many things to be grateful for - the list would fill this post and make it far too long!
Yes, pred has its side effects but deals with the symptoms (mostly) .
Someone said that if we have to get one of these autoimmune conditions PMR is the one to get. It won't last for ever and pred deals with symptoms unlike say, fibromyalgia.
I know its hard on the bad days but, try to think positive and count our blessings.
EileenH judith90525
Posted
I know I have said that in the past! PMR doesn't kill, it doesn't maim, there is a management option and we don't get it until we have had a life, even if we haven't intending stopping doing things just yet.
When I cut carbs drastically I lost 35lbs of pred weight, the first place it went was around my stomach and then around my face. I'm currently back on 15mg - and weight is maintaining apart from the 2 lbs I put on while on methotrexate for a month last summer! No sign of being on pred at all (except a touch of face fuzz, all gone, thank you epilator)
Reeceregan judith90525
Posted
Oh i do, believe me! I consider myself one of the luckier PMR/GCA/Osteoporosis sufferers, I went from being unable to move/walk/function and totally blindsided by how sick and debilitated I was to almost ..almost ...feeling human again. And I can thank this site and HU for giving me the knowledge and strength to push forward. As long as I can get up, dress up and show up every day then I'm grateful.
patricia43291 EileenH
Posted
I've been on pred for PMR about a year. Started at 20mg, now at 6. I did take AA for nine months, but after reading the posts here, stopped that three months ago. Now I just take my raw calcium supplements, and plenty of others for the osteoporosis. I also take a nibble of sumatriptan daily for migraine prevention, and three different glaucoma meds daily. That should be enough to drop some hair out.
I have my "useless" rheumy appointment today, (one that was rescheduled from last November), hah, how can that be called, care. I don't really know why I am going, I guess to keep the pred prescription valid, and perhaps they will do more blood work. But, honestly, I feel that it is a waste of time, seeing where I have to drive an hour to get there, and miss my town meeting.
irene_88946 EileenH
Posted
my hair is now curly. Been on steroids for a year. Do you think it's from the steroids? Haven't lost very much hair but then my hair has always been fine & thin.
EileenH irene_88946
Posted
It could be - lots of people find that happens.
ptolemy irene_88946
Posted
The steroids made my hair curly as well as making it like straw. As I reduce it is still curly and its condition is improving. As a child I always wanted curly hair, mine was straight, fine and greasy, not any more!