Posted , 8 users are following.
After about two months on Prednisone/high dose for GCA and 12.5 mg of methotrexate per week my straight hair has gone curly. This does not please me! Will it go straight again when I'm off the drugs? Which drug is doing it? Thanks for your help!
1 like, 9 replies
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stanley36717 757gal
Posted
757gal, I'm 75 and on pred for 3-4 years and I'd take curly in place of "falling out". My hair just keeps getting thinner which I read is a normal side effect of pred.
757gal stanley36717
Posted
Hi Stanley,
Thanks for your reply! Half my hair fell out at first with the high (60-40 mg pred) but now it's thickened up again at the lower doses now. If I were a guy I'd just shave my head and not worry about it. Good luck!
EileenH 757gal
Posted
Silver49 EileenH
Posted
I'd forgotten that chemo can also change colour and texture of hair when it starts to grow back! You've just reminded me, Eileen.
EileenH 757gal
Posted
Pred probably! Mine went curly but has become straighter as it has grown - only the nape of my neck is curly now. I didn't really find it a problem - when cut well it was easy to look after and if I wanted straight - I used the straighteners! As Stanley says - preferable to falling out as a lot of people complain and definitely preferable to risking losing your sight without pred. The main complaint about methotrexate is hair thinning.
757gal EileenH
Posted
Thanks for the reply. I'm now on 10.5 mg pred and I think it might be a little less curly. And yes, I know this is a curious side effect but certainly not a serious one! I'm thankful everyday that I caught my sudden onset GCA early (within 10 days) and got in 60 mg pred immediately to preserve my eyesight.
Silver49 757gal
Posted
As Eileen has mentioned I found my hair went curly but also thinned on Pred. It is now thicker and has almost lost the curl again. It began to thicken when my dose reduced. I'm on 2.5 at present.
amkoffee 757gal
Posted
I wouldn't exactly call my hair curly it's more of a big ball of fuzz. I always did have a little curl in my hair but was able to blow dry it out and get a pretty nice straight Style. Unfortunately after a year on prednisone it's terrible. I have to use a conditioner that you put on after the hair is dry to tame it. But I don't even do that anymore because it hurts me too much to apply it to my hair. That's mostly because I have RA as well as PMR.
757gal amkoffee
Posted
Thanks for the reply, yes I do too use a leave in conditioner to tame any frizz and add shine. It's alien to me since I always had sleek straight hair.