Topiramate and severe hair loss
Posted , 39 users are following.
i am 18 years old and have been taking topiramate since last year for my bulimia. I started with 25 mg a day, moved to 50mg a day and stayed like that for a while.
I have no problems with eating disorders anymore . Around winter holidays this year my psychiatrist told me to take 100mg a day.
For about 6 months i have been noticing severe hair loss , i had lots of super thick hair , now its super fine and thin.im even starting to have a bald spot on my crown area.
I sometimes run my fingers through my hair and about 25 hairs will come out.
I have been dealing with this for about 5-6 months and had several blood tests and nothing is wrong with me , i have no thyroid, inmune , hormonal o vitamin deficency problems.
About a week ago i started seeing a new psychiatrist and after checking all my extensive blood tests he told me that there was nothing wrong with me that could cause me the hair loss.
Then he checked his manual and told me that the topiramate could be causing the hair loss and now im slowly getting off it , im on 50mg a day for 10 days and then i can stop taking it.
But still i am so worried about my hair loss , can it really be the topiramate? If it is, will it take long for my hair to stop falling and grow back once i completly stop taking it?(since i took it for so long)
0 likes, 69 replies
michelle51377 luciana1731999
Posted
I cant believe i found this thread. I started losing a TON of my hair about 7 months ago, around June 2019. One day in the shower it just dawned on me that SO much hair was coming out compared to normal. My PCP didnt think it was due to any of my meds, she ran bloodwork to test my thyroid, etc and everything was normal. I had no idea what medication could be causing it, because i had not started anything new. I have bipolar disorder and i had changed meds a few months prior, but nothing recently. My psychiatrist also confirmed that none of my meds would cause hair loss, and she said it was probably due to stress.
I have been literally crying in the shower over the past few months because I dont know how many more times i can wash my hair before there wont be anything left.
For some strange reason I ended up googling Topamax and hair loss and ended up here. This is the only timeline that makes sense to me, since some users are saying the hair loss can be related to the dosage you take.
I started taking this in March 2019 due to getting frequent migraines and also to help my bipolar disorder. I felt better on it, I started at a low dose to "see how I tolerated it" and since it was working my doctor increased the dosage.
In June my doctor had me start taking 50 mg 2x/day. Bingo. I NEVER made the connection until now that just increasing the medication would have done this. But it has to be, there is simply no other explanation.
I hate that Im so upset over hair. I dread washing my hair. I dread lightly combing it. It is constantly shedding on my clothes, etc.
Im so disheartened after reading this. Im going to tell my doctor I want to stop this medication immediately. But it sounds like my hair will never grow back. I am glad to know that Im not alone though, and im absolutely furious that the company cant be sued over this.
SuzieQT michelle51377
Posted
Hi Michelle
i also have bipolar and have been taking Topiramate 50mg twice a day for nearly a year. I started losing my hair in December 2019. I was also taking 200mg of Lamotrigine as well and it also causes hair loss big time as i discovered so I told my GP i wanted to stop taking it. Which I have. Little did i know that Topiramate was just as bad as I was to discover after researching on the net. For me losing my hair again is just too much. I was really sick in hospital in 2014 for 6 months with acute pancreatitis and all the anti-biotics made me almost go bald. On top of that my husband died of pancreatic cancer that same year.
It took a year for me to grow my hair back healthy again. And now here i am again faced with losing it again. For awhile I stopped taking 100mg of the Topiramate and only took 50mg a day and i think that was ok.. but i need more for my bipolar. I also take dexamphetamine as well which is just awesome. My psychiatrist put me on Tegretol a couple of weeks ago but i couldn't stay awake and got a terrible itch and then my scalp started burning and may hair loss became worse after settling down for awhile.
I am not taking it any more. And im only taking 50 mg of the Topiramate. i also use Minoxil on my hair and take Hair Skin and Nails and Iron tablets and use a Biotin Shampoo and Conditioner. I have an apt with my psychiatrist booked for a couple of weeks to get a new drug. He doesnt seem to care about the hair loss too much .. he doesnt understand. And i have to see him because i dont have to pay to see him and I can't afford a different psychiatrist. i know i need medication but i also know through research that all mood stabilisers and anti-depressants have the side effect potential for hair loss. I hate it.
misti44886 luciana1731999
Posted
I just started Topiramate about 4 weeks ago and my hair has started to fall out. I am so upset. I had long very thick hair and was prescribed Topiramate to help with weight loss and all I am losing is my hair. I could not figure out what was happening until I googled it and found this forum along with many others full of people having the same side effect. I have immediately stopped taking this drug and going to consult my doctor.
misti44886 luciana1731999
Posted
I just started Topiramate about 4 weeks ago and my hair has started to fall out. I am so upset. I had long very thick hair and was prescribed Topiramate to help with weight loss and all I am losing is my hair. I could not figure out what was happening until I googled it and found this forum along with many others full of people having the same side effect. I have immediately stopped taking this drug and going to consult my doctor.
misti44886 luciana1731999
Posted
I just started Topiramate about 4 weeks ago and my hair has started to fall out. I am so upset. I had long very thick hair and was prescribed Topiramate to help with weight loss and all I am losing is my hair. I could not figure out what was happening until I googled it and found this forum along with many others full of people having the same side effect. I have immediately stopped taking this drug and going to consult my doctor.
jessica11155 misti44886
Posted
Did your hair grow back in? I took Topirimate for years and never noticed my hair getting thinner until recently. I am so upset!
jessica11155 luciana1731999
Posted
Out of curiousity, I know its been a couple years. Did your hair grow back?
I have been on Topamax since 2017. never realized my hair was slowly falling out. Now it is so thin!! im so sad.
vaughda93054 luciana1731999
Posted
Did anyone's hair ever grow back in? I am taking Topamax currently (200mg) daily for migraines and am losing a brush full of hair every time that I brush it. I found this forum today and would like to know if anyone on here had any updates? I am so afraid to wash it or brush it that I often leave it braided for days at a time and just don't leave my house. I have been taken it for a couple of years now and had no idea what was causing my hair loss...any info would be greatly appreciated. my braid continues to get smaller and smaller every day....and my depression grows as my braid shrinks.