Hair loss and antibiotics
This is something I never heard of, but more people should know about. (Maybe you already do.)
I've been losing a lot of hair. It wasnÂt coming out in clumps, but I was finding hairs all over me, on my pillow, in the brush, in the sink, etc. If I ran my fingers through my hair I'd always come up with loose hairs. It was very alarming! I'm being treated for Lyme disease with doxycycline, and since unexplained hair loss can be a symptom of Lyme, I thought that was the cause. But IÂve been on antibiotics for over two weeks now, so it should be getting better, not worse.
Then my cousin told me the antibiotic could be causing the hair loss. I looked it up (gotta love the Internet!) and found out it was the sun! People on doxycycline are supposed to stay out of the sun, and I havenÂt been very compliant with that. (Hope I havenÂt ruined my face.) And I never wear a hat because I like all that sun-bleaching on my blonde hair. Well, apparently sun exposure kills off the hair follicle when youÂre taking doxy.
IÂm glad I found this out. Hope it grows back.
Oh, PS: I've been staying out of the sun until I get myself a hat. But Sunday morning I had to go out and water my garden, so I stuck a washcloth on my head. Very few cars pass my house, especially during church hours. So there I was near the edge of the road, hose in hand, washcloth on head, when a family from down the road drove past, looking at me rather oddly. LOL I wonder if they think the washcloth was part of a weird religious custom. I'm sure they would suspect that of me. :-)
I had pnemonia in 2003, and was on IV antibiotics for about 3 weeks. My hair was falling out as well, but it was December so I wasn't out in the sun. I went to the dermatologist and he said it was normal, probably the anesthesia. Well, my hair has never grown back. I didn't have much to begin with and now my "ponytail" is about as thich around as my index finger. Good to know what caused it, depressing to know it may never recover. Thanks for the information.
I did not know that about antibiotics. It is not on the patient insert. (Is it?) Thanks for the heads up.
I read the patient insert when I first got the pills, and didn't see anything like that. I'm sure I would have noticed!
The patient insert gave orders (stay out of the sun) but didn't explain anything. For example, it said in all caps, DO NOT LIE DOWN* for a half-hour after taking the pill, but it didn't explain the reason: You don't want the capsule to dissolve in your esophagus. I'm told this can be extremely painful, but the patient insert didn't tell me.
*It was funny........DO NOT LIE came at the end of a line, and since the insert was folded, there was a moment when I didn't realize something else was coming after the LIE. LOL
I've noticed several meds say to stay out of the sun. The anit-inflamatories I take for my bad knee says that. That is a hard thing for me to do...I have so much to take care of
outside. The one med that made my hair fall out though, was when I quit taking birth control pills...an eon ago. It was the change in hormones that caused that though. Fortunately, my hair is so thick, I could stand to lose a little.
That's funny about "DO NOT LIE..." :))
Yikes, I did not a antibiotic could cause hair loss either, but I sure learned my lesson with sunlight and tetracycline many years ago. I got the worst burn of my life - even with suncreen.
I have just had my second bout of hair loss in the past few years (I think this round is finally slowing down after many months). Last time it was a couple of months after I had a high fever (and I was on antibiotics) and this time it was either the same thing, stress or messing with my hormones by trying a new birth control pill. I also had surgery after it started so the anesthesia may have made this round of hair loss last longer.
I used Nioxin shampoo both times (just the shampoo) which may or may not have helped. I can't say for sure but I did notice that when I finished the bottle I bought this time and decided not to spend the money on a second bottle, my hair loss seemed to get a little worse for a while but then it tailed off.
I also use Ultra Nourish hair vitamins from GNC (and also carried in Rite Aid stores here) and they really do seem to make my hair grow back in faster (and my eyelashes thicker, and my eyebrows bushier and my stray chin hairs - oh well, you get the picture LOL). The last time this happened, I didn't start the shampoo or vitamins until I had lost a lot of hair and my scalp was much barer. Even though the loss seemed just as bad (or worse) this time, I started the shampoo and vitamins right away and the new hair grew in fast enough that my scalp has never looked as bare (although I do have crazy, short hairs sticking out all over the place). I actually like my hair a bit thinner but I'm not a fan of the bare scalp look.
I remember about 10 years ago, I was on tetracycline for acne. I was sitting in a classroom taking my SAT and when I got up, there were clumps of hair around my desk. My hair was falling out profusely.
I stopped taking it and the hair stopped falling out, but the texture has since changed for the worse.
I learned here that hair loss can follow a high fever. Well, I had that when I had pneumonia -- also had antibiotics then.
My MD prescribed Slow FE. Iron deficiency can also lead to hair loss.
I noticed an improvement after taking the iron for a month. I also take fish oil (1200 mg.) and Vit. D (1000 mg.). Unfortunately the iron can cause constipation, so...here come the stool softeners. To think I believed that age had its *privileges*!
Thanks for all the info. I'm a sun worshiper and have a constant hair clog in my shower. LOL!
I use a lot of Liquid Plummer!
Just to chime in and say that every time I have anesthesia or antibiotics I lose hair, and every time less of it grows back. I have plenty to spare, but it is getting thinner and thinner (wouldn't it be nice if it happened to the waistline?)
I would have expected that 'stay out of the sun' was because risk of sunburn increased when taking the med. I'd never have suspected it meant my hair could react and fall out!
My sister's doctor tried to get her to take some migraine meds a few years back. The doctor told her the first time she took this med, she would have to do so at the clinic and stay there a certain amount of time after she took it. My sister asked why. The doctor told her one of the potential side effects was 'sudden death'. LOL! My sister looked at the doctor (and this was during a migraine that had been debilitating her for nearly two weeks at that point) and my sister told the doctor 'it doesn't hurt that bad'!
For some reason she and I just got to laughing when she told me about this on the phone! Why 'sudden death' as a potential side effect should crack us up, I don't know. But it did! Or maybe it was her reaction of 'it doesn't hurt that bad' that did it!
I research all the meds the docs prescribe and you wouldn't believe the side effects..........in the small print. Two that have been prescribed for me cause hair loss. Thinning hair is common problem in our family, plus I have a scalp problem. Doc says it's Seborrhea/dandruff and it will break out in sores if I don't treat it and the sores cause hair loss. Can't win for losing. I don't waste a lot of time worrying about it.
jel48 -- Well, that cracked me up too! BTW, isn't 'death' always 'sudden'? Now, 'dying' -- that's something else.
"Be still, my heart." Oops, no! Not REALLY!
Hgl_gaylemarie get one of these mesh domes for over your drain. You wouldn't believe all the trapped hair I catch in it that does not end up clogging the drain.
Guess what? I have that drain. It still clogs.
Another thing is if you take Amoxicillin and are on birth control pills, Whoops! You could end up getting pregnant. My GD did, and when we researched it out, and even on Web MD they said that.
Weird? Nah. Wet wash cloth on head to keep cool!