Hi, has anyone taking Warfarin long term, suffered with hair loss ? I have been on it for nearly a year and It has got to point where I cannot hide the fact I do not have much hair left, and cannot do anything about it . My Gp said take vitamin supplements ! Did'nt help at all... I suffer with PAF and will be on anticoagulants for life. I find it quite awful, not life threatening I know, but it would be helpful to hear if other ladies out there have suffered the same thing , and how they handled it, or did they try try one of the alternatives (APIXABAN) maybe, and did their hair grow back ?
Look forward to hearing from any fellow Anticoags
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Unless you are of the fairer sex don't let the loss of hair give you any more worries. You must have enough worries to go on with. I started to lose my hair when as young as 21 years old, and after 40 more mainly keep it cut super-short.
I am of the Fairer sex i'm afraid, and it is different. People do not look at men that have a hair loss, yet they do, very much so, at women. Thankyou so much for your reply though.
Oops guess that shows that meds effect everybody differantly! I also take allopurinal which also causes hairloss too and many of the beta blockers do as well. Hope apixiban works ok for you. Good luck to you
I did right at start but thank God only for about 2 months and back to normal 18 months on, I was scared and feel for you so much (not much help I know)
I'm on Warfarin and I was just about to ask my doctor why I keep breaking nails. Just broken another one a few minutes ago.
Do you think there are any other repercussions resulting from this, or is it an indication of something else, brittle bones or whatever? Or is it just brittle nails as far as you know?
Cheers
Koll
I wouldn't notice hair loss as mine got lost about 40 years ago .
I think it is the warfarin as I have very brittle nails and working with metal and engines they are always snagging. Not heard about osteoporosis but might look into that. My brother in law who has been on warfarin for longer than I has it so anything is possible. Mind you some of the stuff I have had due to prostate cancer is much worse but I'm still here.
I have been on Bisoprolol for a year (with an NOAC), and my hair is much thinner, so if you're taking that as well (betablocker) it could be an extra factor to take into account.
Thankyou for that, I am on bisoprolol also, but have taken it for a long time before I started Warfarin, and had no hair loss with it. I keep my fingers crossed it is not both of them !
Yes. some hospital depts. are dropping the thyroid checks.Money?I find you have to work hard at keeping up re. what you need for yourself,and I have a good GP. But they are so very busy and often doing other work such as teaching med. students some days which means less time for patients at their practice.
I have been on Warfarin for 10 months now. My hair has not thinned, but it has gone dryer. My problem is my nails - they break off so easily. I go through a mountain of hand and nail cream.
Hi, I have tried them, but with no luck I am afraid. Looks like I might have to go the Apixaban route, lots of people seem to do well on it. Still seems scary to me though.
Hi, I have no shine on my diminishing hair now, and my nails break ,and split , and curl over the tip of some of my fingers. Lets hope we can get to grips with it eventually. Good luck.
As Bob says, hair loss is a known side effect of warfarin though I don't think that many of us are afflicted.
I feel your GP is being very unsympathetic. Easy enough to move you to a NOAC and see if it improves. Perhaps see a different member of the practice. Try a lady doctor. Does your surgery have a doctor with an interest in anticoagulation? I really don't see why you should have to put up with this when there are alternative anticoagulants which might make a big difference.
Your Dr suggested vit supplements add to this trace elements ( magnesium, Potassium). Found in melons and can be bought at health stores. Hope this helps. I take warfarin and try to keep to the low 2 s. Terry
Yes, I suffered from hair loss on warfarin. When I suspected it. I asked to change to rivaroxyban for that reason. My gp just said yes, no argument. i did get my hair back, but I m also fighting age, and genes. However I m not feeling anxious about it now, and still look reasonable. JanR
I did not get on with warfarin and am now on Apixaban. Honestly my hair is no different - I often joke that my hair is getting thicker. Please try changing to a Noac. P
Have noticed that my hair is a lot thinner than it was but thankfully my hair was really thick to start with. Noticed it in my brushes and on my clothes earlier on but it seems to have settled now.
Hi, I dread washing my hair as it just feels there is hardly anything there, I hoped it would just stop coming out, but it has gone on for too long now. How lucky you are for it to settle. Good luck for the future.
What I wonder is does the hairloss plateau eventually or does it keep causing hair loss forever as long as your on meds that cause hair loss?? Does anyone know??
Hi yes my hair is thinner due to the warfarin and on a warfarin forum there were a lot if posts of people taking the supplement biotin (the high dose) with good results I stated it a month ago and already feel that my hair loss is improving. You can get it in health food shops .hope this helps x
That's interesting. Do you know if it affects I.N.R. ? My hair comes out more since being on warfarin. Luckily it is very straight and just falls into the style I have so after washing and bloodletting I don't comb it in between washes.just use my fingers. X
It doesn't seem to affect my INR as it has been in range for the last five weeks ,three of the readings when on the supplement . I have my inr taken weekly as waiting for ablation .x I have also started washing my hair with a tiny amount of an organic baby shampoo in warm water in which I add a few drops of Rosemary essential oil -I read this on some green forum -I hope cutting out some chemicals will help also , but the juries out on this ! X
Hi Basia12 Thankyou for that info, I shall be at the health food shop in the morning. To have results in a month is good news. All the best for the future.
Both Amiodarone and Warfarin made my hair fall out. I'm not taking either now. While I have never had thick hair, it isn't falling out in handfuls any more. nails have also thickened up. I found male doctors unsympathetic.
I am on Warfarin and have been losing hair. Afer taking high dose Biotin hair is falling a bit less and my nails are extra strong. So, Biotin could be useful also to males with nail problems. I'm also a lady growing older and many women with fair hair ar losing quite a lot of hair at their sixties and seventies
Hi I had my second successful ablation in April last year but before that I was tried on several drugs that just didn't suit me, including Warfarin which never got to the right readings. I am now on Riveroxaban. Sorry that is a long way round to saying that when on one of the drugs I did have hair loss, but I never related it to a particular treatment. Now to the punch line. My daughter in law had 12 hour surgery for cancer (successful) and of course lost her hair. She was advised to take FLORISENE by Lamberts by her medic and now has lovely hair. I took it too and even today I had a compliment about my hair. I am 77 with lots of strong healthy hair. Florisene is a multinutrient which contains iron and there is a warning on the packet not to take other iron supplements at the same time but I think it has only done me good. Both Sarah and I now just take a maintenance dose.
I empathize totally! I am not only on Coumadin (for life), but also, Synthroid. I have probably lost 50% of my hair. My hairline has receded at least two inches on the sides. I am not sure which med is doing it, but I must take both. I have more hair on my white bathroom tile than on my head! I understand how frustrating it is....but what choices do we have? We have to deal with this and put our vanity aside in order to survive. I also used to be a trophy winner in every tennis tournament I played in. Now I hardly win a set. My life has changed dramatically, and I write articles to give people hope and support - but sometimes - I need some of that myself! I know it may sound trivial to some of you - not being able to perform the way I did, and hair loss - but to us who are there - it's far from trivial. We have seen life changes - and not for the better.
I have been on Coumadin for 20 years now and will remain on it the rest of my life also. I too, am losing a lot of hair and am very disturbed about it. I don't want to wear a wig because they are uncomfortable. You also must deal with the knowledge that if you have a serious injury, you might bleed out before help arrived. It'a a two edged sword. But I am living a fairly normal life and I thank the Lord for that. I am going to try the Florisene though. This is the first time I heard of it. My male physician had no suggestions either.
Had a long hospital stay where the picc line & dialysis port caused a blood clot in the veins near my right shoulder. Got stuck on Warfarin after the stay for 3 months at least (next ultrasound to check if blot clot is gone is next month). It's about 1.5 months in & there's some more shedding of hairs & thinning. Being type 1 Diabetic, my numbers aren't bad enough to cause that like it did when I was diagnosed with that. Ugh! I read on another forum that high doses of Biotin have helped many & I'm looking up that Florisene someone on here suggested. Where I used to work, we had a hair product system called ReviveTH that I used as well as Biotin that seemed to help. Not sure if it still exists, but if so it smelled yummy minty like a Grasshopper pie, so might try for that. Super hoping I can get back to my thick fluffy hair again, I'm getting married next year!
Hi! First of all I am really sorry you had to go through Warfarin. I suffered from the same condition back in 2014. I can tell you from my experience it was a pathetic time. however, the ngood news is that you will get over it eventutally. I also had the same problem. I lost loads of hair on a daily basis. It was especially tough for me because i always took great care and pride in my hair. It was so bad that I had to opt for hair transplant. It wasnt such a bad idea as the place from where I got it from ie. richfeel.com/treatment/hair... were really professional about it as they told me that it wasn't a big deal. Since, then it has been okay. I wont say that the volume or the quality of the hair is as good as it used to be but it is definitely better than 2014-15. I guess something is better than nothing.
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