alendronic acid

[Muirchiro]

Has anyone on alendronic acid NOT had hair thinning please ? For those who have had thinning, how bad does it get ?

[corcho]

Hi Muirchiro. I've only been taking Alendronic Acid for a couple of months and so far haven't noticed any change to my hair. I'm almost 69 so obviously my hair isn't as thick as it was when I was younger and I think most women's hair thins to an extent after the menopause. I'm not very kind to my hair either, it gets coloured, blow dried, straightened etc but seems to survive. 🤞I haven't heard of too many people on Alendronic Acid suffering from hair thinning so maybe it's not so common.

[Lunasgran]

that’s interesting Muirchiro, I’ve been taking Alendronic acid for three years and I think my hair has got a bit thinner (it was very thick), but my hairdresser says it hasn’t! Fortunately I’ve still got quite a lot.

[Blondeisbest]

Hi, I was on AA for 5 years and did find my hair thinned a little bit in the first months but after that got back to normal. Hope yours settles soon.

[hjskev]

I didn't notice any hair loss at first but then it became quite noticeable. It seemed to go through phases where I would shed a lot and then it would stop for a period of time. It was one of the many reasons I stopped taking AA. It has never fully recovered but then I am post menopausal so I suppose that's to be expected. It wasn't just that my hair fell out but each hair became much finer so it lost a lot of body. I suppose its a matter of criteria. Choose between bones or hair.

[Fatpidgeon]

Hi, I have been on Alendronic Acid for about two years and have not noticed any hair thinning. Am I lucky?

[Starbarfan]

I’m a 65 year old woman and I have been taking Risedronate (same type of drug as Alendronic Acid) for almost 3 years with no noticeable changes to my hair.

[Verauk in reply to Starbarfan]

Starnarfan hello. May I ask your age and how sever were your osteoporosis( Tscores) when you started the medication( Risedronate) that isthe same I take. However I decided to stop after 8 months and any apparent side effects. Thanks

[Muirchiro]

Thank you for your replies. I have to start AA as I’m on letrozole (can also cause hair thinning) hormone therapy for 5 years as I’ve had breast cancer. This treatment thins your bones more and I was told I needed a dexa scan to check before I started them. It then came as a huge shock that I’ve got osteoporosis too as I’ve always been active and 20 years pounding the streets as a courier until my cancer last September.

[MLO34]

I took AA for about 6 months last year, but stopped due to apparent side-effect of diarrhoea. My hair did get thinner, and has recovered since I stopped the AA, but tbh it was thinning somewhat already (I am 78 btw). Am due to see a specialist about alternative treatment soon.

[Barrow2]

In early 2023 I had to stop AA after 5 months due to feet feeling like lumps of lead and severe gastritis even though took Omeprazole. Another side effect was hair thinning and with very fine thin hair already it was very noticeable. I changed onto Risendronate - feet began to feel like normal and gastritis improved. Been on Risendronate for almost 2 years now. Interesting though my haemoglobin dropped and in 2024 was found to be to 116( I am a blood doner) . It usually was over 140. Looking back it had been dropping gradually since 2023 probably due to the severe gastritis caused by the AA. My hair has recovered a bit but not back to what it was in 2022. I did though have Covid not long before I started the AA and Covid has been known to cause hair thinning in some.

[CinnamonRose]

I took it for 4.5 years, it didn't have any effect on my hair nor did it help my bones.

[Muirchiro in reply to CinnamonRose]

Did you change to a different drug when AA didn’t work ?

[CinnamonRose in reply to Muirchiro]

I'm having yearly Zolendronic Acid

[CinnamonRose]

Yes, I fractured again so they stopped the AA and gave me a Zolendronic Acid infusion instead. That was in December, I fractured 3 more in May so coming up a year and the pain is no better, I live on morphine.

[Suzyqu]

Hi Muirchiro,I was on AA, for osteopaenia, for a couple of years due to Anastrozole (for breast cancer) causing further bone loss. I was also suffering from hair loss during that time and still am 5 years later. I've was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and have been on levothyroxine for a few years, but the hair loss is as bad as ever. My only other thought is that my ferritin (iron store) levels are near the lower end of the range so I'm now trying to eat more iron containing foods as I don't like to keep bothering the GP about it. I don't think AA was the cause of the loss as that was too long ago now.