using hair dye when have lupus?

Hi Lulu

I have Lupus and dye my hair regularly, as long as you do the 48 hour test and don't react you should be ok. Hope you start to feel better soon. This site has been a real blessing to me and lots of others that use it regularly. If you need anything just ask away x

Strictly speaking, we lupies should avoid hair dyes, which contain amines - apparently, the darker the dye the more amines. There are also a number of foods which contain them, like sprouting beans and mushrooms. However, I've been tinting for years and still eat mushrooms and bean sprouts regularly. I've battled SLE for almost 30 years now and can't say with any certainty any of those things make my lupus worse.

I have stopped dying my hair as I started to lose a lot of hair each time I did it so please be careful of this. Also the dye seemed to not cling to my hair well which I found odd.xxx

I agree i didnt dye much before but when i lost my hair lots that was my cue to stop too.

Yeh I never dyed mine much until I dyed it red and it was hard to maintain, when my health deterioated (spelling, sorry im tired,lol) dying my hair just caused far too much hair loss, I was shocked at how much came out! I'd rather have my hair its natural colour than lose it for the sake of a different colour xxx

I dye my hair lots of rainbow colours and Never have a problem, just make sure you condition it very well and keep it hydrated xxx

Mine is purple at the moment but after it's next cut I am doingit red... Never had any problems with dye

My hair has been a myriad of colours over the years ( I now stick 2 highlights as u don't tend 2 notice the grey so much with blonde ), even doing it in the middle of the lupus being really savage & personally I have never had a problem. Could very well b a different story with discoid lupus though & if u have problems with u're skin.

I do mine all the time - just make sure you do a test first. I may look old but I can't face looking old and grey! xx

hi all thought id just say i have subacute lupus skin and organs , i dye my hair black every couple of month and ive got alopicia at the mo and am on metho so hairs really fine and patchy but i find if u dye it 2 colours u look like u have more hair lolx

thanks for all the replies its a bright red dye I have chosen going to dye a strand of hair first to check I like it....I'm a bit of a chicken and darent do the whole lot until I know I'll like it lol xxx

I have had no problem

I get plenty of hair loss without dying it usually when I have a prolonged flare or I let my vit b12 injections lapse a while. When I dye I don't have any problems. I had been dying it with black henna ( I know there is some controversy over black henna regarding allergies and being carcinogenic, but hey imuran is known to be carcinogenic but I still downi it 3 times daily lol)since where I used to live frequently have black henna tattoos I used to put the mix on my thinning patches on the skin I felt human for a few weeks until it rinsed off lol ! I always seem to do ok with hair dyes but every lupie is so different you should tread carefully and see how you go, perhaps have an anti histamine handy !

Hi ,im a hairdresser with lupus,in my opinion ,as long as you dont react to hair dye ,then all should be fine?The problem is that we can sometimes be extremly sensetive to chemicals and react quite randomly ,less is more in my opinion

Hi everyone, im a hairdresser with discoid lupus and LET. I too have dyef my hair alsports of colours over the years, i agree as long as u do a patch test b4 as you can become sensitive overnite an suffer an allergic reation. It the moment my hair is black an purple amd my hair does seem to be getting worse does any one suffer with itchy scalp? Minr is really bad at the mo. My bald patches are getting worse. At tje moment mo im not on any meds as my dermy did put me on anti-malaria tabs but i took myself off them as they made my psoriasis worse. Good luck with the hair dye.

hi traceymcx i have itchy scalp every night along with itchy skin all over and i have baldie patches everywhere on my head, i use bettamousse its pure steriod mousse from my dermy as i dont know about you but i get a big red ring i only used it once a week as i get a bit paranoid that steriods thins ur skin?2 years ago i lost all the top of my hair so i look like (fryer tuck) thats wot i called my self, but it all grew back very thin but at least its there im black and ive just had copper highlight put in u CAN NOT see any baldie bits at all, the rest of me is crap but at least my hair looks good lolx

I put some dye on my skin last night and now leaving it the 48hours. It did sting at first and felt tickley but feels fine now and my skin hasnt gone red or anything. Not putting the dye on yet until its been 48hours. Thanks again xxx

i have been dying my hair for years (long before i had lupus) it also depends on the brand, i find john frieda makes my scalp sore, where has nice and easy im okay with, but i always use blonde so maybe i can get away with it. But i have to make sure my hair is always conditioned, because it can dry out even more in the summer.

So, it looks like we can say with some certainty that a lot of us tint and, despite the amines, we're all reasonably OK, phew :)))

I have a few highlights added by foil to my hair. I always go to hairdressers and they know about me having lupus. I also use a conditioning treatment on my hair, once a week my partner does it for me. Although as a caution I never would h.light my hair when going through severe hair loss or severe flare of skin/scalp. Just to add i did at one point not highlight my hair for over a year, but did not notice any improvement in lupus or improvement in condition etc. My hair before lupus and meds was very thick. Good luck x

just a quick update had to wash the dye off the skin test area as was stinging more. When washed it off its made the skin blister and got a burn Glad I did a test patch first but disappointed its effected me. Did some research yesterday on dye alternatives and seen that a well known health food shop sells a brand of hair dye which has no nasty chemicals in and is supposed to be good for people how react to normal hair dye. Anyway I have bought a box to try doing a skin test with and fingers crossed this one will be ok. Ill keep you guys posted xxx

there are some on the market (try boots) that dont use amonia, they are fruit/plant based i think nutrisse is one, i just found it really messy to apply.