Methotrexate and hair thinning

[Central_Perk]

Hi everyone.

I’ve been on methotrexate for almost exactly 2 years and I can’t work out if my hair is currently thinning, it was fine before but these past few weeks it seems like more is coming out when I brush it.

I don’t know if I’m imagining it or if it’s just going through it’s normal resting phase, but my question is has anyone found that they had random hair thinning/loss after a long time on this drug?

I currently take folic acid 5 days a week.

Thank you.

[Runrig01]

I’ve been on MTX for 7yrs. I used to have very thick hair. The first 6-9 months of MTX my hair got much thinner, I’m fortunate that I have more hair per cm2 than most, so you don’t notice it. It was always wavy, but is now much more curly, and doesn’t stay in style like it used to, which frustrates me. It did stop thinning though after around 9 months though.

[Mama-K]

good morning . I have been on 20 mg injected methotrexate for 11 months. My hair definitely has thinned. My specialist nurse was very sympathetic, and completely understood my distress. She tells me that some people experience hair loss, she’s reduced my dose & has reassured me that it is usually reversible.

I would speak to your RA team

[CagneysMum]

I experienced a lot of hair loss to begin with on methotrexate and my hairdresser helped me to restyle my hair to disguise it. My RA nurse recommended a supplement called Biotin which I purchased from Amazon and Holland & Barrett - this really slowed down my hair loss over the 18 month period I took it and it has since all grown back. It probably took about 10-12 weeks of taking Biotin initially to notice any difference. Check with your own GP or RA Consulting team before taking though. Good luck. X

[BMCV]

Yes I definitely had quite a lot of hair loss at the beginning of taking MTX, but my doctor then prescribed folinoic acid once a week in addition to the folic acid and that definitely helped.

[Nuttyshirlz]

hi yes I used to have long thick hair before I started taking mine 7yrs ago after few months I started to notice lots of hair In shower in my hairbrush etc I went to drs spoke to my nurse etc and she increased my folic acid and it seemed to settle after few months. But when I was taking to rhemy dr he said it can happen with all Dmards but can also be hormonal and I also take pro-col too. And I use philp Kingsley on my hair. It did stop with me

[mrdiggs]

I have been on methotrexate and prednisone for about 10 yrs. now. I'm sorry to say my hair loss has't stopped. Tried folic acid tablets but to no avail.Everyone is different and reacts to meds. differently , what works for one person doesn't work for another.I wish you good luck and hope you're one of the lucky ones.If not --you're still the same person on the inside and you will get past this.Keep the faith !