I have suffered from RA for over forty years along with its complications and drug side effects. Last year I had to increase my methotrexate to 25 mg and have since suffered very thin hair. Help please ! With suggestions that work. I’ve spent a lot on serums and shampoos to no avail. Will it thicken up if I manage to get Methortrexate down??
many thanks
I have fine hair since several biologics and Mtx and have a lot of layers cut into it to help it look to have more volume.
Kerastase shampoo and conditioner in their Volumifique and Densifique ranges are fab. They are luxury products and not cheap (£22 an item approx) but really last for ages and are gorgeous. Or if you wanted to concentrate on styling your hair with volume enhancing products (I do this too) the L’Oréal Techniart blow drying spritz (Thermo modelling spray which is heat activated) is great and gives super root lift and they have a finishing spray too which gives volume. Around £12 an item.
Also recommend the Schwarzkopf Gliss Revive volume shampoo which is more a budget range (£3-4 for a 300ml bottle on Amazon) but a natural fantastic product and I love their Gliss Kur repair conditioner. Hope you find something that gives you some bounce back. The L’Oréal TechniArt blow dry spritz would be my recommendation out of all though. Especially as you sound to have spent a lot on products already. x
Brilliant thank you so much! At least I won’t be buying products in the dark but after a recommendation.
The blow dry spray is winner for sure so you could use your existing products for shampoo and conditioner then floof up your hair with the styling spray, 😃 My spray has lasted many months too using 3 times a week.
I was prescribed with folic acid when my hair was affected by mtx. Helped a lot.
I already take 5mg on six days which I think is the maximum prescribed.
I am sorry to say I think it is a very individual thing..l have baby fine hair & took Mtx for 7 years, most of that time on 25mg, & I had no problems at all.
Are you on any other medication? If you have an RA nurse , try speaking to her…she will have have heard all the stories re thinning hair….& may have some suggestions.
Well done avoiding this distressing problem! RA nurse no help at all .
Hi Cherryblossom12 , sorry to hear you're dealing with such significant hair loss on MTX 25mg, I had the same thing.
A key aspect of working out what's most likely to help is whether your hair is re-growing or not. I lost more than half of my hair, but it did slowly start to re-grow, albeit in very poor condition at first. In that situation I used a combination of good diet, supplements and good quality hair care using products that aim to rebuild the poor structure of damaged hair.
If your hair is not re-growing, then while the nutritional approach surely wouldn't do any harm, you may need products focusing on re-growth, like minoxidil. I don't know so much about those products and haven't used them myself, but I'm sure there are people here on the forum who could help. A lot of people swear by biotin and marine collagen supplements, too.
I really hope you find an approach that works for you and you get your hair back. One final thought - I don't know how long you've been on the higher MTX dose, but I did find my hair loss slowed after several months, and though I do still experience what would probably be classed as excessive shedding, my hair has grown back pretty well and it doesn't really show much now. If the dose increase was a short time ago there is the hope that your body will adapt and with good care your hair will recover naturally.
What good advice, everything you are talking about sounds a very sensible approach. I lose hair all the time and want to keep it growing back. How much mg of Biotin daily is best just to keep the hair growing please? Much appreciated.
Hi, and thanks for your kind comment. I can't claim to be able to give advice on diet and supplements, but when I tried it myself (only for a couple of months, which isn't really long enough to tell if it's doing anything), I used this one: hollandandbarrett.com/shop/.... I don't know if it would help where the hair does seem to be growing back quite well, though - maybe others will have experience of this. I really hope you find a solution to this cycle of hair loss and re-growth.
Thank you very much indeed!
A relief to know that it does grow back! I think like most of us we are hot on nutrition and supplements but I haven’t tried Biotin so that’s my next step. Thanks
biotin was what my niece a hairdresser recommended and within 3 months a bald looking scalp recovered and the general hair loss slowed and been great ever since. I take it every few months now just to give my hair a boost. I did use marine collagen too.
Hi Cherry Blossom I suffered sustained hair loss after my Rheumy team increased my dosage of MTX to 25mg. I had fine thin hair to begin with and over time became distressingly almost bald. The Rheumy team acted swiftly when we discussed this and put me on to a biologic, reduced the MTX dosage to 10mg, and upped the Folic Acid intake to 5mg daily. This stopped the thinning but whilst waiting for the outcome I had my hair cut short to avoid putting any stress on what was left, used good volumising products and avoided putting too much heat through it from blow-drying etc.
It was altogether a very upsetting experience but over time my hair re-grew; it's never going to be thick but a combination of good cutting, good product and keeping the dosage to a minimum seemed to be a good compromise.
For me (20 mg MTX), biotin helps.And on the plus side, I have less frequent fuss dealing with leg hair!😂
There’s always a bright side!!
when I was on high dose of methotrexate I suffered dramatic hair loss that was worrying and my Rheumy nurse suggested Biotin. Over a period of about 6-12 months this slowed down and stopped my hair loss. I also started taking a marine collagen powder once a day (costs around £28/Amazon for a tub that lasts almost 3 months) and this has improved the texture/strength of my hair - and eyebrows, nails … and maybe bones who knows. Good luck. X
hi reiterating what others have said my hair started thinning I now take folic acid every day except methotrexate day and a biotin every day and it’s thickened up again hope it works for you x
I've been on mtx for many years, probably about 20. I've tried all the expensive supplements in the past. But recently I got some Skin, Hair & Nails tablets from home bargains. (They are in a pink bottle and really cheap.) I've now got loads of new hair growth. I'm amazed.
I think from my experience it is to just keep trying the different things because what works for one person doesn't always work for you. Make sure you give them a good 6 months to get to work before you go onto the next thing.
Thanks for the advice. I will try biotin first and maybe these later
I was put onto Folic Acid 3 times a week some years ago when I was on 25mg of Metho as my hair was thinning quite rapidly. It did stabilise it and I still take it 3 times a week now that the dose is lower but am also on Tocilizamub. Everything seems to be OK
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