Hi All. has anyone suffered from hair loss whilst taking Pred & associated drugs ie. Omeprazole & Alendronic Acid?

[theresa49]

I am now on 20mg Pred after 6 months, trying to reduce very very slowly as my GCA symptoms still lurk about, but my hair is falling out big time! Any advice would be much appreciated.

[venezia1]

Yes, I am on a reducing dose from 80mg, currently at 20mg after a flare - my hair fell out in handfuls while on the higher doses but was easing off when I got down to 15mg. Good luck!

[Green_girl]

Hi Theresa49. Hair does fall out when you have been ill, that bit is 'natural - and maybe your nails are suffering too? However the drugs we are on don't help. Folic acid is one of the building blocks for hair and nails. I find my body doesn't take in ordinary folic acid, so I take metafolin (you can get it from health food stores). It is just a different way of taking folic acid which can be easier for the body to use - and 5mg a week should be fine. I also take tons of good omega oils (you need the ones that give you good slugs of EPA and DHA). If all of this is too much to take in, try a good quality hair and nails supplement. Also look at your diet. Eat plenty of dark green veggies and don't have processed foods or sugar or caffeine. Use shampoos etc with few chemicals in them (again visit a health food store!). All very strict I know, but the benefits are good. Don't expect miracles overnight either, it will take some months for you to notice changes. My hair is still a little thin, but healthy, and I can see plenty of re-growth. I'm hoping things will be much better once off all the drugs....here's hoping and wishing...... Good luck!

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Hair loss is not one of the over 80 recorded side effects of prednisolone and in fact pred is sometimes used for some forms of alopecia (hair loss). Both omeprazole and alendronic acid list hair loss as side effects, for AA it is listed as common.

Hair loss commonly happens after you have been ill, you usually notice it about 6 months later as a hair lives and grows for some time and then falls out, being replaced continuously, but if you are ill the new hairs don't come back in as well. I lost loads of hair last year after I was really ill and some of the drugs I was put on then say they can cause hair loss, it also went totally frizzy and didn't grow longer. I had been on Medrol (a form of pred) and I think the frizziness was maybe due to that (it also gave me far TOO MUCH hair, I had a lovely beard!) but since I've been switched to another form of pred my hair is thicker than it has ever been (and that is saying something) and the curls I had as a teenager and in my 20s are back! My hairdresser is amazed.

Someone has suggested supplements - do ask the advice your pharmacist if you want to take supplements of any sort if you are on any prescription drugs, especially pred. It doesn't matter if they are "natural" or not - they can still cause nasty drug interactions and the more medications you are taking the more dangerous it can be.

That said, taking omeprazole reduces the amount of B12 vitamin you absorb (though, strangely, not folic acid) and that can affect hair condition. Some doctors think vit D can also help hair loss - and patients with autoimmune disorders often have low vit D levels (the calcium/vit D supplements we take aren't enough to boost a low level). You should have had your vit D level checked BEFORE being put onto alendronic acid because it simply doesn't work if your vit D is low and that must be corrected before taking the tablets. If it wasn't done - ask for it to be checked. And don't believe anyone who tells you it is unnecessary or expensive. The NHS lab that carries it out for many NHS hospitals also does it for the public at the major cost of £25!

[theresa49]

Thank you everyone for such good advice as usual. I will be paying a visit to the health food store for some metafolin & my next appointment with my Doc is in January so I will talk to her about the low level of Vit D as I have not had this checked. Sometimes it seems like being in a long dark tunnel with this illness, but I look back 6 months and realise how ill I was then, so it will get better eventually.

[Whittlesey]

Hi Theresa 49, I have been taking methetextrate for GCA for over a year now, 10mgs a week. I was given folic acid at the same time to avoid hair loss. It has seemed to work. I have some thinning of my hair, but I am now 61 and it seems no more thinning than would happen with this age. The methetextrate helps the GCA and have been on 5mgs per day for about 6 months, occassionally I need to take two, if problems with my eyesight or bad headache. Other wise I take the 5mgs with the methatextrate. folic acid seems to be a pretty good vitamin for the GCA and the medication.

I wish you well

all my best, Whittlesey NYC U.S.