Prednisolone and Hair

[Pippah45]

Am I right in thinking that some of you have had hair loss with Prednisolone? Since my little foray into the journey of suspected GCA there has been a marked improvement in mine - and the only other thing (excluding Doxazosin) is the aerobic exercise that I have got hooked on. My hairdresser noticed yesterday that not only has it grown and isn't falling out but it's a much finer texture - having gone a bit course over the middle aging years!? Originally my loss was due to Hypothyroidism but as I say things seem a lot better very recently.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Being ill is enough to affect hair growth - and since GCA and pred tend to happen about the same time the blame tends to be mixed. Mine straightened with PMR, lost its bounce altogether, then it went mad, wiry and frizzy and didn't grow plus fell out with methyl pred - but when I switched to a different steroid it grew back and is pretty much back to normal now. The hair along my neck is a bit frizzy but I suspect it is linked to night sweats too.

[Pippah45 in reply to PMRpro]

Yes of course illness would but my thing was a false alarm so no doubt preds could act differently to others with real problems.

[Janstr]

Yes I had hair loss & it stopped growing as well. As PMR said, I'm not sure whether this us the disease or the pred. Now I'm down to 10mg there is slight growth

[casca312 in reply to Janstr]

Also suffered from hair loss, a lack of growth and a change of texture. However, my hairdresser tells me that she can see signs of regrowth. I am now down to 9mgs of Pred.

[Hellyowl]

Hi I had hair loss and frizzy grow back. I blamed Pred but last year I decided to stop alendronic acid. Within 12 weeks NY hair was growing back and in 6 months I had great hair. Endocrinologist says less than 1% of people on AA have hair loss. But that still means some have and maybe like me some don't report it. It was the only thing I eliminated so I think that was my cause

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hellyowl]

That's interesting - haven't heard that before.

[Hellyowl in reply to PMRpro]

It is curious but I really had nothing else in my life at time that changed. No stress no changes of food or medication except stopping the AA. And the change in my hair was dramatic and quick. I do find I am very sensitive to medication side effects. All my life I was vegan or vegetarian, healthy and active and avoided medications as much as possible so they seem to impact me

[Pippah45 in reply to Hellyowl]

Some people are very sensitive to a lot of things - I tend to go with the theory that "a peck of dirt never harmed anyone" and my children made mud pies etc. There seems to be growing evidence that we are over cleaning our houses (well not mine) and damaging ourselves that way. Perhaps your very clean diet has made you more sensitive - which is a great pity for you - maybe something that can't be proven. It took me many years to discover it was Aspartame that was upsetting me so I try very hard to avoid it. I had a friend who was incredibly sensitive to alumimium and so all pots were changed - or so they thought - but one day his wife made a veggie stew and his symptoms came rushing back - she had picked a big old pot that had escaped the purge!

[Pippah45]

Alendronic Acid has both Soy and Aspartame in - not everyone can tolerate those things - I certainly can't.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pippah45]

That is not true. Not all alendronic acid tablets have soy or aspartame in them - you need to check every PIL for each manufacturer. And I can't find any evidence in an online search of PILs saying AA has either in them.

For example, see Section 6 here.

medicines.org.uk/emc/produc...

[Pippah45 in reply to PMRpro]

I am certain my friend's brand had both in - but as you say there will be different manufacturers and different fillers and sweeteners no doubt from brand to brand. There must be something in it that produced a positive change for Hellyowl when she stopped it. In the US a drug cannot be licensed by the FDA as a drug unless there is a toxicity level - they have to kill a rat in a laboratory to class it as a drug - otherwise it can only be sold as a food supplement or something not requiring a licence. Which I find an extremely scary fact so I am very careful about what I put inside me.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pippah45]

"they have to kill a rat in a laboratory to class it as a drug -"

I think that may be a VERY broad and inaccurate assessment of how drugs are subjected to testing to identify toxicity levels. Drug development and filing for regulatory status requires a great deal more than that. You are suggesting that all drugs have to be proven to kill which seems a strange way to express it - OTOH, supplements don't have to be subjected to such stringent testing at any stage. I'd rather put pharmaceuticals inside me than some of the stuff health stores sell.

[Pippah45 in reply to PMRpro]

Those were pretty much the exact words of the CEO of an American company trying to get a brilliant product licensed. Properly Prescribed prescription drugs are in the top five causes of death over there as you probably know. I believe its a choice we have to make by educating ourselves. The health food stores would be out of business if they killed too many people and yet they are thriving. Each to his own but I have a healthy distrust for BIg Pharma I have studied them for Most of my adult life due to various mishaps to me and mine.

[sondya]

Mine went curly. Off prednisone and now it's back to straight. Sad.