My stylist is blaming the prednisone after a disastrous hair coloring episode…going from grey to my usual blonde tone and it turned bright orange….really bright orange! Has anyone had difficulty with hair coloring while on prednisone? I’m currently at 6 mg and feel great with the very slow tapering.
Prednisone and hair coloring: My stylist is blaming... - PMRGCAuk
Prednisone and hair coloring
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Spartans1
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DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer
This is from the FAQs - but it’s more about allergies and hair dye -
healthunlocked.com/pmrgcauk...
As you are down to 6mg is this the first time you’ve had dye applied? If it’s been okay before, then maybe it’s a different brand… and was a test done beforehand ? Sounds not!
I only ever had highlights when on Pred -never full head -and since Covid have decided to embrace the grey.
Not sure we’ve had many comments on here, so would say it’s not that common - although Pred does change the consistency of hair. Methinks the blame probably lies with hairdresser and/or brand of dye.
Thank you! Pretty comfortable thinking it’s stylist/product error after doing the reading. It is the first time I’ve had the color since I started on prednisone last September, but the staff was quick to blame it😉
Hmm… think I know where the error lies - and a test should always be done…
I definitely agree with Dorset Lady. I was on a much higher dose of Prednisone than you and never had a problem. You might try a natural dye for your hair. It would be much healthier for you and there are several available
Hello S1.
I've dyed my hair (as usual) once every 2 months or so since starting Pred just over a year ago.
My hair seems thinner than it used to be, but no difference in the dye effect.
Bright orange can happen if the dye is left on too long, in my experience.
Maybe it could be stripped back and re-dyed? Or you could try a very slightly darker colour than the one you usually use.
Good luck
Thank you for the quick response. Thinking it is definitely stylist or product error. She did attempt to fix with a darker color…just a short term fix🙄
I'm a natural blonde and up to being about 35yrs old had naturally bright platinum blonde hair.
Over the past 30yrs or so my hair became a few shades darker until I was more of a caramel blonde, so I began having it blonded up to my previous natural colour.
I'd never had any problems prior to pred but I also noticed that post pred, the hair underneath top layers at back of head were developing an orange tinge after each appointment.
I've no idea whether it was steroid related or an application error but as I was aware that pred affects the condition and health of skin & nails, I assumed it may also affect my hair and so ceased having my hair coloured.
I hope you get your hair sorted though.
It sounds like your stylist did not balance the dye correctly on your hair.
PMRproAmbassador
I know some people find the dye doesn't "take" in the same way which also happens on grey or white hair, I suppose it depends on how long you have been on pred - have you been on long enough for all your hair to have grown out while on pred? I haven't heard anyone with such a dramatic tale.
However - as DL says, she may blame the pred but she should have done a test really. And why it should suddenly change like that - assuming you have it done every couple of months - unless she did or didn't do something ...
I only have highlights but no problem at all other than my hair since pred has been pretty ropy and thinned out a bit. There is growth returning on lower doses of pred but it’s wispy and frizzy. My friend tells me hers has got like that with age anyway so it’s probably not just the pred.
I have mine dyed every 4/5 weeks during the 9 years I have been on prednisolone and never had a problem. I suspect Dorset Lady is right 🥂
I not taking pred but had a few months on omeprazole recently which turned my hair into a haystack and caused my colour by hair dresser to be much lighter than usual. It definitely wasn’t the fault of the hairdresser so either it’s omeprazole or whatever was wrong with me at the time. …..
(High levels of GGT in blood, chronic RD.)
I dye my hair myself and haven't noticed any difference in the six years since starting pred.
You could contact The Trichological Society at haircsientists.org and The Institute of Trichologists at trichologists.org.uk. (Sorry my pc is not pasting hyperlinks ☹️). If it's anything about hair they should know, then you will have qualified information to take to your hair colourist.
Mine wouldn't accept it without the https: bit although they appear in the email notification
Thanks E.
My hair has really changed since I have been ill and on pred. First it went brittle and I lost quite a lot and now though it seems to have recovered it is really curly when it used to be gently wavey and mildly trendy. My hairdresser refused to colour my hair as she said more chemicals on weakened hair was not good and instead of a nice light blond it was veering towards daffodil with the colour. Damn. Now I look in the mirror and look like my mum after a perm😅. Not the look I was hoping for. Mind difficult to say whether it is caused by the drugs or the PMR.
How strange you should mention that, I noticed that my poker straight hair has started to go curly.
During Covid my neat bob grew out and by the end of the second lockdown here had got through that ghastly period where it wouldn't do anything. I decided to make friends with my curly me that makes finding a hairdresser a nightmare and keep growing it. A couple of months ago I finally screwed up the courage to go to the lady on the corner and get the longest bits tidied up. She was brilliant - and although she only took off about half an inch, my hair is now a good inch above my shoulders because it has all sprung into tight curls at the ends! I've even found a shampoo that seems to help calm it down a bit.
What a load of old bull! So sorry that you had a problem with your hair, as I know how upsetting that can be, but at the same time, the hairdresser made me laugh out loud. Pull the other one dearie, it has bells on it. I dye my own hair once a month and 6 months on prednisolone, it looks just the same as it ever did. And I swim regularly and if anything would mess mine up, it would be the chlorine. I hope you manage to get it fixed. I would have been furious if that had happened to me and even more furious that anyone had thought that I was green as cabbage looking to fall for that excuse. Time to change to a different hairdresser, I think. And if that sounds an emotional response, I am hopping mad on your behalf.
Hi. I have my hair bleached then a toner on and I am also on 6mg successfully tapering. Never had an issue and my hairdresser would have said something to me if she thought I would have. I'll ask her though as I'm going tomorrow! I think it's more likely to be the product or the hairdresser. Do you have bleach put on or just a dye?
By the way, I think the more likely explanation is that she was dyeing grey hair and she did not mix the dye correctly. She should have done a test. Dyeing bleached or grey hair to a different shade isn't the same as putting colour onto hair that has its own pigment already. Some of the colour tones are missing and they need to be compensated for. I do my own and make sure that I get one that is specifically for grey hair.
Though I would concede that the porosity of your hair might change with prednisolone, as others have pointed out, but I really don't believe that it would change the colour that dramatically. And that is from a graduate chemist.
It isn't going to change hair that has already grown though is it.
I found the difference between my still dark reddish brown hair and the grey very useful - the grey took up less colour and so I still had streaks that didn't cost a fortune 
None of that flat colour you often see with a home dye.
Yes, that's a good point, about being already grown, and that makes it all the more ridiculous. Same here, I get nice highlights too, although I think mine would be almost totally grey now if I grew it out.
I had the same “highlighted” effect as well in a beautiful starburst pattern that framed my face as the lighter bits were more concentrated down my part and on my bangs/temples.
I think maybe your "stylist" needs a bit of redirection.
My previously dead straight thin hair has changed whilst on pred to course curly hair. I stopped dyeing it 6 years ago when on high doses of Prednisolone. I found it hard to get the dye to take and it would wash out even though it was supposed to be permanent dye.
I've had the same hairdresser for the whole time I've been taking steroids and he has noticed all the changes. He has said that if I wanted to dye it he would need to do tests but he says because my hair is now very porous he couldn't guarantee that the colour would be the same over the whole heard. He suggested either highlights or low lights instead.
I have decided to leave it alone, Embrace the grey which is mainly at the front of my hair and allow him to cut it into flattering styles which I cab change up. Currently got a graduated short bob which I can wear straight or put curls through it. So far so good.
I am guessing your colourist either didn't test the product on you or used a higher bleach ratio which reacted with your previous colour. They should be obligated to put it right for you if you still trust them.
Hi Spartans1, I have continued to get my colour done every six weeks at my regular hairdressers since starting Pred (now on 7mg on very very slow reduction) and have never had any disastrous results. Unfortunately, I think it must have been something gone wrong at the hairdresser's end x
I had that experience too, after having been given antibiotics and antifungals while gravely ill. Medications go into the hair shaft. No problem with pred and hair color though.
This is very distressing for the both client and colorist.
Have always embraced the grey and used scissors. Went once to a hairdresser. Didn't look me after all fiddling around. But I am blaming the pred for losing about half of my hair! Now wear colorful scarves, which add some color to my face.
So grateful for all these responses on hair coloring issues…A second go round with the stylist with added highlights over the brunette color. Moderately happy that I can at least go out in public. Though it’s easy to blame the prednisone for all the challenges with handling PMR, I think it’s safe to say, that changes in hair color isn’t one of them. Thank you all.
Okay. his happened to me years before my PMR and prednisone. I had dark hair and went blond slowly starting with highlights etc. Then one day out of the blue(orange!!) my hair turned orange. The stylist acted like it was somehow my fault and I wasn't on any meds. Hair was redone and months later I found out from another stylist there who had left that the reason it happened was that the assistant had not washed out the mixing bowl and brushes properly from the redheaded client before me. Apparently only a small bit of such a color can impact the blond dye and overhwhelm it completely.
That being said after several years on Pred, I did find I was losing hair and it was not the same quality and my new stylist suggested I switch to an ammonia free color L'Oreal's INOA for the roots - lots of grey - and Redken's Shades EQ for the rest of the hair. The later goes on 20 minutes after the other. Hair is much much better. During COVID I switched to going back to dark hair because my husband and I did my color at home. Hair is now even stronger without the blond and although I do have it done now every 4 weeks and hide the white on the third week with a little root spray I am happy with it. Not like it was in my younger years but in my '70's it looks good. Pred does have an impact but not orange hair and using ammonia free products like the two I have mentioned really helps!!!
Good luck!!!
Yikes! As someone who grew up in a hairdressing family, this is totally unacceptable. Definitely sounds like a colourist error. And as others have mentioned, a small colour test could, and should have been completed prior if there was concern about the impact of your medication on the processing of your hair colour. I would not be going back to this colourist.
Over the years we saw new clients who came in for colour corrections after mishaps with other hairdressers. Most were made better except for those that had black permanent colour where correction was limited.
I continued to colour my greying blonde hair with permanent colour for the first 4 years of my PMR journey with no concerns. This past year I’ve decided to grow it out natural as my hair has already undergone the texture changes a lot of us are familiar with. I’ve gone from poker-straight fine hair to frizzy candy floss that is even finer due to some shedding from pred and Methotrexate. Lucky for me the natural growth blends nicely and is hardly noticeable.
My hair care routine has changed as well since being medicated and experiencing some minor hair loss. I only shampoo and condition it once every 10 days or so. I spray it with leave-in de tangler when it’s damp and let it air dry. Then I use a wide-tooth pic to comb out which helps avoid the frizzies. I avoid the heat of hair dryers/curling irons and no more blow drying with a roller brush. I also take 10,000 mcg biotin daily.
PMRPro …..can your share the name of the shampoo you’ve had success with? I will say good (professional) hair products can help too.
It is an Italian made product called Curly!!!
but I can't find the Harbor label shampoo I got at the local supermarket on the sites.
I recall Nizoral being mentioned as a good interim shampoo to use for thinning hair. Not sure if that's what helped or if it's stopped thinning out due to me being off the pred for a year. I've also been taking the Hair, Skin, and Nails vitamins that contain 5,000mg biotin. My now platinum hair has also grown straighter.
I had the exact same thing happen a few years ago it had nothing to do with Prednisone. Back then I had never been on it in my life! It was an error on the stylist’s part.
I also have issues with coloring my hair due to prednisone. It was fine until my doctor upped my prednisone to 5 mg twice a day. Now my hair won’t take purple dye. It doesn’t help that I’m grey anyway. Sorry to hear you have this issue too. I can’t back off the prednisone because of arthritis in my hands, but I might try tapering off to color my hair then pop it back up.
I'm not sure that will help. It seems to be a change in the quality of the hair as it grows and hair grows about a cm a month do you would have to wait until you were off pred and then let it all grow out before colouring it.
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