Women Hair Loss Forums - lamictal and lexapro

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Val

09.06.2007, 16:57

lamictal and lexapro (Anti-depressants & Hair Loss)
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I went on 15mg Lexapro 6 months ago and 50 mg Lamictal 4 months ago and started experiencing a lot of hair loss I guess around 4 months ago. I had no idea this was from meds but thought it was from stress...thankfully I googled this recently and arrived here. So...my doctor wants to wean me off the lexapro (as we think bi-polar II is my bigger issue), but this was before I knew that lamictal can also be a culprit (and why didn't HE know that !?!?!).
Anyway, I am of course flipping out and if anyone has insight on any of the following please share your thoughts with me.
1) I want to stop these meds NOW, not wean off because I'm reading that it takes months for hair loss to stop even after you go off. But do you feel crazy coming off them?
2) Has anyone tried switching to Prozac or another SSRI instead of going cold turkey?
3) Has anyone tried buspar/buspiron to take the edge off?
4) How long did it take you to see a difference in rate of hair loss?
Signed,
Desperate.

Val is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: YES

val

09.06.2007, 16:58

@ Val
lamictal and lexapro p.s.
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p.s. my nails have also been a mess - soft, cracking, etc.ť

I went on 15mg Lexapro 6 months ago and 50 mg Lamictal 4 months ago and
ť started experiencing a lot of hair loss I guess around 4 months ago. I
ť had no idea this was from meds but thought it was from stress...thankfully
ť I googled this recently and arrived here. So...my doctor wants to wean me
ť off the lexapro (as we think bi-polar II is my bigger issue), but this was
ť before I knew that lamictal can also be a culprit (and why didn't HE know
ť that !?!?!).
ť Anyway, I am of course flipping out and if anyone has insight on any of
ť the following please share your thoughts with me.
ť 1) I want to stop these meds NOW, not wean off because I'm reading that it
ť takes months for hair loss to stop even after you go off. But do you feel
ť crazy coming off them?
ť 2) Has anyone tried switching to Prozac or another SSRI instead of going
ť cold turkey?
ť 3) Has anyone tried buspar/buspiron to take the edge off?
ť 4) How long did it take you to see a difference in rate of hair loss?
ť Signed,
ť Desperate.

val is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: YES

Deb

09.06.2007, 22:03

@ val
lamictal and lexapro p.s.
Post reply

I can't answer your question about cold turkey or tapering as I've never been on an anti but just wanted to let you know that anti's suppress the thyroid function. That is more than likely the reason for the hair and nail problems.

Way back in the archives somewhere there was a gal that researched it and found the into about it suppressing thyroid. Someone else will come along and help you more.

Deb

Deb is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: NO

julie1977

11.06.2007, 11:56

@ Deb
lamictal and lexapro p.s.
Post reply

I came off Lamotrigine after looking on askapatient.com and seeing that 6% of ppl report hair loss. What i'd do is go on askapatient.com and look at all the reviews for various antideps etc, press ctrl + 'F', type in 'hair', and see how many ppl report hair loss, thus enabling you to decide which drug involves the least risk hair-wise. Don't rely on pharmaceutical info as its useless (ie. I read the same about lamotrigine not causing hairloss, ha!).
good luck!

ť I can't answer your question about cold turkey or tapering as I've never
ť been on an anti but just wanted to let you know that anti's suppress the
ť thyroid function. That is more than likely the reason for the hair and
ť nail problems.
ť
ť Way back in the archives somewhere there was a gal that researched it and
ť found the into about it suppressing thyroid. Someone else will come along
ť and help you more.
ť
ť Deb

julie1977 is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: NO

julie1977

11.06.2007, 11:59

@ julie1977
lamictal and lexapro p.s.
Post reply

ps. lamotrigine appears to have hairloss rate of 6%, whereas lexapro is about 1%

ť I came off Lamotrigine after looking on askapatient.com and seeing that 6%
ť of ppl report hair loss. What i'd do is go on askapatient.com and look at
ť all the reviews for various antideps etc, press ctrl + 'F', type in
ť 'hair', and see how many ppl report hair loss, thus enabling you to decide
ť which drug involves the least risk hair-wise. Don't rely on pharmaceutical
ť info as its useless (ie. I read the same about lamotrigine not causing
ť hairloss, ha!).
ť good luck!
ť
ť
ť
ť ť I can't answer your question about cold turkey or tapering as I've
ť never
ť ť been on an anti but just wanted to let you know that anti's suppress
ť the
ť ť thyroid function. That is more than likely the reason for the hair and
ť ť nail problems.
ť ť
ť ť Way back in the archives somewhere there was a gal that researched it
ť and
ť ť found the into about it suppressing thyroid. Someone else will come
ť along
ť ť and help you more.
ť ť
ť ť Deb

julie1977 is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: NO

Val 09.06.2007, 16:57	lamictal and lexapro (Anti-depressants & Hair Loss) Post reply
	I went on 15mg Lexapro 6 months ago and 50 mg Lamictal 4 months ago and started experiencing a lot of hair loss I guess around 4 months ago. I had no idea this was from meds but thought it was from stress...thankfully I googled this recently and arrived here. So...my doctor wants to wean me off the lexapro (as we think bi-polar II is my bigger issue), but this was before I knew that lamictal can also be a culprit (and why didn't HE know that !?!?!). Anyway, I am of course flipping out and if anyone has insight on any of the following please share your thoughts with me. 1) I want to stop these meds NOW, not wean off because I'm reading that it takes months for hair loss to stop even after you go off. But do you feel crazy coming off them? 2) Has anyone tried switching to Prozac or another SSRI instead of going cold turkey? 3) Has anyone tried buspar/buspiron to take the edge off? 4) How long did it take you to see a difference in rate of hair loss? Signed, Desperate. Val is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: YES
val 09.06.2007, 16:58 @ Val	lamictal and lexapro p.s. Post reply
	p.s. my nails have also been a mess - soft, cracking, etc.ť I went on 15mg Lexapro 6 months ago and 50 mg Lamictal 4 months ago and ť started experiencing a lot of hair loss I guess around 4 months ago. I ť had no idea this was from meds but thought it was from stress...thankfully ť I googled this recently and arrived here. So...my doctor wants to wean me ť off the lexapro (as we think bi-polar II is my bigger issue), but this was ť before I knew that lamictal can also be a culprit (and why didn't HE know ť that !?!?!). ť Anyway, I am of course flipping out and if anyone has insight on any of ť the following please share your thoughts with me. ť 1) I want to stop these meds NOW, not wean off because I'm reading that it ť takes months for hair loss to stop even after you go off. But do you feel ť crazy coming off them? ť 2) Has anyone tried switching to Prozac or another SSRI instead of going ť cold turkey? ť 3) Has anyone tried buspar/buspiron to take the edge off? ť 4) How long did it take you to see a difference in rate of hair loss? ť Signed, ť Desperate. val is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: YES
Deb 09.06.2007, 22:03 @ val	lamictal and lexapro p.s. Post reply
	I can't answer your question about cold turkey or tapering as I've never been on an anti but just wanted to let you know that anti's suppress the thyroid function. That is more than likely the reason for the hair and nail problems. Way back in the archives somewhere there was a gal that researched it and found the into about it suppressing thyroid. Someone else will come along and help you more. Deb Deb is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: NO
julie1977 11.06.2007, 11:56 @ Deb	lamictal and lexapro p.s. Post reply
	I came off Lamotrigine after looking on askapatient.com and seeing that 6% of ppl report hair loss. What i'd do is go on askapatient.com and look at all the reviews for various antideps etc, press ctrl + 'F', type in 'hair', and see how many ppl report hair loss, thus enabling you to decide which drug involves the least risk hair-wise. Don't rely on pharmaceutical info as its useless (ie. I read the same about lamotrigine not causing hairloss, ha!). good luck! ť I can't answer your question about cold turkey or tapering as I've never ť been on an anti but just wanted to let you know that anti's suppress the ť thyroid function. That is more than likely the reason for the hair and ť nail problems. ť ť Way back in the archives somewhere there was a gal that researched it and ť found the into about it suppressing thyroid. Someone else will come along ť and help you more. ť ť Deb julie1977 is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: NO
julie1977 11.06.2007, 11:59 @ julie1977	lamictal and lexapro p.s. Post reply
	ps. lamotrigine appears to have hairloss rate of 6%, whereas lexapro is about 1% ť I came off Lamotrigine after looking on askapatient.com and seeing that 6% ť of ppl report hair loss. What i'd do is go on askapatient.com and look at ť all the reviews for various antideps etc, press ctrl + 'F', type in ť 'hair', and see how many ppl report hair loss, thus enabling you to decide ť which drug involves the least risk hair-wise. Don't rely on pharmaceutical ť info as its useless (ie. I read the same about lamotrigine not causing ť hairloss, ha!). ť good luck! ť ť ť ť ť I can't answer your question about cold turkey or tapering as I've ť never ť ť been on an anti but just wanted to let you know that anti's suppress ť the ť ť thyroid function. That is more than likely the reason for the hair and ť ť nail problems. ť ť ť ť Way back in the archives somewhere there was a gal that researched it ť and ť ť found the into about it suppressing thyroid. Someone else will come ť along ť ť and help you more. ť ť ť ť Deb julie1977 is located in [NA] and he is available to meet: NO