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please help me! (Anti-depressants & Hair Loss)

posted by tc, 07.03.2008, 22:01

» Hi all. I'm new to this site. I am a 37 year old female and have been
» experiencing severe hair loss for a little over a year now. I don't have
» insurance, so I can only afford crappy clinic doctors and they haven't
» been any help at all. The first one I saw told me to take fish oil, the
» second one kept telling me it was stress...well, a year later I have lost
» more than half my hair, so when is this "stress" supposed to stop?? I had
» to do all the research on my own to try to get to the bottom of this. It
» was like pulling teeth to get blood work and I still haven't had all the
» tests I want. My thyroid seems fine? The loss did seem to coincide with
» coming off the birth control pill and alot of stress going on in my house,
» so I decided to go back on the yasmin to see if that would help. It's too
» soon to tell.
»
» I was on Lithium for bipolar depression and have recently stopped that as
» I know it may cause hair loss. I was finally able to get some money
» together to see a Dermatologist and he told me I didn't have hair loss and
» walked out of the room. Needless to say, he didn't get paid. The 2nd one
» told me I had female pattern baldness without barely looking at me and to
» take Rogaine? He told me not to go to my Endocrinologist appt that I have
» next month? I bought Rogaine, but am extremely frightened to start it if
» the hair loss will resolve on it's own? I don't want to get stuck on it
» cuz the hair will fall out once I stop? How can I tell if the hair loss
» really is FPB or if it's from the medication I was on? My loss seems to be
» getting worse? It is falling out at rapid speed? Is this normal for FPB? My
» head is also very itchy? This problem is consuming me. I already have a
» problem with depression and low self-esteem, so this has been really bad.
» I spend hours crying in the bathroom cuz I just can't bare to look at
» myself. I feel it has taken over my life and ruining my marriage. It's all
» I can think about! Why is this happening to me? Both my parents have full
» heads of hair? My siblings all have full heads of hair? I am so afraid to
» lose more hair...I don't know what to do? If my hair loss is due to the
» Lithium, will it grow back? Should I just start taking the Rogaine? Is it
» going to make my hair feel even crappier?? Will I ever feel pretty
» again?!
»
» I am worried how far this depression will go without my medication, but I
» don't think I will ever be able to trust another side effect again!
»
» Is there anyone that can relate to what I am going through and can offer
» any advice?
»
» Thank you,
» Kim


Kim~I share many of your same feeling of being consumed and devastated by my hair loss. It's affected every aspect of my life...I've lost weight, can't sleep, don't socialize and cry at the drop of a hat (so Not me). I've been to many derms, endos, you name it and reading my labs they say nothing is wrong with me other than I'm losing my hair...many of us share the same story there. Like you...no history of HL in my family either and I'm near your age (38). I too suspect birth control having something to do with it, and possibly the trigger of stress because I went through miserable stress with the building of our house and all the stuff that went wrong. Anyway...I too agree that you need to go to the endocrinologist just to make sure it's not a hormonal thyroid imbalance. Also, a good book to read is "The Hormonally Vulnerable Woman" by Dr. Geoffrey Redmond (also called "It's Your Hormones" in paperback). It is written in a way that is very easy to understand. I got a used copy on Amazon pretty cheap along with a slew of other books on hair loss but I found it to be the most useful. Some of us have gone to see Dr. Redmond and being one of those, I'm definitely not trying to push him...but I feel the book is valuable to read. It tells you the things you need to have tested as far as bloodwork too. Best wishes~


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

Complete thread:

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            • please help me! - mom2kormas, 11.02.2008, 22:55
  • please help me! - mamathins, 06.03.2008, 10:16
  • please help me! - tc, 07.03.2008, 22:01
  • please help me! - Becky8171, 18.03.2008, 09:56