Women Hair Loss Forums - Tricyclic antidepressants and hormones

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Tricyclic antidepressants and hormones (Anti-depressants & Hair Loss)

posted by allywied , Indonesia, 26.09.2006, 18:42

Hi,
I know how you feel.
When I went to tricho (and stop Nizoral pill-I always think it's the cause of my alopecia-Doctor's miss diagnose for a skin allergy), she said that it would take 6 months about to regrow hair -with application of saw palmetto and eugenol sollution she sold me-. May be you should apply something to help your hair regrowth besides eating rich iron foods.
I did growth something after 6 months and now some hair covers my bald.

ť One more thing, I am 26 and this started when I was 25. I do have a hx of
ť AGA in my family: my mother. But hers did not start until 50/menopause not
ť even when she had two kids. Also, a few years ago I used to take all sorts
ť of BCP (not knowing they can cause HL) and they never affected my hair, so
ť theoretically I pretty resilient to synthetic hormonal manipulation.
ť
ť But again, this just doesn't make any ense to me why 4 mo. after stopping
ť the drug I AM POSITIVE caused my TE it is still as bad as it was while
ť taking it. The only thing I can think of is maybe it messed up my hormones
ť permanently, but how and is that even possible? All I know is I cry
ť everyday about it and when I see miniaturized hairs of all lengths under 4
ť inches I get so scared. (So far I have not seen a miniaturized hair that
ť was growing before my anti-all thin hairs after my anti.) But no derm
ť believes me that the anti caused this; they just look at my mom's head and
ť say I have what she has (nevermind that hers started when she was twice my
ť age!).
ť
ť My prolactin was tested right after I stopped the anti and it was 9 I
ť think, very normal for me (I've had it tested before) just under the
ť mid-range of normal.
ť
ť Is this completely irreversible? Should I just give up now.
ť
ť ť Are tricyclic antidepressants (specifically nortriptyline) known to
ť have
ť ť any effect on female hormones?
ť ť
ť ť I stopped nortriptyline 4 months ago after it started a massive TE
ť shed.
ť ť But 4 mo. later my hair loss is still the same as before, and I lose
ť tons
ť ť of miniaturized hairs that look like spiderwebs ranging from less than
ť 1cm
ť ť to over 3 inches, which means they all tried to grow sometime after the
ť 7
ť ť months I was taking the anti. I also still lose regular healthy hairs,
ť and
ť ť I never had any such miniaturized hairs prior to the antidepressant.
ť ť
ť ť My ferritin was very low (8) when it was tested 2 mo. ago and I have
ť ť religiously been eating red meat, taking iron supps, etc. for 8 weeks.
ť I
ť ť just had it retested but I don't know the results yet.
ť ť
ť ť Any ideas why I am not seeing even slight reduction in shed? I have NO
ť ť regrowth but I see a few miniaturized hairs sticking up here and there
ť on
ť ť my head. I am so desperate and fearful that this I will never recover
ť my
ť ť hair and keep losing it although everyone tells me to wait and see. And
ť my
ť ť biopsies say AGA but I don't know if I should rely on that since I know
ť one
ť ť other gal who had her biopsy read in the same place saying probably
ť mild
ť ť AGA but it wasn't at all-it was TE and it went away in 4mo.
ť ť
ť ť I know AGA usually crops up anytime there is a big hormonal change which
ť I
ť ť wonder if the antidepressant caused? I can't find any literature on it
ť ť though, except that DHEA acts like an antidepressant. So do
ť ť antidepressants raise DHEA levels in your body? I don't have a before
ť and
ť ť after number.
ť ť
ť ť It is so hard to keep up this fight and go on with school, work, etc. I
ť ť thought this would be over months ago since I stopped on June 1. please
ť ť someone have any advice? Thanks.

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Complete thread:

Tricyclic antidepressants and hormones - To everyone, 25.09.2006, 16:31
- Tricyclic antidepressants and hormones - to everyone, 25.09.2006, 16:35
  - Tricyclic antidepressants and hormones - HairSite Admin, 26.09.2006, 06:07
    - Tricyclic antidepressants and hormones - mickelvine, 26.03.2008, 00:50
  - Tricyclic antidepressants and hormones - allywied, 26.09.2006, 18:42
    - Tricyclic antidepressants are bad for hormones for some - to all, 28.09.2006, 12:01
      - Tricyclic antidepressants are bad for hormones for some - shortywcb, 17.12.2007, 04:31
      - Tricyclic antidepressants are bad for hormones for some - mickelvine, 10.04.2008, 02:16