4 replies to this topic

[kcr]

This doesn't seem to be a very common subject but I'm taking a shot:

Anyone have experience with spiro and hair loss as opposed to hair growth?

I started spiro in Feb. Started Yaz in April, got off it during the second month mid-pack because it was making me nauseous and dizzy every day I was on it. Waited until I got two regular periods before going back on Trisprintec (generic of Ortho tricyclen). Was on that for 3 months and had side effects, decided the pill was not worth it and got off of them for good.

Now a month later my hair is shedding so fast and furious I'm afraid I'll go bald soon. I had extremely thick hair where you could NEVER see a tiny spot of scalp, now I have a part that keeps getting wider and you can see more and more scalp. It's also so much thinner all over my ponytail is about a third of it's previous volume and it just seems to keep falling out. I never see handfuls fall out, but every day I wake up it's thinner and I can see more scalp on the part and have thinner hair on the sides, etc.

Went to the derm and he said the hormonal shift from switching from Yaz to trisprintec could be the cause and that there would be a lag time in the shedding, so if I switched about 4 months ago or so this could be as a result of that. He tested my thyroid, iron and did a CBC (got the results, all in normal range.) He said we should increase my spiro dosage to 150mg and see if that helps.

As I was leaving his office he came back out and stopped me to show me a reference book where it said a side effect of spiro could be alopecia. So he actually lowered my dosage from 100mg to 50mg and is weaning me off so I don't have a terrible breakout from stopping cold turkey.

I'm terrified this hair loss won't stop or my hair won't grow back. No one seems to have gone through this who can give me any insight, but I thought I would post because someone else might be out there.

p.s. PCOS has been ruled out repeatedly also.

[hatesacne]

I think I responded to your post before, kcr, possibly on another thread. My acne meds. are solodyn(minocycline) and spiro. I haven't taken the pill for, at least, 2-3 years. The last pill I tried was yaz samples(which were distributed in packs of 15 pills each. a bit confusing). When I found out how expensive it would be to fill the prescrip. for yaz, I stopped taking them. Previously, I'd taken Ortho Tri-Cyclen(increased facial hair on chin( which seemed to help w/my acne. I went off b/c of the numerous side effects as well. As far as, spiro goes, I began taking it on 09/19/2008. I, too, have noticed hair loss each time I wash, comb, brush, or run my fingers through my hair:( My part hasn't widened, but I'm shedding everywhere. However, I've also been under a lot of stress: lost job, move, cystic acne flare-up, depression, concerns about possible upcoming surgery(hysterectomy), and menopause. I'm not sure what to attribute my hair loss to......w/so many things going on at once. But it seems to have worsened since taking the combo of acne meds. Sept. I'd really like to stop taking these meds. a.s.a.p.(side effects may outweigh the benefits), but would also like clear skin. Not sure if my input will be helpful to you or not, kcr. Seasonal changes(shedding increases for me when seasons change!) and stress are attributed to hair loss though. Are you under an extreme amount of stress from your job, family, etc.? Good luck in eliminating the cause of your hair loss.

[kcr]

Thanks for responding and sharing your experience! So do you think starting the spiro recently is contributing to your hair loss?

I'm not under any serious stress, and I don't know how much stock I put in any "absolutes" about side effects anymore, but my derm told me that the kind of stress that causes hair loss is almost always a huge traumatic event and then the hair loss occurs 6 weeks to 6 months later. He said hair loss doesn't occur from that kind of stress or from the pill, etc, until after a lag time. That's why I suspected my thyroid because it seemed to be such a rush of constant fallout. I don't know though, because everyone reacts differently to different things. You see things like female soldiers come back from war who are traumatized but don't lose their hair. So who's to say what kind of stress could cause hair loss and who will be affected by what.

I think the hair loss has slowed a bit after a few weeks of rapid shedding, and I am using 2% minoxidil (per the derm) for a week now. I notice a lot more people now have visible scalp in front where they part their hair, even celebrities in magazines. The difference is my "part" now goes all the way from my forehead to part way down the back of my head, and there's much less hair back there now to cover it up. I pray it all does grow back eventually.

I'm in the process of weaning of spiro, down from 100mg to 50mg, and I am skipping days on it as well. So far no breakouts, so I'm hoping once I'm totally off it I will not have a rapid return of acne. I did get a small pimple on my chin immediately after stopping the trisprintec last month.

I also noticed in the back I have a chunk of hair about 3 inches long growing out of my neck way lower than the rest of my hairline in the back. It must have sprouted and I never noticed it growing because it's on the back of my head. It's a bit odd, and looks awfully strange when my hair is up.

They say vanity kills. I'm afraid my quest for a clear, hair free face has left me with a slew of new and worse problems. I am never putting another thing in my body that will manipulate my hormones. For a lot of people these things are a tremendous help, but obviously my body just can't adjust to them or tolerate them.

[S Gumby]

I have been on spiro and yaz for about 1 year and 3 months.I have pcos. The weird thing is I never had hair thinning until about the summer and it is getting worse. I have really thick, like it takes me two hours to get a hair cut. I shed like crazy!!! I don't know what to do but I am staying on the spiro and yaz b/c I would rather have thin hair then bad acne.

[kcr]

I really think it was the hormonal shift from switching from Yaz back to trisprintec that is causing my hair loss.

I also just found a PCOS site that has a thread about the strange growth of wispy hair below my hairline at the back of my neck, but I still don't know if this kind of growth is particular to people with PCOS or if it's hair growth from being on spiro or what. I just know it was not there before and it looks weird (especially because it's only on one side and it's really dark hair while I have dark blonde hair on my head). It resembles photos I see when I google the words hirsutism and neck, and I think the only way to get rid of it is probably expensive laser removal

I'm super bummed out over this, but from now on it's only topical treatments for acne for me, and I guess I'll just live with tweezing the stupid facial hairs. I did use accutane twice when I was in my 20s with no issues, but I have no active pimples right now and hope to not get a bad breakout so I wouldn't need that again anyway, and this close to having kids I would not go on that again.