March 1 2007, 9:34 am PT | Posted in: Drugs + Drugs (Cause Hair Loss) + Female Hair Loss + Hair Loss Causes
I wanted to ask you a question re Yasmin, which I have been taking for almost a year now.I experienced heavy hair shedding postpartum which could be contributed to the delivery itself and to my then overactive thyroid. My thyroid has been stable and normal during the last 5 months. After stopping for 2 months, I started experiencing heavier hair shedding recently. Since my thyroid is fine, plus no other deficiencies were detected (iron, zinc, B12), could Yasmin be the culprit? Or are other hormonal issues I should be aware of? I didn’t take the first pill of this new cycle and the shedding seemed to slow immediately. Should I consider an alternative contraceptive and will I have regrowth?
Thank you for your time.
We’ve answered a similar question on the contraceptive medication, Yasmin. As we’ve explained before, Yasmin is a combination of drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol. Loss of scalp hair is a reported side effect of this medication. The hair loss from most birth control pills is benign and self limited. Losing hair in this situation is thought to be through inducing hair follicles to go into the telogen phase. You should stop taking Yasmin and speak to your doctor regarding alternative birth control medications or methods.
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Balding Forum
Here is my hair loss story; it is long:
I am 27 years old, and about 6 months ago, I was suffering terribly from hair loss. I was on Yasmin for 5 1/2 years, and stopped taking it to get pregnant. 5 months later, my hair started falling out in giant amounts. It fell out all over my head, all day long, wash or not, brush or not, ponytail or not, constantly. I would say I lost 1000 or more hairs a day for 5 weeks. My ponytail was about as thick as a quarter, not a silver dollar anymore - you get the picture. I probably lost 60% of my hair during that time. It was totally devastating. I was at a loss for an explanation.
I went to a dermatologist. I still think it is from Yasmin discontinuation, but he seemed to think it was from having the flu 2 1/2 months before the hair loss started and having a temp of 103 for 2 days. That can definitely kill hair growth temporarily. I think it took a long time for the pills’ hormones to get out of my body, and maybe that explains it. Also, I had bloodwork done, and my thyroid was fine (definitely on the side of hypothyroid if anything, not the hair loss-capable hypERthyriod). My hormone levels were fine, and all that.
I know how devastating this is. I went to the dermatologist, a regular internist doctor, and a naturopath. The naturopath gave me some B-12 vitamins, thyroid herbs, a yeast intibitor, and told me to go on a gluten free diet. All I can say is that when I went to the dermatologist, he told me that I should be losing hair for about 2-3 months, lose about 75% of it, my follicles were fine and not damaged, and it will grow back. I think with the help of the naturopath, the herbs, and the gluten-free diet, I only lost 50-60% of my hair for 5 weeks, not 3 months.
I also started taking a very high dose of natural vegetarian Biotin (5mg, I think, like 20x whatever is daily reccomended), and using Jason Naturals brand Biotin hair shampoo and conditioner. It is like only $8 per bottle of each from the health food store, and it made my scalp feel great immediately. I don’t know for sure, but I am willing to bet it helped a little - not with the hair loss (the telogen effluvium spontaneous kind that I had), but with the regrowth.
I am happy to say that 6 months later, I now have what I consider a great head of hair. My hair was always thick and plentuful, and for about a month, it looked like I was sick and balding. I was embarrased to go out. It was not that the hair was thin or thinning, but that it was just dissapearing altogether. Not a month after it stopped falling out (which happened spontaneously the same way it started), I had about 10,000 hairs on my head that were about 1/2 inch long. So frizzy and sticking up they were, but the balding effect was gone - thank god.
I am not a vain person, but I have always loved my hair, and I know how devastating this is for women and young women especially. PLEASE believe me. If telogen effluvium is what you have (all of a sudden type of hair loss), especially after an event (birth control discontinuation, sickness, surgery, death, stress, postpartum, flu, injury, etc.), please believe me. I cried every night and day, and even thought I was going to have to get a wig!
It did stop for me after taking some action with natural remedies. I know it would have stopped ANYWAY, but I wanted to quicken that process. I was SO upset by the whole thing, and I know how upset you are. IT WILL STOP and you will have your hair back. PLEASE DON’T STRESS (impossible, I know). No amount of avoiding hair wash, brush, pillows, will do anything to help you, so don’t be going around with greasy knotty hair. That is not going to help you at all. It will just make you even more self-concsious.
Best of luck. I wish I could help more, but just know from one female hair-lover to another, it WILL be okay, and your hair will come back. Within 2 months, your scalp will look fine and unnoticable of the whole event, and within 8-9 months, your ponytail will be thick again. IT WILL BE OKAY!