Lamictal and Hair Loss

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Lamictal and Hair Loss

by Maria
(New York)

I always had thick hair but recently I was put on Lamictal (600mg) for seizures. I had been on Dilantin and Tegretol for many years but suffered from severe vertigo.

I was told Lamictal had very little side effects. A few months after starting this medicine I noticed my hair got very thin. I took a mirror and examined my hair and realized my scalp was showing on the sides, back and top of my head. I am sick over this. I went to my medical doctor and he ran blood tests which all came back normal.

He said the sudden hair loss is most likely caused by Lamictal. I have to be weaned off this b/c stopping suddenly could trigger a seizure. Once I stop this medicine will my hair grow back or will I go bald completely. Also how long does it take before seeing any results?

Editor Comments,

Dear Maria,

A change in medications can indeed trigger unwanted hair loss due to the fact new medications do bring new side effects and also put your body into different levels of stress. It’s actually pretty common when you take medications like Lamictal.

I am not that familiar with the anti seizure med but I know for a matter of fact that potent medications like Lamictal are known to trigger hair loss and also possibly multiple substantial side effects like vertigo, nausea and anxiety attacks. I am sure a decent percentage of users will suffer hair ‘shocks’ from taking this medication and will face with a period of shedding. This is generally your body’s reaction towards this medication and whether you will or not you will lose all your hair strongly depends on how your body can tolerate this medication and adapt to it. In a great number of cases, the hair loss should reduce and normalized to a decent level after a period of using this medication.

As for the recovery, usually after you stop taking this medication, your hair should be able to grow back after a few months time. Depending on the length of your original hair, it will take 1 month for your hair to grow half an inch, so longer hair will mean longer recovery times. You might want to try a shorter hair cut to reduce the impression of hair loss at the moment.

I can’t stress how important it is to continue to taking anti-seizure medications like Lamictal if there is no other alternatives and your doctor recommends it to prevent unwanted side effects like seizures. The rule of thumb is to always treat the more threatening disease first before handling your hair condition because usually the former often affects the latter but there are ways you can still improve your hair growth. Do talk to your doctor about Minoxidil 2% for women or Viviscal. If you are not allergic to these treatments, they might speed up your recovery.

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Lamictal and Hair Loss

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May 10, 2010
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Neurontin and Depakote Hair Loss
by: Ava

Just want to add that Neurontin does make your hair fall out, even though my dr. says it is not from this anti seizure drug. He is lying. I stopped the med without tapering off and within a week my hair loss slowed down significantly.

I am a cosmotologist and would like women to know that when you notice hair falling out, DO NOT BRUSH YOUR HAIR! This will make much more hair fall out. Try not to wash it every day. Don't care about how awful it looks from not brushing--you will save a lot of hair from falling out.

When I did this, I would see hair all over my shirt which was quite alarming. Also, washing the hair leaves a lot of hair in the drain. If you are not epileptic, get off the med. immed. Your hair will keep falling out. Nothing will slow it down. It will get worse. I don't know why people say it may normalize, but my loss got worse in a matter of weeks.

If you are bi-polar, like me, the choices of meds. are awful. Every single med. will have horrible side effects and I am finished taking them. Anti-psychotics produce tardive dyskinesia.

Lithium can ruin your thyroid gland permanently if it runs in your family, kidneys get affected if on long term with a high dose. You also urinate constantly on Lithium and will gain significant weight. Your hair will fall out on anti seizure meds. (not everyone experiences this), but I certainly have.

Maybe someday, there will be better meds. for bipolar people, since we cannot take anti depressants which have more tolerable side effects. Good luck everyone. Life is so difficult.

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May 10, 2010
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Submitted by: Ava

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Just want to add that Neurontin does make your hair fall out, even though my dr. says it is not from this anti seizure drug. He is lying. I stopped the med without tapering off and within a week my hair loss slowed down significantly. I am a cosmotologist and would like women to know that when you notice hair falling out, DO NOT BRUSH YOUR HAIR! This will make much more hair fall out. Try not to wash it every day. Don't care about how awful it looks from not brushing--you will save a lot of hair from falling out. When I did this, I would see hair all over my shirt which was quite alarming. Also, washing the hair leaves a lot of hair in the drain. If you are not epileptic, get off the med. immed. Your hair will keep falling out. Nothing will slow it down. It will get worse. I don't know why people say it may normalize, but my loss got worse in a matter of weeks. If you are bi-polar, like me, the choices of meds. are awful. Every single med. will have horrible side effects and I am finished taking them. Anti-psychotics produce tardive dyskinesia. Lithium can ruin your thyroid gland permanently if it runs in your family, kidneys get affected if on long term with a high dose. You also urinate constantly on Lithium and will gain significant weight. Your hair will fall out on anti seizure meds. (not everyone experiences this), but I certainly have. Maybe someday, there will be better meds. for bipolar people, since we cannot take anti depressants which have more tolerable side effects. Good luck everyone. Life is so difficult.

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Sep 28, 2009
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lamictal and hair loss persisting after stopping over 1 month ago
by: Anonymous

I was placed on low dose Lamictal and with in 2 weeks noticed a large amount of hair loss still persisting after stopping the medicine over 1 month ago. I am very worried that it will continue to fall all out and even though I've been taking vitamins the loss has not really slowed down. Does any one know if this is permanent loss and what I can do about it. I'm heartsick.

Aug 20, 2009
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Lamictal & Keppra
by: Anonymous

I too lost hair from Lamictal and it did eventually grow back within 6 months time. I also lost a significant amount of hair on Keppra and was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata, which I'm not getting steriod shots once a month in my scalp. The Lamictal I gradually lost hair all over and with Keppra I lost significant amount very quickly and I now have quite a few bald patches. Yes, many of the anti-seizure drugs do cause hair loss and I find that it's most of the newer ones while the older ones (Tegretol / Dilantin) don't cause hair loss or at least not for me, however, according to my neuro they may have long term side effects such as; bone loss, liver damage, etc. The newer meds process through the kidneys while the older through the liver, so perhaps it's the processing through the kidneys is the reason for hair loss with the newer medications.

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