Healthy hair symptoms and conditions

Hi...I had my the Mirena place in 8/08. I have noticed an increased amount of hair loss over the last 6 months( patchy areas). I have always had healthy hair and never experienced hair loss such as this. I thought maybe it was related to stress and pregnancy. My hair dresser recommends taking vitamins and eating healthy and that it is normal to shed hair daily...but not like this! After reading the posted reviews, I am now convinced that it must be the Mirena. My thyroid hormone level was normal in 6/09. Has anyone had the Mirena removed and noticed any change in the loss of hair?

Thanks...worried!

I had my Mirena inserted after my second child in March 2009. I didn't have any difficulty with the insertion, but shortly after I started having severe headaches (about once a week) and bled on random occasions. About a month ago my family and I moved, and when we started living in our new house I noticed my hair falling out in huge clumps, which is something new to me because I have always had thick, healthy hair. I figured it was the stress from moving but when it didn't stop I came across this website and found out it was a side effect from Mirena. I put in a call today to the doctor to see about taking this thing out. Maybe I can take some extra vitamins to fix it that way I can keep the Mirena. If not it is coming out.

I HAVE HAD THE MIRENA FOR ALMOST 3YEARS NOW THAT I AM READING WHAT EVERYONE SAYING I HAVE ALL THE EFFECTS THE THE WORST ONE IS LOSING MY HAIR I AM NOT SURE IF IT IS BECAUSE OF THE MIRENA OR NOT PLEASE IF ANYONE IS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM PLEASE TELL ME

I had Mirena inserted 8 weeks after I had my second child. I was excited to start a new form of birth control thinking it might be our last child and with the 5 year no worry plan I was all in. I have experienced only a few major side effects. The first is extremely bad acne which I never had and major hair thinning on the crown of my head. I had it for a year and the hair loss has been very gradual and I didn't pay much attention because I have always had super thick healthy hair. I had it removed last week. Any help or suggestions as to how long before I see these side effects improve? Will I get my beautiful hair back?

After having the third shot I noticed my hair began falling out (July 2007). It is now over a year later and after having numerous blood tests, visiting a dermatologist and doing tons of research, I have concluded that gardasil must be causing this. My hair continues to fall out, I have bald areas around the crown of my head and my mood is very depressed by this. I also experienced soreness in my legs and joints but these are not constant. My periods also are out of whack. They can be between 28-50 days apart. I would not recommend anyone getting this vaccine. I wish my OBGYN had not sold me on it. I was 31 when I got it but she said age didn't matter, she said one day insurance companies would cover this vaccine for all women no matter what age they are. I paid $190.00 a shot and now I have a thin head of hair that may one day soon be bald if it doesn’t stop falling out. I think they should take this vaccine off the market. If anyone else has had severe hair loss, has it stopped falling out after a certain point?

I am going bald after taking Loestrin 24 Fe for only 3 weeks. My hair is coming out in clumps. I thought my hair dresser had done something wrong, I started eliminating possible causes and decided to read the information packet when I realized that loss of scalp hair is one of the side effects at the bottom of the list. I have large bald spots in my head of normal thick healthy hair and the hair on my head now look very unfamiliar. I know I will have to start wearing a wig within another week.
I am so disappointed because I was starting to feel happy that I haven't experience any of the usually side effects of birth control pills and was thinking that I would give it the 4 month trial that my doctor suggested. I am a 43 year old woman trying to take this pill for bleeding control after ruling out other causes for my bleeding, now I think I am over trying pills.

I have had EXTREME hair loss and I did not know what from. I never thought it was my advair. I checked all of my other medications and only one other one said there was a possibility of hair loss (PREVACID) so I went off of that but my hair was still falling out. I have been so desperate that I scheduled and appointment to see a dermatologist tomorrow. Today I happened to google "advair/hair loss" and I cannot believe all of the articles that came up with people expressing the correlation.
I have been so depressed from this hair loss. I had the thickest, shiniest hair and now I barely have a pony tail. I wear hats all of the time because I am embarrassed.It has been totally devastating.
What I need to know is which other asthma medication will NOT cause hair loss so I can switch? Too bad I just dropped $100 on a 3-month supply of Advair and now cannot use it.
Also, those of you who went off the Advair, how long did it take for you to experience hair growth or it not falling out?

ive bn on femcon 4 2 wks now.i have horrible headaches everyday, very nauseous and fatigued.i have alot of lower back pain and cramping.ive noticed about every 2 days i have bad bloating.ive gained 5 lbs already and most devastingly my hair has been falling out since a week ago!i had very healthy hair but now everytime u touch my hair it just comes out. i even have a bald spot in my head and i don't know what 2 do other than stop taking it. i thought bout sticking with it until i finished the other 2 packs i have just 2 c if the side effects subside but i just can't take a chance 2 c if my hair stops falling out. i might end up completely bald!any suggestions on the hair loss problem?

There is a strong warning regarding heartbeat irregularities and Topamax. It is in the PDR and professional literature but is usually not told to patients.

I am an RN, wanted to lose around 30 pounds and my doctor prescribed this medication. He did not tell me about any side effects other than possible dizziness when first starting the medication. I wondered why my thick and healthy hair was falling out by the handfulls and why my Diet Coke was undrinkable.. figured out the soft drink part but had to ask him about hair loss before he offered up that it is a very common side effect. But those are the simple, more common things which most people now know about. The cardiac effects are NOT well known until a person really looks for that particular effect in professional literature. People NEED to know. I have been in the hospital for several days and am still having a very rapid heartbeat with a serious irregularity which I have never had before taking Topamax and which is documented in SOME literature for physician prescribing only.

Today I will be having heart tests and possibly even a heart cath. to determine if the Topamax which I stopped taking 2 weeks ago is the cause of my own irregular heartbeat ( Ventricular Ectopy) and chest pain.

IF you don't need this medication very badly for seizures, please do not take if " off label".
The risks are sometimes much more severe than the condition being treated.

I wish you all health and happiness. God bless.

Texas RN

I have been on topomax for about 10 days(50 mg for first week and 100 mg since then). I have severe hair loss, loss of apetite, memory loss, loss of words, confusion, not able to think clearly, mood swings and depression. I am worried at all these side effects. I sometimes think, if I have to chose between severe headaches and all these, is it worthy to continue Topomax? My Doctor only warned me of tingling effect on fingers and toes and nothing else. Today I had been to another doctor for second opinion and he actually asked me a few question as part of check up and the it struck me that all these things are happening to me. I was kind of ignoring these effects so far thinking they are part of post partum depression.

My 14 year old daughter was on Topamax for migraines for 7 months and when she went off, she lost considerable amounts of hair. I'm not noticing regrowth - and that scares me for her. She had such beautiful blonde hair and I'm concerned that this is going to get worse as opposed to better. Has anyone noticed regrowth???

I started taking Fosamax in January, 2006. Have always had very thick, healthy hair and have noticed a marked thinning of my hair in this short time. Has anybody had the same symptoms and have they changed to another medication or treatment that does not promote hair loss? Thank you.

These side effect stories seem scary, but I have heard the same stories about any birth control pill discussed on the Net'.

Birth control pills are a very tricky issue, and I think most women experience physical changes of some sort while on them. As one poster wisely pointed out, people who are LESS satisfied are liekly to be MORE vocal about it.

I started Yasmin after doing a lot of research, and being sick of feeling like a wacko on LoEstrin Fe 1/20. I was on the LoEstrin for almost two years and it made me:

a) lose my sex drive entirely
b) experience vaginal dryness
c) lose my period altogether
d) bloat me up with water weight
e) made my cellulite look a lot worse
f) made me moody as all get-out
g) the only "normal" days of my life occured about 2 days into my 7 off days
h) have difficulty losing weight
i) experience unyielding acne around the mouth and chin
j) experience dry hair when I always used to have thick healthy hair

Sound familiar?

Bottom line is that birth control pills are by their nature EVIL, but they are our best hope unless we want an IUD or surgery. The whole birth control issue stinks, which frustrates me to no end. I think right now Yasmin is taking a beating because it is VERY popular and more people are talking about it.

I will try to remember to keep posting here to report my future experiences on Yasmin.

Oh, and btw, I had higher blood pressure from LoEstrin, which has less estrogen than Yasmin. My blood pressure was always normal, shooting up to 120/80 when nervous. Now I'm lucky to get 120/80 at any time. I work out doing vigorous cardio 4-5 times per week for 50 minutes at a time. I'm a vegetarian, health nut, pilates-loving California fruit, LOL. I'm a non-smoker, non-drinker.

I'm convinced that for many of us, the pill is just plain wrong.