Posted by BabbleBeme50 on September 13, 2004, at 12:09:54
In reply to Effexor xr Hair Loss?, posted by Violet132 on September 13, 2004, at 11:53:01
> I have been on Effexor XR for about 10 months now. I dont think it's helping at all, but my dr won't take me off of it. I have experienced many of the side effects, but for the last 3 months, my hair has been falling out in clumps. Dr said it was the depakote and Ive been off that for 2 1/2 months, so that couldn't be it. I am thinking of taking myself off effexor, I know it's not the best thing to do but I don't like the med at all. I see no changes in myself, except that I am more lethargic, and feel like I am in a fog most of the time. Like I'm outside of myself looking in. I am also on trileptal and lamictal. Has enyone experienced problems with these meds? Nothing seems to be helping really. I want to get off everything and start over. It is so discouraging!
>Hi Violet,
I can relate to your experience. Hair means so little for me at this point in my life, but my scalp was disfigured by a well known hair restoration surgeon 27 years ago. I can certaintly understand your discouragement. My doctor and dermatologist have doubted my complaints, but I did stop the Effexor and rechallenged to prove it was the drug. The hair loss restarted in ten days. The docs maintain it's an infrequent event. Cymbalta may be an alternative. I can't be certain of this. Here's a case study of Effexor induced alopecia.In this case report by Pitchot et al. (2001), he reports a link
between venlafaxine (a different class of antidepressant) and hair
loss:
“Ms. A was a 50-year-old woman who had suffered from a severe major
depressive episode of a melancholic subtype. She did not fulfill
DSM-IV criteria for any other axis I or personality disorder. She was
medically healthy and did not take any medications. Her general
practitioner began treatment with venlafaxine, 75 mg/day. After 15
days, her dose of venlafaxine was increased to 150 mg/day. Four weeks
later, Ms. A was much better. However, she reported moderate side
effects, such as nausea and somnolence, that began after 2 days of
treatment. After 2 weeks, she also noticed hair loss when she brushed
or washed her hair. Ms. A considered hair loss a moderate but
disturbing side effect and decided to discontinue the treatment after
3 months. Her hair loss stopped completely 1 month later.Ten months later, Ms. A developed a new major depressive episode. She
began taking venlafaxine again; this was associated with a complete
remission of the previous depressive episode. She started taking
venlafaxine at a mean dose of 75 mg/day and then increased it to 150
mg/day after 2 weeks. Three weeks later, Ms. A decided to stop taking
the medication again because of the hair loss that she had observed 10
days after beginning treatment. A complete remission was achieved with
sertraline, 50 mg/day, without hair loss, which completely stopped 3
weeks after the discontinuation of venlafaxine.Our patient had never experienced hair loss before and had no history
of endocrine illness. Hair loss has been reported with selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluoxetine (3), sertraline (4),
and paroxetine (5), but it is considered a rare side effect. To our
knowledge, this is the first report of hair loss associated with
venlafaxine therapy. Clinicians should be aware of this surprising and
potentially distressing side effect.” (2)
poster:BabbleBeme50
thread:390289
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040909/msgs/390293.html