![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Janelle on March 30, 2002, at 14:30:22
My hair is thin, fine and sheds as it is, so I'm quite alarmed by the fact that Depakote, which I'm just starting, can cause hair loss. The last thing I need is to start losing hair. I'd like to take a small survey from this board to get a feel for the likelihood of losing hair and would appreciate hearing from those on Depakote: have you lost hair since you are on it - a simple yes or no would be great. Thanks very much.
Posted by JohnX2 on March 30, 2002, at 22:38:28
In reply to DEPAKOTERS: hair loss - yes or no? pls sign in!, posted by Janelle on March 30, 2002, at 14:30:22
Posted by Ritch on March 31, 2002, at 10:23:12
In reply to DEPAKOTERS: hair loss - yes or no? pls sign in!, posted by Janelle on March 30, 2002, at 14:30:22
Posted by Morgana on March 31, 2002, at 21:16:38
In reply to DEPAKOTERS: hair loss - yes or no? pls sign in!, posted by Janelle on March 30, 2002, at 14:30:22
Hi Janelle,
When I was on depakote I wasn't sure if I lost any hair or not. I have lots of hair, but it's very fine. I thought that my hair was thinning...but it may have been paranoia on my part.
It did however change my hair. Before, my hair was straight, straight, straight. Now, its got wave and nice big curls.
It's wonderful! :o)
Hope you have nice experience,
Morgana, BPII - Nardil and Lamictal
Posted by Janelle on March 31, 2002, at 21:39:42
In reply to Re: DEPAKOTERS: hair loss - I'm not sure..., posted by Morgana on March 31, 2002, at 21:16:38
Posted by Shandra on October 29, 2003, at 16:43:18
In reply to DEPAKOTERS: hair loss - yes or no? pls sign in!, posted by Janelle on March 30, 2002, at 14:30:22
I have always had very full hair and throughout my life have never noticed any major hair loss (e.g., excessive amounts left on the hairbrush, in the shower, on my pillow, etc.).
I was diagnosed with Bipolar II and put on Depakote about 6 months ago. I was only able to tolerate 750 mg a day (my pdoc initially wanted to see me at 1000 mg per day, but I got to a therapeutic dose at 750 mg very quickly). I noticed very minor hair loss shortly after I started taking Depakote, but not enough to worry about. However, I tapered off and stopped taking Depakote altogether about 6 weeks ago, and my hair really started falling out!
I have been combing the internet (sorry for the pun) trying to get better information on this, since it is understandably pretty upsetting to see this happening AFTER coming off of the meds! This was not something I expected. I can't think of any other factors that would be contributing to to this hair loss, since I have also recently virtually eliminated all forms of stress in my life by quitting my job in NYC and moving to a beautiful and peaceful rural area in Georgia, I have no family history of hair loss, and have not altered my diet considerably. Unless a huge increase in peace and quiet makes your hair freak out and start serious thinning, I'm thinking it's coming OFF of Depakote that causes the biggest problem. This has been very alarming, so I checked out the Depakote home website and did not find anything about hair thinning or other side effects there. All the reading I'd done previously, plus the info I got from my pdoc, suggested that I would expect to have this side effect (only?) while taking the medication. NOT SO in my case. I wish I had known to expect this earlier, it might not have caught me by surprise quite so much.
As soon as I stopped taking Depakote altogether, I noticed my hair was steadily falling out little by little -- not a huge amount at any one time but just constantly! Since I normally have very full hair, it took a while for it to become noticable as thinning per se. I only really noticed the visible difference in my hair volume about 2 weeks ago (4 weeks after coming off the meds), but when I did notice it, I figure I had already lost about 30% of my original volume (it takes a 15% loss in hair volume to be noticable). Like another poster mentioned, while I was first on Depakote, I was a little worried about hair loss and was somewhat oversensitized to the possibility of that side effect, but I realized soon that whatever small hair loss I was noticing was actually the normal thinning everyone experiences and was nothing to worry about. However, after discontinuing the meds, and not expecting hair loss, I found there was no way to ignore the constant loss I was experiencing.
[Side note - What I really had trouble with staring Depakote was serious stomach problems (i.e., vomiting and upset stomach), but only when I got to up 750 mg a day. At 250 mg and 500 mg (as I was building up to the target) I had no side effects at all.]
Earlier today I ran across an Australian website posting in which a responder (an MD) said that you could expect the hair loss to reverse itself 6-8 weeks AFTER STOPPING Depakote. In other words, or at least as I'm reading it, there is expected to be some slight hair loss while on Depakote, and a lot more hair loss when you stop taking it, but that should end after about 6-8 weeks. Keep in mind it takes a certain amount of time for Depakote to build up to therapeutic levels in the bloodstream when you first start on it, so I'm thinking this unexpected hair loss after the fact is a side effect of the reverse process.
As I wait for this hair loss to subside on its own, I am also doing a few things to help limit the effects, -- at the very least I want feel I'm *doing* something about it rather than sitting back helplessly watching it all fall out (I do not have any bald patches as yet, just a pretty serious case of overall thinning that is becoming noticeable.) First, I read recently that ensuring you have sufficient iron in your system is important to fend off hair loss, so I am starting a one-a-day supplement with iron for women in hopes that this will help - I can't imagine such a moderate vit/mineral supplement will hurt, anyway. Second, I have just lightened my hair (from medium/dark blonde to lighter blonde) so that the white of my scalp doesn't create such a contrast with my naturally darker hair, thereby making this upsetting hair loss a little bit less obvious anyway. (If you have much darker hair to start with, chunky highlights would probably achieve the same result without an awkward growout pattern). Third, I read recently that Nizoral shampoo (which hit the Over-The-Counter market as an anti-dandruff shampoo a couple of years ago - and was actually recommended by my daughter's pediatrician for dandruff, so I had some in the house already!) actually stimulates hair growth. Nizoral is a very nice, gentle shampoo that you can use every day if you want, even though the bottle says to use it once every three or four days to control dandruff (its originally intended use).
So, that's my overall approach - start taking an iron supplement, lighten existing hair so it's not so noticeable, and start using Nizoral (even though I don't have dandruff) in order to start stimulating regrowth.
Hopefully the hair loss will correct itself soon, since I've been completely off Depakote for about 6 weeks now.
In general, I guess my advice is that unless you're seeing an alarming amount of hair being lost, don't be alarmed! :) Just realize this may happen if you switch to something else or perhaps (?) lower your dose.
************> My hair is thin, fine and sheds as it is, so I'm quite alarmed by the fact that Depakote, which I'm just starting, can cause hair loss. The last thing I need is to start losing hair. I'd like to take a small survey from this board to get a feel for the likelihood of losing hair and would appreciate hearing from those on Depakote: have you lost hair since you are on it - a simple yes or no would be great. Thanks very much.
Posted by Sooshi on October 29, 2003, at 20:52:27
In reply to Re: DEPAKOTERS: hair loss - yes or no? pls sign in! » Janelle, posted by Shandra on October 29, 2003, at 16:43:18
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.