Types of Hair loss on AEDs

[NeeLee]

I think about that Alive and Well, and it's possible. Perhaps the whole experience with epilepsy is contributing. My Neurologist keeps telling me that all the side effects are very unlikely, but then they all say that. Never-the-less he is changing my medication. The stress of becoming a different person has been very traumatic for me. I had a career - gone. I was working on my silver, in dance and figure, skating, I painted, wrote poetry and lyrics, had some published, was a creative and functional person. Now, I am doing almost nothing. It is indeed a loss of who I was. Perhaps enough to make anyone stressed about everything. Still, I believe my Meds are causing the hair loss. A straw for the Camel's back. I stay positive, but this is not happiness.
Thanks for the thought. My dog just used to hide when he heard me make his appointment with the Vet. No hair loss.

[occb]

I was just reading about essential oils good for the hair, because... well... I just do that sometimes. Anyway, I kept coming across 3 essential oils good for preventing hair loss from the root:

rosemary oil (bad for seizures)
lavendar oil (okay for seizures)
cedarwood oil (okay for seizures)

They recommend only 2 drops of essential oil per tablespoon of carrier oil, or two drops/tbsp in shampoo.

If the problem is brittle/weak hair, I recommend olive oil or coconut oil for that, because they're the two oils that actually soak into the hair shaft and strenghten it. I use olive oil, and it really thickens my hair and makes it shinier.

I don't know if the essential oils would actually work with anti-epileptic drug-related hair loss, but they may be worth a try. There's a lot of info out there to read about them and how to mix them or use them.

[joan]

Jena lost alot of hair the last year. SHe used to have horse hair, thick hair, now its about 1/3 of what she had before meds. We put her on a prenatal vitamin last month and it does seem to be helping. We had tried a few other things but so far, this seems : ) to be helping. Just FYI.

joan*

[Rae1889]

Jena lost alot of hair the last year. SHe used to have horse hair, thick hair, now its about 1/3 of what she had before meds. We put her on a prenatal vitamin last month and it does seem to be helping. We had tried a few other things but so far, this seems : ) to be helping. Just FYI.

joan*

Thanks Joan.
The other thing I have noticed is that anti-epileptic drugs seemed to make my hair greasier faster.

[joan]

Im not sure but that could be as well. Jena refuses to wash her hair as often as she should as she hates losing it. Her hair looks great after she washes it but after a few days eww.. lol sorry Jena : ) * SInce shes said the prenatal was working Ive been asking her to wash her hair more often. We shall see : )

Be well
joan*

[Rae1889]

Yeah, thats what I do. I hate washing my hair because it comes out in handfuls. its sad.

but I'm going to pick up some prenatal vitamins tonight.

[NeeLee]

Thanks Joan, I am going to a Dermatologist today and see what he has to say. I have stopped taking Keppra and now am on Neurontin and Topamax. My Neurologist hopes I will not have any seizures and no Migraines. If so and the hair continues to fall out he may change Topamax to another drug for the migraines. I am going to talk to the Dr. today about Prenatal vitamins and hear what he has to say. I too had very thick hair and now I can blow it dry in about 10 mins. I do appreciate your advice about the vitamins. At this point I will try anything.

[NeeLee]

Back from the Dr. and he told me that it was defintely the Meds. and that almost all Meds. have an effect on both hair and nails. I liked him! He recommended what everyone has been talking about Biotin and vitamin B complex (pure complex) He did say he did not think Pre-Natal would be of great help, but would not hurt and go ahead if I wanted.
He tried to be encouraging and said to see if being off the Kepra helped. I am going back in a few weeks and talk about other problems I am having. More cosmetic I think. I guess that's all I can do about the hair for right now. Just wait and see.

[regencyulrich]

I guess my anti convulsants cause some kind of hair loss...mine has more often than not cursed my brow line which is embarassing bc i have a good brow line when I was younger i was made fun of by other people because of it and sometimes even despite my age the topic still comes up...right now I am living in a very hot and dry climate and my brow has increased slightly but Id like to know if anyone has another solution to this...

vanity dwells in all our veins.

[NeeLee]

Regency I know exactly what you are experiencing with your brows. I too had very think brows when I was younger and now they are very thin and I look like I have no brows without the right makeup. Tthe wrong makes me look like a clown. I did find a couple of things that help. I found in the drugstor two products that do work and help. Not perfect, but they help. One is a product by Revlon called Color stay Brow Enhancer, it's a double ended pencil, one end a highlightner which I do not use the other a tinted wax pencil for the brow. It seems to make the hair look thicker and where there is no hair it colors and does not look like it is drawn in. Not bad. I then use a little brow powder to brush on and after it looks not to phony. Then there is a pretty good one called Brow Perfection by Prestige. It is a brow building system. It comes in light/medium and medium/dark and is made up of fibers that you brush on to whatever brow hairs you have, gently and slowly and then after brush again and then put a gel over your brows, which is on the other end of the little dispenser and it works really well. It stays on until you take it off. As I said I bought both products at the drug store in the cosmetic department and they are not expensive. Perhaps you may want to try them. I can't think of anything else other then having implants put in. I don't even think abouot that.
Well I hope I helped in any small way. I was in the cosmetology field and believe me if there were any other way, I would be there.

[Westwind]

I can't remember which combination of meds it was - I want to say it was Dilantin and Tegretol (yeah, I know - bad combination....took them 4 months to notice the dilantin was at toxic levels) - but anyway, I lost about 2/3rd of the hair on my head in a week. Found it on the pillow in the morning, etc. Kept a pillow on my head at night for awhile to keep my head warm enough to get to sleep.

Shortly afterwards had Topamax with Depakote and started having a tingling sensation all over my head. After a few weeks, I noticed new hair growing all over it. That was the Topamax. The other effects were terrible and I was off of it quickly. And the regrowth stopped.

I even had some bit of regrowth when I started Keppra - but I don't know if that was the Keppra or getting off of the Depakote.

And my back was never hairy until I was on the Depakote.

[KelVarQ]

1) How much hair did you loose you? Lamictal: a lot Keppra: Even more!

2) Was it a gradual hair loss? Lamictal: gradual Keppra: Quickly and daily

3) All over or in one spot *patches*? Lamictal: all over Keppra: Patches (alopecia: dermatologist gave me steroid shots in the 5-6 patches or bald spots! UGH)

4) Was it more like hair breakage at the middle or from the folicle? Lamictal: Both Keppra: folicle

5) what about other hair? *eyebrows, eyelashes, arm/chest hair etc* NO (my eyelashes got short though? Weird)

6) What anti-epileptic drug were you on that caused this? Keppra and Lamictal

7) Dit it stop for you? In both cases it did stop after I stopped taking the drug.

Dilantin and Tegretol never caused me any problems with hair loss or hair growth. I recall learning with the Alopecia that kidney function has something to do with it and this made sense to me since the older meds process through the liver while both Keppra and Lamictal process through the kidneys.