Methotrexate and hair loss

Hi lainey,

I have never been on Metho so I can't offer any suggestions, hopefully someone who has will be along soon. You must have just recently started it though by the look of your last post and I'm wondering if it is actually the Metho causing it or the Lupus itself. Hairloss is very common in Lupus flares, something to bear in mind. I hope the Nioxin helps, many here use it with success, at least in slowing hair loss down.

love
Lily

I have terrible hairloss due to lupus, been loosing it for 5 yrs now but weirdly enough didn't loose as much at my worst through the illness. I use nioxin, don't think it does what the claims say but it does not plug up the folicles and is gentle. After a yr or so of using this I firmly believe the lupus desease is more of a culprit.

Hello Lainey, First of all don't panic. I lost some hair when I started on Metho.
I did have a lot of hair though. I would say I lost maybe 25% then the hair loss stopped. As with most things I was far more aware of it than any of my friends, no one but myself and my Hairdresser really noticed. I found that I just had to learn not to take my hair for granted. I never colour it myself now, am careful when blow drying it etc.

I would say that your hair loss will stabilise soon. I have not heard of anyone on methotrexate losing vast amounts of hair (although others may know differently).

Methotrexate can be very beneficial. I have been on it for several years, and I would say you have every reason to be optimistic about it.

So pleased to hear about the Wedding! How are the preparations going?

x Lola

PS. I am only a fellow patient, I make no claims to be an expert in this, but what experience I have gained I am very happy to share.

I want to thank everyone for all of your replies.

I did have some hair loss due to my lupus once before but nothing like what I have been experiencing since I started on Methotrexate. My previous experience with hair loss didn't last very long, especially once the plaquenil was in my system.

LolaLola, I hope you're right about the hair loss slowing down and that my hair loss could be due to my lupus. Did you notice your hair starting to grow back eventually?

The wedding plans are going good...slowly but surely I was advised to take it easy and not get too stressed about the planning because it could cause my lupus to flare up. I keep hearing stories about people putting themselves back in the hospital around their wedding day. It's fun for me though and I am making sure that I work on it in small doses. thanks for asking!

I do not take this medicine but could not help myself but to post a reply. Congrads on the upcoming marriage. I hope you have your hair back by then but if you don't I would look into a really nice wig and a great hair style to save on the beauty shop. You can even get it to match your hair color now so that it looks like your hair. It was just a thought, and it is better than being bald right. You are lucky that you set the date for the fall so you have a lot of time for things to work out for you. I have hair loss from the lupus, thank goodness I was born with twice as much hair as I needed lol, now it looks somewhat normal, unless you start parting it. I hope you are taking it easy and feeling well, enjoy your big day.

Just thought I'd update on this post. Good news...alhough my hair hasn't completely stopped falling out, I am happy to report that it has slowed down A LOT....and I have lots of baby hairs growing now As soon as I told my rheumatologist about my hair fallng out, he increased my folic acid intake and added Plaquenil to my treatment. I have also been using nioxin shampoo and conditioner and taking Biotin (okayed by my doc as well). The Nioxin shampoo made my hair so soft and nice.
When I finally went to my hairdresser (after over 6 months), she suggested using a reconstructing shampoo and conditioner to help my hair improve from the brittleness that resulted from taking MTX. I've started that today.

i hope this post helps others that are experiencing hair loss from MTX.

laineyrock;537272 said:

Has anyone experienced any hair loss while on Methotrexate? I'm currently on 10mg once a week and have noticed an increase in hair loss. My doctor has also increased my folic acid dosage in hopes with helping it. I'm getting married in the fall and don't want to be bald by that day. I have found that nioxin can help promote hair growth so I'm just starting to try it now.

Has anyone had any success with fighting this side effect? I would appreciate any advice on how to deal with and/or prevent any more hair loss.

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Hi. Congratualations on your forthcoming marriage!

I'm on 7.5mg and did notice some increased hair loss at the beginning, however, my consultant believes it is a coincidence and due to the lupus rather than methotrexate. He stated that it is very unusual to hear of hair loss caused by the relatively low doses that we are on.

He also reminded me that whilst I have already seen improvements in my skin, hair cell turnover is extremely slow so it will take time for the condition to stabilize and the methotrexate to have a real effect. He also pointed out that I do in fact have some new baby hairs growing even if I can't see them.

I'm using an 'enrichment' shampoo and lotion which was recommended to one of my friends who is going through chemotherapy, ie. Redken Vivagen and taking Spirulina daily.

Can I ask the dose of folic acid you are on?

Aggie69, I'm on 1mg Folic Acid twice a day.

I've had hair loss from my Lupus before. When I started MTX, my hair loss was worse (all over) so I knew the culprit was the MTX. My rheumy agreed. I also read somewhere (please note, I'm not sure how true this is) that if your hair loss is patchy, it is more likely from Lupus and if it is all over, then it's the MTX.

That's good to know about Redken Vivagen and taking Spirulina daily. I've never heard of those. Thank you

Another thing I have been doing is drinking protein shakes. Hair is made out of protein so I figured why not try it. From my experience, all that I have been doing (i.e., biotin, protein shakes, nioxin shampoos, folic acid, etc.) has been working so far

laineyrock;545878 said:

Aggie69, I'm on 1mg Folic Acid twice a day.

I've had hair loss from my Lupus before. When I started MTX, my hair loss was worse (all over) so I knew the culprit was the MTX. My rheumy agreed. I also read somewhere (please note, I'm not sure how true this is) that if your hair loss is patchy, it is more likely from Lupus and if it is all over, then it's the MTX.

That's good to know about Redken Vivagen and taking Spirulina daily. I've never heard of those. Thank you

Another thing I have been doing is drinking protein shakes. Hair is made out of protein so I figured why not try it. From my experience, all that I have been doing (i.e., biotin, protein shakes, nioxin shampoos, folic acid, etc.) has been working so far

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That's great news!

My hair loss has been patchy, ie. coming out in clumps rather than what I call general shedding so maybe that's why my consultant came to the conclusion he did.

That's a good idea about the protein shakes and I must start taking the biotin again. I've always had a problem keeping my ferritin levels up and was prescribed ferrous sulphate which worked really slowly. A hair loss expert advised me that spirulina worked much better so that's what I take now. Of course, you need to check with your doctor that this won't intefere with any other meds you're on.

Thanks for the info regarding the folic acid. I'm on 5mg a week and I think it might be beneficial if I discuss upping this a tad with my GP as I've heard it helps with side effects. Not sure how that works though!

laineyrock;545862 said:

Just thought I'd update on this post. Good news...alhough my hair hasn't completely stopped falling out, I am happy to report that it has slowed down A LOT....and I have lots of baby hairs growing now As soon as I told my rheumatologist about my hair fallng out, he increased my folic acid intake and added Plaquenil to my treatment. I have also been using nioxin shampoo and conditioner and taking Biotin (okayed by my doc as well). The Nioxin shampoo made my hair so soft and nice.
When I finally went to my hairdresser (after over 6 months), she suggested using a reconstructing shampoo and conditioner to help my hair improve from the brittleness that resulted from taking MTX. I've started that today.

i hope this post helps others that are experiencing hair loss from MTX.

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Can you please provide the names of the restructuring shampoo and conditioner.

Thank you

The nioxin shampoo and conditioner I'm using is called Nutri-Ox by Naturelle. I use the one for color-treated hair.

The reconstructing shampoo and conditioner I'm also using is by Joico called K-Pak. I've used this before and it made my hair feel a lot healthier....but I used it before I was diagnosed with Lupus. Not sure how it's going to work now that I've been on MTX. I'm hoping it works the same. My hairdresser also suggested using K-Pak's leave in conditioner treatment (can't remember exactly what it's called thought) and leave it in the hair overnight. I haven't tried that yet.

Hope this helps!