Think I figured out what's making my hair fall out

zzirvingj

zzirvingj

New Member
It's this Amlodopine (Norvasc) blood pressure medication I've been taking.

I'm almost SURE of it. I posted about my hair thinning a few months ago. My mind was kinda boggled because I knew it could be several things. So I stopped using my denman, stopped tying it back as much, started sleeping with my satin scarves again like I'm supposed to, I checked my labs out from my doctor (everything was good), and waited a little bit.

And then I just got to thinking...WHAT, if anything else, has changed for me? Because I've made the mistake of doing alot of the above things before and never had thinning hair. And then it hit me; I started the bp med about 6 months ago, and I swear my hair started going downhill AFTER that time, not before.

Any advice???? :sad: HELP!
 
Have you asked your Dr. if hair loss/thinning is a side effect of that particular medication? If so, and the hair loss is excessive, sometimes they can prescribe an alternative medication. I hate to say, give it more time, because I don't want to sound uncaring, but your heart is so much more important that your hair - even though it is lovely! :)
 
I havent heard of amlodipine causing hair loss in most cases but you could ask your MD to switch this medication for another calcium channel blocker or another type of blood pressure medication if you suspect that it is causing hair loss.
 
OP, I like Prettybyrd's suggestion to find out if the med could be to blame. If it is, you might appreciate the fact that garlic can help with high blood pressure and many say it helps curb unhealthy shedding.

I have a friend who used to have HBP and she started boiling garlic and then chilling the water and drinking it. She said once chilled the water didn't smell so she could use it in Koolaid or in mixing with the 100% frozen Juicy Juice concentrates. After a month or so of doing this, her doctor was so impressed w/ her BP, he took her off the meds.

Just make garlic a regular herb in your diet and then if your doc doesn't object, do as my friend did and see if you can't perhaps do w/o the meds on your doc's watch. Garlinase Fresh/4000 was my regular garlic supplement for about 6 years but I am currently not allowed to have garlic (food sensitivity) otherwise that supplement is the bomb.

Please let us know what your doc says about your theory.
 
I just googled your medication along with the word hair loss and several people have posted that since they started this medication they have suffered hair loss. My mother takes HB pills and most of them have this same side effect.
Because HB runs in my family I take omega 3, 6, 9 , and a garlic supplement. I also use garlic as an herb to season my food. So my supplements serve a double purpose.
I had to take a hard look at my diet and OTC drugs I took. I use to take Excedrin and drank my star bucks with an extra shot of expresso. This caused my BP to be elevated resulting in prehypertension. Yea to much caffeine. Since I made these changes my BP is back to normal.
 
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See if you can switch for a similar med without these complications. The trick seems to be to look at forums and discussions to cross check medications with that possibility. So if there are other possible medicines that your doc recommends type in: x medicine and hair loss forums and discussions

If nothing comes up, then it may be the better bet (and you can ask doc to switch you to that one stating you're having hair loss can you try x medicine instead...and if he could just humor you it would be much appreciated). You can also do that for your own medication and I'm sure you'll find someone saying they have a similar reactiion if this medicine can possibly cause it.

Usually the regular sites description won't tell you all of the medical complications that every day people will tell you. Sure it will list some of the common side effects but not all. That's what forums and discussions are for. I've done this with all of my mom's meds as she has lupus and was gaining weight despite eating very little. So once we isolated which medicines others said were causing weight gain, we searched for alternatives that did not cause it, and she went to ask her doc to switch. Of course sometimes they'd say no no no that is not one of the side effects....but let me tell you this she insisted that they "humor" her and has lost 65 pounds since then (and counting).

If your instinct says it's this medicine, then it won't hurt to try an alternative without those side effects. google: alternative medicines to X medicine for blood pressure.

Then google cross reference those medicines with hair loss in forums and discussions just to double check that they do not have a similar problem. Finally youll know which ones to ask your doc to consider (come armed with a list) switching. Finally if there are no alternatives and you have to keep that medicine look into ways to counteract the hair loss such as garlic shampoo and pills.
 
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I had the same problems with Norvasc and I also passed out behind the wheel of my car! The doctor took me off of it so fast after that. Horrible drug indeed!!
 
SherylsTresses said:
@zzirvingj
Please share how you have changed your regimen and if your shedding has been reduced.
Click to expand...


@SherylsTresses

Yes, I do think my shedding has been reduced, but primarily because of two things:

1-I don't go to the Dominicans anymore. I think I experienced a good deal of breakage from trips to the Dominican salons.

2-I'm not on the same blood pressure meds anymore; my doc has me on new ones.

Besides that, my regimen is pretty simple:
Clarify/DC once a week (Aveda Scalp Benefits/One 'n Only Argan Hydrating Mask from Sally's)
^I use Lekair Cholesterol to detangle, and Giovanni Direct for my leave in
^I seal with coconut oil

When protein is needed, I use Aphogee 2 step
For daily moisture, I have a spray bottle with distilled water/glycerin, and seal with coconut oil

I usually wear my hair in a boring bun :look:...but I just took my hair out of mini twists (see siggy-I was inspired by YouTuber aliciajames :yep:), I may start wearing mini twists as my staple style for a while.
 
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