Bipolar Disorder Support Group

Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.

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MoonLight4 03/27/2013

Greetings fellow supporters. I am writing to see if anyone has suffered the unfortunate side effect of hair loss from their medication. I am currently being taperred off of Depakote as it has resulted in A LOT of hair loss for me. I used to have very thick long curly blond hair and now it's drastically thinner and darker. I am feeling beyond sad about these changes. The medication also seems to have changed the texture of my hair.

I'm curious if anyone else has suffered these effects and am specifically curious about what you have done about it. Does the hair grow back to a normal state of fullness? Any advice is greatly appreciated. I've started to take some prenatal vitamins per my pdoc's recommendation to see if that will help.

Thank you in advance for your input!

deleted_user 04/13/2013

YES! I was really bad with lithium. My pdoc said to start taking a vitamin for 50+ and I have noticed that helped a lot. Just a thought.

dancingd 04/13/2013

Several BP meds can cuase hair thinning .

Most deff Depakote and Lithium.

Biotin is a natural supplement , safe to use , and might help

dancingd 04/13/2013

Yes...your hair should grow back to it's normal condition

deleted_user 04/13/2013

I have always had thin but a lot of hair. The hair stylist always said "wow, you have a lot of hair". Just recently I cut it very short. I noticed thinning in the front. I started using a form of Nioxin you can get at Sally's and it works really well. I was also told that I should go back blonde because it adds volume by opening up the hair shaft. I'm doin it!

deleted_user 04/17/2013

Sorry you are going thru this Moon, between my meds and most def my chemo tabs, my hair is falling out A LOT! I've even had nightmares where my hair is 3/4 of the way bald, I didn't think I was thinking about it that much until the nightmares started. There is a hair, skin and nail formula that has Biotin in it that is supposed to work really well. Problem is I can't take it because it feeds cancer, so that is out for me, but I've heard that it really works well - I think it is by Nature's Bounty. Good luck to you with this and hugs, I know too well how bad hair loss makes you feel :(-

Halterbroke 04/18/2013

Yes. On depakote my hair fell out in handfuls. It grew in again even thicker though once I stopped taking it. :)

MoonLight4 05/07/2013

Thank you ALL for your amazing comments, empathy and support. I am officially off of Depakote (have been for a month) and my hair is no longer falling out! Yay!!!!! I am excited to hear that it grows back and maybe even thicker than before- that would be amazing. Wishing all of you the best of luck if you are struggling at all with this challenging problem.

Best wishes,

Moon

deleted_user 05/07/2013

Glad to hear your situation gets better, though hair loss is not that big problem or shall we say fatal but still it can affect our life especially for women, Healthy diet and lifestyle is important, we should not use immediately certain hair product.

DeeTOOL13 05/08/2013

after coming off lithium & depakote my hair return, to its natural state, well kind of its curly now, which i like =o)

All the best

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