My Rheum. gave me a prescription for folic acid, to take every day.He said it could help prevent or decrease hair loss. It seems to have helped with me, have had no hair loss.

If you go online, and look up shaggy bobs, that could look cute.

I'm taking folic acid 1000 mg daily, so I guess its just the luck of the Irish visiting me again. Problem is my hair is already short! Thanks, Trish

When I was taking mtx, I tried lots of layers in my hair. But I also found taking biotin helped slow the hair loss.

Oh the horrible hair loss! I was on MTX injections for 4 months and lost so much hair I had to stop using it. I had been on MTX before when I was first diagnosed and it did the same thing. I'll never use it again. I'm not wig ready!

I'm in that crux right now. Mine isn't falling out so much as breaking. I finally have it long enough to wear up and I end up with flyaways in my face driving me nuts.
I am gonna try biotin. Does anyone have a dose?

I have a prescription for leucovorin, taken 8 hours after the mtx. It really does seem to help with the falling hair.

THANK YOU all. I'm in contact with my rheumy, who is wonderful, to get a prescription of Leucovorin. I know I am being vain, but damn enough is enough. Gotta have swollen stuff I would to retain what hair I have. So thank everyone who responded so very, very much. Trish

Trish, I hear you loud and clear - lost tons of hair about 4 mths into MTX. I couldn't believe how much it upset me, I knew it was vain, but I just got so sad everytime I washed my hair and watched handfuls fall out.

Leucovorin made a big dif for me, 10 mg 24 hrs after the shot. Also took biotin (I'll check tonight for the dose when I get home). I really started to spread out the days between hair washing, and used dry shampoo.

My hair did start growing back about a mth after switching from folic acid to leucovorin. I'd lost most at the crown of my head, so I had bangs when it eventually grew back in. That was 18 mths ago, and now you'd never know I had lost so much hair - my hairdresser says it's all back to normal. good luck!

Just went and picked up my prescription!!! Although my doc thinks its too early for it to be the effects of mtx, he thinks it's just the inflammation, I started mtx the end of Jan. Man I don't want to think about it getting worse; so I got the pills.

fish oil helps, too. i take arava, not mtx, but my hair falls out from that, and i take fish oil twice a day, and it has really decreased the amount of shedding.

Hair loss could mean that your RA has damaged your thyroid. Have your thyroid checked. You could have Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) also called Hashimoto's disease when it isdamaged by inflammation from RA. My RA damaged my thyroid.

i take folic acid and am ready to go wig shopping!!! RA and aging is a nasty double punch on hair loss....add Sjogrens which causes dryness of everything including hair and skin...and whammo!

Yet I still don't look to bad for an old broad and the men do not seem to mind! :-)

so achymom should I not be taking the folic acid, I thought it was to help with the nausea? Trish

and ilovehuskies I was diagnosed a couple of yrs ago with some type of thyroid mess and have been taking pills for that.

Drinking more water is the best way to prevent hair loss while medication. Taking vitamin B will be helpful.