Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

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Plaquenil and hair loss!!

puffster
puffster
Has anyone expericned hair loss from Plaquenil? I know hair loss can be caused by RA and I think it was actually my first sympom of having RA, but it was actually getting better till this February. Now I have been on Plaquenil for 7 months, my hair loss is getting really worse. I started shedding a lot in March and now I am really loosing my hair!!!! I just found out that one of the rare side effects of Plaquenil IS hair loss from this website, and other website states it is one of the common side effects of Plaquenil. The med has been working pretty good for me other than that, but I really need my hair back! I also started Orencia in March, but my hair started shedding before Orencia so I don't think that is causing it. Since I am allegic to lots of meds such as MTX, Sulfasalazine, and others, my doctor had a hard time finding me a med that I can take. I am just wondering if anyone else had hair loss from Plaquenil or I am just one of those unlucky ones whose RA symptom includes severe hair loss.... HELP!
Lifeis2short
Lifeis2short
puffster,
My hair thinned out a lot from Methotrexate and so I stopped taking it. I had too many reactions to the other DMARD's so they put me on Enbrel, then Humira and now I have to try Remicade. I had thin hair to begin with. I'm actually going to get Rogaine and start using it. I heard it's good and I called the pharmacist to make sure there were no interactions. Ask your doc about Rogain. Good luck and hang in there!
ThisToo
ThisToo
my hair has been thinning out over the years (pre diagnosis) and just recently began seeming a bit thicker.....now recently on plaquenil and not happy to know I may have hair thinning and possible hair 'bleaching' ; (what the heck does THAT mean, I wonder)
But , still I would rather have less pain than more hair.
It seems with RA meds, it is always 'something' difficult you have to end up with , to pay the price for any help, medically. :(
puffster
puffster
Thanks everyone for your reply. It is so right that RA always has something difficult to deal with. I have been using Rogain since last July (before dx), and it was working well for a while, but I started thinning again in March of this year. Now it does not seem like Rogain is even helping! Anyway, yes, I agree with you guys - it's better to have no pain than hair, but still - it's scary to see all those hair coming off every morning in a shower. Just a side note, I was at my Orencia appointment yesterday and the nurse asked me if I was having any pain or side effects from meds. I said I feel fine, but I have been losing more hair lately. She told me she couldn't tell that at all, so I told her I use hair fiber to cover it up, and my hair is actually lot thinner. She looked into my head but she couldn't tell what part of my hair was fiber, so I am glad to find out people can't notice my fake hair:-). Good luck everyone!