sharone

I was just wondering if anyone who is taking Metformin noticed less hair loss?

I understand that Met is used to treatment Insulin Resistant women and I don't know if I am. I do know that I have PCOS. I'm going to see an Endo in July because my hair loss is getting worse even after losing 50lbs, going back on BCP's, and taking 100mg or spiro. My hair loss is awful. You can see through to my scalp now!

I always come to this board but I feel like no one else has my problem. Everyone has hirsutism (thankfully, mine's not that bad) but most of you aren't suffering with the hair loss issue like I am. So I'm trying to figure out why. I thought it might be the Metformin connection.

If anyone can help or has a suggestion, please post.

Thanks!

truffles

hello sharone,
the first few months of starting on metformin i noticed my hair shedding at an alarming rate, but 6 months after it definatley slowed right down, i have thinned but it hasnt got any worse over the years and im 39 soon so try not to worry too much because stress can make it worse.
I was actually on steroids which helped me stop shedding altogether but it came at a price, i put on quite a bit of weight (which i can now say i happily lost) but prednisolone def helped me a lot with hairloss.
truffles x

sharone

Thank you so much for replying!

I thought that maybe I was the only one with this problem! I don't know which is worse, excess hair on the body or no hair on my scalp! Losing hair on my scalp has been devastating for me. I have my up and down days and this is a down week!

I had read that women who took Metformin had their PCOS symtoms lessened and decreased so I thought maybe I should try that, but I guess if it causes an increase shed then I'll just stay away for now.

Has anyone seen positive results in hair growth or less hair shedding when they lost weight? Every doctor I go to tells me that I just have to lose weight...Well, hello! I've lost it! It seems to have made it worse!

Thanks for letting me vent!

sharone

Yeah I saw a GREAT dermatologist! He listened and sat with me for almost 40 minutes!

My ferritin was low (25) so I'm taking supplements to improve that. He said I could have AGA but I could also have TE. All the women in my family have thick Italian hair. My grandma had thinner hair but not AGA. My dad is starting to lose some of his hair but still has quite the mop on his head. So my derm wasn't sure what was causing it. When I told him I had PCOS he was pretty sure that that was what was affecting my hair loss.

Also, at the time of my appointment I had just been off BCP's for about 2 months and he said that could cause an increase in shedding. Well, I'm back on BCP's and the shedding has slowed down but it's still around 150 per day! That's over the normal amount of hair loss in one day.

My testosterone was slightly elevated to 60 before I was on sprio and now it's down to 40.

I just want my hair back. I can deal with any other PCOS symtom but hair loss....it's awful. Washing my hair everyday makes me cry so I had to cut to every other day.

I hope the weight loss will be the "cure" for this crappy disease.

Thanks for your encouragement, Quills! When I see my endo in July I'll talk to her about the positive and negative effects of Met.

Have a great day.