Prednisone thinning out my hair

[Guestly]

Friends,

So, the heavy duty steroids have really thinned out my hair over the last 6 months... I have longish hair, and although it is fine, have always had loads of it, so it looked really thick and luscious... ok I am bragging, but my hair always was lovely.

Now I am on the Mercaptopurine, and it's falling out even more. Hubby says you can hardly notice, but I have shiny patches if I stand under a light and my parting is just getting bigger and bigger all the time - everytime I go in the bathroom I am stressing. Also, it looks lank and greasy - even when it's just washed. I think its because my scalp is producing the same amount of natural oils as it used to (which meant my hair was always shiny), but now there is less than half as much hair I just look like I don't wash...

So, I have bought a couple of wigs, and they are REALLY nice - one of them looks just like my hair used to. I am thinking I shall just clipper off the lank remains of what was my gorgeous hair. Do you see my thinking,? Right now I can't control my hair, (or my bowels for that matter), but if I just clipper it all off, I won't be scrutinizing my scalp every chance I get - I take control!

Hubby is worried I am rushing into it... so what do you guys think?

To clipper or not to clipper?

Lishyloo x x x

 

[Crohn's 35]

Hi LL, Your husband could be right, when you taper, your hair should come back. I lost some hair too but all came back accept one spot where my scar from a kid days, didnt come back and of course my husband didnt notice but did. Dont know about the Mercapturine, I reacted to it bad, could make it worse too I dunno. If you decide to where a wig, dont wear it all the time, your scalp needs to breathe and could cause more breakage. Dont clip yet, how much pred are you on? What is your taper every week or other?

 

[Guestly]

Hi Jettalady,

I am on Entocort, 9mg per day, and no plans to taper as yet... a side effect of the mercaptopurine apparently is hair loss... and I beleive the plan is to keep me on that for two years, unfortunately it also seems to be giving me the squits worse than ever - doh!

If I did go for the wigs I would only wear them to work... oh I dunno... just feeling the need to take control.. part of me thinks it could be quite liberating to just get rid of the lank skanky hair, in a bit of a two fingers up gesture to everything thats going on!!

Lishyloo

 

[Crohn's 35]

I was on Entocort after my first surgery for 7 years and I never lost a strand, must be form the Mercapturine. Not a fan of that drug, but do what you gotta do and what makes you feel better.

 

[shazamataz]

Hey Lishy,
Aren;t side effects grand!!!! I don;t know about the hair loss as mine seems fine on Pred though has gone straighter.
My hair problem is the extra that has grown on my face! Lots of peachy fuzz which I gave in and lightly shaved off as i couldn't stand it any longer. Fingers crossed now I am on a low dose it won't come back. I should have kept it, packaged it up and sent it to you to stick on your head!
Perhaps you could shave your head as a cancer fundraiser? We do that here sometimes.
Sorry you are having this on top of everything else!
((((HUGS))))

 

[imisspopcorn]

Sorry Lisyloo, it's rather scary when you have hair loss. I had quite a bit last year before and after surgery. Has your doc checked your thyroid just in case???? Mine has grown back...and get this...it grew back curly???? I use to pay for curls back in the day....I also had extra oil production while on steroids especially my face and hair....Don't cut it all off yet, but I ended up changing my hairstyle so it was more flattering...Also my hair stylist recommended taking Biotin. It's suppose to help with hair growth.

 

[Guestly]

Thank you all... so I went to my hairdresser, and she cropped it, and to be honest it doesn't look to bad - a bit tufty, but ok.

Today I wore a wig to work - was very nervous entering the staff room in case everyone burst out laughing, but instead everyone raved about the new cut and colour I had, and no one believed it when I told them it was a wig!

Gonna buy a pink glitter version for Christmas...

Oh, and today I woke up this morning and had NO PAIN, and no BM yet.... damn I feel good! Who needs hair?

Lishyloo

 

[PERDITA]

As it is cropped do you need to wear a wig at all, doesnt it look trendy short? I am battling with my hair at the moment, is normally really thick but whenever I have had a flare it seems to thin at the sides and goes all wispy and lank, am off to the hairdressers myself today as it needs cutting to sort it out again!!

 

[kskitt]

I loose quite a bit of my hair anyway (dunno why) and tbh you cant notice it, but i am a bit worried that in a few years time its going to look really bad

 

[Jer's Girl]

Good for you for finding a way to take control over something that was making you feel miserable! Personally, I LOVE short hair on woman and getting my hair cut is my absolute favorite thing to do so my advice was going to be, for sure cut it and that will take care of the lank long locks problem. If you don’t love the cut you got, look through magazines and on the internet and find one that you like better. Ask your stylist for some tips on how to make it look chic and fresh.

Getting your hair cut is very transformative in my opinion. Then you can use the wigs when you want to feel more glamorous or confident, and go without as you feel ready and as your hair begins to fill back in.

Women with short hair look powerful and confident to me. I am growing my hair out for my wedding and then I am going to cut it all off and donate it. I have already donated my hair 3 times. If you still have your pony tail, you should send it to the Pink Hearts Fund. They won’t care how thin your pony tail is, as long as it is the right length (I think that the minimum is 6 inches, but it may be less). Donating your hair is a nice way of making you feel in control too, in my opinion.

When I was on Pred, my hair quality was really bad, but the biggest problems were my skin and, like Shazamtaz, the extra facial hair. It was all around my jaw. Oh yeah, and moon face.