Anyone lost hair on Adderall?

[j3321]

Has anyone noticed that they lost gains they had made on Adderall or any other stimulant type medication for A.D.H.D.? I got diagnosed with A.D.H.D.-P.I. (predominantly inattentive) and started on Adderall Instant Release medication. I was pretty skeptical and I felt guilty for having a disorder as stupid as A.D.D. and wondered if I was just a slacker but the medicine really does make an extremely positive difference in my life. At home or in calm social situations I'm find but in high stress work situations I just burn out and go numb and when I use the medicine I have a much high threshold for stimulation I guess. I feel way more competent and functional.


So anyway, I like the medicine and would like to continue using it but I'm worried I'm losing hair. I've been on big 3 for 5 months now (you can see my thread "Pretty Early Success?????" in the Success Stories forum if you want) and have had excellent growth. I'm really really happy with it. But I've been on Adderall for about 3 weeks now and I feel like I'm noticing more hair in my hands when I shampoo. I don't know if I'm being paranoid or hyper-sensitive or if random minor sheds are natural or if I'm even shedding at all because honestly this might just be my imagination (probably like 4-7 hairs...a lot of them are sucky ones but a few healthy after I shampoo, is that normal and I just haven't been paying attention???) but I do wonder if this is medicine is adversely affecting my hair situation.

anyone have any experience on stimulants for ADD? Particularly Adderall? I'm freaking out and just can't trust my own perceptions I need some objective experience from some of you guys. Thanks.

 

[Cassin]

I don't recall reading that here before.

 

[j3321]

The lack of activity for this thread is extremely encouraging....I feel better already.

 

[j3321]

************UPDATE************



After growing back all my hair I am officially losing it all rapidly after being on Adderall for a month. Though I won't know for sure if it is the medicine until I go of it for a month or so I'm pretty sure it is. I lost like 40 hairs in my hands after I shampooed this morning. Not cool. I was thinning for a year and I NEVER have lost that much hair at once. That's why I think it must bet he medicine because this isn't even natural.

BLAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[compaq1]

hey

how much mg are u taking ? try cutting down on the mg and see how it goes also are you on the xr pills " Extended release " pills ? if so have ur doctor switch to the reg ones .. i'm in med school and use adderall to help with my studying and did not notice any hairloss while on it .. good luck

 

[j3321]

I'm actually on instant release rather than extended. I was only taking 10 mg and I noticed a bit more hair than normal but then I eventually was on 20mg twice a day, sometimes with an additional 10mg towards the end, and man the hair just fell right out. I'm getting acne too.

The reason I think is stimulation of the adrenal gland. It produces sex and stress hormones, some of which are converted into DHT and the finasteride is not keeping up. I've called my doctor and am waiting for a call back.

From what I can gather online. I've read people have started Adderall at the same time starting Big 3 and actually grown hair. I think what I'm going through is rare. It'll be interesting to talk to my doctor. She said she hasn't seen this.

 

[j3321]

I told her I thought it was over stimulation of the adrenal gland. She agreed. I'm off it and will possibly try Wellbutrin in a few weeks...although I hear horror stories about that too....

I just hope this is reverseable. That is the only thing on my mind at present.

 

[j3321]

Well I've been off Adderall for one week and I've stopped losting 80 hairs a day and my acne is clearing up. Wow. It's Adderall.

 

[kanyetothe]

hey, just signed up today. I'm not losing my hair, but i suspect that i';m going through something called Telogen effluvium because of this medication i was taking.

I started taking adderall when i was 17 and didn't notice any effect on my hair until i was 18 and then i had really long hair. I noticed that in the front of my head (not my hairline), i was starting to thin badly. It was a weird place for it to start. I took adderall periodically after that until i got this job as a server where it's important to have good attention skills. As months passed by, i noticed the same area was starting to thin. I was 20 at the time, but i didn't make the connection then. Eventually i quit the job and my hair was normal or at least it didn't cause me to check it every now and then. Fastforward 2 years later, i start taking a weight loss drug called phentermine. It is not an amphetamine but it has almost the same dna structure. My hair thinned pretty badly a couple months later after i lost 40lbs and took the drug religiousoly for a 50-60 days. Since i don't have health insurance, i can't see a dermatoligst to understand the reason for this.

So, i think i can conclusively say that drugs like that can be responsible for hair thinning.

 

[j3321]

I agree. I went to the "addforums" and they all persecuted me and threw stones because no one there wants to believe Adderall can cause hairloss or aggravate male pattern baldness despite the fact desperate posts come up with people screaming about hair loss on a fairly regular basis.