I’ve Seen Hair Loss Since Starting Birth Control!

Dear Doctor,

I am a 22 year old female who just started birth control four months ago. For the past month or so, I’ve been noticing hair loss, which I think I’ve identified as telogen effluvium. At first I didn’t worry too much about it, but I’ve become increasingly worried as I see more and more of my hair fall out and more and more of my scalp. The shedding seems to be diffuse, and I’m starting to see a few short hairs come in along my scalpline, but I’m still worried because I’m not sure the shedding is completely going away. I’ve been continuing with the same birth control pill, but I’m wondering if I should discontinue the pill. I don’t want to do any more damage to my hair than the pill has already done, and although I know this might be a long process, I’d like to do all I can to help it.

I saw my gynocologist, and she didn’t seem concerned at all about the hair loss. Do you think I should see a dermatologist or will this clear up by itself with time? Most of all I want to know if I should go off the medication or not. At 22 I want to make sure I get my hair back!

Thank you very much

The decision to go off or even start any medication should be made by you and your doctor (not over the internet). I have not examined you, but I will take your word that you are losing hair. While it is possible that your birth control is causing or contributing to the loss, you don’t know for sure if it is actually related. It seems that you have self-diagnosed telogen effluvium, but it would be in your best interest to establish or confirm this diagnosis before considering a treatment plan.

In general, telogen effluvium can cause hair loss for several weeks to months before it stops and there is no medication or products you can use to speed this along. If it is telogen effluvium, your hair will grow back and it can take well over a year for this to happen. But at this point you are speculating, so I would suggest meeting with another doctor to have a diagnosis confirmed.