Asacol and Female Hair Loss

Hello. I was prescribed Asacol for colitis. Within weeks I noticed I was losing hair. Various sources on the internet confirmed that mesalamine can cause hair loss. My ponytail now is almost half the size it used to be. My question is: is the hair loss permanent? I have been told by my GI that I can be weaned off the asacol now and can probably stop taking it soon. Will my hair grow back or has the asacol damaged it for good? Thank you

If you do enough searching on the internet, I suspect you will find that many drugs will report some hair loss as a side effect. But hair loss from a medication use is generally the LAST on the list of other possible causes for hair loss for most drugs. Stress (such as your recent bout of colitis) can also be a cause of hair loss in those genetically prone. It is impossible to tell if your hair will grow back, but I often find that once the process of hair loss starts in young men with genetic hair loss, it is difficult to reverse the hair lost. In women, this may not be the case, as genetic hair loss is different in women.

If you are a female and your hair loss was extensive with the colitis and the medication (and the hair was originally long) the new hair will start growing from the skin level and grow approximately 1/2 inch a month. To get an 18 inch length, you would have to grow your hair for 3 years at that rate of growth.