I Have Anxiety About Hair Loss from My Anxiety Medication
I’ve really learned alot about hair loss by viewing your balding blog. I’m not curently experiencing any kind of extreme balding (at least I don’t think) as of yet. But I’ve got a question thats eating away at me after reading about it on your Blog.
Anyway, I’m 29 yrs old & just started taking Xanax again after being off of it for about 5 or 6 yrs. I take it due to an anxiety disorder I suffer from & have had to go back to taking the generic for Xanax (Alprazolam).
The reason I’m contacting you is because you’ve gotten me a bit concerned with a few statements you’ve made about Alprazolam (Xanax) possibly causing hair loss. If I were to take a 1mg tablet two to three times a day, would I be at risk of it causing any type of hair loss? Is there any way you could explain to me how & why the Xanax could possibly cause hair loss?
Thank you so much for your time. If you could fill me in on anything concerning this, I would be extremely grateful.
If you do not have hair loss from this medication, I would not anticipate it. You should be reactive to what is happening, not what might happen. Focusing upon managing your anxiety is far more important, because stress is a significant cause of hair loss.
You may try looking up the two following entries 1)alopecia areata 2)folliculitis. Both can come and last from days to months and you may just lose a few stray hairs, or in extreme casses all the hair inside and outside your body(yes I mean even nose hair and eyelids and lashes). However the 40 or so related illnesses with this problem are all pretty much harmless and will go away on their own with a strong anti-microbial soap. (Try getting your doctor to prescribe phisohex if he or she will.) The best over the counter soap in the world(in my opinion)is aveeno “clear complexion cleansing bar. I know you said “hair loss” and not “zits” but in very many casses what you are describing with hair loss is clogged pores made that way from. 1) Thick skin, almost (everybody posting is around 30-50 yrs. old). 2)DIRTY PORES most of us old folks dont bathe as often as we should and subdermatoligical staph infections (from the dirty skin) are a top cause of intermitant baldness they block the pore kill the hair and the hair falls out(fortunatly most all your hair will grow back as soon as the follicle is unclogged). The final part is you have a gene passed along to you from a family member that allows the whole process to work. As for xanax I think you will find that with higher levels of the drug your hair will grow thinner and not live as long before it falls out. As you cut back on your xanax dose the hair will grow much faster giving the look of falling out much faster because it will be replacing itself from below the skin pushing the old dead hair out. As soon as the body has pushed the old hair out your hair should return to normal. So the pattern may vary back and forth. And my last comment… MOST all side effects from xanax like hair loss, memory problems, sleeplessness, vertigo, headache,are temporary BUT may last months up to 1-2 years after stopping the drug.