Yasmin and Female Hair Loss
I wanted to ask you a question re Yasmin, which I have been taking for almost a year now.
I experienced heavy hair shedding postpartum which could be contributed to the delivery itself and to my then overactive thyroid. My thyroid has been stable and normal during the last 5 months. After stopping for 2 months, I started experiencing heavier hair shedding recently. Since my thyroid is fine, plus no other deficiencies were detected (iron, zinc, B12), could Yasmin be the culprit? Or are other hormonal issues I should be aware of? I didn’t take the first pill of this new cycle and the shedding seemed to slow immediately. Should I consider an alternative contraceptive and will I have regrowth?
Thank you for your time.
We’ve answered a similar question on the contraceptive medication, Yasmin. As we’ve explained before, Yasmin is a combination of drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol. Loss of scalp hair is a reported side effect of this medication. The hair loss from most birth control pills is benign and self limited. Losing hair in this situation is thought to be through inducing hair follicles to go into the telogen phase. You should stop taking Yasmin and speak to your doctor regarding alternative birth control medications or methods.
Here is my hair loss story; it is long:
I am 27 years old, and about 6 months ago, I was suffering terribly from hair loss. I was on Yasmin for 5 1/2 years, and stopped taking it to get pregnant. 5 months later, my hair started falling out in giant amounts. It fell out all over my head, all day long, wash or not, brush or not, ponytail or not, constantly. I would say I lost 1000 or more hairs a day for 5 weeks. My ponytail was about as thick as a quarter, not a silver dollar anymore – you get the picture. I probably lost 60% of my hair during that time. It was totally devastating. I was at a loss for an explanation.
I went to a dermatologist. I still think it is from Yasmin discontinuation, but he seemed to think it was from having the flu 2 1/2 months before the hair loss started and having a temp of 103 for 2 days. That can definitely kill hair growth temporarily. I think it took a long time for the pills’ hormones to get out of my body, and maybe that explains it. Also, I had bloodwork done, and my thyroid was fine (definitely on the side of hypothyroid if anything, not the hair loss-capable hypERthyriod). My hormone levels were fine, and all that.
I know how devastating this is. I went to the dermatologist, a regular internist doctor, and a naturopath. The naturopath gave me some B-12 vitamins, thyroid herbs, a yeast intibitor, and told me to go on a gluten free diet. All I can say is that when I went to the dermatologist, he told me that I should be losing hair for about 2-3 months, lose about 75% of it, my follicles were fine and not damaged, and it will grow back. I think with the help of the naturopath, the herbs, and the gluten-free diet, I only lost 50-60% of my hair for 5 weeks, not 3 months.
I also started taking a very high dose of natural vegetarian Biotin (5mg, I think, like 20x whatever is daily reccomended), and using Jason Naturals brand Biotin hair shampoo and conditioner. It is like only $8 per bottle of each from the health food store, and it made my scalp feel great immediately. I don’t know for sure, but I am willing to bet it helped a little – not with the hair loss (the telogen effluvium spontaneous kind that I had), but with the regrowth.
I am happy to say that 6 months later, I now have what I consider a great head of hair. My hair was always thick and plentuful, and for about a month, it looked like I was sick and balding. I was embarrased to go out. It was not that the hair was thin or thinning, but that it was just dissapearing altogether. Not a month after it stopped falling out (which happened spontaneously the same way it started), I had about 10,000 hairs on my head that were about 1/2 inch long. So frizzy and sticking up they were, but the balding effect was gone – thank god.
I am not a vain person, but I have always loved my hair, and I know how devastating this is for women and young women especially. PLEASE believe me. If telogen effluvium is what you have (all of a sudden type of hair loss), especially after an event (birth control discontinuation, sickness, surgery, death, stress, postpartum, flu, injury, etc.), please believe me. I cried every night and day, and even thought I was going to have to get a wig!
It did stop for me after taking some action with natural remedies. I know it would have stopped ANYWAY, but I wanted to quicken that process. I was SO upset by the whole thing, and I know how upset you are. IT WILL STOP and you will have your hair back. PLEASE DON’T STRESS (impossible, I know). No amount of avoiding hair wash, brush, pillows, will do anything to help you, so don’t be going around with greasy knotty hair. That is not going to help you at all. It will just make you even more self-concsious.
Best of luck. I wish I could help more, but just know from one female hair-lover to another, it WILL be okay, and your hair will come back. Within 2 months, your scalp will look fine and unnoticable of the whole event, and within 8-9 months, your ponytail will be thick again. IT WILL BE OKAY!
Jamie, I am so glad to find your post! I have been dealing with excelerated hair loss that started about 6 months after I stopped taking Yasmin in Sept. and am currently taking blood tests (they took half of the blood in my body just this morning) and working with my doctor to find out the cause.
I have always had awesome, thick hair with the exception of when I went through chemo for Hodgkin’s 9 years ago and I lost my hair. The hair loss was probably 60% of the pain of going through chemo, so to re-live the nightmare really sucks. Granted the hair loss now isn’t as severe, but nonetheless depressing.
I have slight hypothyroidism and have been on meds for that for about 4 years now. They upped my dose of Synthroid (which has been known to cause hair loss) over a year ago, but I haven’t had problems with my hair until now, so I’m really starting to suspect the Yasmin. I had my thyroid levels checked a couple of weeks ago and they were normal. Now I have to see how these new tests turn out. I have an appointment with my gyno this week, so I will talk to her about the possible Yasmin cause. I’ll go back on the stuff if I need too.
In all of the research I have been doing I have read that Evening Primrose Oil and a B-Complex help with hair growth as well as nioxin shampoo. Not sure about the nioxin yet, but I am starting on the other two tonight as well as a Fish Oil supplement.
Just so you know, I have a friend who recently became gluten-free because she was diagnosed with Candida (sp?) which caused her hair to fall out. If you haven’t already, you may want to look into and get tested for that.
Thanks for sharing your story!!! Now I don’t feel like I’m crazy and this gives me hope that we can find what it is and stop it, or at least hope that it is only temporary.
Hey, girls. I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one out there. I was on Yasmin for about 2 1/2 years and noticed a change in my hair. My hair normally falls out a great deal–but it was beginning to be excessive and I noticed just an overall ‘thinning’ in my hair–smaller ponytail, etc–just like you’ve described. I did some research about the Yasmin and saw that hair loss was a side effect. I stopped taking it in December and began taking Biotin and Fish Oil. I have noticed some new growth at the scalp, but my hair still seems to be falling out! I was happy to read your post and see that maybe it just takes some time for the hormone levels to balance out and everything! I am going for bloodwork just to check on everything, but I really believe that the Yasmin is the cause. Thanks for all your comments!!!
Just wanted to say a massive thank you to Jamie R for posting your experience with Yasmin. I went on Yasmin for three months to help with the bad skin I get as a result of polycystic ovaries. On the third month I felt sick with worry one day when I washed my hair and it came out in clumps! I too have always had thick hair and also was used to shedding a lot, but this amount was crazy! I have been so scared, hardly brushing, washing or touching my hair. It has been over a month now since stopping the pill and it is still falling out in massive amounts. Basically I MUST tell everyone I know not to take Yasmin, it is an awful experience to go through, especially as a woman. THANK YOU Jamie R for reassuring me my hair will come back one day, I will never complain about a bad hair day again, I just desperately want it back!
I can’t believe what I just read! I’ve been taking Yasmin for about 5 months and my hair has been shedding way more than normal. However, yesterday I really noticed a change. My hair just feels thinner. I’m so glad you all posted what you did. I’m going to stop taking that STUPID pill! I just can’t believe Bayer manufactures such a contraceptive with an awful side effect!!! I’m so pissed! Thanks ladies.
About 1.5 yrs ago, I went on Loestrin 24 and lost more than half my hair. I had such long, full, thick head of hair that I didn’t notice the loss until it was too late! After noticing the loss (was on it for 5 mths), I stopped taking it and it continued to shed. I saw my doctor who told me hair grows back when it’s due to hormonal changes and to wait and be patient. I waited 8 mths with no regrowth and am devestated! Blood work results and stress levels are stable and there’s no hereditary hair loss. I’m 36 and recently became a member of hair club and spend a few thousand dollars for extreme hair therapy, and there is still no gaurantee. I think doctors should inform patients that hair loss is a sideffect of bcp but they don’t. I’ve been obsessed and depressed over the loss, esp when my dermetalogist told me I would not recover all the loss. Anyone else had the same experience with loestrin 24?