Prednisone and hair growth

My 2 year old daughter that has Crohn's is tapering off of Prednisone and has about 9 weeks on it left. In the past few weeks, she's started getting dark visible hair all over her back, the sides of her face and forehead. The GI says it isn't a known side effect of the Prednisone or 6mp that she's on. That it couldn't be from that. Has anyone else's had hair growth like that?

That's good to know. She's blond too, but the new hair is darker. Thanks!

I wish mine would go away !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah that's a bunch of hooey about it not being a side effect of her meds, like everthing I have ever read (even the paper you get from the pharmacy) says prednisone causes facial hair and body hair growth.

I get "fur" on my back and man-hair on my face.  I also get where my hairline starts having dark hair grow way out into my forehead, and eventually it'll connect my hair to the side of my eyebrows.  Unfortunately the only thing that goes away after the prednisone is gone is the forehead hair, the rest just eventually starts growing in as blonde hairs instead so I am furry and blonde-manly.  Bleh.

FINALLY! I have to admit this is the first time I've seen hair growth from prednisone mentioned on this forum. I was told years and years ago (in the 70s) that pred CAN cause hair growth.

Sometimes you have to wonder about doctors' advice or comments. I had some hair LOSS, not balding but definite and noticeable thinning of hair at the crown or "cowlick" and my gastro's PA and then my gastro herself tried to tell me that Imuran did NOT cause hair loss or thinning, but Pentasa did.

Now I had been on Pentasa for years by that time w/no noticeable hair loss. I had been on Imuran too for maybe a year but had had to reduce the Imuran dose due to weight loss and then w/weight re-gained had increased the Imuran dose (and unbeknownst to my gastro or her PA until that visit that I had reduced the Pentasa dosage) which is when the hair loss began.

After I had been back at the higher dose of Imuran for awhile the thinning stopped and the noticeably thin spot filled back in again.

I was on prednisone for 1 month for ulcerative colitis and now have long blond downy hair all over my face,neck and ears.  My doctor has said that it difinately was not caused by the prednisone.  I have been all over the net and it seem that prednisone does cause facial hair.  My question is, how long before it starts to return to normal.  I am off the drug 9 weeks now and nothing has changed.  Someone please tell me some good news.

I have very hairy arms, and my family swears that they weren't like that until I started pred in my teens. I was too young to remember the difference, but I do know that the hairyness never changed, even when I was off the pred.

can anyone tell me how long before the facial hair thins and falls out?  I know a hair cycle is about 3 months so should it start to fall out after stopping the prednisone for 3 months.  Please give me some hope.  I look like a teddy bear in sunlight.

do you still have to remove hair monthly even after stopping the steriods?  I am too scared to start to remove it in case it makes it worse.  I have long vellus hair over my face and it is only noticable in certain lights.  Does it go away eventually?

Any doctor who doesn't know prednisone can cause hair growth sure as heck shouldn't be scripting it!!! Or is one of "those" doctors full of platitudes who will tell you ANYTHING to get you to do what he wants you to do, i.e. take the pred and ignore the new hair growth. And who can trust a doctor guilty of either?

I'm the stubborn type. I'd bring in the drug literature to PROVE that pred can cause hair growth and clear the air w/the doctor; was he/she really not aware of this possible, even likely, side effect or was he/she being evasive or condescending to me? I'd also make it clear I am uneasy w/a doctor who is unable to say "I don't know" or just mumbles whatever he/she thinks necessary to get me to do what he/she wants me to do.

That clears the air and either the two of you then have a better understanding of each other and work better together as a team or you start looking for a doctor whose advice and answers are more reliable and trustworthy.

Hi all, I was just wondering the same thing. I was on prednisone roughly 40mg-20mg from August to December and my hair began falling out I think in December. It was very bad, over 90 strands just from brushing it alone. I have probably lost 1/4 of my hair. It's now been 3 months since my last dose of it and I am just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and when they think it may stop? I've also seen a dermatologist who thinks it is from the prednisone and said he thinks I am at the end of it, but, it's still happening, not as bad but still going on. I am also taking amitriptyline 25mg which I began in November. My big concern was if the amitriptyline is also partially causing the hair loss- however- I don't want to get off of it as it is the only thing that helps my migraines. If it doesn't stop soon though I will probably be forced to try to get off it. Every doc thinks its the prednisone, but wondering if anyone else can relate or has had any experience like this. Thank you.

Did anyone ever figure out how long it takes for facial hair from Prednisone to disappear? I'm having that problem.

@Judy, you mention remission with remicade for 7 years. Does that mean - you stopped remicade and remission continued, or were you taking the 2-month remicade for a long period. I ask for my son, who is now on his third-dose of remicade and it seems to have controlled his UC (and sligh Crohn's). He will now go on once in 2 months dose and we were hoping we could taper it over time. Any thoughts here would be great.

Finally, prednisone definitely causes facial hair. My son was on 30 mg for 3 weeks, then 60 for a week, then tapered now to 10 (over 3 months). He lost his scalp hair (after a month on pred) and has grown facial hair (forehead, sideburn), hair on back, etc. Hoping it goes away.