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Imuran and hair am I crazy?

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 7/26/2013 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
To star off I have had crohns since 16 (6 years ago) and been on Imuran the whole time


Over the years I have become concerned with my hair thinning and always thought it was the medicine, and when my doctor said no, I thought well then I MPB.


In 2011 I had surgery to remove infected areas of my intestines and I was off my medicine for ~6 months (before getting back on it at double the dose all the way to the present)
During 2011 I remember people saying "wow your hair looks great and shiny!" and I remember at the end of 2011 when I got back on the medicine people said "your hair looks different". 2011 was the only year I never stressed over my hair.


So today I was clearing out my old computer and saw these pictures:

September 2009 (on medicine) (sorry for poor quality bad camera back then) VIEW IMAGE

November 2011 (off medicine for 5 months)
VIEW IMAGE

December 2011
VIEW IMAGE

July 2013 (current been on medicine for 1.5 years again)
VIEW IMAGE

Now the question is, does it look better in 2011 (health wise, not style lol) than in 2009 and currently in 2013? I think it does I think its much thicker and better looking overall which leads me to believe my hair loss is due to medicine rather than MPB. Opinions?
Posted 7/27/2013 1:41 AM (GMT 0)
Try taking biotin and/or folic acid they seem to help counteract the hair loss. There are several medications that cause it, and I think imuran is one.
Posted 7/31/2013 2:06 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think you're crazy. Something very similar happened to me. When I first started taking Imuran, my hair was shedding at an alarming rate. My doctor did think Imuran was the culprit and thought it had more to do with weaning me off steroids, but I had been through that before and never saw hair loss like this. After it persisted for a couple months, I went off of Imuran because my hair was so thin. It all grew back! After about a year, I was forced to try Imuran again because of my symptoms. While I did notice some extra shedding in the beginning, it seemed to level out over time.

I'm still not sure if this is because of the Imuran. My doctor said it was possible that it was a reaction to the meds at first and once my body got used to them, it subsided. Hope that helps.
Posted 7/31/2013 11:48 PM (GMT 0)

AutumnBG said...
I don't think you're crazy. Something very similar happened to me. When I first started taking Imuran, my hair was shedding at an alarming rate. My doctor did think Imuran was the culprit and thought it had more to do with weaning me off steroids, but I had been through that before and never saw hair loss like this. After it persisted for a couple months, I went off of Imuran because my hair was so thin. It all grew back! After about a year, I was forced to try Imuran again because of my symptoms. While I did notice some extra shedding in the beginning, it seemed to level out over time.

I'm still not sure if this is because of the Imuran. My doctor said it was possible that it was a reaction to the meds at first and once my body got used to them, it subsided. Hope that helps.

What I seem to notice is it shed then stopped, but I didn't regrow what I lost it just kinda stayed at that state both times. Is that what you mean?
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