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Asacol and hair loss?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 2/4/2010 9:58 PM (GMT 0)
I have been on Asacol (2-800mg pills 3x a day) since September when I was diagnosed and in December started to notice a drastic change in my hair and have lost a lot of it.   I use to have long beautiful hair and now I barely have any.  I talked to my doctor on Monday and he said that it is probably from the Asacol.  Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this side affect?  I will find out tomorrow if I am in remission and if so is it worth changing to something different just for the hair loss?   
Posted 2/4/2010 10:18 PM (GMT 0)
Was your flare pretty severe? I ask, because that can cause hair loss too. I lost a lot of hair during my first flare, but I have no idea if it was due to loosing all of my pregnancy hair (it got a lot thicker when I was pregnant, and my flare started 4 weeks post partum), flaring, or taking Asacol. However, I'm pretty sure it wasn't Asacol, because it started growing back once I was in remission, before I switched to Apriso.

I'm not sure if people do better from a hair loss standpoint on a different form of mesalamine or not. It might be something to as your doctor about. I wouldn't, however, switch to something like 6MP due to hair loss.

Many women use Nioxin, and report that it helps, so maybe try that.

Good luck, and welcome to Healing Well!
Posted 2/4/2010 10:41 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, I guess you could say my flare was pretty bad. I was hospitalized and diagnosed with UC and C-Diff. I spent over a week in the hospital and then sent home basically on bed rest with a PICC of Prednisone and a liquid diet for a month. By November I was feeling back to myself just really weak from all the weight that I had lost.

I thought it was the UC that was causing the hair loss, but my Dr. said it was the Asacol. When I was first diagnosed and was told about 6mp's I told him that I didn't want to try those drugs so yeah right now that is not an option especially if I am in remission on the Asacol. I would maybe just like to try another mesalamine but I don't want to flare again.

Thanks for the info. I will look into the Nioxin.
Posted 2/5/2010 1:44 AM (GMT 0)
I'm not a woman, and I do keep my hair pretty short, but I have not experienced any problem with my hair while being on Asacol. I have been on it for 12 + years with no bad or noticeable unpleasant side affects. I get my hair cut every other week and the person that cuts my hair has said for years that my hair grows so fast. I am now on 6mp and wondering if that might change. . . .
Posted 2/5/2010 6:34 AM (GMT 0)
I was on asacol for about 6 years and then i suddenly started losing my hair. I started noticing a lot in the shower and when i would brush my hair a ton would come out with it. I told my doctor and he said it was from the asacol so i stopped taking it and my hair stopped falling out. I took some hair, skin and nails vitamins i got from wal-mart and those helped. But it sounds like the same thing is happening to you as did to me and so i would stop taking the asacol if you can.
Posted 2/7/2010 4:22 PM (GMT 0)
Same thing happened to me. I was on Asacol for about a year and it made me lose almost all my hair. It was awful. The second i stopped taking it my hair stopped falling out.

Turned out it wasn't even helping my Crohn's, either, so stopping taking it was fine!
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