# Stimulant Induced Hair Loss



## r_albans (Jan 1, 2011)

I know there have been other threads on this topic but I have not found  any which address effective solutions to this problem. Also if you are  wondering how I know for sure that this is what is causing the hair loss  it is because I have stopped taking the medication on several occasions  for a couple of months at a time during breaks in college. My hair loss  totally stops within a week and is growing back considerably within  two... and starts shedding again within a week of starting back up. I am  now a 23 year old male who is otherwise healthy. 

     I have tried switching medications because of this and some cause  more shedding than adderall such as concerta and vyvanse. I notice about  half as much hair loss on dexedrine but it does not make me concentrate  as much as adderall. On other threads I saw one possible reason for the  hair loss given was diet being affected. I have been able to gain  weight and muscle since starting my meds and keep track of calorie  intake so i know its not this. 

     My doctor suggested zinc and selenium because it helps with some  other med inuced hair loss and this did not work. I saw another doctor for other reasons and brought this up to him and he  said it was common and is similar to the reason people with thyroid  issues lose hair. He also suggested trying propecia if I could not stop  the meds. But I believe this would only work if it is hormonal problem  perhaps it also helps with length of hair cycles or something... will do  some research  If anyone has found an effective solution  to this problem I would greatly appreciate some feedback as this has  been causing me a great deal of stress for some time now.  Thanks in  advance.


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## Rkk (Aug 24, 2016)

You wrote this back in 2011 so idk if you'll get this but your situation is exactly as mine but I'm a 45 yr old female (I know...). I've been dealing w/ this for 11 yrs, it was only 2 yrs ago my dr finally saw the hair loss that everyone thought was "in my head" and switched my Adderall to VyVance and my hair rapidly grew back in.  But then I made the mistake of upping my dose to 50 mg and almost overnight my hair started falling out again.  I've lowered my dose to 20-30 mg and have noticed some reduction in hair loss but not much. Did you ever find anything that helped besides discontinuing the stimulant altogether? I tried that and I'm gaining a lot of weight. I'm worried it's coming down to Fat or Bald. Anything you've learned, please let me know and thanks.


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