Spironolactone causing hair loss?

[lorielli]

I've been on Spironolactone for 3 years for acne. After 1 year of taking it I noticed my hair was falling out. I didn't think much about it because I had been under some stress & hadn't been eating very well. After 6 months of constant shedding and noticeable thinning I went to a doctor. The doctor said to stay on the Spironolactone and then tested my ferritin (iron stored in body). My ferritin was only 11. After almost a year on an iron supplement my ferritin went up to 28 but my hair loss is worse than ever. Throughout all this I continue to take 100mg of Spironolactone a day. Could the spironolactone be causing my hair loss? I had no problems until being on the Spironolactone for a year. Has anyone else had any experiences like this with Spironolactone?

[VictoriaG]

There are many of us here who were prescribed spiro to try to stop our hair loss. I think I've read one or two coments over on the Network where wthe women think it may be making things worse for them. Otherwise, it seems that the women who stop taking it see increases in their shedding. The other factors you mention - low ferritin, stress, poor eating habits (all things that I have or have had) - seem more likely culprits. Good luck :)

[bonsai35]

i was only on spironolactone for 2 months, which is probably not enough to have it cause any improvement with my hair, but I can defintiely say that my shedding pretty much doubled the day after I started taking it and then doubled again a month later when the endo doubled my dose. After 2 months on spiro, I was shedding almost 400 hairs per day. I quit the spiro on 6/1 when I shaved my head. I cant be sure if I am still shedding abnormally or not (I dont really think so) but I am sure that I am not shedding as badly as I was.

the endo assured me that spiro should help with the hair shedding but you can find a few references online to it actually CAUSING hair loss in some patients. I think I was one of those unlucky few.