hair loss on these adhd drugs | ADHD Information

I have not seen a huge difference in my hairline but I am going bald.

I understand the chemical responsible is called DHEA and it caused the hair folicles to narrow and eventually the chemical cloggs the site preventing hair regrowth (think of a peircing that is not being used) I will spare the rest of the details but men have more hormones that convert in DHEA but woman have this as well. I think its mainly heredity. I am not so sure we can blame any drug. I was on ritalin then concerta now adderall for 2 yrs. I have heard rogaine works but I havent tried it. Good luck.

 

I do know about the male heredity hair loss.  I am actually female- but I will say I have a new empathy for guys going through it.  I feel pretty certain it was the focalin for me.  I'm on concerta-we'll see.  Scalp hair loss is listed as side effect in some literature and there are some reportings on different websites.  One possibility is that my nutrition declined for the 3 weeks I was taking it- due to the decrease in appetite--I'm really focusing on my diet right now and pushing vitamins!  It seems to be a little less right now-- keeping my fingers crossed

If you dont mind me asking how old are you. How long have you been on the meds? Stress hormones like cortisol not only make us gain weight but can convert into dhea and also cause heart conditions etc. Stimulants every single one can do this. The object is to find one that doesnt cause stress or anxiety. Be careful as some vitamins and foods could help produce more hormones than others. Try vitamin C and b complex. Be selective when taking vitamins at the same time as focalin as it could decrease effectiveness.  Isnt it weird all the smileys have no hair lol

I'm 36 and I usually have very very thick hair so at first I didn't notice-- I had started increasing  the Focalin to  2x a day before I noticed the large amt of hair coming out when I showered.  My pony tail noticebly thinner! 

I just started taking Focalin about a month ago--and this is my first experience taking any kind of these meds.  As far as my stress- I felt imy stress had actually declined since starting the meds- or at least I'm definitely handling it better.  I was feeling stress before starting- but honestly this is my third semester of grad school- so I don't think it was any higher than previously.  The loss really coincided with the meds.  And like I said- I probably wasn't eating well and living off diet mountain dew and definitely not getting enough water. I would think diet deficiencies would take longer to manifest and I don't know how long it would take for stress to manifest as hair loss.  It definitely is coming out from the scalp- as I can see the follicle.  I think I might take a break from the meds over the weekend just to see how things go- right now I think the hair loss is a little improved  on the Concerta and not so lifeless.

Thanks for your input

Has anyone experienced hair loss?  I did on Focalin and now started Concerta- but I see just as many if not more posts about concerta!  If anyone did- did any drug not cause hair loss for you?