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Mirena and Hair Loss
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Permalink Reply by julie on
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Hi @aunaturelle. I'm very curious to hear whether having your Paraguard IUD removed had a noticeable effect on your hair and your hairloss situation. I'm wondering whether the Paraguard might be causing/having an effect on my FFA.
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First and foremost, thank you to every woman that has posted regarding this topic. My question is when can I expect the hair loss to stop after Mirena is removed and when/if my hair will return?
I also feel like sharing my story would help to get a bit of anger lifted off my shoulders. After the birth of my second child in Sept 2011, I decided to try a new form of birth control and chose Mirena on the recommendation from my midwife. Prior to children, I used birth control pills successfully without any side effects for many years. I had the Mirena inserted at the beginning of Jan 2012 and experienced hair loss immediately within days. This was not the typical hair loss I had experienced after the birth of my first child and thought it was a bit strange my body would start doing this right after the Mirena insertion. It began by pulling out fists full hair every time I showered. There was so much hair lying around the house it seemed as though I was a shedding dog. I called my midwife and was told this was probably just stress related to having a new baby and that this is typical following childbirth. Had this been my first child that never slept I probably would have agreed and thought nothing more about Mirena being the culprit. However, I was definitely not experiencing stress from my new baby b/c he sleeps 10 -12 hours at night, is almost always content and takes great naps. After the phone call I decided to do some research online and was brought to this site. Wow! Did I ever feel as though you ladies were speaking directly to me and what my body was experiencing.
Only a week and a half after having the Mirena inserted I demanded to have it removed. My midwife was very receptive to my request and set an appt that day to have it removed (even though she still did not believe it was the Mirena causing my hair loss.) It has only been 2 weeks since the removal and my hair loss has not slowed. In fact, my eyelashes are now starting to break off as well. I was blessed with a very thick head of hair, but now I'm sure that I've lost at least half the volume. The front of my hairline is so thin it's now showing my scalp and there is a bald spot brewing in the front where I part my hair.
My midwife wanted me to keep her posted, so this week I called with an update on my eyelashes falling out. During our phone conversation the local Mirena drug rep happened to walk in the door. She was put on the phone with me and I reiterated my story. Well....she was NOT SURPRISED to hear of my hair loss. In fact, her first question was when I had my last child b/c they are seeing that women close to postpartum are more apt to experience the dramatic hair loss. In fact, breastfeeding increases it even more. WHY ARE THE REPS AND MIRENA NOT DISCLOSING THIS TO THE DOCS WHO THINK WE ARE ALL CRAZY TO THINK IT'S CONTRIBUTING TO OUR HAIR LOSS!!!WHY IS THIS NOT DISCLOSED ON THEIR INFO SHEET? She wanted to know if I had paid for my Mirena out of pocket b/c she would be able to get me reimbursed. Obviously they are aware of these problems??????
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Hello,
I am new to this site. I am 48 years old and had the Mirena inserted because my
GYN thought that it would help with my extremely heavy periods that were becoming debilitating.
It has helped with that but I have lost more than half of my hair in 18 months. At first I thought it was just an aging effect but the hair loss has increased and my scalp feels hot and itchy all the time. I was wondering if there are any natural products that work to help hair regrowth after Mirena removal. I am sure that it is hormone related and that there must be herbal remedies that could help with the hormonal imbalance that the mirena caused.
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my story is at the top of the page. My hair started falling out after I took Mirena out. It slowly fell out for 6-7 months. I eventually had to shave my head. My head was never smooth, there was always some type of hair on my head, just not enough to grow out. Its been a year and a half since my hair started to fall out and its thick and curly. Where before it was thick but on the straighter side. I took steroids at one point, but I don't feel they helped. I used Nioxin shampoo and conditioner, which may or may not have helped (I see Marshalls sells it now). I never really did any herbals. In my opinion, I feel my hormones were out of whack and when they leveled themselves out, my hair grew back. I did have a low vitamin D level(but not really low) which may or may not have have contributed. It may just be time that you need for it to grow back....good luck
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Permalink Reply by mtmom on
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That's great thank you for your super helpful information Lynn!!! My hair is really tripping out now that I am pregnant, but I believe you are right about taking some time after Mirena for the hormones to level out. If I had of known that Mirena could cause hair loss there is NO way I would have ever put it in my body. I have read vitamin D can also be a culprit to hair loss. I really regret no looking into the Mirena more. Thanks again for posting!!!! Blessing to you all!
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If you are still on here could you please help me. I have the exact same thing as you did. Mine is difuse and im hopeless. Ive had mirena out one yr. Please,please call me 660-676-6808.
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I had my Mirena IUD placed in Febraury. Minus the little cramping the day of insertion i was very happy with it. By summer my hairdresser notified me that i had a lot of breakage... my hair has always been resiliant so i thought that was odd. When i got home i felt around and noticed a lot of patches that were about 3 inches wide and only about 2 inches long, completely broken off!! They were all over the back of my head :-( I decided to not color my hair for a while thinking it was due to having my hair done. Forgetting about it i moved on, only to notice 3 weeks ago a bald patch on the side of my head bigger than the size of a quarter. The hair is completely gone! Almost like someone waxed it. Very scary! I had to have my fiance search my scalp to see if there were any other patches i didnt know about ( there werent ). After looking online i first read that it caould be an autoimmune issue, alopecia or bc. That was when i put the pieces together and did a timeline to myself of when i had it put in, the breakage, and now the bald spot. I am having mine removed tomorrow and i will be opting for a low hormone bc. Im sad that this happened and that this happened to so many other woman!! For those of you on here thinking about having it or have it and have had hair loss, HAVE IT REMOVED!!!
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By the way : I started taking biotine which helps promote hair growth and i am also going to be purchasing prenatal pills, grinding them up and putting them in my shampoo ( hairdressing secret i learned :-) to try to get my hair to grow back as quickly as possible. Ill keep you posted on how long it takes for my hair to grow back!
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Hey ladies
Another Mirena victim here. In short I had the Mirena in for just over 2 years. Loved it untill the hair loss. I started noticing my hair getting thinner after a year of having it in, but didn't think too much of it as I have always had thick hair, so if anything it became more manageable and I just thought it was down to my diet etc. That was un till I started noticing my hairline on the centre of my forehead receding, and going thin in my fringe area. So googling led me to find the link to the Mirena and I immediately had the horrid thing out. That was 4 months ago now. Course my doctor said no connection and said it is scarring alopecia and will likely fix itself. He also refused to refer me to a dermatologist as it was not 'bad' as he put it and I was thinking it was much worse than it was. Ok at that point it wasn't 'really' bad but I didnt want it to get worse.
So 4 months now post removal and it has got ALOT worse. My temples have shed to the point where its only a few hairs preventing the areas from being bald. I think I have had the mirena crash, where the shock to my body of having it removed caused like a shedding. I think the loss has slowed now, as I literally over the past 3 months used to sit there just grabbing at my hair which was continuosly coming out. Like it wouldnt stop. Now when I do it perhaps only 2-4 hairs would come out at one time, as opposed to 30. But the damage is done, my fringe is sooo thin, its horrible and standing under a light infront of a mirror is very traumatic as I can see through my hair.
I do appear to have regrowth but only some whispey hairs, not enough to prevent the baldish areas from looking so sparse. Its like I have had post partum hair loss only I have not had a baby and have never been pregnant.
I have started taking perfectil hair tablets and am using Bosley shampoo to try and stop any more loss. Anywho 4 months post removal I am scared but hopeful. I have spoken to others and it would seem it can take anything up to six months or even a year for your system to reboot once the effects of the Mirena are out of you.
I have docs appt on thursday next week so he can see any difference, going to really moan at my doctor and show him my now worsened hair loss. Annoys the hell out of me that he wouldnt do anything a month ago and now it is so much worse. Hoping he will finally refer me to a dermatologist as I really want the steroid injections in my head....sounds so odd.
Anywho will keep you updated, as I know so many people disappear and don't give updates on their recovery. Thank you to everyone on here who does, it really does fill me with hope. I am hoping the reason for why a lot of people don't keep up with the posting on blogs is because their hair grows back after removal and so they don't feel they have the need for the sites anymore!
Heres wishing for stubble tomorrow!!
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Hi Liz, hang in there. The fact you see some hair growth is a positive sign. My hair fell out over 7-8 months and did begin to grow back. It was a full year for me from when I noticed it falling out, to when I had enough regrowth to no longer wear wigs.
My hair was always on the thicker side, but it seems even thicker now, and its now curly.
When your hair begins to grow back its like baby hair, fair in color and not very strong. However, it does get thicker and stronger over time. But it does take time. I never got the injections because I didn't have spots, my hair loss was diffuse, so it was all over my head, to much area for injections. My hair came back on its own. I did a 3 week course of oral therapy which I would never do again. I did take biotin for a couple months and used nioxin shampoo ( which by the way you can buy for much less money at tj maxx or Marshall's). I don' use anything now, and haven't for quite some time, I feel if I never used that stuff my air still would have grown back. Who knows though, it's all a mystery. I hope your story turns out like mine....good luck and give it time. Hair grows at its own pace.
Try taking a picture every month, it will help you see if its getting better.
Lynn
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One more thing....when it started growing back, because the hair is so fine and light in color, I actually had a lot more than I even realized.
Lynn
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Hey Lynn
Thanks so much for you message, couldnt have come at a better time as the last couple of days I have been considering the drastic action of using hair loss treatment, i.e. 4% minoxidil + azelaic acid which is what the belgravia clinic in london suggested to me as a course of treatment. Its like rogaine for women but at clinical strength from them. I haven't gone ahead with it yet, as for one its rather expensive and also the possible side affects don;t sound overly appealing. Also if my hair loss is from the Mirena and rectify itself, c ould using these chemicals actually cause problems in the long run.
I had a really bad week last week, obsessing to the point where its consuming me. Thinking about it 90% of the day and feeling very depressed about it. Sleep turning into torture as everytime i fall asleep I have nightmares about loosing my hair and wake up in tears. Horrid. So being that I had such a horrid week came the researching about the hair loss treatments and contactnig the belgravia centre to ask their help.
Also the regrowth is very fine hair, infact some of it is like white and un pigmented? Not grey, but I do have some white hairs, im only 29, new thing to obsess over now. Also if I look at a hair that has shed, I always check to see if the bulb is there on the end which it is but now my root is not dark anymore and kind of looks blond which is strange. I have highlighted hair you see so the root regrowth my natural colour is normally brown. Makes me worry my strands are getting finer? On a positive My shedding has definately stopped I think and is now normal 50 - 100 hairs a day. If I grip my ponytail at the base it is alot thicker than the lengths so perhaps it is that I cannot see the extent of the regrowth? It does still appear to be thin on top and in the fringe area.
Like I say I am at the 4 month post removal mark so maybe i do need to be more patient and not take the drastic action of the hair loss treatment just yet. I just worry if I leave it then months down the line if it is worse I will regrett it and wish I had taken action sooner? Arrgghhh what to do :-(
How long did you have yours in for, sorry I did not fully understand from your message. And how long after removal did you notice regrowth?
Thanks again for your message.
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