Anyone experienced hair loss while taking or tapering Prednisone?

FYI. I have been on prednisone for three years now

I was on prednisone for 6 months with 30mg as the high dose. I tapered off in October w help of Kevzara. I started to notice hair loss in December. For how long did you hair continue to fall out?

I should have consulted Google AI. This is reassuring for me, fingers crossed.
"Hair loss two months after stopping prednisone is likely telogen effluvium, a temporary condition where the stress of stopping the medication forces hair follicles into a resting phase, causing shedding. This shedding often appears 2–4 months after the trigger, which includes hormonal changes from stopping medication, leading to temporary thinning. "

Using Actemra was a benefit over using prednisone. I do notice a difference in the inflammation satisfaction. Minor breakthrough headaches, but they seem to be under control otherwise

@lsa22 I would say you can be reassured, anecdotally at least from this forum and other sites , prednisone hair loss reverses once pred is out of the system and hormones can return to normal.

My experience is
6 weeks of heavy hair shedding at the end of a 3month course of pred , til hair loss stopped suddenly and I could feel bristles of new hair growth through the 50% off my hair that hadn’t fallen out .

That was 12ths ago
New growth was and remains curly ( whereas my hair was previously straight )

Just one morePMR / prednisone waiting game !

@elleninz
Hi my diagnosis is the same as yours, but with PMR too.

Actemera ( initially & concurrent with Pred) successfully treated my disease , I went quickly into a remission from GCA /PMR , and quickly tapered off prednisone.

My experience was Virtually no side effects from 12mths on Actemera , immunocompromised of course, affected liver values in blood tests ie slightly raised cholesterol . All minimal though , nothing requiring further medical management. All blood values back to normal after 6weeks off Actemera and I’ve remained in medication free remission .

I believe Actemera saved me from worse side effects that can come from extended use of prednisone , and gave me better quality of life .

Actemera worked so well for me , hoping & wishing the same treatment success for others .

MAYE

@maye33
Hello Maye, Thank you for the response... I too have PMR, I see Rheumy on Friday, looking forward to it. She is suggesting Actemera . I have had PMR since May 2023, Up and Down on Prednisone, lots of flares and issues . Hopefully all goes great for you going forward.
Ellen D

Definitly. I notice it is not only coming out but it has no body to it, just dry.

@terrib2
My case sounds similar to yours. Diagnosed in Aptil 2025 with GCA and started on 60 mg prednisone. Didn't start shedding until November. I am also taking weekly injections of Actemra. I was too scared to look up if it also caused hair loss. My husband read the entire info that came in the packaging and nowhere did it mention hair loss. Of course, stress can add to hair loss and I have plenty of that! Hoping for tbe best.
..

I am off prednisone now for one year and I have at least a 5 inch hair growth throughout my scalp. The texture and fullness are slowly returning. I still take Actemra every four weeks. There is hope.