Hair Loss from Prednisone

A year ago when diagnosed I was on 40 mg pred. Then dropped to 20 and now tapered to 5 mg. My dermatologist told me she didn’t think the hair loss was from pred but rather from the stress PMR puts on the body. She gave it a big long name. Now that I am at 5 mg I think my hair is coming back. 🤞starting Kevzara Friday. Finally gave up on the taper. Too much pain for too long. Lord have mercy on all of us! 🙏😊🌸

My rheumatologist was not at all surprised at my hair loss on Prednisone. My long hair is now cut short and fingers crossed that regrowth is in my future. I’m at 5mg, decreasing 1mg/month.

@kathleenclaire yes, I cut mine short after losing about 1/3 of it...gah! I started minoxidol the 5% strength and its coming back. After research, it's the only thing proven to regrow hair.

@elizterrel
I’m now on Kevzara and off prednisone 4 days. My silver hair is all over my clothes and house. I can’t tell if it’s mainly broken off or coming out at the roots. My hair at the top of my head is all different lengths so I know I’ve lost a lot from breakage.
Frustrating!

@caroljeand
Hi All,
I've always had thin, but very curly hair. I lost so much while on Prednisone. Now after a year on Kevzara, it's growing back and there is more of my natural dark hair than before. Kevzara is the new beauty aid!

@mlz
I’ve been off prednisone more than half a year and I’m noticing a difference in the amount of hair shedding…. so much better now.

@caroljeand
That's great. I really like these discussion boards, especially Mayo Clinic Connect. I wish I could find women like us near by for face to face meetings.

@joyl263 hurray for your regrowth! I wish minoxidil had worked for me!

I’m sorry the minoxidil isn’t working for you either! I ended up having my hair cut into a short pixie about 8 months in to Prednisone tapering. Now I’m at about a year in, down to 1.5mg, tapering half a milligram every month. Last week my dermatologist confirmed what my hairdresser said: there’s new growth all over my head.
All my life, my long wavy hair was the one feature I felt secure about. PMR has rerouted my sense of self and though the weight gain (30lbs) and the hair loss has been tough on my self esteem, feeling the pain lessen has helped me be able to celebrate myself again. Before PMR, I took Nutrafol for years. When I stopped I could tell it hadn’t changed my hair at all. I now take a collagen supplement every day, and I use a scalp massager a few times a week.