LITHIUM-induced Hair Loss

GoodHurr

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I'm going to start taking Lithium today for stress-related psychological issues. :crazy:

I have heard from someone (a female actually) that she experienced significant hair loss while on it that ceased once she stopped taking lithium. I will be closely monitoring my hair loss for the next few weeks and report any changes here. For those of you who have stress, bipolar or mild depression, lithium is one of the most effective minerals you can take. And we all know that stress itself can lead to hair loss long-term.
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Supplements I take:
-Zinc
-Multivitamin
-Milk thistle (has never had any impact on my hair loss, but I take it to protect my liver)
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Current state of hair:
-Losing maybe 10 hairs a day.
-My hair is dyed black and long so it's easy to spot. Dyeing my hair has never had any impact on the amount of hair loss in case you're wondering.
-I have some diffuse loss on my crown. Very little hair loss around my hairline.
-When my hair falls, it usually ends up on my chest or my RIGHT-shoulder (has anyone else experienced more hair loss on one side of their head than the other?)
-I do not scrub shampoo into my scalp for fear of dislodging hair. I squirt the shampoo on my head and keep rubbing it towards the back with my palms. I see maybe 2 or 3 hairs this way.
-Scalp used to be oily, but is now somewhat dry.
-I do occasional oil treatments for my scalp (hemp oil or safflower oil, NEVER olive oil or coconut oil)
-I take frequent baths with essential oils (lemon and mint) and epsom salts (magnesium sulfate.) I usually dunk my head underwater. Essential oils/epsom have never increased/decreased the amount of shedding nor does it irritate my scalp.
-I masturbate/edge frequently. Like...very frequently

If anyone has any experience with Lithium, please share. I'd love to hear what you guys/gals thought.

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Day 4: I took a bath yesterday (no shower) and I dunked my head under the water. The bathwater stays in the tub until I release the drain, so any hair I might have lost will stay in the tub until the water leaves.

I saw a bit more hair than usual. I'm sticking with the Lithium, but as of right now I'm leaning towards "yes, Lithium DOES encourage hair loss."
 

Digidako

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My Regimen
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Hey man,
Lithium has great clinical efficacy so i'm hopeful that you will see great result from it psychologically. Regarding your hair loss, medication-related alopecia is definitely a real side effect of certain medications, Lithium included. If there is any hair loss induced by the lithium it's probably just a response your body is having to the medication, in which case it should stabilize after continued use. Regarding your "current sate of hair", shedding ~10 hairs a day is negligible to say the least considering the average adult sheds ~100 (+/-60 ) a day !! The point about you hair falling out more on one side than the other is a ludicrous assumption, losing one or more hairs on any side of your head probably won't make a big difference appearance wise.
 

GoodHurr

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Hey man,
Lithium has great clinical efficacy so i'm hopeful that you will see great result from it psychologically. Regarding your hair loss, medication-related alopecia is definitely a real side effect of certain medications, Lithium included. If there is any hair loss induced by the lithium it's probably just a response your body is having to the medication, in which case it should stabilize after continued use. Regarding your "current sate of hair", shedding ~10 hairs a day is negligible to say the least considering the average adult sheds ~100 (+/-60 ) a day !! The point about you hair falling out more on one side than the other is a ludicrous assumption, losing one or more hairs on any side of your head probably won't make a big difference appearance wise.

I've yet to see any convincing evidence that losing any hair is "negligible" or natural.

I think this is a pervasive and damaging myth within the hair loss community. There are people who grow their hair out for years to reach waist-length/dread length and I doubt they could achieve that level of hair growth and maintain it for years if they were regularly losing 100 hairs a day.

Especially since I've gone through periods of my life where I wasn't losing any hair and other periods where I was losing more than 10. To me, losing 10 hairs a day is abnormal.
 

Dolph

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Is it the same drug for treating mental issues?
Yeah, Lithium is most commonly used for bipolar disorder.

I know a woman who had pretty bad hair loss on it but it regrew entirely when she stopped. YMMV, but I would urge the OP to put mental health ahead of hairloss (being well aware of course of the crossover!)
 
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