Rapid hair loss

[RogerD]

Hello. Newbie to the forum. My brother, in his mid 50's has MS...lives alone... During the past two months, he has experienced considerable hair loss, to the point that today someone asked if he was going through chemotherapy? His personal Dr. had no explanation. He gets Avonex injections once a week and takes prednizone 3 times/week. I am sure he has been missing several of his prednizone doses, as I examined his bubble packs today... Will predizone withdrawl cause hair loss??? Any other ideas?
Any input would be appreciated

[Carol]

When I get really stressed my hair starts to fall out. I'm lucky in that I have tons of hair, so it's not obvious to anybody else.

It got so bad once that I did ask my GP who ordered a bunch of blood tests. Apparently any kind of traumatic event, mental or physical, can cause hair loss. So can low iron as well as other medical issues (low thyroid?) and certain medicines. I have a female cousin with hormone issues who has very little hair.

It takes about 3 months for the hair loss to stop even after the event that caused it has resolved. Has anything recently changed in your brother's life to stress him?

C

[Redwings]

Hi RogerD:

You didn't say how long your brother has been on his medications, but both Avonex and prednisone themselves -- rather than the withdrawal of them -- are known to cause hair loss. (Other drugs can cause hair loss, too.) I lost a fair amount of hair a few months after starting Avonex. I also drop a noticeable amount of hair every time I do an IV steroid series. In my case, the hair always grew/grows back. If your brother has been on his meds less than, say, six months, it's possible that he's just going through the hair drop phase and it will grow back. Considering the known side effects of the drugs, prednisone withdrawal is a possible cause, but low on the list of suspects.

I'm a woman, and I know that my female hormones must play some part in the drop and regrowth cycle, but I can't say to what extent. Your brother is in his 50s, right about the time men start to lose hair anyway. So it's possible that his hormones and age might also be influencing the effect of his medications and his hair drop.

Shock and simple stress are also known to cause hair loss. And with MS, your brother undoubtedly has had his share of both! It might be a good idea for him to get checked out by his doctor just to make sure there isn't anything else going on that could be causing his hair loss.

[RogerD]

Roger has been on Avonex and prednizone for many years. Last November, I noticed that half his moustache was missing, asked him about and he told me he had accidentally cut it off...he kept it for about a month of "half off", and then it was all gone. I asked again and he said he shaved it off. I now think it may not have been accidentally cut off, but could have been the first session of his hair loss. I should add, that he gets pretty confused sometimes (also has short term memory loss) ...and tends to "cover" for things he is unsure of by saying what he thinks you want to hear??? His hair was pretty thin on top, but the sides were thick until a couple of months ago. It basically started coming out in clumps. I insisted he go to the doctor but did not attend with him...and he just told me the GP told him there "was not much he could do about it". I do have an appt. sheduled with his MS specialist on June 23.

[BigA]

Hairloss is a known effect of the interfererons. Just google hairloss and interferon.