beta blocker that does not cause hair loss?

[ghorton]

Is there a beta blocker that does not cause hair loss?


This discussion is related to Verapamil related Hair Loss.

[suzannaamrta]

I was on a beta blocker called Nebovil for about a year and most of my hair feel out.  I had a big, thick head of long beautiful hair.  I went to see a cardiologist and she took me off the beta blocker and put me on verapamil.  My hair is growing back but slowly and it worries me that hair loss is also a side effect of verapamil.  Does anyone know about this?

[Marz2u]

I've been on Bystolic 10 mg a day for a few years and just this last 6 mos I've noticed a dramatic hair loss. I take hair vitamins and all that, no change noticed. Before that I was on Atenolol 50 mg and Toprolol 100 mg a day. I have been on beta blockers for 15 years for PSVT's..maybe I will consider an oblation.

[Thunder55]

sorry to hear about your health problelm, I have an arrhythimia and it drives me crazy, I have had it for some time, Dr's dont seem to think it is anything to worry about but i hear of people dying from these things, I was put on tropol and i hated it, well it did help the arrhythimia's very much but in about a month i noticed after a shower one day that my hair as i was brushing it started to fall out more than normal,  so i just kept an eye on it well both eyes this is my hair and it is thin any ways.

Well after about a month of watching it fall out more and more i told my Dr that and he said he has never heard of that, I told him i am not taking it anymore he wasnt upset or anything and my hair came back I am here because i am getting the palpatations again and they drive me nuts so i was thinking about another kind of beta blocker yet cant find one that dosent cause hair loss why?

[Metsmom]

This is depressing.  I have been on Toprol for 7 years and have noticed a significant difference in my hair.  I have finally asked my doctor to switch my medicine, but to another beta blocker.  Does anyone know anything about Bystolic, I was told it is new but very good.  Some of the side effects sound scary.

[desertrat49]

After reading all these posts, I am losing hope that there is a beta blocker out there that one can take that does not cause one to loose hair. I am on Metoprolol 50mg daily since July of '05 since being diagnosed with an aortic root aneurysm. I am damned if I take betas and damned if I don't.  I wonder what in the heck is in them that causes the hair loss?  Or could it be that ones blood circulation somewhat slows in ones outer extremeties and therefore not a good blood supply gets to the roots of your hair. (just a layman thinking out loud). I cannot stop taking these monsters because of my diagnosis..I AM GOING NUTS WITH THIS. IT is a horrible feeling to watch your hair thinning out.  THERE HAS TO BE SOMEONE WHO COULD HELP US ALL...This is so depressing to me.  I wish some doctors would get on here with their suggestions....DOCTORS???? ANYONE????  

[11_14_09]

Kerlone has not caused hair loss for me. I am a 30 yr old female been on a variety of beta blockers since 2000 ... recently Kerlone was taken off the market so I was switched to Topral - which caused severe insomnia - and now to kerlone's generic, betaxolol, which is causing hair loss. Initally years back, I was on Nadalol, which caused hair loss/hair thinning for months before I fifgured it out and had my Dr switch me to Kerlone. I've been fine on Kerlone for years. Now that I cant take Kerlone anymore, and am having the same hair loss issues from the nadalol,  I have decided I'm stopping taking these drugs altogether and weening off. Down to 1/8 pill of betaxolol / day. I am getting married this year and cannot deal with the hair loss side effect, which in my experience, no doctor has ever taken seriously.

[Ariesgirl417]

I have been on verapamil for almost 3 years. I started losing (thinning) hair and had small almost bald spots (alopecia) as told to me by my dermatologist. In the last few months I started feeling VERY TIRED and didn't take the Verapamil daily, I was less tired, irritated and my hair is so much thicker now, my hairdresser asked how I did it. I really think that is was the Verapamil, that was the only meds I took on a regular basis. I was on iron for a while and that did help with the hair problem also, but my hair was thin, not patchy so much.

[Me967]

I personally like the Ronco idea of instant hair paint.  I also get what you say about getting your hair wet.  If it were'nt for the hair hanging down it would look painted anyhow.  LOL.  That's just too funny; in a crazy like mannor.  LOL

Well I have no choice and have to stay on the heart and thyroid meds.  They seem to make your hair go flat.   So I guess the next step is a perm.  Or hair paint.  LOL.  

Take care;  Me.  ;-)

[EFT56]

Toby45  thank you , I can understand your feelings.  its hard to smile when we have to suffer so much with meds and all.  

Me967 : there are some Natural hair thickners on the market - that do work well..
I myself have thinning hair , its the worst , when I get my hair wet !  I dont like it at all.
however - in 99% cases if your taken off a beta blocker or ccb  most times your hair will return to normal in about 6 to 8 months.  it grows back (they say)  

I do remember Ronco had a head Paint !  spray can of instant Hair paint .. back in the 80s.. it was on tv.. they showed a older man with frier tuck or horse shoe haircutt ..
he sprayed his head , and covered the bald spots up .. look good on tv ?  

for me, I really think its wrong of all makers of medications worldwide , to put out such
rotten stuff.. its mostly the fillers that get you ..  in the pills -  as there is only about 2%
or less of the medication in each pill you take .. depending on doseage.
most of this stuff should not be allowed on the market for use..  I would bet 10 to 1
that the pill makers can , make a medication without any side effects !  
or at least have few side effects.   Hate to say it - its all money !

so I like meny are behind a 8 ball -  your dammed if you do and your dammed if you dont ..

I guess I should next get a can of turtle wax , and exta exta large hanging shirt !
to cover my belly - thanks to the meds.

take care and well wishes to all..  

[Me967]

Hi.  Well great.  I never realized the beta blockers thinned out your hair too. : - l    
I've  taken Lopressor (Metoprolol 50mg/day ) for ~ 5 years now.  My hair over the last 5 years has thined out.  I chalked it up as my body just being under stress, and never put the two together.    I'm also taking Levothyroxine (for thyroid) now and have been noticing a little more again.  Hoping it will stop soon as everything levels out.   I've been told that vit. E helps.  Don't know for sure.  I have a small bare spot on the back of my head but, I have long hair that somewhat hides it for now.  : -)

Me

[toby45]

You've got a sense of humor, and you've brought a smile to my face. I've given up on bald or not, thin or fat.

Getting through the day is tough enough after the heart attacks - I can't bring myself to care about the little stuff anymore. Hard enough to cope with the big stuff eh?!

T

[EFT56]

Most if not all beta blockers have the known side effect as  Hair loss -thinning hair
pattern baldness - that they say will reverse, once off the meds !  
however if you have to be on blood pressure med, check the side effects first !
as hair loss or thinning hair - may be listed as a side effect .  

I am on verapamil now  - still have thinning hair - there is no history of baldness in my whole family (both sides)  My Doctor tells me , Hey being Bald is in style now!!
I ask is being fat or having a big belly in style too ? as rapid waight gain is another known  side effect of most b.p meds .  so we may end up as  an american bald eagle
with a fat belly !    

hard to imagine such side effects can happen.   next we will grow monkey tails
or talk backwords ..  im still looking for a medication for b.p  that has no side effects !

boogernose

[luvnluke]

I am so glad to hear you hair thickened back up.  How long were you on metoprolol?  I just put it all together last night.  I have noticed a dramatic loss over the past year.  I can't believe it took me that long to figure it out.  I am going on aldactone and taking prenatal vit...hopefully to help the process of thickening up my hair.

[ghorton]

Metoprolol was the drug that I was on that caused my hair to fall out.  In 2 months on it I was losing my hair rapidly.  I was atenolol before and the same thing happened, but more gradually.  I was off of beta blockers for a year being being put back on metoprolol and during that year my hair quit falling out and thickened back up.

[KlynnC]

Great! One more thing to worry about. I had no idea beta blockers caused hair loss - I had enough of that after giving birth to my 2 children! I just started taking Metoprolol about 3 months ago and haven't noticed anything yet, but I'm on a pretty low dose - 25mg/day, I hope it stays this way.
Good luck to you.

[vienna13]

I've been taking Metoprolol (4 years)100mg/day no hair loss here.

[TooHealth]

I have been on a number of beta blockers over the last 20 years as a migraine preventative.  Metoprolol, Atenolol, Nadolol, Propranolol.  In doses between 10mg and 40mg.  15 years in my hair loss started.  Like so many I thought it age related as I was 55 or so.  But it became too promounced to ignore and so I went off the blockers.  After a 7 month break I slunk back to my Doctor as I had so many headaches and could hardly eat anything that would not trigger a migraine.  I went back on the beta-blockers, this time Nadalol.  A few days following I went to have my annual haircut.  I wear my hair simple and long and only get a trim once a year.  The hairdresser asked if I had been on chemotherapy?  I asked why, as, although my hair had thinned dramtically, I still HAD hair.  She answered that I had little tiny new hairs coming in all over my head.  That confirned for me that beta-blockers were the cause of the hair loss and the 7 month hiatus had spawned this re-growth.  WE ARE NOT ALL CRAZY.  BETA-BLOCKERS CAN CAUSE HAIR LOST.  I am 5 years now on Nadalol and have just gone off them again.  Not only is my hair falling out big time but I have developed dry eye, TMJ, and the skin in the entry to my ear canals is unexplainably dry and itchy, and my nose runs continually.  I must always carry tissues.  I know the nose running and hair loss are beta-blocker as they both disappear when I go off the drug.  The other stuff I only suspect as being, in part, a result.  I am trying various herbs and supplements for migraine prevention (butterbur, feverfew) and high blood pressure (fish oil, ginger, Hawthorn).  I am only about 2 weeks in and need at least three months to get the herbs into the my system to know what works.  I believe, I know, I can solve this outside of beta blockers and other prescription meds.  I do hope this aids others in their search for answers.  We all need to keep sharing and stick together!