Hair loss 4 weeks after finishing treatment

[Sharron1]

Hi, was wondering if drugs could affect me now pl.....I stopped taking riboferin, interferon and victrellis about 4 weeks ago but Now my hair seems to be falling out......I am still taking Eprex to help with hemoglobin and blood etc and I was in treatment for about 16 weeks......non responder by the way....my GP said it could be stress but I'm wondering if Anyone has had this problem post treatment or during etc.....than you Sharron

[Sharron1]

Annnndddddd....I was supposed to give myself the injection today or tomorrow.....I can wait......thank you again

[Sharron1]

Hi hi pooh, Ty for answering....holy chit...... That is the only drug I am still taking, other than ones I have been on for years....... Ty pooh...wow, call to doctor, tomorrow on list lol

[pooh55811]

The Interferon and Ribavirin are not out of ones system until about 6 months after end of treatment.

I started losing hair several weeks into treatment. I lost about half of my hair on treatment and it continued to fall out for several weeks/months after I finished treatment. It gradually stopped falling out over the months following the end of treatment. After several months, it began to grow back in.

I don't know if your hair loss is from the Hepatitis C treatment drugs but is is possible. However, I also found this article which states there can be a relationship to hair loss and taking Eprex.

From Oxford Journals:

Epoietin‐α‐associated total alopecia

    V. Reddy and
    J. H. Turney

Adverse effects of erythropoietin therapy including transient myalgia, hypertension, and thrombosis of vascular access are well known. We report a case of total alopecia temporally related to the initiation of therapy with erythropoietin‐α.

Case.

A 60‐year‐old man was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome due to membranous nephropathy in February 1996. His past medical history consisted of hypertension and acne as a teenager. After a poor response to steroids, followed by a 6‐month trial of cyclophosphamide, he was commenced on cyclosporin in January 1997.

In October 1998 the patient complained of lethargy and tiredness. Examination was unremarkable, other than blood pressure 150/100. Investigations revealed Hb 8.7, with normal red cell parameters, ferritin 23, folate 6.1, creatinine 240, urea 21.8, corrected calcium 2.20, and phosphate 1.33. He was commenced on epoietin alpha (Eprex) 2000 units twice weekly in November 1998, and this was later reduced to once weekly after the haemoglobin had risen to 11.4 g/dl. The remainder of his medication consisted of bumetanide, simvastatin, lisinopril, cyclosporin, doxazocin, none of which had been changed in the preceding 18 months.

Although he symptomatically improved, within 3 weeks of starting on Eprex he began to experience hair loss. Within 4 months he had developed alopecia universalis, with total head and body hair loss. He had no symptoms of endocrine disease and a thorough examination revealed no abnormality. The only abnormality on extensive laboratory investigation was a slightly low level of zinc at 7.7 μmol/l (normal 12.6–20.0 μmol/l). He was therefore commenced on zinc sulphate supplements; however, there was no improvement of his alopecia after 2 months and this was therefore discontinued.

Alopecia is frequently idiopathic [1], but having excluded the majority of recognized causes, suspicion was directed towards the Eprex. Consequently the epoietin‐α was changed to epoietin‐β (Recormon) in October 1999. Within 6 months, scanty hair growth had appeared on his cheeks and head. Hair growth has continued since that time.

Comments:

Alopecia possibly associated with erythropoietin use has recently been reported in three women [2]. In our case, the close temporal relationship between the initiation of Eprex therapy and the development of total alopecia, together with the exclusion of other recognized causes of alopecia, also suggests a possible adverse drug effect.

http://ndt.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/7/1525.full