Apparently,the dose,ie:the amount in mgs taken daily doesn't seem to matter.My wife has recently started on Lamictal for temporal seizing...She's taking 100mg/day and the hair loss is phenomenal.Quite literally,it comes out in large clumps.Interesting point;her hairdresser noticed this and said something was wrong as toxicity shows up in the hair first.She also has multiple sclerosis and is going in for an MRI to see if there is some relationship between the disease and the recent onset of seizing.

Edw.A.Roth

I have been on Lamictal for a year.  The dose was increased 6 weeks ago.  A month ago my hair started coming out in clumps when I washed it.  I have started taking Biotin and using special shampoo and conditioners.

Has anyone had this hair loss problem slow down.  Lamictal is the only medicine that has worked for me.  Sometimes I feel like a guinea pig and don't really want to try "something else" to see what might work. 

Vanity or Sanity?  I know it is a stupid question but, I am just trying to find answers and the Drs don't seem to have any.

I was hoping someone here might be able to help.

I am on Lamictal and I have been told that all medications

can cause hair loss.

Hey guys, I actually had to register just because I felt the need to share this with everyone. Ok I was on 1000mg daily for 2 years of this stuff for bipolar disorder... A year after taking it I noticed I was cleaning out my hair brush a little more often, but I didn't think anything of it. 2 years later I am shampooing my hair and as I am combing my hair with my fingers to make sure the shampoo is out, I am taking out like mini clumps of hair. And I just recently told my doctor to shove it and I wasn't taking it anymore, and now that I am off it, I feel like my hair is coming out faster...? But here's the thing! I am a 20 year old female. Strange huh? I like screamed at my doctor, and was like "listen, I have a mental condition, but I am not stupid" I just want to let everyone know I am printing out this whole thing, and showing it to my doctor... Cuz a girl, who has enough problems to deal with should not have to deal with hair loss when she's 20 years old because doctors decide they have nothing better to do than to dope me up on an insane amount of medication that causes it, and didn't disclose it. I really think these doctors get a commission off these meds. I really do.... Thanks!

Tiffany

I have been on Lamictal for 9 mon. I started taking it after having a baby. I did loose some hair up front (basically up front but only on the sides) which is common after birth. That hair grew back. I am now taking 400mg a day and have noticed hair loss in the front middle on my head, from my hairline to about 3" back. I am thinking of getting off the Lamictal.

MY QUESTION IS: Those of you that are having hair loss, are you loosing it up front like me or all over? 

 My Dr said if it was the LAMICTAL she thought it would be and all over thing. She also said she thought it was more likely to make hair brittle and break rather than fall out.

I'm so glad I found this site.  I feel like I finally have proof that Lamictal is the cause of my hair loss.  I'm not even sure how long ago I was prescribed this drug, but I'm taking 300mgs a day.  I know it's been over a year, because I remember being upset last year on Mother's Day, because I was afraid that the hair loss was noticiable.

I started noticing my hair thinning out probably within a month of taking it.  I was really confused by this, because I actually had a mini hair transplant in the 90's.  My hair is thin all the way around, thanks to Mom, and I was young and insecure by it.  I went to see a specialist and he suggested I try a very small graft in the area that was concerning me and maybe the added thickness would alleviate my stress over it.  Wish I hadn't even bothered, as I now know that I didn't have a problem and just flushed my $$ away.  However, that hair is permanent, that is, until I started taking Lamictal.  The hair seemed to start thinning very quickly.  After a year of this, I knew something was off.  It seemed to even be too much for genetic hair loss.  It was quick and drastic.  I finally went to my general doc a few months ago and he ran every test known to mankind, and I was fine.  Thyroid, Lupus, everything.  I went to my dermatologist.  She did the same thyroid tests.  In fact, my thyroid is tested every year.  Fine.

I was suspicous of the Lamicatal in the very beginning of this, because I could really see that it was the only thing I had done differentely when the hair started falling out.  I thought maybe it was stress, but I don't believe that now.  I asked the doc who prescribes me this and he read the side effects out of the pharmacology book and said it wasn't a side effect.  I went home and searched it online, but I must have typed something else in, because I got very few hits, but there were sites that said this was a side effect. 

I now have a spot in the front of my head, including my hair line, that is almost bald.  No exaggeration there.  This is more like alopecia.  The hair in my front hairline has actually fallen out.  I believed my doc at first and started using Rogaine.  I waited out the shedding period that you experience with this drug, but my hair loss has only increased.  There is NO new hair growing in that area.  I've now stopped the Rogaine as I realized this wasn't the problem or solution.

I believe it really is the Lamictal, and I'm wondering if the hair will grow back.  Again, keep in mind that I had permanent hair transplanted there and it is gone, so that's REALLY a good sign that something is happening.  I asked a specialist about the transplanted hair and that should NOT happen.  I'm starting to believe that the Lamictal is the only thing that can be causing this.  I don't know about you, but I'm calling my doc today and seeing about changing my meds. 

I will keep coming here and post on my progress and see if my hair grows back.  Lamictal has been a really good drug for me all around, and I hate to stop taking it, but if there are other options out there, then I don't think the trade-off is worth it.  I want hair.

Back 30 years ago when I started having seizures, my hair did not grow for almost 2 years. My Dr's at that time did not relate the two and had no belief what so ever that my epilepsy had anything to do with it.  My hair is still not any longer than my neck because it does not grow past there without getting to thick to manage.  I understand what you are going through.  I have been on every seizure drug their is with the exeception of maybe 2 and though I don't remember a loss of hair while on lamictal it does not mean it did not happen.  I truely believe that what your hair does is a mirror for your entire body.  I have seen this happen with people with other illness as well.  You need to shake these Dr's sometimes because many will see the hair loss as a small side effect and the the bigger problem that it is.

I just came out of the hospital after having a video EEG.  The electrodes and glue pulled out a ton of hair.  I am losing a lot of hair from the Lamictal.  I feel that I am really going bald.   I know this is the least of my problem but I am REALLY upset by this.  Anyone have any suggestions.  I will try Brazil nuts as someone suggested.    Thanks.  Iam on 400 mg.

Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus.  I have been on lamictal for about 9 months, currently at 500mg per day.  After about 6 months, I started to notice significant hair loss.  Will try the supplements and shampoo mentioned here.  Don't want to get off lamictal because, up until now, I'm not having any other side effects.