Hrt that does NOT have hair loss as a side effect

[comberbird]

Hi all seeing endocrinologist and gynae tomorrow after nearly three years of hair loss which I suspect is Mirena related as all other causes have been ruled out by blood test and no history of genetic hair loss. Started coil due to super heavy periods but frankly would rather have those than be bald! Currently using half a 25mg evorel patch which has lowered anxiety, help sleep joint pain etc. But evorel apparently also isn’t hair friendly. Pls can you recommend types of both progesterone and oestrogen that do not have hair loss as an official side effect. Am 46 and also have had undiagnosed pcos until I went for fertility treatment.

@borntobequiet

Three eggs for breakfast sounds like an awful lot. Two fill me up entirely in an omelette. Hair loss is an ageing thing, and there’s more to ageing than changing levels of sex hormones.

I was surprised too. She’s a meno expert, so worth reading. One egg is about 6-7g protein.

But evorel apparently also isn’t hair friendly

Where have you seen this? It's not true.

Hair loss is a known side effect of menopause for some women. It can be all over, or male pattern baldness where it recedes along the front hairline. Both are hormonal.

Why are you using only half a patch?
Some patches are not meant to be cut in half anyway, as they can lose the content, depending if they are a reservoir or matrix type.

As I said before, the amount of estrogen you are using will not help you very much.

And although other posters have suggested other types, the estrogen in patches and gel is the same. It's estradiol. The only difference is what progesterone you use.

If you are ONLY using estrogen, this is incorrect prescribing as you have to use progesterone as well.

see this table on types of HRT hrt for peri menopause

hrt for post menopause

Can you clarify what you are using, why it's half a low dose patch, and why no progesterone alongside it?

OP- are you still using the Mirena? I wasn't sure from your post if you had stopped it? I think you should increase the estrogen. Using a continuous type of progesterone (Mirena) and such a tiny amount of estrogen may well be the reason.

@JinglingHellsBells, absolutely I am no expert as I said to OP. I just wanted to point out my hair has never been in such good condition since taking HRT and the type I take. Seems to me the oestrogen dose for OP is not enough, she is young still.

I fully aknowledge that you know 1,000% times more than me (and I have personally benifited from this) I was just trying to answer her question.

I have seen a few posts on here recently about eyebrows and hair thinning etc, luckily my experience is the opposite with gel. It could be any HRT I suppose. Just giving my anecdotal position

Basically, Thank God for HRT! Maybe the type OP is taking doesn't suit her as well as gel might? No idea!

PS my DSis is finally on the gel and thanks you (via me), kindly!

Evorel 50 made my hair thicker and stronger and it now grows more quickly.

Hi @BillieSpain I don't think I was criticising you at all :)

I just felt some posters were looking for some perhaps obscure reasons for hair loss when it's really common to lose it in meno.

I'm not sure if the OP is using the Mirena still, but if she is, the patch will be Evorel only.

Too much progesterone really 'whacks' the benefits of estrogen on the head! And I have never heard of anyone so young being on half a 25mcg patch. That's almost useless as HRT, it's so tiny.

If this is GP's advice, it's way off, unless there are other health reasons for such a low dose.

@BillieSpain Pleased you AND your sis are doing great!

[quote JinglingHellsBells]@BillieSpain Pleased you AND your sis are doing great![/quote]
Thanks so much JHB.

DSis spoke to her (female late 40's doctor) AGAIN, and she finally (at almost 50!) took her off the combined CP (which she didn't need for contraception) and onto 'the same thing her sister has'

Hi all the progesterone is in the Mirena and the patch is all the time. I don’t take loads of evorel
As gives me very sore boobs. Evorel has hair loss listed as a side effect and also mirena does too. Oestrogel used a different kind of oestrogen and is body identical and apparently less likely to affect hair. I was wondering about any others?

I’m terrified of taking out the coil as periods were awful. Utrogestran is supposed to be better but would have bleeds and don’t know how heavy.

I have had every test Under the sun over three years. Everything is normal ie my blood tests say I am in rude health and my hormone profile is not exciting. My hair is thinning on top and sides it regrows as finer fuzzy hair and won’t grow past my ears. Before mirena i had tons of fine very shiny hair and now I have half the hair and a weird texture. Iron readings all good, don’t know about protein but typically eat and egg plus egg whites for breakfast as was advised to do this a few years back. I take vit D, zinc, folate and Botin and skin and nails are better than ever. Hair not!

I went to see an endocrinologist this week and he suspects I have some kind of progesterone conversion issue turning it to testosterone so has prescribed spironolactone. So I will try this and if no joy change the hrt.

Any other thoughts on hair friendly hrt most welcome.

@comberbird Maybe you need to work on the idea that more women lose hair through loss of estrogen rather than a type of HRT.
The dose you are on is - being blunt- pretty useless. No one really uses half a 25mcg patch. The sore boobs is a side effect that will go. But you need to give it time.

It is more likely to be the Mirena alongside low estrogen which is causing the issue.

Evorel and Oestrogel are identical types of estrogen. They are both estradiol and both body-identical, in Evorel it's in a patch, in gel it's in a bottle. If you do a search for them and see the info online, it confirms they are estradiol.

Side effects like hair loss apply to many drugs but most people don't experience them. Legally, any side effects found, even one in a million people, have to be listed.

Thanks for clarifying. My oestrogen isn’t low per se (ie looks fairly normal for a my age) and all the effects I have had from using the patch are good (and I only started it a year ago - 2 years after having the mirena) I’m taking to reduce peri symptoms - joint aches/ sleep/ anxiety and the tiny dose makes them go away. My boobs were like melons on a whole patch and normalised when I cut the dose. I hear what you are saying though. Thanks

@Justilou1

I would also be asking questions about your scalp - is it itchy?

• has anything changed with your hair?
• has it become greasy/dry?
• have you developed sensitivities where you had none before?

I am asking because I ended up going to a specialist dermatologist and having two scalp biopsies and taking two week’s worth of daily hair fall collected from my brush, bed, shower, floor and clothing for counting and looking at the roots to asses at what time in the cycle my hair was falling out. It turns out that I have androgenic alopecia and telogen effluvium. I am now taking spironolactone and minoxidil. Prior to this, my hair had changed over the previous couple of years from dry to greasy and very sensitive. I didn’t have dandruff, but it was itchy and sore from scratching, which didn’t help. The medication has helped a lot, but it’s not thick and luxurious. At least you can’t see the bald spots now!

Hi I am about to see a dermatologist and I'm hoping he will prescribe spironolactone for me as I too have been diagnosed with androgenetic alopecua by a tricologist. I had such thick hair and 6-8 months after starting Estraderm patches and utrogestan I have lost so much hair and have a bald spot at my crown which is so distressing. How long did it take for the medication to work? I'm feeling helpless

As you know, hair grows slowly. It takes about 3-4 months before you see the new hairgrowth filling in the bald spots and up to a year before you notice it’s caught up again.

@comberbird

Thanks for clarifying. My oestrogen isn’t low per se (ie looks fairly normal for a my age) and all the effects I have had from using the patch are good (and I only started it a year ago - 2 years after having the mirena) I’m taking to reduce peri symptoms - joint aches/ sleep/ anxiety and the tiny dose makes them go away. My boobs were like melons on a whole patch and normalised when I cut the dose. I hear what you are saying though. Thanks

Blood tests for estrogen are very unreliable. They only give a snapshot on the day and during peri they can vary daily. The issue with your boobs would settle down eventually on a full dose. It's usually a short term symptom that is common and would go away after a while. TBH I think somewhere like the Philip Kingsley trichologist clinics are better for hair loss issues as they do all the tests but can also prescribe a full range of treatments.

The advice I have from endocrinologist, gynaecologist and GP (whom I have known for 20+ years and can call at home if necessary) is that most hair clinics are great at prescribing very epxpensive tests and their results aren’t wonderful. Be suspicious. Go medical.

@comberbird This might be of interest- trichologist articles on hair loss/ hormones.

www.philipkingsley.co.uk/hormonal-contraceptives-and-hair-shedding

How interesting to read you had hair loss due to mirena and Evorel. I had the exact opposite. Prior to getting both, I had hair loss. Used to have handfuls coming out in the shower but now minimal if at all.

At the same time as starting the evorel patches, I started taking collagen tablets abd did that for a few months - to try to address hair loss and joint pain. It’s been months since I stopped those tablets yet continue with less joint pain and my hair is fuller than it has been for years (also stopped colouring it). I would say my Evorel was increased to 50mg.

Hope they can find a balance that helps you.

Before you spend money on a trichilogist do consider a registered nutritionist who might be able to advise on your protein. I know I keep going on about it but women can be quite low without realising. If you don’t want to spend money on that simply add up roughly what you think you eat on an average day. Very low protein can be linked with hair loss. Eg toast for breakfast, veg soup at lunch then jacket with salad and beans at dinner is pretty low protein.

@Newgirls

Before you spend money on a trichilogist do consider a registered nutritionist who might be able to advise on your protein. I know I keep going on about it but women can be quite low without realising. If you don’t want to spend money on that simply add up roughly what you think you eat on an average day. Very low protein can be linked with hair loss. Eg toast for breakfast, veg soup at lunch then jacket with salad and beans at dinner is pretty low protein.

A tricologist told me I need at least 55g of protein a day where hair is concerned. You are right in that nutrition is important.

Yes 55g and if you are sporty/tall add on more 👍

Can be plant proteins but you do need some in every meal and snack to get to that amount (I’m not a fan of powders etc personally)

Thanks all. I went to Philip Kingsley three years ago it was my first port of call. Had their drops which didn’t do much. Since been to x2 derms gynae and now endocrinologist. Had hair pull test and don’t have TE. Dr Fenton is a renowned hair specialist ansd thinks it’s male pattern baldness triggered by mirena he told me to take more vits D and zinc and folate and come back in June. He recommended removing mirena but advice form endo is conflicting and he said add spironolactone first and see if it works. So I will do this for 6 month and see gynae at the same time so I’m ready to go on other things! Thanks all!

Hello, I took two times Femoston 2/10 ne for 2 months, every time my hair shedded massively. I hate my Doc for not listening to my sides effects. I hade scratchy scalp and shedding the first week. then it was burning scalp.

I've been using Progynova for years with no hair related problems.

@ShippingNews

I've been using Progynova for years with no hair related problems.

Hi, that's good. i am thinking of taking Provames. I'm scared now. I'm 6 weeks cold turkey.

Has anyone heard of body identical HRT being prescribed for Androgenic Alopecia?
Apologies, been reading this thread and have hair loss.