Hair loss - any recommendations

[lolacherricoke]

Hello, been on mounjaro for 5 months and never had an issue, but this week my hair has started coming out in clumps!!
what can I do to stop/reduce this?
scared as want to continue losing weight but also want to keep my flowing locks!

I’m the same OP. I’m 4 months in and have developed thinning hair, it’s short anyway but now feels a bit candyflossy. I’ve been taking biotin for over a year which has clearly not worked! I’d be interested to hear if anyone has any recommendations and if it will eventually grow back thicker.

Plantur shampoo

I’m also interested in this. Have been taking biotin but no difference noticed so might sack that off. Don’t we tend to have a hair shed when we get to Autumn anyway so might just be that? Mine is also age related.

How fast has your weightloss occured? Twice in my life I've lost loads of weight really quickly due to stress, and my hair started falling out excessively. Horrible! However, once I started eating properly again, hair loss stopped a month or so later.

I have kept to 1lb a week loss on MJ eating a high protein diet (+ collagen in my tea) and my hair is fine this time round, despite losing more weight now than on the previous occasions.

So in my experience it's speed of weightloss and a lack of protein that triggers this.

Lots of us have experienced this and if you do a search there are lots of threads with varying advice. It’s called telogen effluvium. It’s caused when stress, in our case significant weight loss, disrupts the hair growth cycle. It will grow back but because hair growth is cyclical it takes a while. It’s the weight loss, not the Mounjaro itself.

Supplements containing biotin and iron help, as does zinc. Ensuring an adequate protein intake of approx 1g per kg of body weight while you are losing will help to protect muscle mass and encourage hair regrowth.

It's a listed side effect and one i am suffering from badly. I haven't lostweight quickly at any point, 2 pounds per week on average. It's annoying so following with interest

Eli Lilly now list this as a side effect of the medication. Some people will lose hair due to fast weight loss / lack of nutrients / deficiency etc etc but anyone who tells you that MJ doesn’t cause it is incorrect. MJ DOES cause it and people need to read up on the recent studies so they’re fully aware and up to speed

All you can do really is ride through it and it does settle down as a rule. You can take supplements etc etc because it does make us feel better to feel we are ‘doing something’ but I’d just make sure you aren’t deficient in anything, eat a good diet, handle your hair gently with gentle products and wait for it to stabilise again

Topical Minoxidil 5% (aka men’s strength) has made a dramatic difference for me.

Is this the one where it all falls out again when you stop using it?

This! So many people keep telling me it's fast weight loss but it isnt. It says its a side effect if using MJ for weightloss

Sort of. It only increases new hair growth whilst you’re using it, it doesn’t affect hair loss at all as far as I am aware. But obviously that means yes, you only get the benefits while you use it.

Me too. I've started on minoxidil from hair and me but too early to see any difference. I can't it products on my scalp so only can use the tablets. So depressing!

@MrsMiagi so true - and it’s really frustrating to see so many people across the board saying that it categorically isn’t the medication when - in a lot of cases - it absolutely is

It feels dramatic, but it will recover. As others have said, it’s the weight loss and not the drug. If it was the drug, it would surely continue as long as people take it? I, like others, lost a tonne of weight quickly, went through a period of hair shedding for a few weeks, but it then stopped even though I didn’t stop the MJ and was continuing to lose weight.

It is the drug. It is listed as a side effect of the drug. Like all drugs not all side effects affect everyone but it is the drug. Its something we need to consider if planning to continue with MJ for maintenance.

Interested to see these if you have them to hand, please? I wasn’t aware that causation had been definitively established.

Have a look on the information they have online. The last one I read was revised in May 2025 but there may be a more up to date one. Its definitely on there as a side effect.

I promise I’m not being lazy - I did a search before asking but I can’t find the studies that @CroissantChops references and I’m interested.

Eli Lilly listing hair loss as a known side effect isn’t proof of causation, only correlation. As most people taking MJ will lose significant weight and as significant weight loss is associated with telogen effluvium I imagine causation is very difficult to prove.

I think it’s worth holding onto the fact that for most people it is a temporary side effect.

Hair loss
Weight management
In SURMOUNT-1, -2, and -3 hair loss was reported in 4.9% of patients treated with tirzepatide and in 1.0% of patients treated with placebo. The events were mainly of mild severity and most patients recovered while on continued treatment. No tirzepatide patients discontinued drug or study due to hair loss.

Although a side effect of MJ it is also a known side effect of rapid weight loss and so it is worth making sure you are having enough calories and nutrients. Depending on your age, good quality collagen supplements may be helpful, but I would also consider other vitamins you could be deficient in.

Following as am also experiencing this which is a bit worrying. I’ve only lost at 1-2lb a week so not particularly rapidly. I’ve ordered some biotin and just hope it settles down as it’s really the only side effect that has given me concern (and everything else is going so well).

Struggling with this. I have had a terrible flare up of scalp psoriasis and the doctor says that is causing hair-loss, but the MJ seems to be making it worse. I've lost 3 stone since May - mostly 2lbs a week which I don't think is excessive. I take collagen and biotin, and eat a well balanced, thoughtful sort of diet full if all the stuff you're meant to eat (with a few accidental biscuits here and there.) I am going to end up looking like a meatball on cocktail sticks (as another MN user put so eloquently), but with just a wisp of hair lying in a faint haze over my scabby head. Lovely.

I saw the meatball on cocktail sticks comment and it had me howling! I am hoping everyone is right and it's temporary and will calm down once we get to goal

Same. My average is 1lb a week so not quick at but noticed it a couple of months in and it just seems to be getting worse after reading for many people it stops after a few months in. My hair is less healthy too and brittle. I've always had thick healthy hair so I'm gutted. I'm eating healthier and I've started taking supplements to combat it but not improved yet.

I've had scalp psoriasis all my life and no loss of hair but since going on mj I've got the dreaded hair loss - only the combination means I can't put any magic potions on my scalp or use thickening shampoo as can only use medicated shampoo. My only hope now is the pills from hair+ me but it costs

In the same boat - following!

I’m going to book in a haircut (needed anyway) and go from long to a shorter style. I don’t know if layers will help it or not, might just stick with one length.

Reading this has reminded me I’ve got collagen and need to get back in the habit of adding it to coffees. Generally try to up the protein and multi vits too.