Hair loss and breakage on MJ..

[HairMJ]

I’ve been on MJ since 2024, lost 100lbs, and I’ve now reached my goal but my hair is in a terrible state now.

It was never especially extra thick to begin with, but now it’s breaking and falling out so much that it looks really noticeable. The front is particularly bad and it’s getting harder to hide.

Has anyone else experienced this?

It’s the rapid weight loss, not the medication itself. I lost a bunch of hair when I went up to 10mg, but that stopped when I brought my dose back down and increased my daily calories a bit. My hair then started regrowing and is now back to normal.

I didn't shift all my weight rapid and like I have said, I have lost the same amount of weight before without the medication an this never happened.

Its the Medication. I only take 5mg a week now.

I did MJ for a year 2024, then did a few months off and I’ve been back on it for a year again now. I lost about 2/3 of my hair in the first year, it was awful! I’ve started taking collagen powder daily, and it is miraculous! My hair is growing back thicker and thicker! I’ve been back on it a year now and have no hair loss this time at all! Any brand will do, but I highly recommend trying it out

I disagree that it's the jabs, it's the weight loss. I lost weight slowly, so didn't have too much hair loss, but I lost 30kg, so there was some hair loss. I am still on MJ, but my weight has been stable/small losses since December. The hair loss has stopped and is growing back. I repeat, I have not stopped MJ so it's not that! It's just annoying as I have bra strap length hair and have a halo of about 4" hair that doesn't always lay flat and I sometimes have to use a serum on my hair (I don't like to use products on my hair, other than shampoo/conditioner). I also need to cut my hair and it will end up being several inches shorter than I like to have it, which is really disappointing. For people with hair as long as mine it's going to take years to get back to it's usual thickness.

I am a size 10 though and feel great about how I look. Using serum to smooth the regrowth down and having hair that is a couple of inches above my bra strap but otherwise looks thick and healthy seems a small price to pay. (Soni keep telling myself 🤦‍♀️🤣)

You can disagree, I dont care if people agree with me regarding if they think its the jab or not. I have also been taking MJ since 2024 and my hair is not growing back and I haven't lost any weight for months.

I think you would be best off seeing a dermatologist, OP. I can recommend someone very good if you're in London.

Telogen effluvium is usually acute but it can become chronic in some cases. A dermatologist would be able to diagnose if this is the likeliest condition or if there is something else going on. I wish I didn't have quite as much knowledge of hair loss as I do but I supported someone very close to me through alopecia areata which developed into alopecia totalis.

Be careful with extensions as they do damage your bio hair, especially if it’s fine/fragile to begin with. Talking from experience as I’ve had k-tips and currently have a weave and both have destroyed my hair, which is another reason I’m considering a topper!

It’s not the jabs per se, it’s the fact you aren’t eating enough and your hair is one of the first things to go.
anyone with any ED experience knows this to be true.
start eating normally and it will gradually normalise but might take a year or two.

There is actual emerging scientific proof that hair loss is a direct side effect of the drug

people will still rush to tell you it’s not

I’m with you OP. It is.

Have to recommend biotin for healthy hair. Doesn’t make it thicker but definitely helps it become healthy and glossy. I don’t take wlis though so definitely check it doesn’t mess with anything as when I was having blood tests recently they asked me to come off it as it messes with other things

Don't want to derail the thread but I was interested by you saying it stopped joint pain, even not related to your weight, because I know someone who has terrible joint pain (not me!) and am wondering if she'd benefit. Don't know her weight but I would guess not enough to qualify for it.
OP, I came on to say get checked by the GP in case it's iron related, but lots of women seem to have hair loss issues as they age and maybe the doc could talk about any possible treatments if it's hormone related?

@Pistachiocake there's lot's of anecdotal evidence to back up mounjaro calming inflammation, and joint pain and dampening down auto immune response,the problem comes if your friend is not sufficiently overweight to qualify for a prescription as it's quite hard to get otherwise.

I’d be very interested to see a reference if you have one, please?

I’m the same - my hair has always been good but since being on MJ it’s become thin and wispy, lost its body. All I can do is wear it in a pony tail as it hangs weirdly if I don’t - it’s difficult to describe. I have been using champo, but I can’t see any difference so far. I’ve also upped my iron intake, hoping that will help.

It’s not the Mounjaro strictly speaking, it’s the weight loss. I have lost five and a half stone on MJ and not had any hair loss problems.

Adult DD lost two and a half stone without using WLI and lost A LOT of hair. Don’t worry though, it will all settle down eventually.

Mine went into shock with the rapid weight loss and I experienced a lot of shedding. A bit like after childbirth. It’s a lot thinner than it used to be. Once I went onto maintenance dose the shedding stopped and I noticed regrowth. I’m off it now and have about 4 inches of new regrowth, about 2 inches of that was before I stopped MJ. It seemed to be the rapid weight loss that drove it. I guess your body tries to prioritise essential functions and hair isn’t one of them.

Are you me?

I lost 4 stone. Looked old. Lost hair. Felt cold ALL THE TIME. But felt great wrt joint pain gone.

Came off it. I’ve put 1.5 stone back on. Joint pain back. But my face looks better and my hair is recovering.

I don’t care what anyone says about it being weight loss that causes the hair loss; it’s the jabs.

It’s being researched by uni of Manchester. For me it was definitely the jabs.

OP I'm not sure if the supplements you've referred to are prescribed, have you had any advice about taking them alongside mounjaro? Mounjaro can affect impact the effectiveness of oral medications because of how much it slows down the digestive system, I wonder whether it might be limiting the effectiveness of your usual meds eg iron tablets.

@BreezyMintHiker , I keep having periods away from it and I can maintain, but it's a lot harder and the joint pain is horrendous,it really makes me realise what I was living with previously. So I keep taking it, I also lost too much weight,far too much, just because it was easy,I'm scared to put any back on because I just fear a slippery slope, I wish I could put about the same as you back on and be ok with it,I'm sure it would help, it would put me at about a size 8 10 which would be great.
I've kind of accepted the hair loss now as although it was a lot it seems to have been fairly evenly distributed so there's no bald patches or anything but there's still an awful lot in my brush after brushing.

Iv ate enough.

It’s strange that people keep telling the OP that it IS rapid weight loss that is the cause, when the OP and others have specifically said they have lost weight slowly. Or declaring you are not eating enough (when you are!). Such posters are being lazy and are not listening! Also there is lots of anecdotal evidence that some people on MJ do suffer from significant hair thinning regardless of how slowly they lose weight. It IS also a listed side effect, though I doubt Lilly would want to advertise its impact. I also doubt they researched that side effect fully either, as they would not have considered it important.