Things have been going great, I have lost 32 lbs, my blood pressure is in check, and my BG levels have been great. Sometimes, if I go for too long I feel a little shaky and know that it is time to eat. When I check my levels they are typically 70 or so when I feel like this. Anyhow, the thing that that I am noticing is that I am seeing large amounts of hair in the shower (only noticed since taking Metformin). I had a lot of hair pre-Metformin. I know that Metformin can cause a deficiency in B-12 and this can happen as a result, so I contacted my Doc who has been amazing with things. She is sending me for lab work tomorrow to check my B-12 levels to see. She mentioned that I can go ahead and take a supplement of 1000 mg a day of B-12. My thing is the absorption rates of pills vs injections is so much lower.
Have you ever known anyone that had this hair loss happen taking Metformin? If so what was the
plan of attack to correct it?
Hair loss (alopecia) can sometimes occur "after" a weight loss. If you follow a very restrictive diet, like a very low calorie diet, your body can shut down your hair cells. Normally hair cells rotate through shutting down and restarting. Now that you are "done" your dieting and have restored normal eating, your hair is restarting. But "all" your hair is restarting and when it restarts, the old hair follicle sheds and a new one starts. This is called "Hair Shock."
I think it is wise to explore all these other things (B12, etc) with your doctor, but you were just diagnosed in May and have lost 32 lbs. I don't know how much you weighed before, but you said you were an athlete. Do you think you were particularly aggressive with your diet and exercise?
Take heart, if it is hair shock, as long as you have a healthy diet, it will all grow back just as thick as it ever was.
Congrats on the weight loss. Never heard of anyone losing hair on metformin, which has been around a long time. You didn't mention how old you are, since losing some hair is part of the aging process. Have your doc refer you to a dermatologist if it is really bothering you. If metformin is the cause you can try other meds for control. There are so many out there now.
I agree with others - quick weight loss and change of diet can do it. This happened to me after I was Dx'd almost two years ago with D. I freaked out and didn't know what to eat and hardly ate anything a few months later lots of hair shed. I am also a vegan so I wasn't getting enough iron or calories. I now take a vitamin supplement (actually a pre-natal one even though I am not pregnant - has all the great hair vitamins in it) that has 30 mg of iron in it. Without, my hair starts to shed more. It takes people a long time to be deficient in B12 - if you eat meat on a daily basis, it probably won't happen.
I doubt the hair is due to Met - it probably dietary changes which take a while to show up via hair. Check your calories for your weight too. Not enough calories can screw up the hair.
First, I will tell you that I am a woman who has graciously inherited from my mother and father the ability to not have very fine, thinning hair , known as male pattern baldness. But I have been on Metoformin for awhile, and haven't noticed any additional loss. B-12 is a great idea, since I have lost 80 lbs and did have a low level that last time we checked with a blood draw. So if you can and should, ask for a B12 injection as often as you need it. I get one a month, a friend who has lost more weight than I gets them every week or two,
This happened to me about 18 months ago. I would wake up with clumps on the pillow. To say the least I was freaked out. I had been on Metformin for 3 1/2 years at the time. But I was also on statins. I found the statins were causing my muscles to break apart and I lost a large amount of weight. I think this is what was causing the hair loss. My hair dresser recomended Biotin Shampoo and I started to take Bitotin supplements. I also stopped the statins. My hair did regrow but it took about 6-8 months . The hair on my legs which had been non exhistant even started to regrow.
