Awareness of this potential rare side effect of escitalopram is important, as it allows for early recognition of medication-related adverse side effects. Although the risk of hair loss associated with escitalopram is generally rare, physicians should routinely inquire about hair loss in patients taking escitalopram.
Common side effects of Lexapro include nausea, sexual side effects, and insomnia. For some people, these go away as your body gets used to the medication. More serious side effects of Lexapro are rare. These include suicidal thoughts or behaviors, abnormal bleeding, and serotonin syndrome.
The paper positions fluoxetine as being the most commonly reported SSRi in the medical literature to cause hair loss and paroxetine to be the least commonly reported.
Lexapro may cause serious or life-threatening side effects such as birth defects, heart conditions, serotonin syndrome, and an increased risk of suicide. These severe side effects linked to Lexapro have been the basis of lawsuits filed against the manufacturer.
Do not use escitalopram with buspirone (Buspar®), fentanyl (Abstral®, Duragesic®), lithium (Eskalith®, Lithobid®), tryptophan, St. John's wort, amphetamines, or some pain or migraine medicines (eg, rizatriptan, sumatriptan, tramadol, Frova®, Imitrex®, Maxalt®, Relpax®, Ultram®, Zomig®).
One is to reduce your dose, which may be enough to allow your hair to regrow. Another option is to switch to a different brand or the generic version of your medication, as it may be an inactive ingredient, rather than the drug itself, that is causing your hair loss.
Although rare, hair loss could be one of the most unwanted side effects of taking an antidepressant. The type of hair loss sertraline and other antidepressants could trigger is called telogen effluvium — which is essentially excessive shedding.
Drug-induced hair loss usually occurs within the first 3 months of the treatment [12]. In addition, other antidepressant medications may cause telogen hair loss too. Fluoxetine is the most common SSRI causing hair loss [13].
If you have been feeling better for 6 months or more, your doctor may suggest coming off escitalopram. Your doctor will probably recommend reducing your dose gradually over several weeks, or longer if you have been taking escitalopram for a long time.
Lexapro weight gain can be a common side effect, but it doesn't impact everyone who takes this medication. Multiple studies conclude that SSRIs like Lexapro can result in weight gain. However, it varies from person to person depending on individual factors such as age, lifestyle habits, diet, and activity level.
Lexapro side effects are similar to those associated with other SSRIs and antidepressants. In many cases, symptoms are most prominent for the first 1-2 weeks of treatment. After that, typically many symptoms subside.
A person who experiences drug-induced alopecia will usually notice thinning hair as opposed to patchy hair loss. However, the hair loss may be more apparent on the top of the scalp. Other early signs of alopecia include a noticeable increase in the number of shed hairs in hairbrushes and shower drains and on pillows.
Hair loss is a relatively rare side effect, but a variety of medications may cause it: beta-blockers, blood thinners, antidepressants, cholesterol-lowering drugs, certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and hormone-related drugs like thyroid meds, hormone replacement therapies or steroids.
A variety of serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been shown to cause hair loss, though this side effect is generally rare.
Certain medications – like antidepressants or acne treatments – can affect your hair in a number of ways, including changes to texture.
Long-term, or chronic, stress puts people at risk for a variety of health problems. These can include depression and anxiety, as well as problems with digestion and sleep. Chronic stress has also long been linked to hair loss, but the reasons weren't well understood.
We're happy to tell them that hair loss from antidepressants is not permanent. People usually recover their original hair pattern once the medication is discontinued. In most cases, hair growth returns to its previous state once the medication that causes hair loss is stopped.
Yes. Hair loss due to stress is usually reversible. Once you get your stress levels under control, you may be able to reverse stress alopecia. In about 6-9 months, your hair could grow back to its normal fullness without any treatment, especially in the case of telogen effluvium.
In most cases, medications lead to temporary hair loss, and your hair will grow back once you adjust the dose or stop taking the medication. In other cases, however, medications can cause you to develop male or female pattern baldness, leading to permanent hair loss.
Doctors usually do not recommend drinking alcohol while taking Lexapro or any other antidepressant. This guidance is because alcohol can make depression worse and can counteract the benefits of a person taking antidepressants.
No interactions were found between Lexapro and Vitamin D3.