I am so glad that I found the site! I noticed a few people have had problems with hair loss, and were wondering if it could possibly be caused by ranexa. I performed a very unscientific study because when my physician started me on ranexa my activity level increased to the pont that I could run on the treadmill. unfortunately, that's when the hair loss started. Of course, the MD had never heard of that. I weaned myself off of it by replacing with nitro patches, and the hair loss stopped. I started back on the ranexa, and the hair loss started again.
I don't recommend that anybody try this without their physician's approval, and the only reason I used myself as a guinea pig is that I'm an anesthetist, and am very familiar with these drugs. NOTE--- ranexa is a relative contraindication with general anesthetics because it can prolong the QT intervals on the EKG, which is monitored throughout surgery. I'm not saying that anybody should discontinue it if they are going to have a surgery, just please tell your anesthesia provider that this may rarely occur.
I'm looking forward to being a member of this site!
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hair loss
- By Knippy2
- Posted September 14, 2009 at 10:52 am · 16 replies
- In Experiences with prescription medicines
- Shared with the public
Explore topics in this discussion:
Seroquel Heart disease Heart failure Surgery Hysterectomy Synthroid Anxiety Beta blockers Angina Menopause Coreg Heart attack Vytorin
16 replies
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- By Sarcasma40
- Posted September 14, 2009 at 3:52 pm
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YES!!!! My hair is falling out and I am mad about it! It all started when they added Ranexa to my daily cocktail of meds. Now I have, no energy, no sex drive, no retaining of information and to add insult to injury...NO HAIR!!!
But what do ya do?
Your almost hairless sister,
Stacey
- By AZMommy
- Posted September 14, 2009 at 5:13 pm
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This post caught my attention even though I am not on ranexa-it's because week 2 of being home from the hospital, my hair started to 'shed' a little more. I mentioned this to my mother in law and was informed that it could possibly be from my strict diet that I had put myself on from fear-low sodium and a lack of fluids had alot to do with it. After my father in law (who is my partner in crime) had his heart attack, they both freaked out and put themselves on a low fat/sodium/carb diet. I guess that was too much and unhealthy and they both started to lose their hair.
Like I said before, I am not on the mentioned medication but the loss of hair can also have much to do with your diet.
Tanya
- By martzj
- Posted September 14, 2009 at 10:00 pm
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I had significant hair loss 6 months after whammo heart attack and sudden influx of heart meds. It was a scary amount of hair coming out in clumps. This went on and off for years, then evened out when I hit 53. Any extreme diet can (that lacks sufficient protein) can also cause hair loss of this type. Because we are so bombarded by media ads telling us meds are good for us it is easy to forget they are all actually 'toxins' to the body....'side effects' are the body's way of excreting these toxins as fast as it can. If you have the cash and really want to know what is going on, have your hair analysed. Human hair is a perfect record of exactly what has been going into the body going back at least 6 months.
- By Knippy2
- Posted September 14, 2009 at 10:23 pm
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I discovered a wonderful, but expensive hair product. It's kind of like the old fashioned dry shampoo "Pssst" with the difference being that it is tinted in blond, gray, , light brown, dark brown, black. It is about $35.00 for a large can, and works great except if caught in the rain wearing a white shirt. It is sold by Bumble & Bumble. you may have to go on-line to find it. It makes your scalp invisible, and so far, the only other alternative I have found is to wear a scarf or scrub cap.
Good luck!!!
- By Knippy2
- Posted September 14, 2009 at 10:31 pm
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ps
I agree with the authenticity of hair analysis. I had one, which showed low thyroid (I am on synthroid), but more interestingly, it showed an off the chart amount of barium. when I asked where that could come from, I was told that it is used in industrial processes, such as on oil rigs (a Lot in Louisiana where I live), but then I realized that I am exposed to it every day that I go to work since it is used as a component for certain functioning hospital machines, which is where I work. Sooooo??? And it is true that women don't get enough protein. Should be 1 gram per kilogram of weight per day, or about half of your weight in pounds. Ever try to figure that much in a daily diet? that's like having a steak a couple times a day!!
- By Tersa
- Posted September 15, 2009 at 11:22 am
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I wanted to also share with you what I found out this past week regarding hair loss. Apparently, Beta Blockers can also cause hair loss in rare instances- like 1% of patients on BB's experience this side effect. I am an RN and had never heard of this before, but my mom was recently put on Toprol for angina, and she started to lose her hair. We talked with her Cardio, and he said that yes, this does happen sometimes. He switched my mom over to a Calcium Channel Blocker for her angina instead of the Toprol to see if it improves her hair loss.
So, if you are on a BB, and start to experience hair loss, it could also be this.
Good luck all- Tee
- By martzj
- Posted September 15, 2009 at 12:16 pm
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" it showed an off the chart amount of barium. when I asked where that could come from, I was told that it is used in industrial processes, such as on oil rigs (a Lot in Louisiana where I live), but then I realized that I am exposed to it every day that I go to work since it is used as a component for certain functioning hospital machines, which is where I work."
Hi Knippy2,
Louisiana has just about the most outrageous record for inviting non-US industries with such horrific pollutant scales their own countries won't permit them to operate inside thier borders. The shop around the globe looking for areas that will be willing to overlook (and keep secret) prodigious amounts of pollutant gunk being pumped and drained straight into the estuaries, rivers. They offer to bring in billions to the local economy but only on the condition certain parishes coughed up over 60 million in tax breaks (pay them to come).
Read 'An Unreasonable Woman' by Diane Wilson. the most extraordinary story I've ever come across. One mother of 5 (one autistic), highschool dropout running her own shrimp boat.......she caught on and wouldn't let it go. She took on Louisianna political machine......and won eventually. The multinational plant moved out. Good education on how things generally work politically all over the US. It is the big money multinationals that get protected by gov't, not individual grass roots citizen health and welfare.
A Dutch mining corp tried to pull the same thing with a small town bordering Canada a few years back...the town managers were trying to sneak the deal through, citizens caught wind of it and fought it down. Just like the Louisiana deal, there was a promise of bringing jobs and growth...but in reality they bring in their own imported staff, only hire a few locals...and use US soil as their garbage dump.
These came to mind because they are so like the bailout disaster, health insurance industry fiascos.....These entities never operate in a vacuum. They don't just suddenly appear. They are invited by local pockets they pad very well.
I live within the most enormous US military congomeration on the planet.....which is why I rarely eat shellfish anymore, although I love it so. Only drink filtered water. Within a year of moving here I had 4 bleeding ulcers.
- By Winglover
- Posted September 15, 2009 at 4:22 pm
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My son's hair fell out like crazy when he first came home from the hospital too! All over his pillow every night, his shirt , etc. He does not take Ranaxa, but does take large doses of coreg along with his other cardiac drugs. After 16 months it has thankfully stopped.
- By Knippy2
- Posted September 15, 2009 at 5:35 pm
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Thank you everybody for your wonderful responses. I can identify with a lot the posts that I've read.
I didn't know that beta blockers or Coreg, both of which I am taking, could also cause hair loss.
And loved reading that somebody else knows about the deplorable environmental disaster that is developing in Louisiana. One of the ex-governors, Edwin Edwards (known as "the crook" and is now in jail) allowed a company to dump radioactive gypsum in the Mississippi river in Baton Rouge which flows south to New Orleans and is used for the city's drinking water. No wonder people are crazy here! I'd rather have a boring government that does it's job.
I am curious about one thing, some of the people with posts have mentioned ages, and they seem young. I am only 54, and my problems started right after menopause. Does anybody else have a similar story?
- By Linda_RS
- Posted September 15, 2009 at 9:04 pm
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First, I so appreciate hearing stories of hair loss. I thought it was just me. I don't have much to begin with. My hair started to thin after a hysterectomy at 36 years old. It has worsened after my heart failure. That is when I started taking all sorts of meds. Now at 51, I am going bald!!!!!
- By laurahc
- Posted September 16, 2009 at 8:35 am
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aHA! See, I'd been losing a little hair anyway because of my thyroid issue--just got diagnosed as hypothyroid in January and started synthroid then, and then had my dosage upped a couple months ago--but I wasn't panicked about it because I figured it would stop once my thyroid was under control. Then whammo, heart attack, and yes, I did get put on a beta blocker. And my hair started falling out!
You can't tell in my user-id picture (I'm the one in the middle, with my parents to either side), but my hair is down past my butt and I worked very hard to get it this long, and it's scary to see it falling out. I get brushfuls of hair every time I brush it now.
My cardiologist stopped the beta blocker back at the end of July, so hopefully the hair loss will slow down, too. I hope?
-Laura
- By GraceAnnStewart
- Posted September 17, 2009 at 12:22 pm
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Funny, I initially noticed a patch after my MI but recently, as I have been on Seroquel (another anxiety drug which helps me sleep) my hair is falling out like crazy and has been for several months since I've been on it.
Guess I am not alone on the hair loss but it seems like we are on different meds.
-GraceAnn
- By Knippy2
- Posted September 27, 2009 at 6:05 pm
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Hi Tersa,
Thank you so much for telling about me about BB causing hair loss. I am now on a calcium channel blocker, off of my BB, and yes, the hair loss has STOPPED!! Thank you again and again.
- By Tersa
- Posted September 28, 2009 at 9:42 am
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Knippy2,
That is great news that you were able to switch off the BB for a Calcium Channel Blocker and that your hair has stopped falling out. Isn't this site an awesome place to learn new things about heart disease and all that it encompasses.
Have a great day!!
- By laurahc
- Posted September 28, 2009 at 10:28 am
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I've also recently learned that Zocor/simvastatin can cause hair loss--which explains why I'm still HAVING hair loss even though I stopped my beta blocker back in July.
Does anyone know if ALL statin drugs have hair loss as a possible side effect, or whether it's just Zocor/simvastatin? Anyone else experiencing this with their cholesterol med?
-Laura
- By Asurvivor
- Posted September 28, 2009 at 11:02 am
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I can't relate, because after my HA my normally "thin" hair (not much on top anymore) started to grow back. I have new hair growth in the front now that I can actually see growing daily. I'm amazed at all this hair loss.
I ran the gamut of cholesterol meds until we settled on Vytorin; take Beta Blockers and other cardiac meds, plus Synthroid. I think the Synthroid is helping it grow back, plus I quit dying my hair so much.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, it has really opened my eyes about the different side effects people experience.
A word of caution though about caps or hats. They cause more hair loss.
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