Does Ozempic Cause Hair Loss? Here’s What to Know

Ozempic, an Food and drug administration-accredited medication for style 2 diabetes, has been touted as a celeb key to bodyweight loss, but some folks on social media are boasting the drug might induce hair decline. In two Reddit threads — a single on Ozempic and just one on Wegovy (a further brand name of the drug) — Redditors claimed they knowledgeable sudden and significant hair reduction although taking it, despite that not currently being detailed as a widespread facet result. The issue is: how frequent is it?

How Medicines Lead to Hair Loss

It is really well worth noting that, in principle, any treatment can result in hair decline, while it truly is not likely. “The most common variety of hair loss that can be activated by medications is telogen effluvium,” Robert Finney, MD, FAAD, a board-licensed beauty skin doctor and hair restoration qualified centered in New York City, tells PS. “This is in essence wherever a ton of hairs go into the resting section at once, and what the individual sees is an extreme sum of shedding.”

This could clarify what is transpiring in some patients using Ozempic — but it can be tricky to rule out other aspects and say so conclusively. “It can be rough to determine out if it is similar to a medicine, stress, underlying professional medical situation (assume thyroid abnormality, anemia, very low vitamin D), or seasonal shedding,” says Dr. Finney.

How to Convey to if Ozempic Causes Hair Decline

You can endeavor to decide if the underlying trigger is medication-linked by performing a minor at-property experiment. “If you notice the shedding start off within just several months of starting a treatment, stop the treatment,” he suggests. “If your shedding goes again to baseline and then restarts when attempting the medicine, you have your solution.”

It also might not be fully Ozempic’s fault. Considerable and fast weight loss (as perfectly as malnourishment) — with or with no using medication of any kind — has also been joined to hair loss. “In all these eventualities, your physique utilizes its energy for the crucial organs and issues like hair get neglected,” claims Dr. Finney. “So, in the state of affairs of Ozempic, this is far more most likely the trigger of increased shedding that men and women are observing.”

If you feel the hair decline to be from a treatment (like Ozempic) or rapid fat decline, telogen effluvium is very likely to go on to cause an raise in shedding for as long as you are using the drug or dieting. “The superior information is that all telogen effluvium is not long lasting,” Dr. Finney says. “Normally, all the hairs regrow after the excess weight has stabilized and the affected person is ingesting a healthy eating plan. In a situation exactly where the shedding is directly because of to the medicine (the substantially rarer circumstance), then it will proceed until the medicine is stopped.”

Jessica Harrington is the senior attractiveness editor at PS, exactly where she writes about hair, make-up, pores and skin treatment, piercings, tattoos, and much more. As a New York Town-centered author and editor with a degree in journalism and around 8 several years of market experience, she loves to job interview industry professionals, keep up with the latest developments, and take a look at new goods.