Welcome Back To The Women's Hair Loss Project -- You are invited to sign up up for the New Women's Hair Loss Project Forum! Click here to join the forum and start posting.
The other day I posted the listing of certain birth control pills androgen index which I found on The American Hair Loss Association website. Later that day I received an email from Gracie pointing me to a great resource that provides more in depth knowledge about the hormonal components of various birth control pills. She also mentioned that in her own research she found out that most women seem to have more problems on lower estrogen pills, i.e. 20mg. I didn’t ask, but I think she meant mcgm (micrograms). Glancing over at the list I am about to provide you with, I found that the pill I took, Loestrin FE is among the lowest estrogen pills, listing at 20mcgm along with Aleese, Levlite, Micrette, and Ortho Evra patch. The pill I take now, Ortho-Tri Cyclen is 35/35/35 mcgm with a different type of Progestin (norgestimate) than the one used for Loestrin (norethindrone acetate).
The pills listed as likely to cause worse acne and hair growth side effects (obviously not hair on the head, but perhaps your chin) are those pills high in androgenicity and low in estrogen content.
Such pills might include:
Loestrin® 1.5/30
Loestrin® 1/20 Fe
Estrostep® Fe
Levlen®
Alesse®
Ovral®
Norlestrin® 1/50
For a more complete listing and an in depth overview of the pills, visit: http://www.wdxcyber.com/ncontr13.htm
| Estrogen Levelethinyl estradiol
(micrograms) |
Pill Brand Name | Progestin | Dose (mg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 mcgm | Alesse® | levonorgestrel | 0.10 |
| Levlite® | levonorgestrel | 0.10 | |
| Loestrin 1/20® Fe | norethindrone acetate | 1.00 | |
| Mircette® | desogestrel | 0.15 | |
| Ortho Evra®(patch) | norelgestromin(norgestimate metabolite) | 0.15 | |
| phasic20/30/35 mcgm | Estrostep® Fe | norethindrone acetate | 1.0/1.0/1.0 |
| 30 mcgm | Levlen® | levonorgestrel | 0.15 |
| Levora® | levonorgestrel | 0.15 | |
| Nordette® | levonorgestrel | 0.15 | |
| Lo/Ovral® | norgestrel | 0.30 | |
| Desogen® | desogestrel | 0.15 | |
| Ortho-Cept® | desogestrel | 0.15 | |
| Loestrin® 1.5/30 | norethindrone acetate | 1.50 | |
| Yasmin® | drospirenone | 3.0 | |
| phasic30/40/30 mcgm | Triphasil® | levonorgestrel | 0.05/0.075/0.125 |
| Tri-Levlen® | levonorgestrel | 0.05/0.075/0.125 | |
| Trivora® | levonorgestrel | 0.05/0.075/0.125 | |
| 35 mcgm | Ortho-Cyclen® | norgestimate | 0.25 |
| Ovcon-35® | norethindrone | 0.40 | |
| Brevicon® | norethindrone | 0.50 | |
| Modicon® | norethindrone | 0.50 | |
| Necon® | norethindrone | 1.00 | |
| Norethin® | norethindrone | 1.00 | |
| Norinyl® 1/35 | norethindrone | 1.00 | |
| Ortho-Novum® 1/35 | norethindrone | 1.00 | |
| Demulen® 1/35 | ethynodiol diacetate | 1.00 | |
| Zovia® 1/35E | ethynodiol diacetate | 1.00 | |
| phasic35/35 mcgm | Ortho-Novum® 10/11 | norethindrone | 0.50/1.00 |
| Jenest® | norethindrone | 0.50/1.00 | |
| phasic35/35/35 mcgm | Ortho-Tri-Cyclen® | norgestimate | 0.15/0.215/0.25 |
| Ortho-Novum® 7/7/7 | norethindrone | 0.50/0.75/1.00 | |
| Tri-Norinyl® | norethindrone | 0.50/1.00/0.50 | |
| 50 mcgm | Necon® 1/50 | norethindrone | 1.00 |
| Norinyl® 1/50 | norethindrone | 1.00 | |
| Ortho-Novum® 1/50 | norethindrone | 1.00 | |
| Ovcon-50® | norethindrone | 1.00 | |
| Ovral® | norgestrel | 0.50 | |
| Demulen® 1/50 | ethynodiol diacetate | 1.00 | |
| Zovia® 1/50E | ethynodiol diacetate | 1.00 |
Technorati Tags: AHLA, american hair loss association, birth control pills, hair loss, womens hair loss
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
seema 09.14.08 at 1:23 am
i’m wondering what has been studied on the shot. come to think of it, after reading some of your posts and how bcp triggered your sheds, i was on the poison shot (depo provera) when i started to notice the acne. am wondering if that’s when i started shedding but didn’t realize it until i got sick travelling abroad. and of course it was during that time i had the facial hairs too…
admin 09.14.08 at 1:31 pm
Hi Seema, I don’t know of what studies have been done in particular to the birth control shot and hair loss but I do know that there is plenty to be read about the connection between shots like depro provera and hair loss in Google. It is still is altering your hormones so it can in fact cause hair loss. As with all cases of birth control related hair loss it can be temporary or it may have switched into gear your genetic predisposition to hair loss. Hard to know where we fall in the beginning, but time surely answers that question. Of course I’m not a doctor and these are only my opinions based on things I’ve read and of course my own experience.
I know that probably wasn’t much help, there are just so many unanswered questions about women’s hair loss.
Hope you are doing well today,
~Y
Dee 09.15.08 at 4:58 pm
I have experiend hair loss as well and I noticed that it started happening more so as I was coming off the Depo provera shot. I really do believe in my heart that this was the cause of me losing hair. I know there may not be alot of studies on it, but I feel it in my soul that this shot is a contributing factor to women and hair loss. I wish I could have predicted this problem and now I am dealing with the aftermath of it.
tahi 11.04.08 at 8:28 am
I have an oily skin and hair on my face.My dermatologist made me go through some blood tests.I have been taking a combination of diane 35 and metformin for three years . An ultrasound showed a single cyst (not polycystic). I stopped 4 months ago and my skin has broken out in horrible pimples.Is it due to the fact that I’ve stopped taking the medicine ?
Tania 11.14.08 at 7:13 pm
Has anyone figured out anything to help with this? Any supplements? Any tips?
Please let me know tkdnyc at gmail dot com. Thanks
MJ 01.15.09 at 9:53 pm
I also have been having hair loss problems due to my decision to discontinue with the shot (depro). I have been searching everywhere on the net for some sort of concrete evidence or facts that would prove my intuition. I have never had hair problems, and use to have thick hair….now I worry about how many hairs fall in the shower. I wish I would have been informed about the after effects.
Amber 03.29.09 at 5:50 am
I found this piece of info while searching online about Ortho Evra……
“You will be exposed to about 60% more estrogen if you use ORTHO EVRA® than if you use a typical birth control pill containing 35 micrograms of estrogen.”
http://www.rxlist.com was the source
I’ve been off the patch since August/07 and noticed light shedding in Oct/Nov and most recently more excessive shedding. I’m only just about to visit my GP for some insights and thought of browsing online to see if there were any questions I should ask when I came across an article on here about BC affecting hair loss even after you’ve discontinued birth control. This was certainly news to me, I’ve been on various method of birth control over the years and had stopped last fall, I never knew something like this could happen….. especially from stopping a method of BC.
My hair is still in pretty good shape, with styling no one can really notice anything. I’m the one that sees all the hair on my shoulders in the shower or stuck between my fingers when I put in some styling product. I even noticed a bit of my eyebrow hair is falling in the sink *shock*, not something i was expecting.
Anyways, off to read some more!
Sydney 04.17.09 at 3:49 pm
I recently had a baby and noticed that my hair grew back while I was pregnant. Now that my daughter is four months old my hair is falling out again. Does anyone know if there is a birth control pill that replicates the hormones you have while pregnant, or just one that helps hair growth?
Adrienne 07.31.09 at 4:55 pm
Does anyone out there know if birth control pills in general cause excessive oily scalp and extreme anxiety, especially in the morning ?? I’ve been using Zenchent birth control pills for a year now and for exactly one year I’ve suffered greatly ! I’ve decided to stop taking them after this month. I’ve tried other brands for years and I’ve suffered from other symptoms like bloating, fatigue, and hair loss. I don’t think it’s worth taking any of them any more !
Can someone please tell me if they suffer from these synptoms too ?
Thank you.
Wantresources 12.15.09 at 4:40 pm
Dr Redmond’s book and website has very very good info on this. Includes info on what are the good pills and what are the bad pills (and what they contain)
B. 02.11.10 at 9:08 am
OMG… I am on Levlen…what can i do to change the pill to maybe a better alternative and maybe avoid that possible side effect?
I got slack with the pill a few months ago for like 2 weeks and stopped taking it for that small period. I doubt that caused my hair loss, but i suppose along with my stress - it may have contributed as all my tests have come back normal…………When i mentioned the pill (as i reckon is has worsened my dermatitis) my dermotologist and my doctor and the 2 natropaths i’ve seen just seem to not acknoledge it….
CASTuquero 01.26.12 at 1:46 am
HI, i’m just confused and i want to know if their are researches that proves that medications specifically birth control pills affects hair loss
Tnx