Hair loss

I stopped using Ortho evra last May and I've been having severe hair loss for the last four months. I am afraid I might go bold. Has anybody else experienced similar side-efects? Any recovery stories?

Yes, I experienced the same thing. I had been using the patch for a year and a lot of my hair had fell out. I continue the use of the patch and it took about four months for my hair to finally stop coming out.

I stopped taking the patch June 2005. I have lost half my hair and have also suffered memory loss. My hair is still falling out. I have been thru tests and blood tests and everything is normal. All this over a patch. I am devistated over this and have been looking for an attorney.

Meo wrote:

I stopped using Ortho evra last May and I've been having severe hair loss for the last four months. I am afraid I might go bold. Has anybody else experienced similar side-efects? Any recovery stories?

I stopped taking the patch at the end of last year. I have noticed an increase in the amount of hair coming out while washing and it's still happening. However, that said, my new hair that is growing in is much healthier. I cut a lot off last year to help it look healthy again, and hope I don't have to do it again. Although if I must, I will.

But that is just one of many possible side effects. Delays in regaining fertility is another I've read about, and I'm finding it to be true personally. I wish I'd have never gone on the patch - even though it was only for a year.

On the good side, I think it is finally working it's way out of my system. It should for everyone. I am taking Vitamin E to try to help regain my fertility AND I've switched to Aubrey Organics hair products (and now skin products too). It's made a huge difference with my hair and skin post patch. I'm a believer in it, and perhaps it will help some of you too.

i've started to lose my hair as well. I've been on the patch for almost 2 years.I quit taking the patch a week ago. i'm freaking out. how long before this crap is out of my system?

josie wrote:

i've started to lose my hair as well. I've been on the patch for almost 2 years.I quit taking the patch a week ago. i'm freaking out. how long before this crap is out of my system?

I went to my Dr to be checked when i got off the patch she said that it should be out of your system right off, by the end of first month.

I too have been losing alot of hair but never thought it could be due to the patch. a hairdresser told me to take vitamans and that it was from stress, i take vitamans daily and no change. I have been off patch for @ 2 months and still losing alot of hair. if anyone finds a soluntion on how to keep your hair in PLEASE post it.

dani wrote:

I too have been losing alot of hair but never thought it could be due to the patch. a hairdresser told me to take vitamans and that it was from stress, i take vitamans daily and no change. I have been off patch for @ 2 months and still losing alot of hair. if anyone finds a soluntion on how to keep your hair in PLEASE post it.

I have been on the patch for three years and have stopped this past September due to all the bad publicity. However, my hair is thinning and I just put the two together. Does you hair start growing back, and hoe long does it take? I am freaking out!!

Your not the only ones I've been on the patch for about two years. I've noticed a extreme amount of my hair has been falling out . So much my sister was yelling at me to go to the doctor. she kept screaming "Thats not normal."

Another quick suggestion, we should all just get off the patch. Although I will miss the "regular" periods and not having to remember to take a pill every day, but its not worth not being able to have kids.

Meo wrote:

I stopped using Ortho evra last May and I've been having severe hair loss for the last four months. I am afraid I might go bold. Has anybody else experienced similar side-efects? Any recovery stories?

I am still currently on Ortho Evra and I, too, have been noticing more hair coming out in the shower. I'm not talkin' three or four strands, it's more like 20 or so. And then when I get out and comb it, just about as much comes out. This has been for about 4 months. I'm not sure if there is a connection, but I know this seems to have been happening seasonally, starting around September, for the past three years- which is how long I've been on the patch. Only problem is it is worse and it is lasting longer.

Thank the Lord. I thought I was going crazy for a moment. I have lost a tremendous amount of hair on this patch and I have never had problems with my hair falling out. I have been on the patch 3 years and I have a big bald spot which is becoming noticeable. My doctor recommended I see a dermatologist. I have an appointment with a in January because I had some test done and everything came back normal(at least that is what they said). I told my husband it wasn't anything I was doing different to hair. This patch needs to be retested or something. I just turned 30 and I don't find this baldness to be a pleasant experience. Thanks for all the comments. I am not alone in this. I pray we all find a cure or at least something safer to use.

I was on the pach for a year and switched over to the ring. When I did that all my hair started to fall out. I was told it was stress too. I had to put the two together becasue my doctor kecpt telling me I am normal. I cut my hair, but it kept falling out. I had no choice but to get back on the balding patch to stop the hair loss. I am crushed because I had long beautiful hair that came out in chunks.

Christine wrote:

I was on the pach for a year and switched over to the ring. When I did that all my hair started to fall out. I was told it was stress too. I had to put the two together becasue my doctor kecpt telling me I am normal. I cut my hair, but it kept falling out. I had no choice but to get back on the balding patch to stop the hair loss. I am crushed because I had long beautiful hair that came out in chunks.

I stopped the patch in 2005 and have hair loss and memory loss and never had it before. I am now 34.

we all need to get together and write a note to the ortha evra company telling them about these horrible side effects. i have never been so sick and miserable in my life until my 5th month taking ortho in which i started puking and had spurts of diarreha, which at that time i was in high school, so i constantly missed class.... at least one week for about three months...(and not to mention all the weight i gained) and then when I stopped using it, my hair is falling out, i'm dizzy, nausiated, period so irregular that i constantly worry about being pregnant, abdominal cramps, insomnia, and yet.... reading the paper inserted with every box of ortho evra, the side effects are blood clotting, but only really suseptable to women over the age of 35 and smoke, and minor side effects include... and i stress the word minor.... cases of nausia, dizziness, fatigue, irrability, weight gain and headaches....

total bs....

you cannot sell a product and not write ALL of the precautions and symptoms....

and just 'forget' to tell you that after stopping the usage, you may become infertile, have very irregular periods, be sick to your stomach, start losing hair, gain even more weight, and etc (thats anything anyone else can add to the list)

i think ortho evra should be sued by each and every one of us and every other person suffering through all the bullshit they 'forgot' to tell you about.....

bull shit...

i was on the patch for 3 yrs. i had an incredible amount of hair loss. i stopped the patch 3 months ago and went back on loestrin pill. i have already noticed hair growing back as well as the texture of my hair changing...my curls are starting to come back. it is amazing how this patch can have such an effect on people. i also read that all of the newer types of birth control tend to have this side effect. i also have been using nioxin products to help thing along.

I was on the patch in 2005 for a few months and due to a stomach problem came off it to clear my system. In Dec 2006 I went back in the patch and have used it since. About a month ago I started to feel the cold on my head when I was out and about and when I put my hair in a ponytail and nearly died when I seen my scalp showing through in several places! I went to the Dr and they done Iron and Thyroid tests - I was normal. I have been doing my own research and now believe it to be the patch!
Other side effects I have had are loss of sexdrive, pain in my breasts and spotting along with period pains at irregular times.
I have an appointment with my Dr tomorrow and I am going to ask to be put on something different.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this sight as I do not feel so alone with regard to my hair. Its a woman’s worst nightmare.

I have been on the patch since 10/06 I noticed I started to loose my hair in March. I would come out when I was taking a shower or combing my hair. I went to the Dr. She told me it was stress. She ordered blood work and everything came out fine. I'm still losing my hair. Currently seeing a dermatologist. She Doesn't think its the patch. I was thinking about going back to the ring. I tried that for a year and it worked for me. What are you currently doing for your hair. I was also told not to try over the counter hair loss products because it could make it worse. I'm taking zinc 50mg and biotin 2,500mcg.

Christine wrote:

I was on the pach for a year and switched over to the ring. When I did that all my hair started to fall out. I was told it was stress too. I had to put the two together becasue my doctor kecpt telling me I am normal. I cut my hair, but it kept falling out. I had no choice but to get back on the balding patch to stop the hair loss. I am crushed because I had long beautiful hair that came out in chunks.

I had the same problems with my hair. I got off OE in Nov06 and noticed more than normal hair coming out starting in Feb07. I went to the dermatologist and he didn't think the amount of hair was enough to be concerned with. I also went to an internist who, when I said I was really scared about the hair loss, responded with, "well, you probably won't go completely bald." (Needless to say, I'll never go to that dr again.) I think it took about 3 months for my hair loss to work itself out.(Granted, my hair loss was not extreme/coming out in chunks, it was more like 20-50 strands when brushing/in the shower, and constant shedding throughout the day) However, after the hair issues, the skin issues began (very bad acne). This, I'm still working on...

Meo wrote:

I stopped using Ortho evra last May and I've been having severe hair loss for the last four months. I am afraid I might go bold. Has anybody else experienced similar side-efects? Any recovery stories?

I have used that "PATCH" for 2 yrs, and when i stopped by hair was falling out constantly. When my mom washed it, when i combed it, when i wake in the morning it would be on my pillow!! We really need to get this in the media because they only mention the strokes and heat-attacks, but i think hair loss is very severe!!! i advise anyone on the patch to discontinue at once because there are detremental consequences with continued use!!!