Posted by Dave001 on October 1, 2004, at 16:38:25
In reply to Re: possible lamictal hair loss?, posted by cateb on September 20, 2004, at 2:10:01
> OK, another vote for Lamictal causing hair loss. Been bad for six months. I had this right away when I was on Depakote, even more dramatic (if possible).
Concerning Depakote: there is evidence of reduced biotinidase activity from valproic acid, and biotin supplementation may help. The authors of the study (link to abstract below) observed an improvement in their patients with 10 mg/day of biotin supplementation.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11737173&dopt=Abstract
Here's a link to another study: "Serum copper, zinc, selenium, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase levels in epileptic children before and after 1 year of sodium valproate and carbamazepine therapy"
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11823111
The authors of this study didn't find any changes in the levels of Cu, Zn, Se, GSH-PX, or SOD before or after treatment in 36 epileptic children, so I'm not sure whether zinc would be of much help. I've read about alterations in zinc metabolism caused by valproic acid, but I've never researched this topic, so for all I know, it may be a problem of too much zinc. You would definitely want to check on that before supplementing with extra zinc. I would add biotin, though.Now for Lamictal: I think anyone taking Lamictal or other mood-stabilizers would be smart to consume plenty of folic acid, whether or not it helps against hair loss. It wouldn't surprise me if biotin was useful against lamotrigine-induced hair loss as well.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12724046Dave
poster:Dave001
thread:383589
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040927/msgs/397993.html