Medication-Induced Hair Loss Tracking: Document Drug-Triggered Shedding

Over 300 medications list hair loss as a side effect, and drug-induced alopecia accounts for approximately 15% of all hair loss cases. Tracking your density alongside medication changes creates a timeline that shows exactly when shedding started and whether it correlates with a specific drug.

How Medications Cause Hair Loss

Medications trigger hair loss through two primary mechanisms, and understanding which one applies affects how you track and what you should expect.

Telogen effluvium (most common): The drug pushes a large number of hair follicles from the growth phase (anagen) into the resting phase (telogen) simultaneously. Shedding begins 2-4 months after starting the medication because the telogen phase lasts approximately 3 months before the hair falls out.

Anagen effluvium (less common): The drug damages actively growing hair follicles directly, causing hair to break or fall out within days to weeks. This is most commonly seen with chemotherapy agents.

Common Medications That Trigger Hair Loss

This is not an exhaustive list, but these drug categories are the most frequent offenders:

Step 1: Build a Medication Timeline

Before you start tracking density, create a complete medication timeline. List every prescription and over-the-counter medication you take, including:

• Drug name and dosage
• Date you started taking it
• Any dosage changes and when they occurred
• Date you stopped taking it (if applicable)

This timeline becomes the reference document you compare against density readings. If density starts declining 2-4 months after a new prescription, you have a strong correlation.

Step 2: Establish Your Density Baseline

Take your baseline density photos with myhairline.ai as soon as possible. If you have already started a new medication, begin tracking immediately. If you are about to start a new medication, take baseline photos before the first dose.

Photo protocol:

• Photograph frontal hairline, temples, part line, and vertex
• Use consistent lighting and camera distance
• Dry, unstyled hair with no products
• Same time of day for each session

Step 3: Track on a 2-Week Cycle

Drug-induced hair loss develops gradually. A 2-week tracking cycle catches density changes early without creating noise from day-to-day variation.

Step 4: Identify the Correlation

After 3-4 months of tracking, compare your density trend against your medication timeline. Look for these patterns:

Strong drug-shedding correlation:

• Density stable during baseline period
• Decline begins 2-4 months after starting the medication
• No other major life changes (stress, diet, illness) in the same window
• Decline is diffuse (across multiple scalp zones), not patterned

Weak or no correlation:

• Density was already declining before the medication
• Decline follows the pattern of androgenetic alopecia (temples and vertex first)
• Other confounding factors present (major stress, illness, surgery)

Step 5: Present Your Data to Your Doctor

This is where tracking data becomes directly actionable. Most patients who suspect medication-induced hair loss describe it to their doctor as "I think my medication is making my hair fall out." That subjective report often gets dismissed.

A density timeline with dates, photos, and trend data provides evidence your prescriber can evaluate. Bring the following to your appointment:

• Your density score trend from myhairline.ai
• Your medication timeline with start and change dates
• Side-by-side photos showing density at baseline vs. current
• A note on whether the hair loss pattern is diffuse (suggesting drug-induced) or patterned (suggesting AGA)

Your doctor may then consider switching to an alternative medication that is less likely to affect hair density. Learn more about how to document hair loss for your dermatologist.

Step 6: Track Recovery After Medication Changes

If your doctor switches your medication, continue tracking. Drug-induced telogen effluvium typically recovers following this timeline:

Continue taking density photos every 2 weeks during the recovery period. If density does not begin improving by month 4-5 after stopping the medication, the hair loss may not have been entirely drug-induced. It could indicate underlying androgenetic alopecia that was masked or coincided with the medication change. In that case, treatments like finasteride (80-90% halt further loss) or minoxidil (40-60% moderate regrowth) may be appropriate, and understanding telogen effluvium recovery patterns helps set realistic expectations.

When Drug-Induced Loss Overlaps with AGA

Sometimes medication-induced shedding reveals underlying androgenetic alopecia that was not yet visible. The drug pushes follicles into telogen, and when they attempt to regrow, miniaturization from AGA prevents full recovery.

Signs of overlap include:

• Recovery stalls at a density lower than your pre-medication baseline
• Regrowth is thinner or finer than the hair that was lost
• Recovery is uneven, with temples and vertex recovering less than sides

If tracking shows this pattern, discuss AGA-specific treatments with your dermatologist.

Start Tracking Your Medication Response

Upload your first density photo at myhairline.ai/analyze and begin building your medication timeline today. Whether you are about to start a new prescription or have been noticing shedding after a recent medication change, objective density data gives you the evidence needed to have a productive conversation with your prescriber.

Medical disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Never stop or change a medication without consulting your prescribing physician. The risks of stopping a prescribed medication may significantly outweigh the side effect of hair loss.