Alopecia on GLP-1 — telogen effluvium differential diagnosis

Dr.Martinez said:

This is telogen effluvium and the trigger is the rate of weight loss rather than the molecule.

Hair loss update related to hair shedding: I experienced noticeable shedding starting around month 4. My dermatologist confirmed it's telogen effluvium — a stress response to rapid weight loss, NOT the medication directly.

What's helping:

• Biotin 5000mcg daily
• Adequate protein (130g+/day)
• Iron and ferritin levels checked and supplemented
• Collagen peptides 20g daily
• Minoxidil 5% topical (prescribed)

The shedding slowed after 2 months and my hair is now growing back. Temporary but definitely stressful.

Dr.Martinez said:

This is telogen effluvium and the trigger is the rate of weight loss rather than the molecule.

This is where I part company with the consensus forming above. Filing an objection on the n=1 problem. Personal experience is genuine evidence about one person and very weak evidence about anybody else, and this thread keeps promoting the first into the second.

Taking the question as asked, rather than the general version of it. The useful move here is to separate what is established from what is widely repeated. Those two sets overlap less than the confident tone of most write-ups suggests, and the second set is where nearly all the disagreement on this board comes from.

DebRD_ATL said:

Hair loss update related to hair shedding: I experienced noticeable shedding starting around month 4.

This matches mine closely enough to be worth saying so out loud.