How SSRI’s Cause Hair Loss

Hair loss is one of the most common health problems that modern people struggle with. Yes, you read that correctly, hair loss is a health problem. Although the hair loss industry, ill-informed dermatologists and physicians strongly suggest that hair loss is simply genetic and nothing more; the truth is, hair loss is a strong indicator of stress, aging and disease.

As a matter of fact, one reason that hair loss is so often improperly treated is because the true causes of it are rarely disclosed to mainstream physicians. This is largely due to financial purposes, since most medical establishments have large amounts of money invested into technologies, training and “treatments” for false pathologies. Changing these protocols would take tens of thousands if not millions of dollars, on top of admitting being wrong. There is of course more to this story, but let’s leave it at that.

Getting to the point, hair loss has many causes, all of which are related to stress, and few that are ever discussed in mainstream medicine and even “natural” or alternative health. In this article, we will be uncovering one of those less commonly talked about causes of hair loss, which is the use of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin itself.

SEROTONIN: Not The Happy Chemical You Were Told It Is

There are a few strongly controversial topics in the world of health and wellness, and serotonin is one of them. In the mainstream, serotonin has been falsely marketed as a “feel-good” neurotransmitter and as a therapeutic chemical for managing depression. These accusations, lacking any proper physiological explanation, have mislead people to think that serotonin is a helpful substance that we want more of. There is even pseudoscience that suggests that unhealthy, depressed people do not have enough serotonin, which has never been proven.

The truth is, there is no evidence that supports these claims nor are these claims based in physiology. As a matter of fact, the mythological idea that a serotonin deficiency exists amongst depression has got SSRI manufacturing companies large class-action lawsuits, upwards of billions of dollars.

Interestingly enough, not only is the use of SSRI’s ineffective for treating depression, they can cause depression, aggression and suicide. This effect and others have also resulted in several other lawsuits.

• In 1992, the Federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation moved 75 federal Prozac cases to MDL 907 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. By 2000, Eli Lilly had reportedly paid more than $50 million to settle more than 30 Prozac lawsuits related to murders or suicides.
  
• In 2009, A Philadelphia jury awarded a $2.5 million verdict to the family of a boy who was born with a rare heart defect after his mother used Paxil during pregnancy.
  
• In 2010, Forest Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures and markets Celexa, agreed to pay $313 million to settle civil and criminal charges that it marketed the drug for purposes not approved by the FDA.
  
• In 2012, GlaxoSmithKline pays $3 billion to settle claims of unlawful promotion of prescription drugs, including Paxil.
  
• In 2017, a Chicago jury awarded a widow $3 million after her husband committed suicide while taking an SSRI.
  
• In 2017, an Illinois jury has ruled in favor of a 10-year old boy and his family in a lawsuit brought against Abbott Laboratories, the manufacturer of Depakote. The plaintiff claimed the drug was to blame for her child’s severe birth defect of spina bifida. The family was awarded $15 million to cover the child’s medical expenses and loss of future earnings.

Perhaps the reason so many of these lawsuits have ended in favor of the plaintiff is due to the large body of research that shows SSRI’s are harmful to human health. Drugs that act like serotonin, increase serotonin production and extend its effects have been proven to cause:

• edema
• abdominal pain
• chest pain
• hypertension
• hypotension
• syncope
• anxiety/depression
• vertigo
• ovarian cyst
• miscarriage
• menorrhagia
• back pain
• cramps
• breast cancer
• appendicitis
• bilirubinemia
• attempted suicide and suicidal tendencies
• heart attacks
• renal pain
• intestinal necrosis
• and more

How Serotonin Truly Effects Your Physiology

Even after several lawsuits, plenty of evidence demonstrating the damaging effect of SSRIs and elevated serotonin, and although it has never been proven that a serotonin deficiency causes depression, nearly 25 million adults still take SSRIs for depression. 1

Aside from ignorance, propaganda and pressure from physicians the only somewhat logical reason a person might take an SSRI despite its harmful effects is due to the euphoric effect it can have. Some people do report feeling better from taking SSRI’s, although the relief is only temporary and has nothing to do with serotonin directly. An overlooked mechanism of action that serotonin has is that it can stimulate the production of cortisol. 2

Cortisol is a stress hormone that can attribute to a euphoric sense of well-being. However, this stress high is followed by a crash and destructive, toxic effects, particularly for the hair. This is likely why many people report “highs and lows” or mood swings, fatigue, and hair loss while taking SSRIs.

This brings us to the true physiological effects of serotonin. Serotonin’s basic purpose is to down regulate the metabolism, by stimulating the adrenal glands to produce stress hormones that interfere with thyroid function and activate lipolysis. Lipolysis refers to the libration of fat for energy, it is the metabolism of stress and hibernation. In fact, not only is serotonin elevated during hibernation, it increases the liberation of free fatty acids, which further inhibit proper energy metabolism through a process known as the Randall Cycle. 3,4

In addition to generally suppressing the metabolic rate, serotonin increases cortisol, aldosterone, prolactin, and parathyroid hormone, all of which are strongly associated with hair loss and baldness. We will discuss their direct contributions to hair loss later in this article.

Furthermore, serotonin has many overlapping effects with estrogen, which is most likely why women tend to suffer from hypothyroidism, depression and other estrogen-driven conditions compared to men. Estrogen stimulates both serotonin and histamine, and their activation mimics estrogen’s pathological effects. Serotonin and estrogen cause energy disorders by impairing cellular respiration and thyroid function.

Every cell in the body is dependent of proper energy production, inhibiting it can lead to a greater likelihood of almost every disease imaginable. However, particular research has found that the energy inhibiting effects of serotonin can increase the chances of both liver and brain disease. 5,6

When the liver becomes damaged, vicious cycles occur. For example, in phase II liver detoxification, a process known as glucuronidation occurs, which turns fat-soluble substances like toxins and estrogens into water soluble substances that are to be eliminated through perspiration, defecation and urination.

When the liver is impaired; however, this process is as well, causing the body to accumulate toxins, estrogens and fat. This leads to a vicious cycle of energy impairment and toxic accumulation. Since the brain is the second largest detox organ, when the liver is overburdened by toxicity, the brain becomes more exposed to toxins such as estrogen, serotonin, ammonia, histamine, etc, leading to degeneration of the two most important human organs.

In summary, serotonin is a metabolic suppressing, energy inhibiting, stress substance that impairs the body’s primary systems, including metabolism, immunity, digestion and detoxification. Since the body is one organism, controlled by these systems, serotonin naturally has strong roles in the development of hair loss.

How Serotonin Causes Hair Loss

With a clearer understanding of serotonin’s broad-range physiological effects, it’s a good time to discuss the details of serotonin’s hair growth inhibiting effects.

At basic, serotonin’s interference of cellular energy production is the primary action through which it contributes to hair loss and problems growing healthy hair. The hair follicle is an organ, and like all organs, it requires energy. However, unique to the hair follicle is an extremely high demand for cellular energy. In other words, the hair follicle needs much more energy to maintain and grow than other organs, which are more resistant to the stress of energy deprivation.

The metabolism of the hair follicle is not very efficient and cannot produce energy very well. Additionally, unlike other organs, the hair follicle cannot rely on free fatty acids for energy during times of stress. It is therefore very dependent on the energy surplus produced via oxidative phosphorylation (glucose oxidation).

This is why stress causes hair loss and why a person experiences great increases of hair shedding and difficulties growing hair during times of stress. Stress interferes with our energy production and at the same time increases the need for energy, since stress rapidly uses energy in the form of glucose and glycogen. If stress is prolonged and we expend our energy supply, the body goes into stress metabolism, where fat is used for energy.

This process helps the body endure famines, physical exertion and stress, but not all of the body. Vanity aspects of the body seem to be most negatively affected by stress, likely due to their unimportance in immediate survival. Our body care much less whether or not we have gorgeous hair and skin than it does that our brain, liver and kidneys are functioning.

More specifically speaking, there are a few main mechanisms of action in which serotonin directly inhibits hair growth.

1. Increases Cortisol: As previously mentioned, serotonin stimulates cortisol by way of the pituitary. Cortisol inhibits good hair growth and causes hair loss in a few ways. One, cortisol impairs thyroid function by deactivating t3 (triiodothyronine), which is needed for proper hair growth. T3 delivers oxygen and glucose into the hair follicle to be turned into energy. Two, cortisol shifts the hair follicle into a dormant or resting phase and prolongs it. There are several other ways in which cortisol contributes to hair loss that we discuss in detail in our Forever Healthy Hair course. 7
   
2. Increases Aldosterone: Serotonin also stimulates aldosterone, another hormone strongly implicated in hair loss and androgenic alopecia. Aldosterone stimulates prolactin, which puts the hair into a shedding or telogen phase. The many anti-hair effects of aldosterone are also discussed in great detail in the course. 8
   
3. Increases Estrogen & Prolactin: Conventional “science” around estrogen is largely biased, and outright incorrect. Some studies even proclaim that estrogen has pro-hair effects, all of which are false. We will write more articles in the future talking specifically about estrogen. For the sake of brevity, most scientific literature regarding estrogen and its inhibitory counter-hormone progesterone is reversed. Estrogen is a stress hormone, it elevates during stress and was originally refereed to as the hormone of shock and stress since it inhibits cellular oxygen consumption. Estrogen in other words causes hypoxia (oxygen deprivation of the cell and tissue). Oxygen is a crucial element in hair growth. But perhaps the most effective way to understand estrogens effect on the hair is to observe the pregnant woman. In early pregnancy, estrogen elevates greatly, giving rise to every nasty symptom related to pregnancy. By the second trimester, progesterone starts to elevate significantly to regulate estrogen. This is when the “pregnancy glow” sets in and the hair become thick and lush. However, by the third trimester, estrogen sky rockets to catabolize the cervix for delivery. The pregnancy glow at this point can fade in women. with less than optimal progesterone levels. Postpartum, women experience many symptoms of hypothyroidism, including hair loss, depression and fatigue, all of which are strongly induced by the rise of estrogen and prolactin. To learn more about how estrogen causes hair loss, be sure to check out our Forever Healthy Hair course.
   
4. Stimulates Parathyroid: Excess production of the parathyroid hormone can overload our cells and tissues with calcium. An excess of intracellular calcium turns on nitric oxide, which can degrade the hair follicle and cause scalp inflammation, fibrosis and calcification. To learn more in detail about how hyperparathyroidism contributes to hair loss and diffuse hair thinning, be sure to read this article.
   
5. Impairs Thyroid Function: One of the most basic effects of serotonin is that it impairs thyroid function. The thyroid hormone is the most important hormone for healthy hair growth as it is responsible for every physiological process involved in proper hair growth. For example, the thyroid hormone produces carbon dioxide as a result of oxidizing glucose. CO2 is a potent vasodilator and regulates the flow of blood to tissues, including the scalp. Additionally, carbon dioxide supports the production of energy, the cellular consumption of oxygen and production of body heat. In a vicious cycle, serotonin can impair thyroid function, leading to insufficient carbon dioxide production, further increasing serotonin, leading to impaired energy production, restricted blood flow, oxygen utilization and hair growth.

Causes of Elevated Serotonin

If you struggle with hair loss, and have “tried everything”, we suggest considering your serotonin levels. There are a few unique causes of elevated serotonin that may be causes hair loss. Here area few areas to consider:

• Impaired digestion: 80% or more of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut. Serotonin tends to elevate in direct proportion to the amount of inflammation in the intestines. A diet rich in gut irritating goods (as discussed in our Perfect Thyroid course), a high stress life, intense physical exercise and hypothyroidism can all impair digestion, leading to intestinal inflammation and elevated serotonin levels.
  
• Diet: Foods high in tryptophan and low in glycine can cause serotonin to become too high.
  
• SSRIs: Of course, taking medications that increase serotonin and its lifespan, such as SSRIs can cause elevations in serotonin, which can lead hair loss.
  
• Estrogen Dominance: High estrogen can cause high serotonin. Taking birth control, eating foods high in phytoestrogens, or conventional produce and animal foods that contain xenoestrogens can all increase serotonin also. Liver impairment also causes high estrogen by impairing the production of enzymes that detoxify estrogen. Drinking alcohol is a big cause for this; not to mention, alcohol is estrogenic.

In Conclusion

Not all who experience chronic or intense stress experience hair loss but all who experience hair loss do experience great stress. The solution to hair loss is to determine and discover the unique stressors that impair hair growth and handle them appropriately.

Remember, hair loss is a systemic issue and sign that the body is in stress. However, stress can come in various forms. Hair loss can therefore have many different causes, and often times hair loss sufferers deal with more than one contributing factor.

As of now, you are aware of at least one more possible contributing factor to hair loss. We strongly suggest enrolling in our Forever Healthy Hair course to learn more about how to correct hair loss from a truly holistic, physiological perspective.

Other things that you might like:

Mane Stay is our advanced, topical hair loss solution. Although it doesn’t lower serotonin, it does inhibit the accumulation of prostaglandins in the scalp that cause inflammation and hair loss, which are increased by serotonin. It also improves energy metabolism in the hair follicle, which is inhibited by serotonin.