Alpha-lipoic acid and Hair Loss: What Users Say

• JC4...
• October 23, 2009

For Dietary Supplementation "I have begun losing my hair, and when I searched for 'hair loss and alpha-lipoic acid (ALA),' I learned that ALA absorbs all your biotin. Thus, when a person takes it on a regular basis, they should be ingesting it with Biotin as well. If there are a few of us coming forward on this, I am sure there are many more who are out there and developing this problem. I did appreciate the usefulness of ALA with my rosacea, and it has helped alleviate those problems; now, I just hope that taking biotin will bring back my hair."

• Xxa...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 26, 2020

For Dietary Supplementation "I have been taking Alpha Lipoic Acid, 1200mg a day for a year now for nerve damage. It has been amazing with minimizing my pain. I have, however, started losing heaps of hair. The hair loss is really bad. I'm going to try and take Biotin with it to see if it helps. I cannot understand how the manufacturer of this amazing product cannot take something out of the product or add something to prevent hair loss."

• Nic...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• April 4, 2021

For Dietary Supplementation "I've been taking 600 - 1200 mg of high-quality R-ALA stabilized for over 10 years for tingling in my limbs. Works like a charm and sure beats taking Gabapentin. Any hair loss I've had was due to normal shedding, not getting enough protein in my diet, or not taking a multivitamin with Biotin in it. I've always shed hair once a year prior to starting R-ALA stabilized, and it's minimal. If I don't get at least 80 - 90 grams of protein on a regular basis, I can also start losing hair. Each person has their own amount of protein that they need, and it's easy to figure out how many grams you need. A body needs protein and Biotin with or without R-ALA stabilized, according to my nutritionist and internist. I can't blame my hair loss on Alpha Lipoic Acid as some hair loss was normal for me prior to starting it. I've had issues with my nails breaking, I added a high dose of sublingual Biotin, and my nails and hair started growing like crazy. Worth a try."

• Alp...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 20, 2020

For Dietary Supplementation "I have been taking alpha-lipoic acid for about a year and a half. The last couple of months, my hair has started falling out so much. It has gotten really thin. I googled and found so many people having the same problem due to taking alpha-lipoic acid. I contacted the manufacturer, and they said that they have not heard of lipoic acid causing hair loss. This totally shocks me, as so many people are all saying it does. If their product causes hair loss, don't deny it, fix your product to not cause hair loss. Surely, these manufacturers are able to change their product to not cause hair loss. I would rather find something else to take that does not cause hair loss."

• KCa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 12, 2020

For Dietary Supplementation "Experienced tremendous hair loss and only recently put this together timing-wise for when I started taking Alpha Lipoic daily. No other side effects noticed, but the hair loss has been very significant."

• 123...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 10, 2020

For Dietary Supplementation "I have been taking Lipoic Acid for a year or so. It has helped me so much with nerve damage. But the last 6 months, I have had so much hair loss. It is really bad. My hair has gotten so thin. I will stop taking Lipoic Acid. It's not worth losing all my hair. I would rather find another supplement that will help with nerve pain and not have the awful side effect of hair loss."

• Jea...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 29, 2020

For Dietary Supplementation "Had terrible heartburn, but was told reflux (only had heartburn with my 4 pregnancies). Slowly starting to lose hair, thought, ok going through early menopause! Or the old saying, “you're stressed”! Never dawned on me to check out my supplements that my pain management doc recommended 6 months ago! The past month I’ve been losing so much hair that now I am feeling stressed. Thank you for the previous reviews!!! I’m stopping, and I’ll figure something else out."

• gre...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 8, 2022

For Dietary Supplementation "I had read about this and began at 600 mg twice a day. It, within days, took care of that one pain in my leg that Lyrica and Nortriptyline did not relieve. After beginning lipoic acid, a very itchy rash began slowly covering my body that could have been from a bunch of things. I quit the lipoic acid along with several other things, and the rash slowly got better. I suspect ALA but don't know for sure. Read somewhere about people taking 'micro doses' of 1-2 mg, but I could not find anything less than 25 mg. I now take 25 mg once every 3-4 days, and it takes care of that one specific pain in my leg, and the rash has not returned. I think that 600 mg twice, or even once a day, is overdosing and may explain the hair loss. Just my non-expert opinion."

• Anonymous
• December 9, 2021

For Dietary Supplementation "I haven’t noticed any reduction in neuropathy symptoms taking alpha-lipoic acid, but my hair was falling out at an amazing rate. As soon as I stopped, it stopped falling out. I didn’t look up the side effects until just now, and I noticed so many other people having this side effect."

• Bel...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 14, 2020

For Dietary Supplementation "Must be taken after a meal to avoid upset. I’ve been taking alpha-lipoic for a while, and in the last 3 months, my hair started falling out and really thinning. I’m reviewing every supplement for effects. Looks like this is it. AND I did change brands. Stopped twice a day dose and going to every other day AND adding Biotin to see IF hair stops falling out and hair starts growing back. Will weigh benefits versus hair loss, which is costly to address."

• Bel...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 14, 2020

For Dietary Supplementation "Must be taken after a meal to avoid upset. I’ve been taking alpha-lipoic for a while, and in the last 3 months, my hair started falling out and really thinning. I’m reviewing every supplement for effects. Looks like this is it. AND I did change brands. Stopped twice a day dose and going to every other day AND adding Biotin to see IF hair stops falling out and hair starts growing back. Will weigh benefits versus hair loss, which is costly to address."

• Pin...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 12, 2021

For Dietary Supplementation "I've been taking 300 mg of ALA for over a year, no weird side effects. Drops my morning glucose reading by a good 10 to 20 points when I take it. Recently added another capsule with dinner, pleasantly surprised by a lower morning glucose reading. Hair loss? Since I've been on blood pressure meds, common for the one I take, not blaming it on ALA because of that."

• Sab...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 12, 2022

For Dietary Supplementation "I've been taking alpha-lipoic acid for almost two months and started to notice my hair shedding more in the last 3 weeks or so. The only change I made was adding ALA and NAC. I'm so glad I found this site, I'm stopping it immediately as the shedding was steadily increasing in amount. Thanks for sharing, everyone, and I'm happy to hear from several people that once you stop taking it, the shedding stops."

• tfa...
• November 6, 2020

For Dietary Supplementation "Read reviews about ALA causing hair loss. The neurologist wants me to take 600 mg. Decided hair loss was not good, but the internist said try just 200 mg. I took that amount tonight and woke up with itching all over my body. I am sitting here at the computer at 1:30 in the AM and looked up side effects. I also just took a Benadryl, and itching is subsiding. No ALA for me."

• Elv...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 11, 2022

For Dietary Supplementation "My doctor suggested I take alpha-lipoic acid for peripheral neuropathy, burning and aching in hands and feet. It did help those symptoms, but my hair loss was absolutely terrible, and I don't have that much left anyway. I had to stop it because being bald will depress me almost more than the burning and pain."

• L T...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 8, 2021

For Dietary Supplementation "I suffer from MS, and this is why I started taking alpha-lipoic acid. I was taking 600 mg daily. I started noticing my fingernails were getting really thin. So, from reading experiences other people were having with hair loss, I think maybe that my thin nails to almost non-existent nails are due to ALA. Also, I never noticed much improvement with the tingling in my extremities or any numbness I am experiencing. I have stopped taking it."

• Lea...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 24, 2024

For Dietary Supplementation "My mom suggested I take ALA due to nerve issues while sleeping. It worked well. But my hair started falling out at a rate that shocked me. I needed to find out if it was a side effect of something I was taking. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence or not, but I believe that when I went to a less expensive brand, I started losing my hair. I went off it the day I read all the reviews about massive hair loss. I’m still losing more than I want to. It definitely has slowed down."

• Dot...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 1, 2023

"The neuropathic and vascular pain was greatly decreasing my quality of life. The pain has increased over the last several years, and doctors are indifferent. One doctor did share that they do not know how to treat nerve pain. I believe it was my acupuncturist who recommended ALA. I began taking it, but it would burn my throat. Further research suggested the R-ALA form. I tried it, but the dosage was lower. I still had the original form and increased the dosage to two 300 mg capsules about 6-8 hours per day. An MD suggested Thiamine, and research suggested the form Benfotiamine. After years on Gabapentin, which caused my feet to swell, I quit taking it as it did nothing for the ever-increasing pain. Some days now I have no pain, and I am able to sleep longer. Taking the ALA with meals seems to help with the throat burning. My severe hair loss and dry skin began a good 18 months before taking the ALA. I think it is related to the injectable I take for high cholesterol, not the ALA."

• Lor...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 17, 2023

"I was diagnosed with nerve damage due to a placement of a dental bridge. They said no cure, but to try antidepressants, which I did not want to do. Now I have seen the dental hospital again, and they said to try alpha-lipoic acid. Since taking it, I have had diarrhea and heartburn, and have found the large capsule hard to swallow. I took the powder in water, which made my mouth worse, as though it was on fire. Now I read people have had hair loss. Will this help with nerve damage?"

• Eda...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 9, 2018

For Dietary Supplementation "Huge amounts of hair loss. Hope it grows back after stopping."

• She...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 18, 2018

For Dietary Supplementation "Caused huge amounts of hair loss. I agree there are benefits of the supplement, but losing tons of hair because of using ALA is not worth it."

• Rob...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 19, 2020

For Dietary Supplementation "I am experiencing a lot of hair loss on ALA. I have been on biotin for many years. Neurologist has improved, but I cannot continue due to hair loss. I wish there was an alternative."