JP2018

There's no effect on my health, but life is a lot better with the meds. Without them it's difficult to get anything done at work, you don't get round to paying bills and stuff like that, it's harder to get on with people, you lose things... I wouldn't lose my job or my friends or anything but I would go through kind of a bad patch. I guess another way to come at it is, at what point can you treat transplanted hair like regular hair? I'm not sure whether this is when the scabs have healed, when it has been shed naturally, when it has come back, or what. I appreciate Bill's concern but can I restate that there is no effect on my health and the prescribing physician is fine with me stopping for a period.

Thanks Matt. At what point do you think it's safe to restart though?

Yes, I could ask the transplant surgeon - but he offers a guarantee that if the grafts don't grow out he will repeat the op, so I think he is bound to err on the safe side. Plus, if I mention it and anything does go wrong it will get put down to the Ritalin even if it's not. It's a can of worms I'd rather not open. The prescribing physician is happy either way, so I'm planning to make my own decision - advice / experiences still very welcome.

Hi, I take Ritalin / methylphenidate for ADHD. This medication can cause the hair to thin - it doesn't speed up balding exactly but can cause it to thin generally. The effect's not massive but it's there. I have a HT scheduled in June. I'm wondering whether I should stop taking the medication for a while before / after the op. Maybe it's best to let the grafts bed in before going back on it. Does that sound wise, and if so how long would you leave it? BTW my health wouldn't suffer if I came off it for a while - it's just that my quality of life would go down for a bit.