Does GLP-1 Cause Hair Loss, And Does It Grow Back?

Does GLP-1 cause hair loss, and how common is it?

In the US Wegovy prescribing information, pooled trials of the 2.4 mg dose in adults with obesity or overweight reported hair loss in 3.3% of people on semaglutide versus 1% on placebo. The label describes these reports as associated with weight reduction, which is a link in the trial data and leaves open whether the medicine plays a part too.

The Zepbound prescribing information pools two placebo-controlled weight-reduction trials, one in adults with obesity or overweight and one in adults with type 2 diabetes and a BMI of 27 or higher. Hair loss was reported by 5% of people on 5 mg, 4% on 10 mg, and 5% on 15 mg of tirzepatide, versus 1% on placebo, and this label also describes the reports as associated with weight reduction.

These were separate trials in different populations, each run against its own placebo group, so they can't tell you whether Wegovy or Zepbound is easier on your hair. The percentages also describe trial participants as a group and aren't the odds for any one person.

A survey of GLP-1 users reported a much higher number. That comes from a different kind of study, covered further down.

What the clinical trials show

Wegovy (semaglutide)

Women reported hair loss more often than men in the pooled 2.4 mg trials: 4% of women and 0.9% of men on Wegovy, versus 2% of women and 0% of men on placebo.

The US label also covers Wegovy HD, a 7.2 mg dose the FDA approved in March 2026 for adults with obesity, or overweight with at least one weight-related condition. In its two trials, hair loss was reported by 5.8% of people on 7.2 mg (8.4% of women and 0.2% of men), versus 3.3% on 2.4 mg and 1.0% on placebo in those same trials.

What the EU label says

The EU product information for Wegovy reports hair loss in 2.5% of people on semaglutide injection versus 1.0% on placebo in its own pool of trials (STEP 1 to 4). That pool is separate from the US figures above, so the two sets of numbers shouldn't be merged or averaged. The label says hair loss was reported more often in people who lost 20% or more of their body weight, and that the events were mainly mild, with most people recovering while they continued the medicine.

Zepbound (tirzepatide)

Hair loss with Zepbound was reported more often by women than by men: 7.1% of women versus 0.5% of men on tirzepatide, against 1.3% of women and 0% of men on placebo.

What studies outside the trials show

If you've read claims online that most GLP-1 users lose hair, it's unsettling. Those numbers come from a different kind of study, and it helps to know which kind before you believe them.

What a survey of users can and can't show

A cross-sectional survey by Alharbi and Alkhalifah, published in Skin Appendage Disorders, recruited 152 current or former GLP-1 users in Saudi Arabia who reported no hair loss before starting the medication. Of that group, 70.4% reported shedding after they started.

A survey like this can't tell you how likely hair loss is for GLP-1 users in general. Respondents answered questionnaires about their own shedding, and the study surveyed only current and former users of these medicines, so there was no group of non-users to measure against. Shedding was reported more often by people who lost more weight, and a survey can show that association without showing why it exists.

Large health-record studies

A 2026 cohort study in The Laryngoscope used the TriNetX health-record network to look at adults with type 2 diabetes or obesity who used semaglutide or tirzepatide, matched with similar people who didn't. It reported higher odds of telogen effluvium with tirzepatide at every follow-up point and with semaglutide at three and five years. Higher odds is a relative measure, so it doesn't say how many people in the study had hair loss. The two medicines were followed for different lengths of time, up to five years for semaglutide and two years for tirzepatide, and weren't tested against each other directly, so the study can't show which one carries more risk. Records like these can show an association without explaining what causes it.

How telogen effluvium fits in

Telogen effluvium is a temporary type of hair loss caused by a stressor or a change to the body, according to Cleveland Clinic. Harvard Health explains that the trigger pushes more hairs into the resting (telogen) phase, and that you may not notice the extra shedding until two to four months after the event. It lists surgery, extreme weight loss, an extreme change in diet, and some medications among the possible triggers.

That list is part of why it's hard to say what is behind GLP-1 hair loss.

Weight loss, eating much less, and the medicine itself can all be happening at once, and the sources used here can't separate them.

What it looks like and how long it can last

What it looks like

Telogen effluvium tends to show up as thinning spread across the scalp, not round bald patches or a receding hairline. Harvard Health says the average person loses about 100 hairs a day, and with telogen effluvium that can rise to an average of 300. A small white bulb on the end of a shed hair marks a hair that was in its resting phase. To find the cause of hair loss, a dermatologist starts by gathering information about you and your hair.

What recovery can look like

General guidance on telogen effluvium gives ranges, not a schedule. Cleveland Clinic says the shedding tends to begin two to three months after the stressor, usually lasts three to six months, and that hair typically grows back in six to eight months. Harvard Health says most cases run their course within six to nine months.

These figures come from general telogen effluvium guidance, not from studies of people taking GLP-1 medicines, and shedding settling isn't the same as hair looking as full as it did before. Some cases last longer: Cleveland Clinic describes chronic telogen effluvium as lasting more than six months, and the American Academy of Dermatology notes that people under constant stress can have long-term excessive shedding. If the shedding worries you or keeps going, a clinician can look at it sooner.

When hair loss points to something other than weight loss

Pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) usually starts as overall thinning or a widening part in women, and as a receding hairline or a bald spot on top of the head in men. It comes on slowly, while telogen effluvium brings heavy shedding. The two can look alike, and a dermatologist can tell you which one you have.

Hair loss that comes on fast, follows an unusual pattern, or comes with pain, itching, or a red, scaly scalp is a reason to contact a clinician. With telogen effluvium, the scalp usually looks healthy, without a rash, itching, burning, pain or flaking. If you are pregnant, nursing, or taking prescription medications, ask a clinician before starting any hair-loss product or supplement.

A single stretch of heavier shedding can feel like a sign of something permanent, especially while a medication is changing your body in other ways. Telogen effluvium often settles, according to the sources above, but only a clinician can tell you whether that's what you have, and no source here can promise it for you.

Hair-support steps while taking a GLP-1 medicine

Any change to a GLP-1 dose, including stopping it, belongs in a conversation with the prescriber managing your diabetes or weight care, not a decision made alone over a bad week of shedding.

Protein and nutrients

A joint advisory from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the American Society for Nutrition, the Obesity Medicine Association, and The Obesity Society reviews nutrition during GLP-1 therapy. It discusses protein intake and lists iron and vitamin D among the nutrients of concern when calorie intake drops sharply. Its higher protein targets are proposed for people actively losing weight and aren't a plan for regrowing hair, so how much protein, iron or vitamin D suits you is a question for your prescriber or a dietitian.

Biotin and blood tests

The FDA warns that biotin can significantly interfere with certain lab tests and cause incorrect results that may go undetected, and it has received adverse event reports of biotin causing falsely low troponin results. If you take a supplement that contains biotin, tell whoever orders your blood tests.

Deciding what to do next

Gentle hair care, loose styles instead of tight pulling, and attention to other stressors are reasonable steps while hair is shedding. Nothing in the sources behind this article shows they shorten a shedding phase.

The sources reviewed here don't describe any established option for hair loss linked to GLP-1 medicines. If the shedding is bothering you, a conversation with your prescriber or a dermatologist is a sensible next step.

They can check whether it fits telogen effluvium, look for other possible triggers Harvard Health lists, such as iron deficiency or an underactive or overactive thyroid, and talk through your options.

Frequently asked questions

Can Ozempic cause hair loss, or is it just the rapid weight loss?

Ozempic and Wegovy both contain semaglutide, but the figures in this article come from Wegovy's trials and shouldn't be assumed to apply to Ozempic. The Wegovy label describes hair loss reports as associated with weight reduction, and the EU label notes more reports among people who lost 20% or more of their body weight. Neither label rules out a direct effect of the medicine, so weight loss may be one factor without being the only one.

Do GLP-1 medications cause hair loss in everyone who takes them?

No. In the trials behind the Wegovy and Zepbound labels, hair loss was reported by a small share of participants, and each medicine, dose and trial pool is reported separately above. Because trial figures describe groups, they can't tell you what will happen to you.

Can semaglutide cause hair loss more than tirzepatide, or are they about the same?

The trials can't settle it, because each medicine was tested in a different population against its own placebo group. In the Saudi survey, shedding was reported by 76.7% of tirzepatide users and 64% of semaglutide users, but a survey like this can't show whether either medicine causes more hair loss than the other.

Can tirzepatide cause hair loss, and does it stop if you come off Zepbound?

Hair loss was reported by 4% to 5% of Zepbound participants across the 5 mg, 10 mg and 15 mg doses, versus 1% on placebo, in pooled trials of adults with obesity or overweight, with or without type 2 diabetes. The sources used for this article don't show what happens to hair loss after stopping tirzepatide. Stopping or changing a dose is a decision for your prescriber, and shedding that continues or gets worse deserves a clinician's assessment.

Is Ozempic for hair loss ever a good idea?

Hair loss appears on the Wegovy and Zepbound labels as a reported side effect. No GLP-1 medicine is an established option for hair loss, and nothing reviewed for this article supports using one for that purpose. A clinician such as a dermatologist can talk through options that are established for the type of hair loss you have.

Is there any evidence yet on retatrutide and hair loss?

The sources behind this article include no retatrutide hair loss data, so nothing here can be applied to it.

Eli Lilly's own page, last updated in September 2026, describes retatrutide as an investigational medicine that no regulatory agency has approved. If you are taking part in a clinical trial of it, tell the study team about any change in your hair.

Sources

All pages accessed October 12–13, 2026.

• Novo Nordisk. Wegovy (semaglutide) prescribing information. Revised June 2026. Section 6.1 (Hair Loss), including the Wegovy HD 7.2 mg trials.

• European Medicines Agency. Wegovy: Summary of Product Characteristics. EMA page updated September 21, 2026. Section 4.8.

• Eli Lilly and Company. Zepbound (tirzepatide) prescribing information. Revised August 2026. Section 6.1 (Table 1; Hair Loss).

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Approves Fourth Product Under National Priority Voucher Program, Higher Dose Semaglutide. News release, March 19, 2026.

• Alharbi S, Alkhalifah A. Prevalence and predictors of hair shedding among GLP-1 receptor agonist users: a cross-sectional study from Saudi Arabia. Skin Appendage Disorders. 2026;12(4):283–295. doi:10.1159/000550540. Abstract only.

• Katragadda R, Hayden J, Saltagi AK, et al. Nonscarring alopecia in adults treated with GLP-1s: a propensity score matched TriNetX cohort study. The Laryngoscope. Published online August 26, 2026. doi:10.1002/lary.70810. Abstract only.

• Cleveland Clinic. Telogen Effluvium. Last updated December 1, 2022.

• Harvard Health Publishing. Telogen effluvium. Reviewed by Howard E. LeWine, MD, October 7, 2024.

• DermNet. Telogen effluvium (hair shedding). Updated November 2019.

• American Academy of Dermatology. Do you have hair loss or hair shedding?. No date shown.

• American Academy of Dermatology. Hair loss: Diagnosis and treatment. Last updated December 13, 2022.

• American Academy of Dermatology. Hair loss: Who gets and causes. No date shown.

• American Academy of Dermatology. Thinning hair and hair loss: Could it be female pattern hair loss?. Last updated December 13, 2022.

• MedlinePlus. Hair loss. Reviewed June 3, 2025.

• Mozaffarian D, Agarwal M, Aggarwal M, et al. Nutritional priorities to support GLP-1 therapy for obesity: a joint Advisory from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the American Society for Nutrition, the Obesity Medicine Association, and The Obesity Society. Obesity. 2025;33(8):1475–1503. doi:10.1002/oby.24336.

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Biotin Interference with Troponin Lab Tests - Assays Subject to Biotin Interference. Content current as of June 21, 2022.

• Eli Lilly and Company. What to know about retatrutide. Last updated September 2026.

This article is for education only and is not medical advice. Talk with your healthcare provider about your own hair and scalp health.