TV personality Narinder Kaur has revealed her panic after noticing severe hair loss which she claims could be linked to using Mounjaro. The former Big Brother star-turned-presenter, 53, says she has always had thick hair, but became very concerned as she noticed "clumps" of her hair coming out. It coincided with her use of the drug.
Hair Loss Panic
She exclusively tells the Mirror: "When you start losing your hair as a woman, you panic. You start getting anxiety, thinking, 'Oh my God, I'm going to lose all my hair'... At the front, I was noticing almost patches, thinking, 'What's going on?'"
She continued: "My husband was like, 'There's hair all over the floor, everywhere you walk, it's literally falling.' My husband, who notices nothing, I had my hair back, he went, 'Oh my God, what's happened to your hair at the front?' He said, 'There's patches.'"
Medical Context and Expert View
According to NHS, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends tirzepatide (Mounjaro) for the management of obesity for certain patients. It says: "Before prescribing tirzepatide (Mounjaro), a healthcare professional will talk through the benefits and limitations, including any side effects you might get."
She admits that, had she have realised her hair could be so affected, she would not have started the treatment. But Dr Sabika Karim, who is overseeing her management of the drug, revealed that the information is available in the leaflets provided. The expert, who is an award-winning aesthetic doctor, GP, global educator and founder of Skin Medical, says while it's not a common symptom, it affects up to five per cent of users. Dr Sabika said: "Hair loss is a recognised side effect, and it was in the trials before Mounjaro even launched."
She noted that this type of shedding is typically a temporary reaction to rapid weight loss or nutritional changes rather than direct, permanent damage to the hair follicles.
Treatment Plan and Personal Impact
Narinder said since she noticed the hair thinning, she has been "worried about it at night". She said: "You keep touching your hair, and you keep feeling, and you keep looking in the mirror. I've never done that in my life." "It's your feminine side," she continued. "It's your femininity... it's your everything, it's hard to describe."
The duo are now working on a plan to see to what extent her Mounjaro use could be related to her hair loss. According to Narinder, blood tests also showed she was severely low in iron and her nutrient levels were "severely depleted". Dr Sabika said she has set up a strictly monitored Mounjaro maintenance plan alongside a three-step regenerative hair restoration protocol to reverse her shedding. It includes blood tests and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. The doctor has also introduced Biomimetic Exosomes via Kerajuve and is utilising Dermalux Tri-Wave LED, a red and near-infrared light therapy that helps produce more ATP (energy molecules), giving the hair follicles the raw energy needed to respond to the PRP and exosomes.
She said: "If you think about it like hair restoration, it's a bit like the PRP being the fertiliser, the biosomes delivering the growth signals, and the Dermalux—or you can call it LED—that gives the energy for the follicles to respond. So that's how we get our tri-sector treatment."
Previous Experience and Warning
It comes after Narinder admitted she was stupid in 2024 to have initially tried a weight loss drug she found on the internet. It left her fearing for her life. She says she bought a drug online, and - without consulting a doctor - didn't correctly dose herself. "I ended up in hospital," she said. "I didn't even know about the higher dosage, lower dosage, I hadn't even heard of microdosing! And then you just order it, and stick it in and I put too much in."
"I feel angry that I did that, and you know, you can't take it back out, there's no antidote, it's in your body. It's not like, like, you know, even a tablet maybe you can sick out."...Oh my God, I got so ill. I was on the sofa, I couldn't get up, I couldn't drink water. I couldn't drink water." She revealed she went to A&E and found even swallowing half a sweet would cause her to gag. "It was a massive disaster," she admitted.
Now, she has urged anyone who is thinking about going on the medication to go through the correct channels, such as Dr Sabika. "I genuinely can't believe I did that [buy online]," she said. "I feel angry that I did that. I knew the dangers of interactions, and I still did it! I would say... you have to go to a private doctor, and I mean a private, good doctor." Dr Sabika added: "Weight loss medications are prescription drugs with real risks and side effects. They should be strictly titrated and monitored by a medical professional, not bought online or via unverified sources."
Narinder says if it is proven that Mounjaro is the main cause of her hair loss she will have no option but to stop her treatments. "If it gets any worse, I'd have to come off the Mounjaro to see if the hair grows back. Bottom line is, then I want my hair." But of the evidence behind hair loss being linked to Mounjaro, Dr Sabika said: "Because there's no evidence that Mounjaro actually destroys or affects the hair follicle, that hair loss should be really quite temporary anyway. We should be able to get the hair back to its original glory."
In a statement to the Mirror, a spokesperson for Mounjaro makers Eli Lilly and Company said: "Patient safety is Lilly’s top priority. We take any reports regarding patient safety seriously and actively monitor, evaluate, and report safety information for all our medicines. The Mounjaro (tirzepatide) Patient Information Leaflet warns that hair loss is a common side effect in patients treated with Mounjaro for weight management. We encourage patients to consult their doctor or other healthcare professional regarding any side effects they may be experiencing and to ensure that they are getting genuine Lilly medicine."
