My son was diagnosed with alopecia areta. His hair grew in and fell out in may. We just started prednisone and a topical cream. His hair is growing back in like peach fuzz all over. It was already regrowing without the prednisone the doctor thought we could give it a good start with the medication. Did anyone else have any positive experince with this method? Thanks in advance for any support.

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Hi

Sounds like your son is going into a natural remission, so the use of prednisone is sometimes used to hurry that along.

Do your homework with regards to prednisone, as it is a very strong drug with some very unpleasant side effects. Talk to your doctor, he can pass all the information along to you.

Rosy

My daughter was diagnosed at 2 and for 2 years we cycled through growth and loss, with topical steroids. In July 2012 we switched to foam topical and have had an amazing remission for the last year. I braided her hair for the first time last week! I am not sure if it will last but we live for the moment. I am not sure whow I am going to feel if we relapse again - but for right now we are happy. I decided not to go with steroids orally because if the side effects and my daughter is very petite, we did not want to have effects on her development. Good luck - I too wanted some positive stories and did not always fund them - so I try to give the support to other newly diagnosed.

what type of foam topical did you use? Thanks for the info

Heather - can we be friends?  I want to be friends with other parents with toddlers that have alopecia.  Find me on facebook by searching Lily Winograd (Lily Pants.)  I have a son with alopecia who is almost 3.  

Hi there, my daughter will be 3 this April, we have been struggling with her hair loss since about July of last year. We werent sure what it was at first. A dermatologist first thought it might've been some kind of fungal rash. After trying a few creams, and her hair beginning to drastically fall out, we looked up info online, realized what it was, and finally got in touch with a pediatric dermatologist. We will be starting her on a type of cream that is called Diphencyprone soon. It will cause a rash which hopefully will trick her immune system into healing, instead of killing her hair follicles. We were told it's having good results in other children under 10 years old. I hope you had good results with your treatment. If you'd like to share with me, I'd appreciate it so much. This is all very new to us still and we're just learning as we go.

Good luck and happy thoughts to you,

Amanda

Is your son on Anthralin?  

My daughter started with Rogane in various doses and then we tried Anthralin, but it didn't work for her.  Be careful with that stuff it stains everything, and anything their head comes in contact with!  

We started trying treatments when she was 4 (diagnosed at 18 months) but her doctor wanted us to wait on trying any other treatments since she is only 6.  We had one short period of re-growth but we were a month into using the Anthralin and her doctor assured us it wasn't caused by the medication.  If it had been from the Anthralin we would have seen results right away, not a month into treatment.  

I wish you all the best of luck and hope to hear good news!

Hello Heather, would you mind if i ask what is the topical cream that your son was using? I have a son whos about 23 month old now and had the same dignosis.

Noah

not here to judge, but I would never put a kid on Prednisone.. I use to have my dog who had severe allergies on it and had to check blood twice a year as it's really hard on the liver? 

I think you gotta wonder what he would say if he had liver or some other bodily damage trying to repair his non harming condition.. 

of course totally embarrassing and hard for him no doubt, but why risk his good functioning organs in an attempt to sometimes get the hair to grow back. to me you have to look at the benefits and risk of it, and he of course is not in a position to tell you what he wants.. as the parent you gotta tread very carefully... 

I only say this as my dad exposed me to many chemicals that I am horrified that he exposed me to without concern and just because it's allowed and legal doesn't mean it's healthy or good for you

to me also, I find it's a blessing in disguise, and it has taught me I need to CHILL OUT.. don't listen and I get the wrath of a spot, that simple

I would NOT use prednisone at such young age. This stuff can be very bad in terms of side effects. Think growth issues and mental effects. My son was on a stronger dosage once a month starting at I think 9 or 10 years of age. He would take it over 3 days once a month and it would hit him with side effects after 2 days and lest for 2 days. He acted psychotic and had major mood swings, crying and acting demented. Was very painful to watch and scarry. I do not remember the dosage. We had to switch doctors and found one of the leading experts on Alopecia in Chicago. We got lucky and managed to get appointment after 6 months wait list. She dropped the dosage gradually over time an he is on daily 5mg now. I want him to get off altogether. He is 14 now.

While we had many swings with the hair loss (Alopecia Totalis) he has had a full head of bushy hair for several years now with some small spots here and there which are not very noticable. Several times in the pest he lost maybe up to 40% of hair on his head. He also does not have hair on legs and arms and lower eyelashes. The biggest thing we are dealing with now is eyebrows. Couple years ago he lost them all and now its on and off. He has very light ones but they are there. Its something he is very conscious about. We are doing Corticosteroid injections now every 4 weeks which looks to be his 'magic' number to keep them otherwise after 5 weeks he would start losing them again.  

Also taking Methotrexate 22.5mg once a week with Folic Acid as well as using topical Clobetasol and Rogaine. 

A month ago we started to apply Tofacitinib in cream form daily and it looks like it is kicking in. It is very expensive at $335 for a small tube but hoping it can replace the injections as these are very painful. We looked at Ruxolitinib in cream but small tube was $1000 and decided to try Tofacitinib first.

I also did lots of research and he has changed diet and taking herbs to lower inflammation. While I do not know if it has impact on Alopecia at the very least it has other health benefits. 

Very sorry to hear your situation and wishing you best of luck. Its very hard and you will need to arm yourself and be very strong. 

   

pls keep us updated

Its my feeling that whats gonna happen is gonna happen, whether it be spontaneous remission, hair loss, or hair growth.  Alopecia has a mind if its own and treats everyone who has it differently.

I would never allow my 2 year old to be given prednisone or shots in the scalp.  Topical creams - maybe - depending on what it was and what it did.  

Just try to accept that your child has alopecia, it is not your fault, there is no cure but only temporary remedies, and let your child bloom into a magnificient human by teaching him to accept himself as he is.  

Well said - we are all magnificent and hair shouldn’t hold us back and it certainly doesn’t give us strength.  It’s our inner self or  core that needs to shine! We need to let it out! 

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