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A treatment that worked for me
I'm a 42 year old woman and I've had AA for the past 2 years. I've tried all the approved injections and potions with no success and terrible side effects. It started out as one small spot but over a period of 2 weeks I had 7 more. They kept growing and meeting up with one another. They seemed to be having a happy party on my head, meanwhile I was depressed.
I kept annoying my dermatologist until he started doing some research. He found an article in the Journal of American Dermatology for an off label treatment. Hydroxychloroquine (brand name Plaquinil) was successfully used on 2 Alopicia, I believe universal, patients. So I gave it a try. 150 MG once per day. IT WORKED! It is by no means a cure. About one month after stopping treatment my hair started evacuating my head. So I'm back on it.The only side effect I experience is a rash but it's tolerable.
I admit it, I'm vain. I wish I wasn't but I want my hair. I try to convince myself that It's just hair and it could be much worse, but I am not that evolved yet.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rose on
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Dawn - GREAT for you to find something that keeps your hair from falling out!! You don't have to convince yourself "it's just hair and it could be much worse" For those of us who have no hope of our hair coming back, we accept this eventually, and realize it COULD be worse. But there is a "worse" for every problem. Meanwhile, be happy you found something that works. I don't think you are vain. I think you are "normal." All woman, in general, would love to have a full head of hair.
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Thanks Rose! Nothing works for everyone but I thought I would share in hopes the someone else might benefit.
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Permalink Reply by ASRN on
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Agreed. Not vain to want your hair back or be happy it's coming back. It's a big deal! :-)
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Permalink Reply by itzmejudy on
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Sometimes I think people fall prey to all kinds so so called cures or fixes for hair loss. It is even hard for me to believe some of the comments here reccomending a product. They may be people hired by company to say they were cured by this product. I have tried sprays, powders, 10,000 mg biotin daily for 2 yrs, perscription oils, creams, Nioxin, and Minoxidil was the only thing that worked alittle for me at first but doesn't anymore. I am not a Dr. but I do have Autoimune Disease Alopecia Areata, Hoshimoto Tyroid Disease, Female pattern baldness, Gastric Bypass surgery all of which cause hairloss. I have lost large sections of hair and it grew back, but this time I have 1 spot on left side of front of hair for several months now and has not gone away or gotten bigger, but I also have thinning of hair all over my head and severe thinning from female pattern baldness on top front. The only thing I can do is wait to see how far it goes and maybe buy a wig or hairpiece or eventually shave my headand move on. All I can say is if you can afford try everything you want but if you cannot afford to do all that try what you can afford of put a scarf on your head and call it a day. It is hard for me to say because I still hope something will work but not at the expense of the little money I have.. I wish you all the best in your search for hope.
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itsmejudy, I can only speak for myself. I'm only sharing what did and didn't work for me. I am not recommending any products nor am I paid in any way, by anyone, for sharing my experience. Best of luck!
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I was not referring to you I was referring to people in general and telling you to be careful of some of the posts that reccommend products. I am sure you have seen them.. Sorry you thought I was referring to you.
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I am a 34 year old woman and I have had AA, and more recently, AT, for 15 years. I have been on hydroxychloroquine (plaquenil) for 6 and a half months now and it is working for me. It has been very slow but I took before pictures on the date I started treatment, and the hair is definitely growing back all over my head. I started out with about 95% hair loss and now I am at about 50%, but I can see the hairs under the surface of the bald areas so I am feeling pretty confident that almost all of it will come back. The regrowth started out white and then the hairs started to grow in black, which is my natural color. It did not grow back uniformly. Little patches started growing back at different times, almost a reversal of the way the hair falls out with AA. My rheumatologist told me that the dose should be based on weight to reduce the chances of side effects. I started with 200 mg twice a day for the first month, then reduced it after that to 200 mg twice a day every other day, and 200 mg once a day on the alternate day. During the first month of taking hydroxychloroquine, I experienced some drowsiness, but that wore off and now I feel no negative effects. I got my blood checked and went for the baseline eye exam for retinal toxicity and I will need to do that once per year to ensure the drug is not affecting my eyes. If you are considering it, I think it is worth a try; just work with your doctor on getting the right dose for your weight, get your eye examinations and blood tests done, and be patient because the drug can take six months to start working. Take before photos so that you will know whether there is progress. I also needed these to help persuade my doctor to renew my prescription. I will provide another update at the one year mark. Fingers crossed!
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Yasmin, that's GREAT!!!! I've been on it for over a year now, 150 mg per day. My regrowth came back the same way yours did. I recently noticed a small bald spot on the back of my head, but it seems to not be growing. I can't increase my dose due to my height and weight.
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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Hi i just read your article i am totally new here, i have also Androgenic Alopecia and this year was awful for me.My doctor suggest me to try Yasmin and rogain, but i am afraid to take it both first i don't put on weight, and secondly because of the effect of minoxidil you have to lose almost all your hair the first 4 month because of it craizy shedding. and nowbody gives you a 100 garantee that your hair will grow back. Please tell me if you experience any of this? i realy need some advise, thank you
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I feel the same way. "I admit. I am vain. I wish I wasn't but I want my hair. I try to convince, myself that it's just hair......... I am not ready to accept it either. Thanks for sharing about the Plaquenil. I may have to make an appointment with the dermatologist. Thanks. I hope that it continues to work for you. :)
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Could you provide any update on this ? i am thinking of trying this out if it went all well for you. Thanks.
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Hello everyone,
I have decided to share my story in a hope to help those that suffer from this horrible affliction.
My name is Campbell and I was first diagnosed with AA when I was 8 years old following the death of my grandmother. I suffered on and off sporadically throughout my teens with a few patches here and there that came and went from time to time. At this time I used to get steroid injections into the patches from my dermatologist which occasionally encouraged hair growth.
However, when I turned 20, the patches I had then began to join together on my head and I then went completely bald. Being a young single man, I found this extraordinarily difficult to deal with, being already self-conscious about my looks, it really affected me. I returned to my dermatologist who prescribed me a tablet that I cannot recall the name of, which was ineffectual on me. Luckily, being a student and barista I was able to wear a cap/beanie at all times to hide the thing I was most ashamed of.
When I thought things couldn't get any worse, my eyelashes, eyebrows, facial hair and body hair evaporated in a matter of weeks around my 21st birthday. This was without doubt the hardest time of my life. I already felt low, but this sank me to depths I didn't think imaginable. I hated looking at myself, catching a glimpse of myself or being around my friends as I felt like a different person and I will never forget that feeling.
At this time, in desperation to get some shape back in my face I researched temporary solutions such as wigs and tattooing. I somehow stumbled upon a wonderful specialist in micropigmentation who did my eyebrows, and added a few eyelashes. This is no permanent fix as the tattoos only last 6-12 months before having to be refreshed, and was a fairly painful and awkward procedure to have done. Nevertheless, if the loss of eye hair is something you find difficult, I would urge to at least investigate this as a possibility. It restored part of my confidence at least.
Also around this time my dermatologist referred me to a specialist in London (luckily where I was living at the time) because he had admitted he could not control my issue and could see how distressed it was making me.
Dr Jolliffe is one of the leading specialists in the world in research into Alopecia. She is currently trying to get JAK inhibitors into the UK to trial on patients.
When I first went to Dr. Jolliffe she said there were still a few options in terms of treatment we could pursue. But what she kept reiterating was that there was 'no silver bullet', and no definite cure so as not to get my hopes up. She first prescribed me Hydroxycloroquine for 6-12 months that had no effect on me. She then, in the summer of 2016 prescribed me Azathioprine, an initial side effect was that I got hives upon first dosage, but this soon died down. These had no effect for 6 months, so told me to take 150mg a day. And this has done it.
I am currently writing this with a full head of thick hair, all my eyelashes are back, most of my eyebrow hairs are back, and my body hair is patchy but returning. I know this may not be a cure for everyone reading this, but I thought at least if people know it exists that hopefully it can help someone else.
If AA/AT/AU is something that severely effects the way you feel about yourself, which I know it does, please pursue these steps that I undertook.
It is such a horrible issue to have and is so unforgiving.
Good luck and enormous amounts of love to anyone that (has read this far) is struggling with it.
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