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All but armpit hair gone?
I have developed AU, over the last few years with no family history of autoimmune disorder except for arthritis. (Which may be significant considering the recent Yale study on the use of Tofacitanib for alopecia)
I lost head hair first, then over a period of time lost the rest EXCEPT for
My very furry armpits. I have no idea what the reason would be except that it seems it might be linked to some ingredient in my deodorant? Anyone have a similar experience?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rose on
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Molly... Same with me. I lost all hair EXCEPT armpit hair. Don't know why. I did go thru a period of time where I had some pubic hair. Maybe it's warm, moist places ???? I DON"T KNOW !!! but know you are not alone. I love my armpit hair. too bad I don't live in Italy where it's sexy!
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Permalink Reply by Jenbissness on
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Hey Molly... I am new to the forum and was wondering how you presented with AU? I have been dealing with diffuse scalp hair loss for almost two years now, lost more than half of my hair. About five months ago I noticed brow and lashes are thinning. I loose so much hair everyday and it has not slowed down since I noticed the thinning back in dec 2012. My endocrinologist suggested AU but no concrete diagnosis yet. Any info would be appreciated!
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Permalink Reply by molly on
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Hi Jenbissness,
Your story does sound similar to mine. I noticed hair falling out and then started developing patches of smoothness. It took about a full year and a half to lose it all. Somewhere along the way -- I think it was about half gone -- I saw my family doctor who referred me to a dermatologist. I found a good one and he told me it looked like alopecia. It was the first time I'd been given that diagnosis. He did a biopsy on my scalp to determine for certain. It tested for white blood cells on the bald areas. It came back as positive for alopecia.
We tried steroid shots and topical ointments, but they made me feel sick and weren't effective at all. Once my head hair was gone, my lashes and brows and body hair followed pretty quickly (except for the pits). We then tried UV light therapy and then a laser therapy. Both of these did spur hair growth but the growth stopped and fell out again as soon as the therapy was stopped. I haven't found anything to be effective so far and it does continue to baffle me as to why and how this happened.
One possible connection I have come across is Rheumatoid Arthritis (as I mentioned above). I do have family history of arthritis, and both alopecia and RA are autoimmune conditions that cause inflammation, and both are triggered by the same function in the body (something about an enzyme called JAK 3 - read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofacitinib). There was a recent Yale study where a drug for RA was used to treat alopecia with a good deal of success: http://news.yale.edu/2014/06/19/hairless-man-arthritis-drug-spurs-h...
So in a search for why this works, there are a lot of JAK3 blockers or 'inhibitors' out there, but it seems there is still research needed as to the long term efficacy and side effects. These types of drugs are also very very expensive.
Someone else on here ran across some research showing that berberine has shown the same kind of selectivity for the JAK3 enzyme as those drugs (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21434883) so I'm taking it as a supplement. Just started so no progress yet, but it's worth a shot.
And that's where I am now... It's been 2 years since total hair loss and I have to say I've gotten used to it, and it's slowly becoming something I can accept as part of my identity. I wore a wig for the first full year and now wear it less and less. As a woman, I do miss brows and lashes but have gotten accustomed to drawing them on daily so I don't feel so bare. Some days I do feel like a drag queen with all that eyeliner, though ;)
I'll be happy to answer any 'experience' questions that you may have as best as I can. Though I am far from being an expert, I know it can sometimes be helpful to hear from someone further down the road...I wish you the best of luck in your journey!
Take care!
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Permalink Reply by Taz on
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Hiya, I started taking Berberine supplements about 5 weeks ago and I am very happy to say that I've seen regrowth in that 5 weeks! It's possible that my regrowth is not down to the Berberine I have moderate AA and been suffering 5 months since it started so it's a possibility of spontaneous regrowth, even if a coincidence taking Berberine, even though I do admit regrowth in just over a month seems odd but who knows! I'm going to carry on taking it anyway.
Taz
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Thanks Taz- great info. What form are you taking, and did you get it online? I'm getting a formula from my acupuncturist. It seems berberine is hard to come by in a regular retail store.
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