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Could antibiotics be a trigger for FFA?
I thought I would start a post dedicated to tracking antibiotic use prior to FFA diagnosis. I reviewed recent comments and counted up ten of us that have been on several rounds of antibiotics prior to our FFA diagnosis! I suspect there are more. By having this post it will catch the eye of those members that don't visit this site that often and hopefully they can add their background too.
The working theory is that these broad spectrum antibiotics wipe out the good bacteria in the gut, namely those good guys that help provide immunity. This is why diarrhea is often a side effect of these antibiotics. I want to add that the tetracyclines that many of us are on are generally not as intense with gastrointestinal side effects and likely are not the culprit. I don't want everyone panicking and stopping the treatments their dermatologists have recommended!
This is more of an attempt to gather information and I intend to bring this to a CARF support group meeting in Boston at the end of this month. I have never been to one, being such a newbie in all of this, but from what I understand Dr. Lynne Goldberg usually attends these meetings.
I thought we could list the name of the antibiotic, length of the course, the infection being treated, and the length of time prior to FFA diagnosis (or when we first started noticing symptoms). I noticed Jen mentioned that she was on Omeprazole, an acid reducer, two months prior to noticing her hair loss. Perhaps we could include that class of drugs as well, since they also alter the normal flora in the gut.
I called my pharmacy yesterday to confirm the drug names and dates. In December 2011 I was on Amoxicillin for 10 days and immediately after that Augmentin for 10 more days to treat a middle ear infection. For six months after that I suffered from chronic yeast infections. The following fall 2012 (approximately 10 months after antibiotic use) I noticed my eyebrows thinning but chalked it up to aging. They were very thick and full so it likely was happening for a while before I noticed. I was diagnosed with FFA on February 25 2014, a date unfortunately that I will never forget. : (
The following article was just posted days ago and theorizes that perhaps the antibiotic in conjunction with the infection could precede autoimmune disease. It is rather technical, but the nurse nerd in me loves reading these things!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140331153520.htm
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by DebbieT on
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Hi Polly
Before my diagnosis with FFA, I had a horrible sebaceous cyst that had developed on my scalp. It just seemed to grow and grow. You know when you have something like that you cant help yourself from feeling it and fiddling. Well, to cut a long story short I fiddled with it so much that in the end it did erupt. It sounds gross, but it was filled with yellow fluid. It did become infected, and I had it checked out by my gp. He cleaned it up a bit and prescribed a course of penicillin. I had to be on 2 bouts of antibiotics before it cleared the infection. It was around 6 months after that my hair stylist noticed that I was losing hair on my left temple and my left eyebrow was also shedding. When I had my first appointment with my Derm, I did mention it. He just smoothed over it... so I thought it was irrelevant... Makes you think. I will check the net for some more info, but if you have any links will you please let me have them? Thanks.
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Permalink Reply by Geri on
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I took omperazole for acid reflux which aggravated asthma three years ago, around the time that my FFA began.
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Hi, Maddy again. I actually just went and saw a very well renowned immunologist about a week ago. BTW, just for the record, I also see Dr. Goh who is CARF recommended in Santa Monica. But, anyway, when I told the immunologist my story, he most definitely thought that the flu vaccine (especially since my body probably thought it was going to get real sick with Influenza again) triggering my immune system could be a culprit in my FFA. He was very thorough and went through all of my blood work over the last 8 years since this all began, and he noticed a few things that were "interesting" that no other doctor has followed up on. He didn't claim he could "cure" me or anything, but he asked a lot of in depth questions and he did about a gazillion blood tests on me....everything from allergies to autoimmune...to nutritional stuff....well, 16 vials worth :O. Anyway, I don't go back for a few more weeks, but I am really interested to find out the results and to see if he can come up with any possible theories. I'll keep you posted if anything of interest should show up.
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Permalink Reply by Celia on
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Hi Maddy - that was very interesting. I also had the flu vaccine but won't be doing so this year. You're fortunate to have someone trying to help you who is putting in so much effort - I am feeling we are going to get close to some new ideas and a possible 'cure'. I am getting weary as many of us are about this notion of 'incurable'. Will await your results. I had blood tests done at Guy's in London 7 weeks ago and was expecting results 3 weeks ago - so far - nothing !
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Permalink Reply by Classical Anne in NC mountains on
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Maddy, please do let us know the results of your blood work. You are so fortunate to have such a thorough physician on your side!
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Permalink Reply by Polly UK on
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Hi C, were your blood tests with an Immunologist? I'm keen to get some done but not sure how and I'm not due to see my derm again until end of June.
I had my 3 month blood test done at docs yesterday before I can have any more Hydroxy!
Maddy- I'm interested in your comments about the flu jab as I had my first one at the end of 2007 following Angioplasty and several viral infections which exacerbated my asthma and courses of antibiotics and steroids. I've had it each year since because of being in two at risk groups. I also had the Pneumonia jab in 2007 and the Swine flu jab I think was in 2008. My eyebrows had almost disappeared by the end of 2009.... -
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Hi Polly and C, I will definitely keep you posted. I go back for the results on May 9th, so will let you know! I am 99.9% sure the flu and then the flu vaccines were some sort of trigger for my FFA. I got the flu vaccine for 3 years, in October, after having the bad Influenza, and every November, I was back in my dermatologist's office asking him what was going on because there was more hair loss...first my eyebrows and lashes thinning after having the flu, then my right temple after the first flu vaccine, then the left after the next one, then the front...well, you know the story. He, of course, really had no idea what was going on. Ugh. I was also going through peri-menopause during all of this (hormone connection...and probable immune system compromise) and was taking a low-dose Amoxicillin for the acne that started during this time.
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Someone on facebook posted an article about the ills of aspartame, the artificial sweetener and how it causes autoimmune response, causing inflammation. I had been an avid diet coke drinker prior to dx. Aspartame usage is something that proliferated in diet drinks in the last 15 years or so. Just throwing that out there....
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MJ, thanks for 'throwing that out there' - that's exactly what I am going to do with my diet coke ! No more coke for me. I don't drink tea or coffee and sometimes it's nice to drink something other than water, but some of those side effects, I reckon I've had. I have known that it's not good for you but now I've taken it on-board as they say, thanks to you.
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Hi everyone! I haven't posted here in a while, but I'm just catching up on all of the comments. Maddy, I'm interested in hearing more about the results of your blood tests. I can't say if I think antibiotics are involved in my FFA or not. The last time I was on antibiotics for anything was in 2006. First noticed hair loss in 2010, A small amount, followed by 3 years of remission. My hair loss started up again about a year ago. I should add that in the year after my daughter's birth in 2012 I received 3 vaccines, Dtap, Mmr, and Flu. Not sure if this is a factor or not but I wonder. I am currently battling a number of other health issues including gastrointestinal problems, fatigue, headaches, aching muscles and joints, skin issues including an acne-like condition on my face that no one really knows what it is, and multiple food intolerances, so many that I am down to about 10-15 foods mostly fruits and vegetables. It looks many of you with FFA also have other health problems. I absolutely believe all of these issues are connected to something that has gone wrong within my body but I haven't been able to get to the bottom of it, even with the help of numerous doctors and specialists. I hope we can get to the bottom of this soon: )
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I am 63 and have active FFA for a few years now. In my entire life I have only been on antibiotics maybe two times, the last time being over 15 years before any sign of FFA. Nor was I on any other prescription drugs other than birth control in my 20's and 30's.
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