DCP (Diphenylcyclopropenone)

Hello,
I am a 14 year old girl and have gained a lot of confidence from reading posts on AW. I have had aa for over six months. I have hardly any eyelashes, one and a half eyebrows and quite a few bald patches. And since it started it has got a lot worse. They first started me off with dermovate which I had to use every night, though it gave me bad spots and didnt really work ;( I was also given protopic ointment which i was told just to use on my eyebrow, after using it i now have half an eyebrow, its still not whole but its better than it was.
3 weeks ago I went back to the hospital and had 20 steroid injections which were really painful and have left scars and dips in my skin.I have to have them again in 6 weeks and they told me to stop using dermovate and use the protopic ointment all over instead but I am looking for a less painful solution to try.
I have also been offered DCP (Diphenylcyclopropenone) treatment which I would have to go to the hospital every week to have it applied, but I have heard that it can be itchy and leave blisters and redness!!
Has anyone had DCP treatment? and if so, have you had any results or just pain and blisters?? I know there is no cure for Alopecia but I feel that I need to try different treatments to prevent it form getting worse and so that I can say "well at least I tried".
Abigail :D

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Permalink Reply by Susan P aka DGADBS on March 21, 2011 at 6:55am
Abigail it does take some time for the first reaction, or at least it did for me. I would get my treatments every other Friday so I would have the weekend to get over the worst of it. The stuff isn't expensive, just nasty. Keep us posted.
Permalink Reply by tim kay on March 31, 2011 at 4:47am
abigail, initially i think i did go weekly or bi weekly to the dermatologist. this past year when i used it i applied it myself with a prescription from a compounding pharmacy. post your results we all interested. good luck! tim
Permalink Reply by 5DH on April 11, 2011 at 4:49pm
I went to my derm last week to discuss new treatments (my AA is acting up again). She said my best options were either DCP or Cyclosporine, each standing a 40-60% chance of causing a change.

I opted for the cyclosporine which is pretty strong stuff, but my body was able to handle presnisone pretty well so I figure why not, I can always stop taking it if I have a bad side effect. Day #4 and no problems yet....

Anyway, she gave me a patch test for DCP just to sensitize me incase the cyclosporine didnt work. I didn't have a reaction at all. Are you saying I should let her know before my follow-up appointment next month? I thought it just meant I react well to the DCP and maybe it wouldn't cause a rash on me =P. She also said with some of her patients she can write a DCP prescription so they can do it at home, however before she does that she needs to make sure the dosage is perfect and that you're responding to it -- no use having you use something that isn't doing anything.
Permalink Reply by Susan P aka DGADBS on April 12, 2011 at 7:22am
i could have had my own prescription also but I opted for the derm to put it on, you don't want to mess up and get it on any other part of your body. Also if you break out on any other part of your body stop immediately. After my first reaction (hives all over) I stopped for 6 months and then begged to start the treatments again, bad move on my part and the derm also for letting me do it. I still break out when I'm stressed.
Permalink Reply by Beth on April 12, 2011 at 11:49am
Hello Abigail. I'm still undergoing DCP treatment. I had a patch test earlier with the highest dose of DCP and my reaction wasn't really strong, I didn't have blisters but the area became red and it was really itchy. So my dermatologist deemed that my body was reacting and I had weekly applications of 0.0001(lowest) dosage of DCP, I still reacted to it though, I had mild itch. What I've observed is that white fuzz is all over my head, don't know if thats hair but I'll ask my dermatologist tmr during my appt. Overall my view on DCP is that it varies from ppl to ppl. Will keep you updated (:
Permalink Reply by Susan P aka DGADBS on April 13, 2011 at 7:47am
Yeah Beth white fuzz means hair growth! It takes some time for the pigment to come back and the hair go grow stronger but your on the right track. I had a patch on my front temple that stayed pure white but continued to grow, it was pretty cool. I called it my Bonnie Rait look.
Permalink Reply by Susan P aka DGADBS on April 14, 2011 at 7:42am
Yes don't get your hopes up too high because it certainly isn't a miracle cure. All my hair did grow back only to fall out again completely, all over. After I stopped the treatments I went from AA to AU!!!
Permalink Reply by Brandy Snap on April 19, 2011 at 5:27pm
DCP is the usual go-to treatment option after injections fail and hair loss is great. (Note; I found out that one 8oz. bottle of DCP costs about $300) After about a dozen years of DCP, getting the treatments boils down to three stages: Itchy, Ouchy, Okay. And if you have allergies, not only do you get the desired allergic response on your head but you get the added bonus of your regular allergic reaction on your body; ie. my usual allergic reaction to foods etc. is swelling up (eyes, then face, then body parts) others' may be hives. So depending how you normally react to allergens, you get an extra dose with the treatments. I could never go out of the house for the next two days because of the swelling and not being able to put anything on my head because it was so sensitive (like a sunburn). Oh, one BIG tip is; when you have the treatment, and it is hot outside, try not to let your head sweat because the sweat burns like the dickens.
After all those years of DCP, for me, it became a form of torture. I stopped doing it several months ago because my hair had fallen out again after my father's stroke and it didn't seem to want to come back again.
Anybody got anything new to try?
Permalink Reply by Cheri A on April 19, 2011 at 8:43pm
Hi Brandy,

After reading your experience with DCP I'm even more glad I decided not to try DCP treatments. I read a bunch of comments on this site about their experiences with DCP and cancelled my appointment with the specialist at the last minute. I decided that I'd rather go bald and learn to live with that instead. Right now I'm trying Ayurvetic oil treatments from a Naturopath in India - Alopecia Treatment Centre. It apparently takes about 4-6 months to start working (there are no guarantees) so I need to be patient. I will post my results on this site if the treatment works for me. There are no side effects and it is relatively inexpensive so there is no harm in trying.
Permalink Reply by Brandy Snap on May 12, 2011 at 1:46pm
Abigail, did you wash your head before going to bed? Because if you didn't, then you still had the DCP on it which meant that it was transferring to your pillow and consequently to your face or any other surface. Also, if you already have allergies it makes the reaction more severe.
Please let us know if you try anything else that seems to work. :)
Permalink Reply by Brandy Snap on May 12, 2011 at 4:26pm
DCP is supposed to cause an allergic reaction, so that is what you were allergic to.
Permalink Reply by Cheri A on May 12, 2011 at 9:32pm
Hi Abigail,

I applaud your decision. It just isn't worth it. And, from what I've read, even if you are successful in growing your hair back with this treatment, it doesn't necessarily stay. I'm in the middle of trying Ayurvedic Herbal Oil Treatments . It's all natural and there are absolutely no side effects. Unfortunately, the results don't appear for at least 4 months, if it works at all. I'm only at the end of month 1 but already my hair has significantly stopped falling out. No sign of re-growth yet. If this works for me, I'll let you know. Maybe it will be worth you trying. Take care,

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