I've been losing my hair for as long as I can remember - people started commenting on it when I was in my teens. By my late 20's, it was becoming obvious and I was really embarrassed by it. All my doctors have always told me it was genetic - and it's true, my mom also has very thin hair. One doctor told me to take a birth control pill so I did and it worked for a while (Belara) but then I moved countries and it was no longer sold where I was living. 

My hair got noticeably worse, my head itched and every time I touched my hair, I would come away with strands. I'm in my forties and had pretty much given up hope.

In my new country, I decided to try one last thing. More out of curiosity than anything else, I managed to get Xeljanz. And to my surprise, after about a month, my hair stopped falling out - and it has grown in a lot in the two years I've been taking it - not entirely of course although it seems like every month it is better. Now it's to the point it was probably in my mid-twenties. It's not visible at all unless you look very closely.

I've moved countries again - this time back to the USA - and I recently went to the doctor to see if I could get it prescribed here. The doctor sent me to a rheumatologist and I had full auto-immune tests done. Everything came back completely normal so I don't seem to have an auto-immune condition and yet - the xeljanz is working.

Just thought I'd share because everyone says there is such a difference between alopecia areata and androgenic alopecia - but it seems xeljanz can help both.