Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rose Marie' on March 6, 2009 at 3:49pm

Hi

From what I understand about prednisone it most probably will bring some hair back, but you can not take it indefinately and often when you stop taking it (unless you are in natural remission) the hair that has grown will fall out once again.

Please understand that there is no known cure for alopecia at this time. Be careful with your choice, steroids can have some nasty side effects and as much as I know loosing your hair is really horrible I would hate for you to be ill as well.

Do your homework on this, then make your decision.

You will have my support either way.

Rosy

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Permalink Reply by ErinMichele on March 6, 2009 at 5:01pm

Yes that is what I have thought too. My dad is a doctor so I called him right after to make sure that would be a good choice for me. He said that it will help. I know this is not a permanent thing and will probably only be taking them for at most a month. Its just to see if it will shut down whatever is attacking my hair. The shots have already been helping the hair grow and I have growth all over it is just still falling out. The side effects scare me but I have heard that a short period on them will only cause less severe effects.

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Permalink Reply by lidia on March 6, 2009 at 11:01pm

hi...
I lost all my hair when i was 11 years old...now 34. I have tried EVERYTHING untill the age of 18...Prednisone was one of those meds that i took for a longer period of time... and it did not help me much. One terrible side effect that i had from it was a horrible weight gain and a moon face...i did not look like myselft....
good luck
lidia

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Permalink Reply by Lori Black on March 7, 2009 at 3:11pm

HI, I took the prednisone for several years as a teenager and I experienced little hair growth a bit of weight gain and a lot of irritableness. They made me feel jittery and cranky and hard to sleep. At 36 I don't ake anything and I feel much better. Blessings!! Lori

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Permalink Reply by Julie R on August 7, 2010 at 12:02pm

Hi,

I am going through the same thing you just described. I've been getting shots every month for 5 months, and although there is some regrowth in the bald spots, other new spots are forming and the old ones are coalescing. My doctor has just prescribed oral predisone for 6 weeks, starting with 40mg and then tapering off every 2 weeks until I'm on 10mg. I'm so scared of the side effects and I don't know if I'll end up worse than I was to begin with. I'm supposed to start my treatment today.

Please let me know if you did end up taking oral prednisone and how it went. I'm scared and nervous and I could really use any advice.

Thanks,
Julie

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Permalink Reply by ErinMichele on August 7, 2010 at 12:12pm

Hey Julie,
I took it for a couple days but ended up stopping it because I just hated how it made me feel. I told myself I would rather lose my hair than go through that for a long period of time. Within the last year, since its been awhile since that happened, I have had some really good growth. I am able to stop wearing my wig, but still have spots.
About Jan. I started seeing a dermatologist that specializes in hair loss. I did treatments with the UVB light which doesnt help everyone but I saw some good results with. I also have been doing the shots and topical steroids.
My suggestion is to see how you feel on them, but within a few days if you dont like it than taper off. My personal opinion is that its not worth it. There are other options out there!

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Permalink Reply by Julie R on August 8, 2010 at 10:05pm

Good luck if you decide to start! I think it's good to be informed before starting anything new. I just started with 40mg yesterday. I'll keep posting on my profile and discussions to update. So far, it's not so bad. I really hope this helps me out. I'm still at the AA stage and I have patches all over. I wear a wig most of the time, but sometimes I can get away without it. Prednisone was my last resort, but I'm desperate too.

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