hi all - I’m new to this forum but unfortunately not new to alopecia. I’ve had AA for sometime now but have had success with patches coming back. I know that stress has been the main trigger for me and over the past two years , I’ve been under chronic stress due to a variety of things. 

Over the last 6 months, my alopecia has gone nuts - I’ve aggressively shed body hair and within a month went from bushy big black eyebrows to nothing.  I don’t have to shave my face anymore and head looks like I’ve just shaved it with a razor even though I’ve done nothing for it! 

I went to a dermatologist who wasn’t the greatest but started me on prednisone and I went mentally crazy - it def slowed down the hair loss slightly but it still kept going. I couldn’t take the mental side effects so am tapering off quicker (it will be a total 7 week process).

ive read all about tofacitinib and the success it has had. However, I am really worried about all the negative  side effects they this drug has. I I’ve in toronto Canada and will be consulting new dermatologist in the coming weeks to see what options exist. 

Has anyone experienced any terrible side effects on tofacitinib? What is the most common dose for people? I guess I’m a bit confused reading some of the recent literature but contrasting that with the success I’m reading on this forum?  

I want my hair back - I can get by with a bald head but my eyebrows and facial hair etc is tough ...I just trying to balance the risk vs reward...

Here are some of the links to some recent articles:

https://healthycanadians.gc.ca/recall-alert-rappel-avis/hc-sc/2019/...

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/safety-trial...

https://www.rheumatologyadvisor.com/home/topics/rheumatoid-arthriti...