Alopecia World
www.alopeciaworld.com
Xeljanz (Tofacitinib Citrate): My experience on the trial
I have received a lot of interest from others on here in my involvement with the Xeljanz trials at Yale.
I thought it would be nice for everyone if I documented my progress on here.
Xeljanz is a Jak3 inhibitor and is believed to work with alopecia by turning off the distress signal relayed by the hair follicle to the attacking immune system which is the cause of the hairs falling out. Xeljanz comes in a strength of 5mg per pill and a full box contains 60 tablets. The recommended dosage for arthritis is 1 tablet in the morning and another in the evening each day.
The trial is set in a series of stages and there are requirements before participating. These include monthly visits and blood tests every 2 weeks. Dr Brett King is absolutely fantastic and is an inspiration to me. His positivity and enthusiasm gives me the much needed hope I have craved for over a decade. I have been put on a low dose to start with which is 1 tablet every other day. My dosage has now been increased to 1 tablet every day and next month it could be increased to 2 tablets per day depending on the results.
I have completed my first month and have already noticed my alopecia has stabilised . I have not lost any existing hairs. In addition to this I have seen little hairs growing in my chest area as well as eyebrows. Fingers crossed! To date, I have experienced no side effects.
-----------------------------
Related Post on Alopecia World:
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by AlopeciaDestroyedMyLife on
-
I have noticed some small black hairs at the front of my scalp there's a quite a few there as well as some longer dark vellus hairs on the left hand side as well as the patch of hair at the back.
I'm really trying not to get my hopes up but this is really the first hair on my head in over a decade. I'm just going to keep ploughing forward and hopefully in the next few months my appearance will change drastically.
-
-
Here are some photos, the shade around my head is a tattoo
.
-
-
-
-
no not yet
-
Permalink Reply by DJ88 on
-
The dots, is that the black hairs or is that from the tattoo? and how is the facial hair coming along?
( eyebrows/lash/mustache etc)
-
Permalink Reply by Imran on
-
That's where I got confused too, the dots. But I see a lot of velus hair. Xeljanz does look promising.
-
-
The dots are the tattoo.
-
Permalink Reply by aaron on
-
Woah, nice progress. Makes me anxious to see the trial results this summer. Glad that xeljaz has worked for those willing to pay.
-
-
Hello everyone,
It has been 2 or 3 months since my last update...I apologize as I have been going through some family issues. I hope everyone is well...because we all deserve to be. My progress continues to be positive. For a couple of weeks I thought things may have stalled but then I noticed significant hair growth on my chest. Here are a list of improvements:
- Most all of my eyebrows are back as thick terminal hair...I love it!
- I believe most of my eyelashes are back and they are also terminal.
- 98% of my mustache is back and thick terminal
- My head has thick vellus with some hair turning terminal...not much yet but starting.
- I have more nose hair
- I have patches of terminal hair on my chest (my chest has some significant growth starting) and some on my arms. Arms also have quite a bit more vellus.
- my groin is also starting to get some mixed terminal/ vellus growth.
- My beard is a weird area...have some terminal growing and a fair amount of thick vellus but also have my entire neck area with no growth yet of any kind.
- No hair on my legs at all yet.
- bottom-line...there is continued growth but is comes is strange waves. If I get my facial hair back I will be happy!
I think the real benefit to all this is that it puts substance behind the theory introduced in 2010 on how this disease works. Now that there is some confirmation to the proposed science I hope to see more economical solutions to this autoimmune condition (or at least something that everyone can get thru insurance). They just might have this thing beat in the next 5-10 years. I am seeing more folks trying this drug out and I applaud your efforts...the more attention we can bring to this the better.
-
-
What a great post to end the day. I'm so excited for you and your progress. I don't share any of this news yet with my son who is 12 because I don't want to get his hopes up. Before the disease hit he was already very shy and didn't speak, and along with some other family problems he has really become introverted. Thank you for the update. Is anyone going to the national conference in California later in the year ?
Disclaimer
Any mention of products and services on Alopecia World is for informational purposes only; it does not imply a recommendation or endorsement by Alopecia World. Nor should any statement or representation on this site be construed as professional, medical or expert advice, or as pre-screened or endorsed by Alopecia World. Alopecia World is not responsible or liable for any of the views, opinions or conduct, online or offline, of any user or member of Alopecia World.
© 2025 Created by Alopecia World.
Powered by
