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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.
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AW: Other discussions on Xeljanz / Tofacitinib
https://alopeciaworld.com/main/search/search?q=Tofacitinib
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by JHen on
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I am out of pocket until my doctor works it out with my insurance. I am also only on day 7 of Xeljanz. Not sure what everyone else's situation is right now.
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I really empathize with all of you on here. Even though I am suffering from male pattern baldness and not AA, it is still very devastating to me. What touches me the most is that you all seem to have close and personal relationships with your dermatologists who seem to be very compasssionate and really looking out for your best interests. Unfortunately I know no dermatologists like that in the male pattern baldness realm. Most people in the MPB world seem to be interested in selling high-priced hair transplants doing not much else. You all seem to agree that Brett King is a very compassionate and empathetic doctor and I was thinking about meeting with him to discuss my condition. He talked about making Xeljanz into a topical and using it for people with MPB. Most other doctors associated with MPB immediately dismissed the idea, but I think it could be very viable due to this previous experimented (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1498062/?page=1.) where a similar immuno-suppressant drug was used and man regrew all of his hair. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
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Hi guys, did anyone hear of Baricitinib? Looks like another jak inhibitor with potentially less harmful side effects than tofacitinib, also it was successfully tested on aa patient.
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Permalink Reply by AlopeciaDestroyedMyLife on
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If it turns out Baricitinib is cheaper and safer it is likely to do much better than Xeljanz and Jakavi in the treatment of alopecia.
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I just read some information on Baricitinib, and it seems promising that more JAK inhibitors will be popping up in the future. Do we know exactly which JAK (1,2,3) that is responsible for our condition?
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Hi D1979, I do sympathize with you as my 26-year-old son also has male pattern baldness and I know it is just as devastating. As for Dr. King, he is an amazing doctor, one of the few who really seems to acknowledge how emotionally scarring hair loss is. I do believe, however, that right now he is smothered with e-mails since the news release on Xeljanz. You could try e-mailing him to schedule an appt., but don't be disappointed if he does not respond right away. I wish you the best.
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Starshine, thank you so much for your reply, especially since you are the only one who replied to me. I feel for your son and I hope he is doing well. In the male pattern baldness world, many of us feel just so extremely underserved and frustrated by today's options. We get things like minoxidil, finasteride, and hair transplants pushed upon us despite the fact that these options appeal to such a small minority of us, due to the mediocrity, drawbacks, and potential complications and side effects of these options. And no one is looking to innovate whatsoever. The Alopecia Areata doctors seem way more compassionate. Yes, I'd bet Dr. King is inundated with e-mails ever since his Xeljanz discovery. I'll try to send a fax to his office to see if I can schedule an appointment since I live about an hour away from Yale. And again, thanks alot for the response Starshine.
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Permalink Reply by JeffreySF on
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Hi D1979,
I've been following this discussion sporadically.
I never really thought about MPB that much. I'm wondering if the MPB hair follicles are still alive but dormant as the are in AA?
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Yes, it has been found that these hair follicles affected by MPB have become dormant and just need the right signal to wake them up. Unfortunately no doctors really try anything new for MPB. Just the same old sh*t that most people don't even want: minoxidil, finasteride, and hair transplants.
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Shocking I tell you shocking! I'm totally surprised this is not a Pharmaceutical forefront!
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Yeah, I really think that MPB could be cured if more doctors/companies actually made the effort to cure it. The main practitioners within the hair loss industry are the hair transplant surgeons. They make large amounts of money performing these hair transplants so it is my belief that they are not actively pursuing a cure because they are already making exorbitant amounts of money with their hair transplants. They do not want their cash cow to become obsolete, after all.
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