Alopecia World
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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 Frida Rupert on
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Thank you Newjack- Yeah I started in August 2017 and then upped my dose around 3/4 months ago to 20 one day, 25 the next. Started improving end of November, eyebrows and lashes came back fully in early December. Hair didn't really start until later part of December then really started thicker and faster in late December into January. I felt like I took a long time to get started but now feel progress is speeding up. Hope to cut down to 15 mgs once I am happy with coverage (ie when there is thick enough coverage that I look like a short haired non alopecian). Hope you are still going well. Your fast response time is awesome. Your coverage I think from your pic is at my stage in end of November so maybe by next month you'll be as fuzzy! I lost about 80% of all my hair- all of scalp, brows and all but a few lashes on one eye but kept a small amount of body hair here and there. First spot dec 2016, AT/AU by August.
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Your hair looks fabulous. Thank you for sharing. Indeed as you mentioned that sharing information is the way of great support. I hope that you can decrease dose eventually.
My 16 years daughter just completed two months Xeljanz 5mg twice a day. Saw 50% growth of eyebrows and lashes. Some new white fine and black hairs noted at scalp. She had progressed from full head of hair to AU within 4 months in the summer of 2017. 7 weeks blood work came back normal but note slightly more acne. I hope that acne will subsidize.
I am not sure how long will take to have full head of hair.
Thanks to everybody for sharing. Take care
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That's great news re your daughter. In my experience the hair on the scalp starts as little blonde hairs and slowly thickens so the fact she has hairs coming in on her scalp is wonderful. I found I got bad acne at first and then it eased up a lot when my body adjusted so hopefully that's the case for her. I feel for her, it's really hard being 16 anyway, then to get alopecia on top of all the teenage stress must be very tough. Rest assured with her progress so far I think she will be a great responder and hopefully will be able to be back to her old self soon!
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Yes, it is very hard for teen to have AU. Luckily, she is dealing it better than her mom, which remains it as mysterious to me. It is good to learn that the side effect of Acne went away. I hope that she will have the same experience like me regarding acne. Thanks for your encouraging reply.
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I understand- it would be worse watching my daughter go through this then going through it myself.
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so happy for you Frida
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Thanks Patches, hope you're going well too
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Awesome progress... big hug
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salut je vien au nouvelle j'ai toujours quelque petit cheveux cela va faire 1 ans que j'ai pris interleukine 2 donc la semaine prochaine je vais en turquie me procurer xeljanz mais j'ai vraiment peur de la douane me bloque xeljanz ,
personne n'a eu de probleme malgré qu'il est interdit de revenir avec des medicaments sans ordonnance au etats unis royaume unis ...
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Thanks Return to Life! Finally feel like I can breath and look forward to a future that might include hair. Your insight has been so helpful in my journey so heaps of thanks.
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