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

 

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Hi Newjack

Are you are reasonably recent alopecian? Just wondering because it could be that your eyebrows are falling out because the new hair behind it is pushing them out (as in they were already gonna fall out and were sitting in the hair follicles and now new hair that xeljanz has prompted is starting to push them out). Reading everything I could get my hands on about hair fall seems to suggest that hair runs on a 3 month cycle. Ie dead hairs often stay in the follicle for awhile and fall out when they are pushed out by the new hair growing. In alopecians this cycle can be more obvious because we tend to lose it all at once so even if we "immediately" regrow we don't see the growth for 3 months and therefore look bald for three months before new growth appears. For me its pretty much on schedule. 3 months after I started xeljanz I saw my first sign of lashes then approx 3 months after I upped my dose I saw the scalp start really coming back. That's also why most reputable hair growth products say you won't see results for at least 3 months. I had pretty much lost everything (bar a bit of body hair and two lashes - yes I counted!) by the time I started so I didn't have much dead hair left for the new hair to push out. I'm no expert but could this be what's happening with you?

I am new, I was diagnosed Sept 2017, so I am just under/over 5 months!

I have responded very very well on the scalp with xeljanz, I should post new pictures. I also noticed any hair falling from my beard has "white bulbs" and it is not broken (for the most part) so I find this interesting as well, because I thought alopecia hairs are broken from the root and have the exclamation point at the end.

I will be hopeful for my eyebrows. I think I can rock the bald head and no beard look (I am scared, but I would prefer if my body would just let me keep the eyebrows) but of course we dont have a say in that do we?

:)

I forgot to add- my eyebrows and lashes really started improving after I started using lumigan  (also known as latisse and careerist). Maybe that might help?

Did you drop them on your eyes or into the eyebrows? Do you have a link

You put them along your lashline and rub them into your brows. They are typically used for glaucoma but it was discovered they help lashes and brows grow thicker, darker  and longer.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimatoprost . I used them before alopecia for a time to get longer lashes and then re started them about a month into my alopecia. My lashes and brows came back much faster then other parts of my body and I think the bimatoprost has something to do with it.. they might speed up the new hairs coming in from where the others are shedding. If you get a generic brand they aren't too expensive and sometimes you can get them online without a script though it's easier with a script. And just make sure it's got the bimatoprost in it as other lash enhancers/growers aren't up to the same standard in terms of results.

Just an FYI when it comes to those.  Last I read, studies were showing that they can irreversibly darken the iris of your eyes.  I never bothered with Latisse for that reason.  I like my eye color the way it is.

hello i'm going to fetch xeljanz in istanbul i'm french i'm a two hour flight, i have a question how does this go to the customs?

Hello kevin.I live in Turkey.I sent a friend request.I want to discuss a topic.

parle tu francais .?

I'm not sure how successful but if I were you I would post them back to myself (or a friend) from turkey using a reputable courier service or tracked mail service. It would be much less stressful then worrying about customes on reentry. Look up your countries laws on medical importation. It might be legal for you to bring in medication for personal use. Otherwise see a helpful doctor who should be able to provide a script based on your (obvious?) alopecia. Many countries are a bit more lenient if the medication is not on a schedule, is not a painkiller, and cannot be made into another substance. Let's face it- xeljanz isn't something anyone would take for recreational purposes- I can imagine the tag line- " get fat and have more acne" lol- there wouldn't be many buyers...

Hi Kevin,

i have bought 5 boxes last month in Turkey. There were no problem with customs.

This is 4 weeks on Xeljanz. I lost a little bit of my side burn in the middle but it's filling in around the edges. I was bald everywhere else. 20180207_175322.jpg20180207_175449.jpg20180207_175509.jpg20180207_175533.jpg

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