Alopecia World
www.alopeciaworld.com
My year of growth seems to be coming to an end :( ?
OK everyone.....I need a pick me up!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think my free ride with the new hair growth maybe over. I had to go off the methotrexate for 3 weeks this summer due to high ALT and AST numbers (liver function enzymes)
I have been back on and off it for the last couple of weeks, trying to watch the liver numbers. In the last 2 weeks my hair has been thinning steadily and I have about 10 or more crop circles ranging from dime to quarter size.....had kenalog shots two weeks ago in the first few that appeared. But since then have had alot of loss on the back of my neck, and the right side of my head. Everytime I touch my hair, I seem to get about 5 or 6 hairs in my hand.
Not sure what to expect now. Having some depression....It has been about 1 full year of growth..I only stopped wearing my wig in May, but have enjoyed a cute short pixie hairdo all summer at the lake cottage...no wigs or bandanas, just my hair blowing in the wind while waterskiing and driving our new boat. OK now I am babbling on and on.... I almost wish this last year hadn't happened (the hair growth) after 7 years I was used to my life bald. I know I can go back to being bald and be happy, it is the falling out part that is hard to deal with again! Has anyone out there gone through this up and down with methotrexate? If you google methotrexate and alopecia, you get a study and it said that once alopecians who have had hair growth are taken off the drug 50% keep their hair and 50% loose it again. I always seem to be on the losing end of the statistical range.
any comments would be appreciated
Thanks Kim
I have been back on and off it for the last couple of weeks, trying to watch the liver numbers. In the last 2 weeks my hair has been thinning steadily and I have about 10 or more crop circles ranging from dime to quarter size.....had kenalog shots two weeks ago in the first few that appeared. But since then have had alot of loss on the back of my neck, and the right side of my head. Everytime I touch my hair, I seem to get about 5 or 6 hairs in my hand.
Not sure what to expect now. Having some depression....It has been about 1 full year of growth..I only stopped wearing my wig in May, but have enjoyed a cute short pixie hairdo all summer at the lake cottage...no wigs or bandanas, just my hair blowing in the wind while waterskiing and driving our new boat. OK now I am babbling on and on.... I almost wish this last year hadn't happened (the hair growth) after 7 years I was used to my life bald. I know I can go back to being bald and be happy, it is the falling out part that is hard to deal with again! Has anyone out there gone through this up and down with methotrexate? If you google methotrexate and alopecia, you get a study and it said that once alopecians who have had hair growth are taken off the drug 50% keep their hair and 50% loose it again. I always seem to be on the losing end of the statistical range.
any comments would be appreciated
Thanks Kim
-
Comment by Longaa doc on September 3, 2009 at 8:15pm
-
Hi Kim,
Lot of things to consider in your case.
How much of methotrexate were u on? If you were on a high dose, you doc can try to decrease the dose a little bit and then might help normalize the AST and ALT.
Also, elevation in AST and ALT up to 3 times the upper limit of normal value is considered acceptable by lot of physician who have lot of experience with methotrexate. If you check AST and ALT on everyone who start a new medication, you will notice that significant number of ppl will have mild elevation in AST and ALT. Liver is thought to be adapting to the new medication during this early stage. When followed long term, majority of these ppl will have normalization of their AST and ALT. So in your case, if you numbers are not too high and you and your doc are comfortable watching them closely with weekly blood draws, you can continue taking Mtx and it might normalize eventually.
Having said that, some ppl just can't tolerate Mtx due to marked elevation in AST and ALT and have to stop taking it.
In that case you can talk to your physician about possibly switching to sulfasalazin, plaquanil, vitamin B6 or few other meds that were recently described in a published study. In that study, Mtx with short-term steroid had about 94% regrowth rate and other meds also had 80% regrowth rate. So it might be worth trying these other alternatives. Check suzan's blog for more detail.
Hope this helps.
PS: I am a physician suffering from long standing severe AA. Just started taking Bimonthly pulse steroid with weekly Mtx. I started about 1 week ago and hope to try this regimen for about 6-9 months if I don't develop any serious side-effects.
Comment
© 2024 Created by Alopecia World.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Alopecia World to add comments!
Join Alopecia World