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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / May 2006Hair Question
While I haven't posted or read the group in years and years, I find myself here again because I am interested in knowing if anyone here has experienced a problem with their hair due to meds. I am a 51 year old female, diabetic since the age of 5, was diagnosed with RA in 1973 and over the years have been on too many pills to count for the RA. I had a total elbow replacement several years ago (WooHoo!!) and I've been on Methotrexate for probably 15 years or so, started taking Arava about 2 years ago, and also take Celebrex. About this time last year I noticed something weird going on with my hair. A lot of thinning but the weird part is that it's been straight my entire life and about this time last year I noticed that it was starting to get a bit wavy. FF a year and it's now kinky, but just on the underneath parts (looks like a perm gone bad). The top layer is still straight. It took me awhile but I finally woke up to the fact that something was going on. Had an appointment with a dermatologist for something else but mentioned my hair problem while I was there and asked her what was happening. After reading my list of meds she said she thinks it could be an overload of the Methotrexate/Arava (very simplified explanation here from me as to exactly what she said) and that I needed to tell my rheumatologist. Saw him and he took me off the Arava, instructed me to stay on the Methotrexate and Celebrex and see him again in 3 months -- at which time he may put me on one of the new RA meds, the injectable kind (didn't say which one). He told me the hair thinning could take a long time to see any results so not to hold my breath about it and agreed that the kinky hair could because of the meds also. Sorry to be so long about all of this but my question is, has anyone here experienced anything like this and what was the outcome? ~Lindy~ hi linday, my hair's gotten extremely thin since being on arava, but my derm thinks it's female pattern baldness, although no one else in my family has this. it's pretty frustrating. my hair started out kinky, so i really haven't noticed any difference there. good luck diane Diane said: > hi linday, > > my hair's gotten extremely thin since being on arava, but my derm > thinks it's female pattern baldness, although no one else in my family > has this. it's pretty frustrating. my hair started out kinky, so i > really haven't noticed any difference there. good luck Hi Diane. I forgot to mention that my dermatologist said mine was not female pattern baldness. I'm a bit thin up top but have gotten extremely thin on the sides and in the back around my ears, and almost bald patches in the back of my scalp. This whole situation is just perplexing to me and I'm really nervous what it's going to look like at my daughter's wedding in September. I bought some Rogaine but what a pain in the butt that is twice a day! ~Lindy~ <snip> >I bought some Rogaine but what a pain > in the butt that is twice a day! Lindy, Read the instructions. You're not supposed to use it on your butt. !!!!!!!! :-) Cheers Lee O. LOL! Gwen > <snip> >>I bought some Rogaine but what a pain [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Cheers Lee O. Lee O said: > <snip> > >I bought some Rogaine but what a pain [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Cheers Lee O. Lol! Smartass! ~Lindy~ Rogaine on the butt gives you hair on the butt but what do you put on it to make it smart???????  SignatureLove, Alix Always remember, a cat looks down on man, a dog looks up to man, but a pig will look man right in the eye and see his equal". - Winston Churchill > Lee O said: > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > ~Lindy~ Alix said: > Rogaine on the butt gives you hair on the butt but what do you put on it > to make it smart??????? Let's ask Lee O! ~Lindy~ giggling >Alix said: >Rogaine on the butt gives you hair on the > butt but what do you put on it to make it > smart??????? >Let's ask Lee O! > ~Lindy~ giggling Hell, I don't know. I don't need to make my butt smart, I'm already a wiseass. :-) Cheers Lee O. Hi Linday, Don't ya just love the renewed movement after an elbow replacement?! Prior to my replacement, my elbow was stuck in the bent position. I don't know much about the hair changes you have experienced. My hair has thinned quite a bit over the years, but I'm not sure if heredity played a factor as well as the RA drugs I take. Right now I am off of all RA drugs as I am taking Coumadin (just got home from yet another surgery). But, I will soon go back on Enbrel, Celebrex and Mtx (oral). I hope the docs can find an answer for you. Bonnie Bonnie said: > Don't ya just love the renewed movement after an elbow replacement?! > Prior to my replacement, my elbow was stuck in the bent position. Oh my gosh! I can't even tell you what a difference it made for me! I had already had 2 surgeries on it prior to the replacement surgery. First they removed the radial head. After that, I never did get my arm straight. Probably because it was so weak and atrophied by the time I finally had the surgery plus I didn't have physical therapy. I was just never able to get my strength back in that arm. Then a few years after that they did a more severe surgery, an arthroplasty, where they took some tissue out of my leg and grafted it into the elbow. That helped a lot and after months of physical therapy (ouch!) I was good to go. It lasted about 13 years then my problems started again. By the time I got the replacement my arm was stuck in a bent position too. It was absolutely miserable. > I don't know much about the hair changes you have experienced. My hair > has thinned quite a bit over the years, but I'm not sure if heredity [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > I hope the docs can find an answer for you. I do too! Growing up with straight-as-a-broomstick hair, I always wished for curls or waves. Now that I've got them, I'm freaking out!! Thanks for responding -- it's **SO** nice to talk with someone else who has had an elbow replacement!! ~Lindy~ "Thanks for responding -- it's **SO** nice to talk with someone else who has had an elbow replacement!! ~Lindy~ " I haven't spoken with too many people who have had an elbow replaced, I think we're in a small group. lol Bonnie Bonnie said: > I haven't spoken with too many people who have had an elbow replaced, I > think we're in a small group. lol You're the first I've ever talked with! It's not a very common surgery to have. I know to be very careful/protective with it but I feel very lucky to have my life back again. The only thing that scares me is when it's time is up and I'll need a re-do. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. ~Lindy~ Hi, My hair fell out, but not completely as a result of MTX - when I started on cyclosporin the hair came back somewhat. Unfortunately the body forgot what part of the body needed hair so I now have very hairy arms. Gail Hi Lindy,,,, Someone will get around to saying that with Methx and/or Arava,,, a person needs to take folic acid because those two drugs bock your bodies ability to get it from the food you eat. You can also tae Biotin or Bioten, I can never remember the way it is spelled and zippppooo here comes the hair back butttt a person needs the folic acid because it so important to many things in how our system works or more importantly does not work without it Harv > While I haven't posted or read the group in years and years, I find myself > here again because I am interested in knowing if anyone here has [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > ~Lindy~ Harvey said: > Hi Lindy,,,, Someone will get around to saying that with Methx and/or > Arava,,, a person needs to take folic acid because those two drugs bock > your bodies ability to get it from the food you eat. I neglected to mention that I do take the folic acid also. The doctor has had me on it for several years. >You can also tae Biotin or Bioten, I can never remember the way it is >spelled and zippppooo here comes the hair back Ooooh! This is exciting! Is this something I need a prescription for? I've never heard of it. Tell me more!! ~Lindy~ >>You can also tae Biotin or Bioten, I can never remember the way it is >>spelled and zippppooo here comes the hair back [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > ~Lindy~ no prescription,,, Vit.store.... harv Harv said: > no prescription,,, Vit.store.... First thing tomorrow morning, I'll be there. In the meantime, I'm going to see what I can find about it online. Thank you Harv! ~Lindy~ I bought some at WalMart the other day. (Biotin) Gwen >>>You can also tae Biotin or Bioten, I can never remember the way it is >>>spelled and zippppooo here comes the hair back [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > no prescription,,, Vit.store.... > harv > Harvey said: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > ~Lindy~ \ Oh, I forgot about the Biotin also. It's OTC, a B class vitamin. I take the Rexall brand from WalMart (notice a trend here? shopping options are limited wher I live!). I'm taking 1500 mcg/day. My mom's derm recommended it to her for splitting fingernails and she passed the info on to me. I was actually taking it before the arava hit my hair too hard. The only problem for me is that between it and the grape seed, my hair and fingernails seem to be growing faster than ever. Sigh.... it's always something.............. heehee SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare Nann said: > Oh, I forgot about the Biotin also. It's OTC, a B class vitamin. I take the > Rexall brand from WalMart (notice a trend here? shopping options are limited [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > and fingernails seem to be growing faster than ever. Sigh.... it's always > something.............. heehee Well I guess I will be hitting Walmart this morning for both of these items. Hope I have the same result! ~Lindy~ Lindy, I was on the mtx/Arava combo for a while until we finally got on good enough insurance to get me on Ebnrel. My hair loss definitely escalated on that combo, but I didn't have any of it turning kinky, thank goodness. Now I have really thick hair to begin with, so didn't mind it thinning some, but I got really fed up with cleaning up all the hair I was shedding everywhere! LOL So I finally started taking the grape seed extract that I knew others here were taking for hair loss issues. Big, big change! I just take grape seed plus from WalMart. It's always hard to find at my local store though. Last time out I and another woman were both looking for it and it still took us about 5 minutes to find it! LOL SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare Let's see -- I know it is Milk Thistle for the liver which is unhappy with both the MTX and the Arava. Is it grape seed extract for the hair? Is that right guys? It is to reverse the thinning due to the drugs. Duckie > While I haven't posted or read the group in years and years, I find myself > here again because I am interested in knowing if anyone here has experienced [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > ~Lindy~ |
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