Rochelle28

[Sweetpolly2016]

Try taking biotin. I'm on methotrexate and my edges were thinning. I started taking nature's bounty biotin 10,000mcg once per day and my hair has really grown and thickened up.

[Jesnaskah]

I'm starting to notice my sides n top of my scalp thinning out too (maybe more but I can't see the back of my head) and I've only been on methotrexate 2 weeks!!! I do notice a lot hair in shower. I have always taken two hair supplements... One called hairomega and the other is biosil (both found online). I am not sure if they have helped in any way to lessen the hair loss or are not doing anything.

How long did it take for you to notice your hair growing back and thickening up again with this biotin?

It's quite traumatic it I lose anymore...

Jes

[Sweetpolly2016 in reply to Jesnaskah]

My hair stopped thinning within 1 year after starting methotrexate. I was using Rogaine for women to help combat hair loss. It helped a lot

[Jesnaskah in reply to Sweetpolly2016]

Here we are a year later.. ..hair is falling out all the time now. Not just in shower. I stopped MTX after 2 months bc of the hair loss. I'm not on any DMARDS and haven't been since December of last year.

Only thing I'm on is Prednisone and I'm down to 2mg. I'm also taking something called low dose Naltrexone. That has no side effects. I'm super sad about my hair, I went from having long, full hair to less than half my hair left and I keep cutting it to try to hide the thinning.

I tried Rogaine last Sept, was on it for 2 months.. by November, I decided to stop it bc it was turning me into a werewolf. Was causing weird facial hair growth.. and not even in 'normal' places. I'm talking about like forehead and under my eyes, near my cheekbones. It was shocking. Took me forever to get it removed. So I can't turn to Rogaine unless I want to become a furry animal.

I'm glad you have had success and hope your hair is back to its former self. Also, hopefully your RA is under control too.

[Sweetpolly2016 in reply to Jesnaskah]

How exactly were you using Rogaine? I only used it around the edges of my hairline and down the center part of my hair. My hair grew back long and its very thick in its natural state. I want to use a flat iron to make it easier to manage but its too hot here to keep flat ironing it. So for now, I am keeping it in braids and wearing a wig. That may also be why my hair has grown. I didn’t mention that while using the Rogaine I kept my hair brided and wore a wig with a wig cap to protect my natural hair. But I’m now getting a lot of chin hairs! Which I take a razor to every other day. That could be because I got tired of plucking them. I do really hope you will find a solution. Some RA patients take prednisone, I advise against it because it makes you blow up. My sister in law was on that med for lupus. Last time I saw her, I did not recognize her. She’s passed away now and she was way younger than me.

[Jesnaskah in reply to Sweetpolly2016]

Oh how interesting. If it's hot where you are, wasn't it hard to wear a wig?

Well I literally put the Rogaine everywhere I could... Sides, and top of my scalp, row by row about 1 inch thick between rows. I was so careful about about not letting it drip down my face, washed my hands, made sure not to sleep on my sides so my checks don't touch pillow, and I still turned into a hairy face monster. And I don't mean just peach fuzz! The way I noticed it, was one day as I was trying to apply eyeliner, I noticed all these lines on the very top of my check bones, and I thought damn, what are all these wrinkles all of a sudden... But it was hair! Arg. I've been to a few dermatologists, they guess it's chronic telogen efluvium (TE) I've done all the blood work...iron, ferritin, zinc, vit d, TSH, etc all in the normal range. If it's not TE, then maybe it's just RA killing my looks. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to me.

As for prednisone... I've been trying to be very careful with the way I eat, especially because I have a voracious appetite as it is. It's been hard, and I put on about 5lbs, but that's not bad for being in it a year now.

😊

[nablur]

The only downside is the facial hair and eyebrows grow much faster!

[Jesnaskah in reply to nablur]

Fortunately...pred has not caused me to grow facial hair. But I got a really bad allergic reaction to something and my skin went nuts for about 3 months.. I was in agony so I was upped to 60mg pred. I noticed peach fuzz coming in thicker. But as I tapered within 3 weeks seemed to calm it down. I wish it'd grow my scalp hair dammit!