Protopic (possibly useful for hair loss?)

[HairLossFight.com]

I've been prescribed with Protopic 0.1% for my folliculitis of the scalp. Just did some research on this medication and found that its an immunomodulator that is normally used for eczema. I'm quite excited about it because if I can get the folliculitis licked then perhaps some of the hair will grow back. I have androgenetic alopecia, but the folliculitis is a different beast altogether. Another immunomodulator, Cyclosporin has been shown to be effective in stimulating hair growth.... so fingers crossed. I'll keep you guys posted on how well it treats the folliculitis.

Recently (as some of you know) I had stopped all my topicals to see if there would be an improvement in the folliculitis/inflammation of the scalp. It's been about a month now since I stopped and I have found that indeed the inflammation has decreased a lot. Yesterday I tried applying my topicals again to see if I would notice a difference now that I haven't been applying them. Sadly, the inflammation came back with a vengeance in my crown area. My frontal hair line and temples did fine however and were never inflamed to begin with. I am disappointed as this suggests I have developed some kind of an allergic reaction to my treatments. I think it may be the alcohol in the treatments but I'm not certain.

Anyway, I have noticed that shedding, especially in the crown area has increased tremendously now that a month has passed without any Xandrox, Revivogen or regular minoxidil for that matter. I hope the Protopic works, because I think most of my hair loss is from the inflammation. If I can control it, then maybe I can control further loss by just staying on the Propecia. I wish my skin was not so damn sensitive, because I really believe in my treatment regimen. It was working. But sadly I think I have to stay off the topicals indefinitely.... I'm still scaping some cash to eventually purchase a lasercomb.

Those of you who don't get allergic skin reactions consider yourselves lucky. You can use the good topicals. The treatments I will miss the very most will be Xandrox and Revivogen. The Xandrox worked unbelievably well for me, especially along the hair line and in the temples.

The following abstract suggests that Protopic may potentially be useful in Alopecia Areata:

Drugs Today (Barc). 2002 Jan;38(1):7-15. Related Articles, Links

Topical tacrolimus Protopic.

Lazarous MC, Kerdel FA.

Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Medicine, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA.

Topical tacrolimus is the first topical immunomodulator of its kind, and its mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, metabolism and efficacy will be discussed. Multiple studies have supported the safety and efficacy of topical tacrolimus in the treatment of atopic dermatitis in both adults and children. Studies have also suggested that topical tacrolimus may be effective in the treatment of acute contact dermatitis. Although oral administration of tacrolimus proved to be efficacious in psoriasis, results with topical tacrolimus have been disappointing in some studies. Additional reports of success in the use of topical tacrolimus in the treatment of pyoderma gangrenosum show promise, although there is a paucity of randomized, placebo-controlled trials examining its use. It has also been suggested that topical tacrolimus is useful in the treatment of alopecia areata, erosive lichen planus, isolated ichthyosis linearis circumflexa, steroid-induced rosacea, and in the prevention of allograft rejection, however more clinical trials need to be performed.

Sam

[Jacob]

I still say Equiclear MIGHT be good for those in your situation.

[Akira]

Protopic is a white cream (ointment), much dense ... for this reason is not easy to apply on the scalp, and it is not easy to wash out from head (also three washings sometimes can be necessary).
However it is an optimal product in order to fight your inflammation and nobody can put in argument its effectiveness (the active principle is tacrolimus)
Tacrolimus, in fact, is a substance able to suppress the inflammatory cutaneous reactions above all of kind of hypersensitivity delayed. This happens thanks to the property to inhibit the liberation of inflammatory intermediaries of the basophils, present in the skin. The inflammatory process typical of the eczema comes therefore blocked, therefore as we know it in dermite atopic (or the neurodermatitis).
Protopic, in this way, is able to reduce the cutaneous inflammation, the flush and the pruritus; if u use it every day (1 o 2 times in a day), generally, you can observe improvements within one week

Let me know if you obtain improvements with Protopic

ps: u can use tricomin or folligen to reduce inflammation (but i think that u know )

[Akira]

If you you do not obtain results, you could try Bettamousse, an other great product

check this: http://www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/heal ... 00297.html

regards

[HairLossFight.com]

Thanks for the primer on Protopic. I will also check out this Bettamouse that you have mentioned.

Have you used Protopic yourself?

As for Tricomin and Folligen. I used Folligen for several months and I'm neutral over it. Not sure if it really helped reduce inflammation, or increased it in my case. I found it to have quite a burning sensation associated with it.

I have Tricomin and didn't experience the same burning sensation as with Folligen. My preference is the Tricomin. But I don't think Tricomin works very well to reduce the kind of inflammation that I have... I have a folliculitis that is quite troubling to deal with. If I did not have this problem I think my treatments were beating the regular androgenetic alopecia. My hair line and temples have done exceptionally well with the treatments whereas my crown area (where the folliculitis is) has started to go downhill. I'm not happy about that. I hope the protopic helps.

Regards,
Sam

[Akira]

yeah i used it two years ago with good results
it's very efficient and useful for the scalp (if u have not long hair ehehehe)
Even if, fortunately, other good products exist

[HairLossFight.com]

Sorry I'm a bit confused. Did you have results with your hair loss or for eczema or psoriasis? Or some other condition?

[Akira]

for psoriasis only
but a good condition of the scalp is the beginning for a good regrowth of hair

[Jacob]

I'm sounding like a broken record here...but I'm not sure why someone with your condition wouldn't try something that may actually improve your hair as well as your scalp. Inflamil has worked for everyone who's tried it- for inflammtion. At least I still have yet to read of anyone who hasn't been helped by it. One person posted that he got headaches from it or something- and lipoxidil does say that's a possiblity. You use it for a week or two and then once a week or when necessary.

Something that can be used daily is Equiclear- I posted about the updated version in the Experimental section.

Of course there's probably quite a bit of a price difference between those and what you've been prescribed.

[HairLossFight.com]

Jacob, I'll definitely check out equiclear, (and equisomin) soon and review them on the site. I'm going to contact the company that makes it to see if they're willing to send me some samples to review here.