Patchy Beard on Rogaine

[jackk]

I started Roagain 2.5 months ago (after being on Finateride for over 15 months).

About a month ago a strange thing happened - I developed a bald patch in my beard. It's about the size of a two pence coin. This has never happened before and I was just thinking today, maybe it could be related to the Rogaine use?

Any ideas? Cheers.

[PatientlyWaiting]

Could be Alopecia Areata. You should get it checked at the dermatologist.

[jackk]

Thanks. Yeah, it could be. Unfortunately it isn't easy to get seen by a dermatologist where I live (London) and from what I've been reading, there isn't much you can do for Alopecia Areata anyway.

I'm just wondering if it's possibly a side-effect of Rogaine? Seems strange.

[PatientlyWaiting]

I have AA. It was triggered by high stress levels. Do you get stressed out a lot?

I wasn't sure what caused it at first, I was blaming every thing. Then I did a little research and although doctors still don't know what exactly triggers it, the best theory they have is high stress. I was iffy about this until last year in December when a speech was due in class and I was one of the first one's picked to say my speech so I panicked and started stressing a LOT because of the work of all of my other classes. The same exact week, just a couple of days of finding out when my speech was due, a bald patch started developing in the back of my head and right there I realized that, at least my AA, is triggered by high levels of stress. The only thing I was taking at the time is finasteride.

What I can tell you is that you are predisposed to have Alopecia Areata and it just takes something to trigger it. If you do not have AA then nothing will trigger it or just cause it out nowhere. It's genetic I think.

[PatientlyWaiting]

This pretty much says exactly what I said:

What Causes It?

In alopecia areata, immune system cells called white blood cells attack the rapidly growing cells in the hair follicles. The affected hair follicles become small and drastically slow down hair production. Fortunately, the stem cells that continuously supply the follicle with new cells do not seem to be targeted. So the follicle always has the potential to regrow hair.

Scientists do not know exactly why the hair follicles undergo these changes, but they suspect that a combination of genes may predispose some people to the disease. In those who are genetically predisposed, some type of trigger—perhaps a virus or something in the person’s environment—brings on the attack against the hair follicles.

http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/alopecia_areata/#2

I have two ointments, both prescribed, that may suppress AA enough to let hair grow back. One is called Clobetasol Propionate Ointment, and the other one is called Tacrolimus Ointment [as Protopic]. The protopic is for my vitiligo, another auto-immune system disease, which it did works and my vitiligo is no longer visible. But the derm told me that I can actually use protopic on my AA as well, though I never tried it. Clobetasol is for the AA, it really does suppress it. Worst scenario is the clobetasol just prevents it from getting worse, but it can regrow the hair. Both of the ointments are very strong, the protopic can thin the skin. I forgot all the "dangers" of these ointments but if you're going to try to get them make sure you do your research on them. The only way to get them unfortunately is through a prescription, I don't even see them anywhere in any online pharmacies.

[PatientlyWaiting]

Oh look at that, inhousepharmacies has clobetasol ointment.

I'm not sure if I can link this to you so I will just say the name so you can look for it, it's called Dermol Topical Cream 0.05%, Active Ingredient: Clobetasol propionate 0.05%. You should buy that ASAP, it should work really well on your beard, it's hard to regrow AA-lost hair on parts of your scalp affected by MPB. Which is why clobetasol works in the back of my head on my AA spot, but not on the one's on the top of my head.

[jackk]

Wow, thanks for taking the time to reply in such detail. Much appreciated!

I'm gonna look into this asap and get back to you. It actually sounds like I might have AA. I'm not particularly stressed (at least I don't think so), but maybe it's something else.

When you talk about a little patch at the back of your head, where exactly do you mean? Is it in the typical MPB region or further down? Because I've had one further down before.

Thanks so much.

[PatientlyWaiting]

No problem, glad to help. Make sure it's AA though.

The patch is in the back of the head further down from any MPB affected area.

[jackk]

@patientlywaiting: A little update on this. I saw my GP a couple of weeks back and he was pretty useless. Said the beard patches might be AA, but wouldn't prescribe any cortisteroid cream. He said it was dangerous to use it on the face. So I might get it online instead.

Quick question - have you ever considered cortisone injections for your AA patches? I've been doing a bunch of research and that seems like the most effective treatment by far.

Thanks.

[PatientlyWaiting]

Cortisone injections work. They were the most effective and definitely did grow back my hair from completely hairless to pretty good coverage. In fact, I am going to make an appointment soon to get steroid injections again. Last time I got them was in 2012

The ointments are more like preventive treatments and to suppress the AA.

Edit: Yeah, GP's are useless for anything about hairloss unless it's some hair loss by way of some deficiency.

Dermatologist aren't that much better either, but they at least are mostly up to date on Alopecia Areta. They are also useless with MPB.

[jackk]

Little update on this. I finally got to see an dermatologist last week and got some cortisone injections in the bald spots in my beard. I was also given a protopic ointment to rub on the areas twice a day.

@patientlywaiting: How long (roughly) does it take for your injections to show get results/regrowth?

Interestingly, my dermo seemed to think that bald patches caused by alopecia areata NEVER grow back to normal. She said only thin, blonde/white hairs will ever grow back. That seems strange to me, because I'm sure I've read differently. But then, I wasn't entirely convinced that she knew what she was talking about!

Thanks.