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Cold Sores and Hair Loss

I have been taking Humira for about 2 years now and in that time I've had one flare (Oct 2015). Other than that the injection has helped me so much.

At the end of Jan I got a batch of cold sores but I didn't think anything of it cause I'm prone to them in winter anyway.
I wake up with another batch yesterday morning and added to the hair loss in the last week (every time I brush or wash my hair I am losing way more than usual) I am getting a little worried.

I have called my IDB team (left a message)/ spoke to a member of the research team I'm helping a study they are doing and they will speak to my doctor on Monday.

I'm just wondering if this has happened to anyone else?
 

theOcean

Moderator
Are you on any other medication than Humira?

I've had hair loss before, but I've only experienced it with Imuran and prednisone. When that happened to me, I took 2000mcg Biotin every day, and it actually stopped the hair loss. After awhile, it stopped happening, and I didn't need the supplement anymore.

I'm not sure about the cold sores. I'll try looking up what I can.

What medications are you on, and do you have any other conditions?
 
I have been taking Humira for about 2 years now and in that time I've had one flare (Oct 2015). Other than that the injection has helped me so much.

At the end of Jan I got a batch of cold sores but I didn't think anything of it cause I'm prone to them in winter anyway.
I wake up with another batch yesterday morning and added to the hair loss in the last week (every time I brush or wash my hair I am losing way more than usual) I am getting a little worried.

I have called my IDB team (left a message)/ spoke to a member of the research team I'm helping a study they are doing and they will speak to my doctor on Monday.

I'm just wondering if this has happened to anyone else?
A few years ago , I had a lesion in my scalp caused from Remicade. My dermatologist told me that she had another CD patient who had all her hair fall out from Humira. Best to you.
 
I think the cold sores attack mainly because you are immune-suppressed. I get them too. I usually take L-lysine as part of my vitamin regimen to keep them at bay, but occasionally they break through anyway,

Hair loss - I have it too, and I kind of think it's due to the Humira. But - I'm older, so I don't complain to the doctor because the answer for every complaint is "you're getting older." There are some cosmetic fixes if the problem is minor, and a good wig or hairpiece if it's bad. So far, mine is minor.
 
I've had blood tests and the IDB nurse looked at me and said its nothing to worry about but my hair is still falling out, it doesn't look noticeable yet cause my hair was extremely thick.

They have put me on folic acid tablets, Vitimin D and multi Vitimin tablets and told me to stop taking the Humira for a week.

Thankfully the cold sores are now gone.
The hairloss is very worrying to me and I'll bring it up again when I see my doctor (2 weeks). The only other time this happened was when I was on Aza and that was just as bad.
 
Well, I'll suggest it again, since it's really just an amino acid we get from our food anyway, it might be worth it to see if L-lysine helps prevent the cold sores. Our immune system is somewhat suppressed, causing the virus to break through sometimes.
 
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