Methotrexate didn’t work for me and I came off it to try acetretin as it supposedly had less side effects. After around 8 weeks the acetretin worked and my Psorasis started to clear but unfortunately the side effects aren’t very nice . Peeling skin on feet and hands, finger nails splitting and painful, headaches, severe dry skin , dry lips and feeling low ... all of this I can just about cope with but then at around 3 months I started to notice the hair loss , quite severe thinning of my hair which I couldn’t cope with . I came off the drug and the Psorasis came back almost immediately and severely and having not been on the drug for 5 weeks I am still losing hair but all other side effects have subsided. This got me down also so I have decided to go back on acetretin but a lower dose as I have limited options left having tried most other treatments available to me but I am wondering if anyone has had advice on how to reduce the side effects especially the hair loss whilst on this medication???? Pls help
I have been on Acetretin for about 6 or 7 years. The dermatologist kept increasing the dose until I was taking 40mg per day. I found the side effects became intolerable, dry eyes very dry lining of my nose and severely cracked lips. The dermatologist agreed to reduce the dosage to 20mg per day. I get a few plaques but nothing major and the side effects have been reduced to an acceptable level.
Posted Tue 5 Jul 2022 13.28 by Pippin89
I was on Methotrexate for about 2 months and it almost completely cleared my Psoriasis. Unfortunately it also started affecting my liver so I had to come off of it. 6 weeks after stopping and my Psoriasis is back as bad as it was before.
I am just about to start Acetretin to see if that does as good a job without the liver problems.
Fingers crossed.
Posted Tue 5 Jul 2022 18.57 by Stacy
Hi new member here, I've recently started on methatrexate weekly and waiting on cade oil treatment at the hospital as I have thick scales on my scalp I use Cocosis oil as an over night treatment then scrape my scalp in the morning 4-5 washes to get it all out with alphosol 2 in 1 I then was told to apply dovabet gel but I just feel.like either I'm scaly or oily walking around it had affected my anxiety as I don't go out much any more also I suffer with Psoriatic arthritis in my hands which seems to be getting worse so I'm struggling to do treatments on my scalp I suppose I'm just wondering is there light at the end with methotrexate!!🤷♀️ I
Posted Sat 5 Nov 2022 07.48 by Luten10969
Hello all,
I am 27 y.o., i have had psoriasis since my teenage years but it has been just the plaques on head and elbows and legs.
Recently I developed nail psoriasis and started having pain on my shoulder joints when i wake up.
My new dermatologist suggested I go on Methotrextate or Acetretin. Though, now that I saw about all the side effects, I’m wondering if I should even take any? Maybe just stay on creams for now?
Posted Tue 10 Jan 2023 14.07 by Jamesw
Acitretin worked for me
A 70-day course of 25mg daily cleared up the psoriasis and also the pirtyriasis (PLC) to about 80-90%
Just completed a second course with similar resuts
Side effects -
Chapped lips
Runny nose
Dry, stiff hair
Hard cracked skin on heels
Clammy hands and feet
Appeared in that order and disappeared in the same order after discontinuation.
I haver read in an acedemic study that it has a half-life in the body of 50-60 days after ceasing to take it
In other words after 50-60 days half of it has been eliminated from your system.
Posted Tue 10 Jan 2023 14.11 by Jamesw
Correction to my last post
The elimination time for acitretin to leave your system is 50-60 HOURS - not days !
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Posted Fri 12 Apr 2019 00.30 by Cmmoor