Acitretin and hair loss

From BNF:- Side-effects Common or very common Abdominal pain; abnormal hair texture; alopecia (reversible on withdrawal); arthralgia; brittle nails; dermatitis; diarrhoea; dryness and inflammation of mucous membranes; dryness of conjunctiva (causing conjunctivitis and decreased tolerance to contact lenses); epidermal fragility; erythema; headache; myalgia; nausea; paronychia; peripheral oedema; pruritus; reversible increase in serum-cholesterol (with high doses); reversible increase in serum-triglyceride concentrations (with high doses); skin exfoliation; sticky skin; vomiting. I hope this extract mentioning alopecia helps you. and good luck with her consultant. I wish you both well.

Hi Emily's Mum. I was put on Acetretin a few months ago but after 4 weeks had hair loss and thinning of my hair. I'm 54 and deal with the public at work so I was devastated. I came off it after discussions with my consultant and now on Fumaderm. Just this week I can feel my hair starting to thicken again. I hope you get a result for your daughter. It's bad enough having psoriasis without hair issues too. Good luck to her.

Hi, I was placed on Acitretin back in the summer after a 6 month wait to see a dermatologist. I suffer with psoriasis on the soles and sides of both feet, my head and left palm. Mine got so bad prior to my first derm appointment that I ended up in a wheelchair as couldn't bare weight on my feet without them splitting and bleeding. Within 2/3 weeks of being on Acitretin I noticed a big improvement and I could get around without being in agony. I have the occasional headache (2/3 times a week) and the dry peeling lips, which I can handle. The last 2 months though I have been losing a lot of my hair! I am now at the point where I'm wearing a wig topper. This has really had a big impact on me and I'm devastated to be honest. I don't see my consultant until January and I'm so afraid to come off Acitretin and try something else incase the side effects are worse as I need to work. It's such an awful condition to suffer with and awful that we 'suffer' with side effects of treatments. I really don't know what to do for the best.