Quick Update on My Withdrawal

Thought I would just post a quick update on how things are going…

I am six months now into my Protopic withdrawal or 160 days since I stopped.

I am experiencing a so far minor flare up on my face and neck. As an outsider looking at me I am sure you could not even tell, it is just more that I can feel it. My neck and face have dried out a bit again. They were doing really well, becoming less and less dry. But then last week I noticed my neck getting a bit more sore again when I tried to turn it, nothing like the beginning but definitely a fall back. My eyes in the morning have been a bit crusty too, which they haven’t been in probably a couple months. My neck is still my itchiest spot. Every night like clockwork anytime from about 6pm to 8pm it gets very itchy, occasionally with hives. If I am not careful when I start scratching I can end up scratching my neck for an hour. I try to ignore it, but it is just so darn hard! So my neck and chest are a bit pink and splotchy. Ah well. It’s okay. It will heal in time. I am not too worried about this flare, as I know it’s just part of the process. My arms are still a bit dryer than they had been too, so I think that flare may still be persisting a bit.

My legs are still doing well. I do have some bloody wounds on it from too much scratching with long nails, so I made sure to cut and file my nails down. Hopefully that will heal up soon.

Other than that everything continues in the same fashion. I am still losing a lot of hair. I talk about this a lot I know, but I find it very distressing and worry about going bald before it stops. I have been scouring other people blogs to see when their hair loss stopped. Of course it is so different for everyone but no one seems to have gone completely bald before it stopped. But I decided to try some new things. The coconut mask did not seem to help too much and was very greasy. I really did not enjoy doing that so I haven’t done it in a few weeks. I started to use a new shampoo and conditioner. It is called Avalon Organics: Rosemary Volumizing Shampoo and Conditioner. It’s supposed to help thicken and strengthen hair. I do have to say I am sure if you saw my hair you could hardly tell I have lost hair as its always been very thick, but I know that I have lost about 2/3 of my hair and it’s still coming out. Hopefully this shampoo will help a bit. I used it this morning and my hair looks like its usual self, so we will see. I only shampoo my hair about one to two times per week now I should add.

The other thing I am trying is taking a B-Complex vitamin. I already take Vitamin B12, C, D, a multivitamin, and fish oil daily. The B-Complex vitamin has folic acid and Biotin in it, which is supposed to be good for hair growth. So we will see if these things help. Time will tell.

Not much else to report right now. Hope you are all well. 🙂