Hair loss and hair growth...just in different places

Hi Folks...have not been on for a while... so much going on and so much to catch up on.   My son saw a Pediatric surgeon yesterday.. Dr wanted us to have "Plan B" in place.  

He got his 3rd infusion "loading dose" 2 weeks ago,  and is slowly being weaned off Pred.  We were down to 15mg per day and 3 days ago he starting flaring again.   There again was that bright red blood, trips to the bathroom every 45 minutes and chronic diarrhea.  Ugh!! 

Here's my question of the day:

My son is currently on Asacol 800HD 3 X day; 15 mg Prednisone ( I refused to bump it back up because it has wreaked havoc on his body) Canasa suppositories 2 X day, and Remicade.   He has started to lose the hair on his head and grow hair everywhere else.   He has grown dark hair on his back, shoulders, hair on arms and legs has gotten thicker and has grown facial hair (cheeks, chin,neck), but the hair on his head is falling out at an alarming rate.    The bathroom floor is full of it and when he runs his hands through his hair, his hand is full of hair. 

Which drug is the culprit?  And will his hair on his head grow back AND will the hair on his  back and shoulders go away?   He is only 14.  

Thanks

 

I am sorry to hear that he is having so much trouble. I found it was the prednisone that made my hair fall out. Once I was off for a while, it came back in. Of course, now that I am back on it, it has started falling out again!

Same thing for facial hair. I have more when on pred, and it goes away when I am off. As a woman, fortunately, I did not get the hair on my shoulders or back, but that might be a guy thing. Could that also be related to his age/hormones/puberty?

Thanks for the replies.  Yes, the Prednisone is a monster drug ...good for some things, but so bad for others...the acne he has developed is the worst too.   Dermatologist said that since it is steroid induced acne, it won't respond to antibiotics the way normal acne does.    Cannot wait until he is off of it.  But they say that he is steroid dependent.

I think that some of the hair growth may be puberty related.. but males on both sides of our family have absolutely no back hair and virtually no chest hair, so I am thinking it is definitely drug related. 

 I am looking into seeing a pediatric Gastro in the NYC area.   Does anyone know of anyone?  I  was told to look into Mt Sinai Hospital.   They are supposed to have some of the best.   Trying desperately to avoid surgery.

There is a great GI dr out of Mt Sinai Hospital that I used to see. Dr. James Marion. He's not pediatric (maybe he is as well?) but he will spend a lot of time with you and go over all of your options. He laid everything out on the line for me and we tried all kinds of things before I decided that surgery was best for me. He is very thorough.