Hi- why isn't everybody very curious about 2 new FDA-approved drugs, Raptiva and Orencia, which both inhibit keratin production? Isn't this what we have- too much keratin? They are indicated for people with psoriasis, but why not for us?

Tell me about these new products,=

Raptiva is a drug for severe psoriasis and will never be used for KP. Orencia is a drug used to treat arthritis. Again it will never be approved for KP. KP is not a hyper-keratosis disorder. The only part of your skin affected by KP is the follicles. KP is a disorder of the sebum glands within the follicle. It has nothing to do with hyper-keratosis.

Well, it seems the only prescription topicals that seem to help, are those approved for psoriasis (i.e Tazorac). Maybe, an ingested medication might have a more systematic effect. The topicals just aren't doing the job, as they will thin out and damage your skin if used long-term. I mean wasn't there a guy in another KP forum who said Lipitor, a cholesterol reducing drug cleared up most of his KP. I guess someone will eventually be desperate enough to play guinea pig and hopefully post their results.

Yes- what I am hoping may happen is that someone being treated with one of these medications notices that it clears up his/her KP as well. Then it might be approved for us.

KP is not a life threatening/harmful disorder. These perscription drugs are going to have side effects. It would be impossible to justify these side effects to clear up a mildly cosmetic skin condition.

KP is at it's worst when it affects your face. This is the only time it can cause real physical pain. A drug might be justified for these serious cases.

That might be difficult, as most psoriatics probably don't have KP. As far as arthritis patients, most are elderly and probably don't have KP, even if they had it in their younger years. I don't think we will get the answers were looking for, unless it is prescribed off-label by a forward thinking dermatologists or some adventurous soul who acquiries the meds over the internet or at a foreign pharmacy to try.

Accorddude,

I mildly disagree. If the side effects aren't that noticeable, why not. Propecia, a popular hairloss medication, is a lower dosed version of the prostate medication Proscar (5mg finasteride). From what I've read, prostate patients on the drug noticed noticeable hair growth and decreased hair loss, which caused men to eventually experiment with the drug "off label". Many of these men didn't have prostate problems, but took the leap mainly out of desperation (sounds familiar). This eventually lead to drug trials by Merck for use in hairloss and them releasing Propecia (1mg finasteride). My point being, a viable "vanity" driven medication came out of "off-label" experimentation with a "serious" medical drug and the side effects aren't so serious that they prohited use of this drug for vanity purposes even at 5mg, which many men take if Propecia losses it's effectiveness.

Just my two cents.

Has anyone recently been in to see a dermatologist to ask if they would give it to us?

I would be willing to try anything at this point, my KP is spreading.

I feel the same way. Its as if KP happens wherever I start growing new hair (im 21, so im growing hair in places like the chest and more on my arms).

You can also go here:

http://www.fda.gov/default.htm

and do a search on Keratosis Pilaris. There is stuff that actually looks promising!

Doctors can prescribe drugs for condition not directly indicated by the FDA. They CAN theoretically try this drug on KP, if you can find a doctor who will do it. But I would fel iffy about thaty because the drug does have side effects (you can read about them on the web). I am still holding out for a possible clinical trial- perhaps for people with severe KP.