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Hi Friends,

Sorry for this long post.  But if you have time, it will be worth reading. It's now a 3-year research compilation.

If your treatment is not working, and your non-segmental vitiligo (NSV) is spreading, and you don't really know what to do,  maybe it's time to try something more consistent.

I strongly believe that vitiligo is like a puzzle, so that you have to put many pieces together to treat it, ALL AT THE SAME TIME, to see the final picture (result).   Since it's not an easy puzzle, I've been trying hard  to create a Map, in order to help to find these pieces.

I also believe that, although a treatment may work differently from person to person,  the causes and triggers are the same.  What really varies is the intensity (weight) of each of them in every person, as well as the will power to fight it (dedication).  It's definitely a "surrender"!

At the end of the day, besides the genetic pre-disposition, which is untreatable so far,  the treatable causes are:

1) Physical traumas and friction (mostly on prominent bone areas, but not limited to);

2) Oxidative stress (mainly food allergy, poor diet, leaky gut and dysbiosis);

3) Systematic psychological and emotional behaviors 

Another important thing to know is the difference between cause and trigger.  Whilst a trigger is usually a single severe event, causes are systematic but not severe. A patient can trigger their vitiligo by a severe emotional trauma, while systematic physical traumas to a specific area spread the white patches. Alternatively, a patient can trigger the onset of vitiligo by a severe physical trauma, but it spreads because of systematic psychological stress or even oxidative stress. This understanding of initial onset is what makes NSV a complex disease. It's very important to identify these trigger/cause mechanisms properly, in each case, in order to have a much better chance of determining a cure, by assigning the right priority to avoid them.

You can start treating vitiligo from the outside (skin) at any time, however it might be a waste of time and money if you don't address/check yourself against  hypothyroidism, Hashimoto disease, Celiac disease, Adrenal fatigue, Liver toxicity, Lead contamination  and if you don't follow a comprehensive Functional Treatment regime. After making sure that the 6 conditions above have been ruled out or fixed, it will be time to commence a Functional Treatment plan.

Functional Medicine addresses the underlying causes of disease, using a systems-oriented approach and engaging both patient and practitioner in a therapeutic partnership. It is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, functional medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine practitioners spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease. In this way, functional medicine supports the unique expression of health and vitality for each individual.

A good Functional Treatment has to combine a lot of actions, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. For instance: avoiding physical traumas and friction, balancing psychological and emotional issues, changing lifestyle, following an UVB-NB phototherapy, taking nutritional supplementation, reducing oxidative stress by taking anti-oxidants and anti-fungals, applying topical creams (Elidel, Protopic and Pseudocatalase), and also following a good diet if necessary (e.g., gluten-free, dairy-free).

QUICK EXPLANATION OF EACH ITEM:

•Physical trauma means: systematic friction, injuries, itches, scratches, allergies, sun burns, impacts, violent moves, hits, punches, kicks, etc.

•Oxidative stress means excess of free radicals. It's mainly caused by food allergy, poor diet, leaky gut and dysbiosis (parasites, candida, h-pylori, yeast, fungus, etc.). Oxidative stress can be reduced by taking anti-oxidant and anti-fungal pills.

•Systematic psychological and emotional behaviors and/or feelings, as follows:

→ if you are a person who is feeling completely out of place;

→ you feel that you are no one in the group or you have no sense of belonging;

→ if you are a "yes-but" person;

→ if you are never satisfied with what you have / how you look / what you are;

→ if you feel that there is lack of joy in your life, etc.

•A good lifestyle aims will result in the production of less stress hormones, which plays a big role in keeping vitiligo at bay.

•UVB-NB improves cell adhesion, so that melanocyte integrin gains strength, as well as stimulates melanocyte stem cell production in the hair follicle areas of the skin.

•Nutritional supplementation includes vitamins, minerals and trace nutrients.

•Elidel and Protopic have a moderate success in "fighting" against MIA (not neutralizing it). As noted on the home page, the exact way these work is not known, but it seems that they help by reducing the microinflammation caused by MIA around the integrin (adhesion molecules) in the basal membrane.

•Pseudocatalase breaks down harmful hydrogen peroxide accumulated in the skin follicles by oxidative stress and converts it into water and oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide causes vacuolation in epidermal melanocytes and keratinocytes, as well as lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial DNA mutation and unbalance of epidermal dehydratase activities.

•It is always necessary to consider diet, but it is mandatory if an issue is confirmed by an allergy test.

FUNCTIONAL TREATMENT PROTOCOL (dosages should be discussed with your Doctor):

1- 9W UVB-NB Phototherapy 3x a week (expose each patch separately)

2- Daily Supplementation Suggestion:

• Vitamin C (By GNC) ⇒ 50mg

• Vitamin K (by GNC) ⇒ 10mcg

• Vitamin E (by GNC) ⇒ 200IU

• Vitamin D3 Cholecalciferol (by GNC) ⇒ 2000IU

• Beta Carotene plus mix of carotenoids (by Pure Encapsulations) ⇒ 25000IU

• Complex-B (by GNC)

→ B1 Thiamine ⇒ 15mg

→ B2 Riboflavin ⇒ 20mg

→ B3 Niacin ⇒ 25mg

→ B5 Pantothenic Acid ⇒ 50mg

→ B6 ⇒ 25mg

→ Biotin ⇒ 300mcg

→ B12 ⇒ 250mcg

→ Folate ⇒ 400mcg

• Fish Oil - Omega 3 (any mercury-free brand) ⇒ 1000mg

• Selenium (by GNC) ⇒ 100mcg

• Zinc (by GNC) ⇒ 20mg

• Copper (by GNC) ⇒ 2mg

• Calcium (By GNC) ⇒ 500mg

• Magnesium (by GNC) ⇒ 300mg

• Iodine (by GNC) ⇒ 80mcg

• Manganese (by GNC) ⇒ 2mg

• Chromium ⇒ 100mcg

• Molybdenum ⇒ 25mcg

• Vanadium ⇒ 15mcg

• Inositol ⇒ 80mg

• Lutein ⇒ 1mg

• Boron ⇒ 1mg

• Silicon Dioxide ⇒ 2mg

• Choline Bitartrate ⇒ 80mg

• L-Tyrosine ⇒ 300mg

3- Daily Anti-Oxidant Suggestion: 

• R Lipoic Acid (stabilized) or ALA (by Pure Encapsulations) ⇒ 100mg

• L-Glutammine Powder (by Nutrabio) ⇒ 3g

• L-Cysteine Powder ou N-Acetyl Cysteine (by Nutrabio) ⇒ 600mg

• L-Methionine Powder (by Nutrabio) ⇒ 375mg

• Grape Seed (by GNC) ⇒ 100mg

4- Daily Anti-Fungal Suggestion: 

• Probiotics (by Hyperbiotics, e.g. PRO-15) ⇒ 1 capsule with at least 5 billion CFU of the beneficial bacteria.

The next 3 items should be taken until the bottle ends:

• Paracid Forte (by Ortho Molecular) ⇒ 1 capsule at least 4 hours before or after any Probiotics

• Formula SF722 (by Thorne Research) ⇒ 1 capsule

• Candicin (by Genestra) ⇒ 1 capsule at least 4 hours before or after any Probiotics

5- Topical Creams: 

• Protopic 2x a day on face patches.

• Elidel 1x a day on the other patches.

• Apply Pseudocatalase 2x a day (before 9AM and after 5PM). After application, wait 15 minutes and then take a 10 minute sun bath or 30 second UVB-NB phototherapy session (talk to a doctor before undertaking any phototherapy). Avoid Pseudocatalase cream on the spots that are being treated with Protopic (use only one or the other).

6- Drink a 8 oz of green juice daily (green apple or kiwi, spinach, celery, cucumber, collard, watercress, and kale).

7- If you are not able to do a food allergy test, you should at the minimum follow a gluten-free diet.

• Suggestion for a single day:

→ Breakfast: Coconut milk, 2 slices of gluten-free bread with tahini, 1 banana and/or 1 apple.

→ Lunch: Gluten-free rice, black beans, wild caught fish, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, backed sweet potato, and olive oil.

→ Snack: Coconut milk, 2 slices of gluten-free bread with organic honey, and a green juice (kiwi, spinach, celery, collard, watercress, and kale).

→ Dinner: Gluten-free brown rice, green beans, hormone-less chicken, carrots, lettuce, pumpkin, and olive oil.

→ In-between: A lot of water (mineral, spring, purified). Avoid tap water since it may contain chlorine, fluoride, etc.

8- Regarding life style, try to add yoga to your daily life in order to help you de-strress. Remember not to add any high impact activity.

As you can see,  this treatment demands a lot.  Are you ready for that?

Good luck!

DISCLAIMER

Content available above is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Only your healthcare provider should diagnose your health problems and prescribe a treatment. Your reliance upon whatsoever obtained by you at or through this post is solely at your own risk. The statements made within this post have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).