Protopic and Formication - a phase IV clinical study of FDA data

Summary:

Formication is reported as a side effect among people who take Protopic (tacrolimus), especially for people who are female, 30-39 old, have been taking the drug for 2 - 5 years also take Paxil, and have Dermatitis contact.

The phase IV clinical study analyzes which people have Formication when taking Protopic. It is created by eHealthMe based on reports of 5,328 people who have side effects when taking Protopic from the FDA, and is updated regularly.

What is Protopic?

Protopic has active ingredients of tacrolimus. It is often used in eczema. eHealthMe is studying from 5,403 Protopic users. Check the latest studies of Protopic.

What is Formication?

Formication (a sensation that exactly resembles that of small insects crawling on (or under) the skin) is found to be associated with 567 drugs and 915 conditions by eHealthMe. Check the latest studies of Formication.



On Oct, 20, 2025

5,328 people reported to have side effects when taking Protopic.
Among them, 33 people (0.62%) have Formication.

Could Protopic cause Formication?

Among these 33 people:

How long have people been on Protopic when they have Formication? *

  • < 1 month: 0.0 %
  • 1 - 6 months: 6.25 %
  • 6 - 12 months: 0.0 %
  • 1 - 2 years: 0.0 %
  • 2 - 5 years: 81.25 %
  • 5 - 10 years: 12.5 %
  • 10+ years: 0.0 %

What is the gender of people who have Formication when taking Protopic? *

  • female: 100 %
  • male: 0.0 %

What is the age of people who have Formication when taking Protopic? *

  • 0-1: 0.0 %
  • 2-9: 0.0 %
  • 10-19: 0.0 %
  • 20-29: 16.67 %
  • 30-39: 83.33 %
  • 40-49: 0.0 %
  • 50-59: 0.0 %
  • 60+: 0.0 %

What are other drugs people take besides Protopic? *

  1. Paxil: 12 people, 36.36%
  2. Ritonavir: 11 people, 33.33%
  3. Topiramate: 11 people, 33.33%
  4. Prednisolone: 8 people, 24.24%
  5. Hydrocortisone: 8 people, 24.24%
  6. Mometasone Furoate: 3 people, 9.09%
  7. Furosemide: 1 person, 3.03%
  8. Erythromycin: 1 person, 3.03%
  9. Fluconazole: 1 person, 3.03%
  10. Fluoxetine: 1 person, 3.03%

What are other side effects people have besides Formication? *

  1. Rashes (redness): 33 people, 100.00%
  2. Skin Exfoliation (removal of the oldest dead skin cells): 29 people, 87.88%
  3. Fatigue (feeling of tiredness): 26 people, 78.79%
  4. Itching: 20 people, 60.61%
  5. Insomnia (sleeplessness): 19 people, 57.58%
  6. Neuralgia (pain in one or more nerves): 17 people, 51.52%
  7. Pain: 17 people, 51.52%
  8. Skin Burning Sensation: 17 people, 51.52%
  9. Blister (small pocket of fluid within the upper layers of the skin caused by forceful rubbing (friction), burning, freezing, chemical exposure): 15 people, 45.45%
  10. Skin Hypertrophy (skin cells enlarges): 15 people, 45.45%

What are the existing conditions these people have? *

  1. Seborrhoeic Dermatitis (a common, inflammatory skin condition that causes flaky, white to yellowish scales to form on oily areas such as the scalp): 2 people, 6.06%
  2. Dermatitis Contact (skin reaction (dermatitis) resulting from exposure to allergens): 2 people, 6.06%
  3. Abdominal Discomfort: 1 person, 3.03%

* Approximation only. Some reports may have incomplete information.

Do you take Protopic and have Formication?

- Check whether Formication is associated with a drug or a condition
- Predict drug outcomes for up to one year with AI
- Get an AI agent to monitor your drugs continuously



Related studies:

Effectiveness of, long term effects of, and alternative drugs to Protopic:

Formication treatments and more:

How severe was Formication and when was it recovered:

Expand to all the drugs that have ingredients of tacrolimus:

Sub-studies by gender and age:

Female: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Male: 0-1 2-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+

Browse all side effects of Protopic:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Browse all the drugs that are associated with Formication:

Browse all the conditions that are associated with Formication:


How the study uses the data?

The study uses data from the FDA. It is based on tacrolimus (the active ingredients of Protopic) and Protopic (the brand name). Other drugs that have the same active ingredients (e.g. generic drugs) are not considered. Dosage of drugs is not considered in the study.

How to use the study?

DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting your doctor. If there are any serious or long term adverse effects discovered in the study, discuss the study with your doctor to ensure that proper medication management will be in place if applicable.

Who is eHealthMe?

With medical big data and proven AI/ML algorithms, eHealthMe provides a platform for everyone to run phase IV clinical trials. We study millions of patients and 5,000 more each day. Results of our real-world drug study have been referenced on 800+ peer-reviewed medical publications, including The Lancet, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, and Nature. Our analysis results are available to researchers, health care professionals, patients (testimonials), and software developers (open API).

WARNING, DISCLAIMER, USE FOR PUBLICATION

WARNING: Please DO NOT STOP MEDICATIONS without first consulting a physician since doing so could be hazardous to your health.

DISCLAIMER: All material available on eHealthMe.com is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a qualified healthcare provider. All information is observation-only. Our phase IV clinical studies alone cannot establish cause-effect relationship. Different individuals may respond to medication in different ways. Every effort has been made to ensure that all information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. The use of the eHealthMe site and its content is at your own risk.

If you use this eHealthMe study on publication, please acknowledge it with a citation: study title, URL, accessed date.



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