Hair Issues

Brenda S · 02-19-2010, 06:15 AM

At the risk of sounding rather silly, I have a question about my hair. After completing the chemo regimen detailed in my profile my hair has still not fully returned. I lost it all during chemo. It has come back very thin and wispy. I think is is thinning more now. I've been off chemo for about a year and off Herceptin since May. Any suggestions folks? Thanks

cecw · 02-21-2010, 05:00 AM

Not a silly question at all! Being bald is no fun. I am 55 started chemo last March. Lost my hair 2 wks later. My tx is similar to you'rs only taking Tykerb instead of herceptin. Will finish in May. Lucky for me my beautician had me use Nioxin. It's shampoo,a cream and a liquid you rub into scalp. My hair was kind of thin before chemo. Finished IV chemo last August my hair is about 2 inches long and very thick now. Apparently several articles in cancer magazines about Nioxin. I've recommend to several people I know who have been thrilled with it. Can get it at beauty shop or I goggled it buying it on line now best price I found was at american beauty supply .com Best Cec!

Sandra in GA · 02-21-2010, 07:59 AM

I also used the Nioxin, both the shampoo and conditioner. I began when I finished the Taxol last Frb. and didn't have much regrowth until this Dec. I completed the Herceptin and Tykerb Nov. 17th. Now, I have much thicker and more coarse hair than before. I have had two trims!

Maybe the Nioxin will "jump start" your hair regrowth as it seemed to do mine. My eyebrows have finially filled in. When they began growing in, they were the wildest things ever. Some grew straight up. Now, they aren't as thick as they used to be, but at least they are growing like eyebrows should.

Good luck, Brenda. Remember everybody had their own timeline. I hope your time for hair is just around the corner!

Brenda S · 02-22-2010, 06:33 AM

Thanks ladies, I'll investigate Nioxin.

calcutta_chromosome · 03-03-2010, 10:27 AM

I had taken 6 rounds of chemo in 2007 and lost my hair completely. But it stated growing very fast just after finishing it, may be i was lucky, but you people can try out my trick. Shave your hair at least once after loosing it during chemotherapy. Then your hair will be thicker & grow faster I believe.

SHAMROCK GIRL · 03-03-2010, 07:05 PM

This shampoo is great, strongly recommend.

v-ness · 03-03-2010, 07:34 PM

i finished chemo on january 21 and shaved all the chemo hair off my head on january 31. it was pretty much all white and some wacky hairs longer than others. i figured it was poison hair. so now my hair is a quarter inch long already i'd guess and it is growing in with a lot of black, like when i lost it originally in october. AND it's growing like a weed! i'd advise anyone newly through with chemo to shave that toxic hair right off your head and start afresh. so you spend one more month bald, big deal. it could be the best thing you ever did for your head. valerie

Nevaeh · 03-13-2010, 03:57 PM

Hello everyone! I am new to this site and from what I have read, I know I am going to really like it. I don't want to be in denial, but on April 16 I will start 4 rounds of AC chemo. Will I lose my hair? I have bought a wig already, and I am not more concerned about my hair than my life. I will do whatever it takes to be counted as a survivor, and I know I will be one! I am just one of those gals that like to know ahead of time. Thanks

vlcarr · 03-13-2010, 04:07 PM

My hair is growing back but it seems to be sticking straight up in the air. It seems some of it is either blonde or gray (probably gray) and some of it appears black.

Valerie, did you shave your head while on chemo? I did that because I didn't like it falling out in patches. Are you saying shaving it again helps? I'm willing if it looks better.

Sandra in GA · 03-13-2010, 04:54 PM

Hi Neveah,
I think most everybody loses most if not all of their about 10-14 days after the first AC. That's what the treatment nurses told me down at Mayo. I still had mine on day fourteen. That afternoon, following my second treatment, it began shed. I went to a barber shop and asked the girl to shave it. She insisted on just giving me a real short cut. The next day I still had hair coming out, I called a friend who had some clippers and we shaved it. I tried a wig, but it seemed too hot. I ordered caps and hats that were deep cut from headcovers.com and wore these. My eyelashes and eyebrows stayed in until I began the Taxol and Herceptin. When I finished the Taxol (12 weeks) it began to grow back in even though I started radiation. It grew very slowly until I finished everything. Now it is thicker, curly (straight before), and coarser. I love it! My eyebrows and eyelashes are also in now. The funniest thing was my eyebrows when they began to come in. They were growing straight up and were very unruly. Now they have calmed down.

The treatment may seem tough at times, but it is not something you cannot do and in the end it is worth everything! Good luck. My prayers are with you.

Sandra

linda b · 03-20-2010, 08:38 PM

I started losing my hair at day 15 after the chemo started. I shaved my head and wore a wig (at work) and scarves and hats at home. My hair came back gray and straight - it was brown and wavy before- and I've gotten used to it. It's been almost three years and my eyebrows and eyelashes still are very thin - I've given up on them coming back totally.

Nevaeh · 03-21-2010, 11:36 AM

Thanks for the reply. I have gotten use to idea that I probably will lose my hair, but that is okay because I will know that the chemo is really working!

Jann · 03-29-2010, 03:24 PM

When I lost my hair and had weird-looking wisps of hair waving on the top of my head, I complained to one of my chemo nurses. He informed me that most people undergoing chemo did not go completely (and beautifully) bald but looked more like baby chimpanzees! Well, every time after that when I looked in a mirror I thought of a baby chimp (with a goofy grin...the chimp, I mean, not me) and laughed (maybe me, too, after all)! Because of that I did not shave my head --- I chose to start every day laughing at the mirror, instead!

Also, after chemo my hair grew back just as thick but darker and with a lot more gray. At first it just stuck straight up in the air (another funny sight!) but now it's curving over and will likely be curly when it gets a little longer.

I have a friend who had the same thing happen, except that she's younger and therefore did not have any gray. She loved here new curly hair but says that, sadly, it only stayed that way a year before going back to its original color and straightness!

msleslie · 11-29-2010, 08:37 PM

I had a low cut before starting chemo & then a closer, almost bald shave about 20 days after Chemo#1 when the shedding began. I will have chemo#6 this Thursday. My hair began growing back a couple of weeks ago. Now I'm beginning to have peach fuzz all over my head. I found this to be a little weird because I thought it would not start until after chemo was complete.

DianneS · 11-29-2010, 09:47 PM

I did Carboplatin, Taxotere and Herceptin. Five and a half rounds of the T/C and a year of Herceptin. It is now a little over two years since my dx and my eyebrows which were nice and thick are hardly there. They have grown back just a little. My hair initially came back thick and wavy, almost curly. Now after 2 yrs it is thin. I have heard that the taxotere does this.

The shampoo sounds great! Do you have to keep using it or is just a few treatments all you need?

Can I use the Nioxin on my eyebrows too????

Dianne

DianneS · 11-29-2010, 10:22 PM

I just did a google search on nioxin shampoo. Yikes. Some of the ingredients can cause breast cancer. Here is the link

http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/0...h-avoiding.htm

Guess I will just have thin hair!
Dianne