Femara to blame??

[Donna H]

I had my last chemo in September and my last Herceptin in May, yet my hair is barely an inch and a half long. And if I didn't know better I would say I have male pattern baldness (top is very thin). I started taking Femara in January. Has anyone else experienced pathetic hair regrowth? I have seen several posts on a different cancer site talking about this but not so much on this site. Also, some websites did mention hair loss as a side effect of Femara, but not all sites and certainly not on the Femara website.

Will my hair start to grow in better once I stop taking Femara? I already take biotin...not that it is helping but maybe it would be worse if I wasn't taking it? The lack of hair is really beginning to weigh on my mind and emotions. I dealt with the surgeries, chemo. radiation and everything else pretty well but this is starting to really challenge my resolve.

I am hoping someone out there has words of advice??

[Debbie L.]

Donna, so sorry to hear of this trouble for you.

There was this discussion here several years ago about ongoing hair loss/thinning r/t Taxotere. Do you know what chemos you had?

I also found this abstract posted by Becky last year (docetaxel = Taxotere).

Some women report their hair is a bit thinner when taking AIs (I'm assuming these are women who didn't receive chemo), but I don't think anything as drastic as what you're describing.

Debbie Laxague

[Donna H]

Thanks Debbie. There is some comfort in knowing I am not alone. I had 6x TCH and was told hair loss was almost guaranteed. However I was lead to believe it would grow back - usually thicker, curlier, different color, whatever. I have an appt with my medical onc next month and plan to bring it up however I expect she will dismiss it. She blamed watery eyes and runny nose on allergies. Thankfully the women on this site helped me thru those side effects last year. I hate that I am so vain when it comes to my hair, or lack of it. Usually I do not lack in self confidence or self esteem but this is really starting to get to me.

[Juls]

Hi Donna
Just wanted to say I have experienced similar. It has taken about 22 months since last chemo for my hair to get to a reasonable length - about 4" on top but only about 2" at back! I have been on femara for 20 months and hair is still missing at both sides of forehead just like in male pattern baldness. Fortunately my fringe covers this. I did read somewhere that femara causes this, Also side effects leaflet with tablets states that 1 to 10 out of 100 patients may experience hair loss! When I took wig off I started going to hairdresser every 3/4 weeks to try and get hair into a shape/style. I think this helped hair and me! When I was prescribed Femara I was told about hot flushes but not much else!