Chemotherapy Permanent Hair Loss

Nancy L · 09-10-2009, 03:08 PM

I would like to hear from any woman who experienced permanent hair loss from the drug Taxotere.

duga35 · 09-12-2009, 05:37 PM

Wull, I'm not a woman, but I have had permanent hair loss due to chemo. Before the chemo I had a pretty full head of hair, very thick. I even had a somewhat of a mullet. Been done with treatment for over a year now and all I have is some stubble on my head. My eyebrows still won't come back, nor can I grow a moustache. What is weird though is that I have the bottom part of a go-t, and its pretty thick. My onc says that I have had a very rare side effect and that most regain a full head of hair, sometimes even fuller than before.

lexigirl · 09-12-2009, 05:56 PM

Hi Nancy,

I had taxol and while my hair has come back, it's thinned out around my hairline. I also have some funny little cowlicks. I do remember reading that some do experience permanent hair loss after taxol/taxotere.

Lexi

sassy · 09-12-2009, 08:05 PM

I was interested to read that Lexigirl had some interesting cowlicks. I also have some "interesting cowlicks" that I did not have before.

Mary Anne in TX · 09-13-2009, 11:24 AM

Since we're talking hair here.....After 8 months since my last herceptin, my hair has gone back 13 years in time. About 9 or 10 years before I was diagnosed my hair began to go from extremely straight to sort of wavy to a bit curly. I got the usual curls during the grow backs after chemo, but now more than 8 months after all treatment stopped, I'm back to my old head of hair from years ago. It is so weird. I had the waves for 10 years and then the curls and must say I had grown to like them. It made it so easy to do. Now my straight hair with tons of cow licks is back! I'm taking it as a great sign that my DNA is back to boring!
ma

sassy · 09-13-2009, 12:55 PM

I have had a similar situation with curls and straight hair. My hair had been more frizzy than curly all my life, but easy to tame and wear curly. After chemo it came back darker (almost black instead of dark brown) with really nice soft curls----loved it. It has lightened some now, more my original color, but in the last six months has gone completely straight, thinner, and has the weird cowlicks. I've been off Herceptin since Jan of 07, but I'm still on Lupron and Arimidex. Hoping to stop Lupron soon and interested to see what happens with the hair (and my weight!)

Hope this didn't hijack your thread, Nancy, but it may all tie in somehow.

Sandra in GA · 09-13-2009, 01:53 PM

Talk about cowlicks! Those are all over my head now that my hair is coming back. The texture is completely different. It was straight, fine, and thin. Now it is curly, dry, and much more coarse. I think it is darker also. I always wanted curly hair, so I hope some of the curls stay. Of course, I am just happy to have hair to cover my scalp! I had just not assiciated all those cowlicks with chemo hair, but I have learned something from all of you. I just knew I didn't remember having then before!

Lori R · 09-13-2009, 04:10 PM

Nancy,
Well...I was one of the lucky ones who did not have my hair return after my initial treatment with Taxotere. I kept cheering on every little strand, hoping that one day it would just kick in.

Never did.

Then I had the recurrance and am on Abraxane. Since it is a taxane based chemo, I am feeling any chance I had of getting my hair back is probably gone.

At times it makes me very very sad. Other times, I am pleased with my wig and feel OK about it.

My onc didn't say much when it became obvious that my hair just wasn't going to come back. Sort of shrugged it off as "well sometimes that happens"

So I can't tell you much. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them to the best of my recollection.

chicagoetc · 09-13-2009, 04:21 PM

Nancy,

I was on Taxol (same family as Taxotere I think). I lost my hair with the earlier AC. There was some beginning growth back after Taxol, at first curly (unusual for me) and now not so curly. Only now (a year plus later) it is much thinner than it ever was. I struggle to comb/style my hair so that the thinness does not show. I'm assuming its permanent but don't really know.

Melanie

Sheila · 09-13-2009, 06:44 PM

After 2 years of Taxol, mine is returning...when I was at the bank the other day, the teller said my hair looked so "cute" with the light highlites...as in WHITE! I had to break down and tell her that this new hair is mine, no highlites, just the white gray after Taxol hair....what a difference from what I started with...dark brown / black....it has been 5 months and I am barely needing a haircut...but lots of cowlicks...kind of the woody woodpecker look!

Nancy L · 09-15-2009, 12:54 PM

Thanks for all your replies. Taxol and Taxotere are in the same drug family but they are not the same. It sounds like Taxol has it's own hair side effects.

'lizbeth · 09-15-2009, 06:14 PM

I finished Taxotere one year ago. My hair is much thinner and the hair at my temples is dramatically thinner. I have some hairs growing in slowly there. I hope it doesn't remain like this. I was thinking of trying minoxidil or Ovation.

DianneS · 09-15-2009, 10:55 PM

I had Taxotere (doxetaxel) and carboplatin for 5.5 rounds, ending March 2009. My hair is still boy short. My eyebrows which were darker are barely there. My eyelashes are slowly growing back a darker colour. I still don't have to shave my arms/legs as often as I used to. My hair has always been wavy and it still appears wavy and a nice gray colour, but I wish it would grow faster. I still wear a wig. My real hair is about an inch, maybe inch and a half long.....and the cowlicked me too! Right smack in the back of my head. Hubby thinks it looks 'cute'. I look like a mental patient! I would never cut my hair this short. Maybe by the end of the year I won't have to wear a wig.

I did hear something about taxanes causing permanent hair loss. They should warn patients about this, don't you think?
Dianne

TSund · 09-16-2009, 02:39 AM

Ruth has struggled with really thin hair ever since treatment. I've read literature that indicates that sometimes the tamoxifen or hormonal treatments are a culprit.

hutchibk · 09-16-2009, 03:02 PM

My initial tx was 6 x taxotere, adria, cytoxan. (18 weeks). My hair came back the same thickness, density and volume as before, but came back grayer and more rat fur color than before.

Upon recurrence 14 months later I did taxol, carbo, herceptin. My hair came back again same thickness, density and volume, and my (new normal) rat fur gray brown.

7 months later I had to add taxol into my herceptin again, and I stayed on taxol until we switched to tykerb/xeloda 28 months ago (switching to tykerb/herceptin 1 year ago). This is the only time that my hair has actually grown back in different in density and volume. It is definitely very thin and less dense compared to my norm... but tykerb comes with a dermatological effect and telogen effluvium, and I have remained on it for 28 months, so I am not surprised my hair is a little challenged these days.

02-15-2011, 01:27 PM

I would like to hear from anyone whos hair regained thickness even after one year of taxotere it is thinner at the front but could change

Dianedack · 02-16-2011, 02:18 AM

My hair has finally grown thinly very slowly but unfortunately with permanent bald patches, and receding hairline after 17 months post docetaxal so I do sometimes feel more comfortable in a wig. I have no eyebrows and very thin short eyelashes . I wish I had been warned as I previously had beautiful thick hair. I wore an ice cap with my first chemo in 2001 and I did not lose my hair.

Marilyn · 03-15-2011, 05:55 PM

I am "hair challenged". First had Taxotere in 2000 for four doses. My hair grew back thick and curly. Mets to bones in 2001 and 6 months of weekly Taxotere, Herceptin, and Zometa (although I'm not sure the Zometa was weekly). After this my hair did not completely come back in and was very thin. I am still getting Herceptin and after all this time I have had some hair regrowth. From the front I have a normal head of hair although thinner than what I had previously. I do not have much hair at all in my crown so wear a piece to cover the hair loss. I really don't know why I have this problem amd haven't figured out what to do to make my hair thicken up. Wish I could figure that out. I do know that I am the only person I know personally that has this problem and I've met a lot of people in my 10 years in a chemo chair.

rinaina · 03-15-2011, 07:56 PM

I was on AC and herceptin treatments and my hair on my head came back but darker, much greyer thinner and tons of cowlicks too. I am a 5 year survivor now and I never got my eyebrows back. I have very few eyelashes and they are very fragile and fall out easily. I hate having to draw my eyebrows on every day. They never look the same twice and it is time consuming, (probably because I am a perfectionist. I won't walk out of the house without my eyebrows penciled in. I have tried the stencils and it didn't work well for me. If I had a real reliable referal I would get them tatooed in a minute..but it would really have to be a good referal. Anyone know anyone in Chicago area for this? I assume a plastic surgeon's office would know. As for our hair problems, the way I see it, I am thankful to have survived 5years and that is what really matters. There are great wigs, not that it is fun to have to wear one all the time, and there is great makeup out there to compensate for no lashes/eyebrows. Let the years just keep coming.

Mary L · 03-16-2011, 07:47 AM

Rina, I was very interested in your post. My hair came back thick, grey and curly. After 1 year it was back to straight. Now after being off chemo and Herceptin for 3 1/2 years it has changed completely. Now it is thin, falling out and I have so many cowlicks I can hardly style my hair. I had my thyroid checked and it is fine. So what's up with my hair??? I wake up in the morning and it is sticking up like feathers. I have my wigs from my chemo days and I guess I'll be wearing them again in the near future. I do have my eyebrows but they are thining. I use a light brown eye shadow to fill them in. I know how you feel. Mary L