thin on top

[LAURIE]

When I finidhed A/C I had a six week preriod before and after surgery and my hair was growing in great. After week 5 or so of Taxol and Herceptin it thinnied out a lot on top and my eyebrows thinned too (also elsewhere). Know I have loads of hair on the sides and back and hardly any on top. Before I felt like I looked like a soldier, now I feel like George Catanza from Seinfeld. I wondered if any of you had trouble with your hair growing on the top? I am feeling desperate enough that I am using Minoxidil on the top of my head to stimulate growth. I really feel for people with thinning hair. At this point I would rather have a shaved head. Have any of you tried different products to stimulate growth? or would they even make a difference?

[DonnaD]

Hi Laurie,
Your hair seems be growing quickly. I finished A/C in Dec. and started Taxol & Herceptin in Jan. After A/C I could see very thin fuzz??? My last Taxol was March 7. I now have a little more fuzz, and it is gray ((I was a dark blonde before chemo). It is really thin on the top and sides and there seems to be more in back. Let me know if any products you are using helps. I am hoping to have hair by the summer. I will never make fun of comb overs again.

You're adorable with or without hair!
Donna

Laurie,

I went bald in various places on head while on taxol/carboplatin. I spoke to the woman who runs the wig place in my cancer center (she also had cancer a while back) and she told me I should shave the entire head to get an even regrowth. Until then, I had strands of long hair and places without any. My sister shaved my head and it's now growing back the same all over, not very fast but thick and even.

[capj_823]

It has been 8 months since I completed Herceptin. My once very nice hair is thin, fly away and baby thin - I can clearly see my scalp. Also, it has been 1-1/2 years since completing chemo. I am very angry that the oncologist as well as the drug company has not communicated the side effects of Herceptin regarding hair. I could have had a mastectomy instead of all those crappy drugs. I have invested too much financially and emotionally to not receive this information. Too many people are complaining about horrible hair and herceptin. I know it is just hair -- but guess what -- I will take nice hair on my head over a breast any day. I am pissed off!

Colleen
Pittsburgh, PA
Diagnosed 12/05 at age 52
Completed 4 - A/C
Completed 4 - Taxotere and Herceptin
Complted: 52 weeks of Herceptin -- ended April 2007
Lumpectomy
Radiaton and boost
Stage: between 1 and 2, grade 3, ER/PR-, Her2++
3.2 cm tumor, no node involvement

[CoachPlayWin]

Wow, are you guys saying that you completed your Taxol many months ago, and still have very little hair? I will finish in January, and thought I'd be able to lose the wig this Spring. Am I delusional?! Anybody else out there with a different result? I will still be on Herceptin for a year. Thanks.

[MJo]

My hair grew in as thick as it was before chemo, thankfully. Only difference is that I saw my natural color for the first time in 20 years, and it was salt and pepper. (My photo on this board is before BC. I'm cheating I know). I went bald with A/C, then lost eyebrows and lashes with Taxol. Everyone is different -- I didn't mind the bald head so much, but hated the bald face. Everything has grown back now.

[theresaw]

I completed chemo over a yr ago, and herceptin about 6months or so. my hair is growing back slowly, but I am also bald on top, I can't stand it, I finally went and got me a wig. My hair used to be thick, it is now thin and uncontrollable it goes in it's own direction. So I guess until it grows in I will be wearing a wig.
I hope this helps

[nitewind]

I finished taxotere in February of '07 and I just completed my year of herceptin. I was hoping I would have more hair. In Feb it will be a year without the chemos and, as you can see by my picture, still not much hair.
If anyone finds a product that will help, please, do us all a favor and post about it.
Hugs

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Well, I can only commiserate w/y'all. I had a mastec in '95. 9 cm tumor w/2 lymph nodes out of 21. 4th stage ILC. Then 4 Adria + 8 CMF and baldness, including eyebrows and lashes and everywhere. It all grew back. Then '98 multiple mets to my liver. Now we found out I was HER2+ 80%. ER/PR-. Taxotere for 9 mnths, beginning Sept. Nov we added Herceptin. I have been on Vit H now for 9 yrs!!!!!!!!! This is what *my* Survivorship looks like. NED since May of '99.

Had the whole bald thing again. But this second time, no eyebrows came back. And only a few of my really long and thick lashes grew back. About 17 of them. I have named them...

Thick curly hair w/great body and sheen went w/the cancer (and the breast) -- that's how I see it. I now have thin, limp, severely dry hair w/no definitive hair line. My widow's peak has vanished. My daughter mentioned something about my high forehead! She is sweet. It is a receding hairline in reality. Kind of like male pattern baldness. So I *do* my hair to camouflage this unfeminine look. I fake it. Where'd it go? With the cancer. We don't get to pick what we end up with, except when it comes to ATTITUDE. I work w/what I have. I make do. I exfoliate, moisturize, add some color, create eyebrows every morning and build lashes with a steady hand. I use volumizing shampoo, a lot of conditioner and do the best I can w/what I have to work w/. By the time the world sees me, I hear, You look great! (I always think, you mean for a 4th stage chemo patient?) Well, you know what?! I am grateful to be here, even though I want it ALL back.

I have lived to greet 5 grandchildren (now ages 1 to 11) and I think Life is sweet. Hope this helps some of you get a grip. I know. Not what we signed up for. But I must admit I feel pretty darn joyful for a balding chick w/no eyebrows. Oh, did I mention? I now have a mustache. Do you call that *fair*? I'm thinking, Someone has a really weird sense of humor... And you know what? I'm still smiling anyway.


PS... Nitewind -- so nice to meet you! You're the one from the middle!
Andi

[Mary Jo]

My hair came back slowly as well. Finished Taxol Nov. 30 05 - herceptin Oct. 06 - Like I said Taxol ended Nov. 30, 05 - didn't get my first haircut (trim) and highlight till Aug. 06. BUT, like andi said, "it's all about the attitude" So be it. It's hair. I know, I know, things change since cancer/chemo. It isn't all we bargained for but we are here - hair - hairless - straight hair - curly hair - eyelashes - no eyelashes - we are here. Here to love - to enjoy life and share that love with those around us.

I've learned that's what brings me the most happiness. God knows it isn't about the "beauty" with me. LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Smile ladies - you are all beautiful. I know it sounds cliche BUT it really is about the beauty inside.

Hugs

Mary Jo

[Bev]

Taxol seems to do that. I had whined about what look to be male pattern baldness. It took about 8 mos after taxol, then I had curls galore on top.

Now almost 2 years after finishing taxol, my roots are resembling my before hair, fine and straight. I still have my curls at the end though! It is going to be hard to cut them off. My hairline had inched back before BC though.

So I think eventually you will get hair that is close to your original. It just takes forever. BB

[janet/FL]

I have had a similar experience to Bev. I did only have Taxotere and Herceptin so my story is different from most of yours. I lost my hair with male pattern baldness, and slowly I lost all hair, eyelashes and eye brows, too. I lost all slowly enough that some were coming in while others were still leaving!
My hair came in wiry and I looked like one of those funny looking standard poodles with tight curls all over! Same color, same amount of gray--or maybe a bit more, LOL. As it grew, quite slowly, I realized how thick it was and how much body! Just a couple of months ago, I thought that maybe chemo wasn't so bad since I finally got some good hair!
Well, a couple of months ago, I posted that all the sudden my hairbrush was full of hair. And my scalp felt really funny, too. Like when I was losing my hair. After a time, it stopped. And near as I can tell, I probably have about the same hair as I had--but it still has more body. I realize however, that the body is leaving as the hair grows. So right now, I am hoping what hair I now have, stays and it will not be worse anyway than before chemo. But it was fun having thick curly hair that was a "wash and go" type of hair.
At this time, I am now realizing how much of my memory I have lost. I guess I would take the memory over the thick hair. But losing ones memory does have one advantage. It saves a lot of money as I read a lot, and now I can just reread all the books on my shelf!
In my case, it seems that chemo activated all the hair follicles on my head. I never had thick hair even when a child so I know that it was not just follicles that were here before. I wouldn't have believed it could happen. I hope all of you that are having trouble getting your hair to grow in, can find something that will activate you sluggish hair follicles. And I hope I can keep what I now have. Reading your stories of having trouble getting hair to grow, puts my hair problem in perspective.
Hugs, for these bad hair--hairless--days
I hate wigs!

[harrie]

A patient of mine had 4 rounds of ACT and within a realively short time her hair started coming in thick and curley and EXTREMELY healthy looking. I mean it was absolutely beautiful. She told me she used the product Nioxin (the shampoo and conditioner) She actually started using it even before her hair started growing back. She finished chemo after me and yet her hair was growing in faster then mine. So I ran down and bought some of that Nioxin and have been using it for over a month now. I think it helps the new hair follicles. I highly recommend you give it a try. My hair feels nice and thick and I see no visible areas of thin spots. It is also very soft. Nioxin is suppose to condition the hair follicles and is esp made for thinning hair. Check it out!!
Good luck.
Harrie

[harrie]

Today I was talking to another br ca survivor and she said her hair started coming in very thin on top. So she did some research on hair follicles and she found out that there are a variety of different types of hair follicles with a variety of characteristics. For example, some follicles have hair that will grow more rapidly, others slower. She told me to tell all of my sisters at the HER2 that are concerned about the thinning of your new hair to not fret. Be patient and it will all eventually come in nice. At first it just takes a while for all the hair follicles to get going after chemo.
Harrie

[capj_823]

Thanks for the info! Glad to hear that! Very glad to hear that!

Colleen

[Sueinuk]

I too am very thin on top. I finished chemo over a year ago and my hair grew rapidly ..... but only on the back of my head. I still have no eyebrows and am very thin 'down below' as well. Although I could get away with not wearing a wig now I just don't like my baby fine hair and widows peak, so I buy wigs and wear them when I go out.

[Mary Anne in TX]

Mine was thin on top seems like forever after Taxol, Carbo, & H. But when it began to thicken up, it did it quickly. Probably about 6 - 9 months later. It just kept filling in and I just kept having more to comb.
About once a month I had a little celebration of "more hair"!!!!
I must admit it has been nice to have it back. It changed colors about 3 times along the way! Weird. I celebrated those times too!
But I had more sadness about my lashes! I just kept looking in the mirror and seeing this sad face! They came back too, but not as full and certainly not as strong as before.
Boy, do I ever understand the anger and frustration. Tough enough to look good these days! We don't need the constant hair thing too!
But, I was determined not to stress too much about it (I had heard that stress causes hair loss too! is that true?).
It will come back! I got a real for real hair cut 3 weeks ago! Sort of scary, but turned out great!

[janet11]

Hi all, I'm having the same problem: I have some hair on the sides but little on top. After TCH (last treatment was a year ago), and last Herceptin was in May.... I do the 'monthly celebration' thing (it takes me that long to notice changes).

I was getting pretty discouraged a couple months ago and finally bought a wig ( 10 months after the END of chemo) because I was so disappointed that I had so little hair (or too much scalp). But I'm noticing that the sides are filling in now and I even have a bit of hairline on top.

I AM using minoxidil per my onc suggestion. Am hoping that's just stimulating things and getting it to 'jump start' and that it won't fall out when I stop using it.

Like most people here, I knew I would likely lose my hair during chemo. But I never thought that it might not regrow. Yuckers.

Janet in TX too