How long do you think I have??

[crb]

Oncologist said hair loss should start a bit after 2nd treatment. I am 2 weeks out from my 1st round and the hair just seems to be falling out all of a sudden. I have thick hair that I had cut short ahead of time. How long do you think I have until I have to pull the wigs out from the back of my closet?

In total denial about this and not ready...1st time I have cried since they told me about having to do chemo. Didn't expect to see a pile of hair in the shower this morning

[IrvineFriend]

Not long. Once it starts falling out, it's a few days. I suggest going and getting it buzzed off right now. Then it's over with and you won't have to deal with hair for awhile! I added up how much money I saved and treated myself to something else (lots of earrings).

[Paty]

I lost my hair just after the first dosis of chemo. So I started wearing turbans and wigs almost right away.

[KDR]

If it falls out fast, it'll grow back fast!

Hugs,
Karen

[jaykay]

Days 14-17 after the first chemo seem to be the average for hair loss. Sorry to say you're almost there :-(. But you'll be amazed how fast you can get ready in the morning!

Best
Janis

[Jackie07]

I wore a baseball cap most of the time. And I cushioned the inside of my wig with a small silk handkerchief when I had to wear it. Silk absorbs/breathes and keeps the head cool.

[tricia keegan]

I was sorry for your choice of subject headline on a board like this, however I agree with others that your hair should be gone in a few days but if you have it shaved its easier and won't clog the shower as mine did!

[Becky]

Whoever said 14-17 days was dead on. I started at 14 days and it really started coming out heavy day 16/17 so I shaved my head then

[Jaimieh]

I think I had mine until day 21 but I was on TCH. However, when it started coming out I shaved it because it hurt .

[snolan]

I started 2 weeks also, just went in and got it buzzed off, less messy that way. Slept with a towel over my pillow until it all fell out.

[Carol Ann]

Hi crb, I didn't lose my hair until after the second TCH infusion, and I did NOT shave my head. I still have wisps all over. For me, shaving it meant surrendering and smacked of barbed wire and entering a concentration camp.

I stopped washing it and kept brushing it out. I did have an appointment to have it buzzed off with my hairstylist (she cut it to chin length for me right before I started chemo, it had been halfway down my back) but then I just couldn't go through with it.

I know I'm in the minority here on this ... but I wanted to share my perspective on it. I go around here at home without wearing anything on my head, and I nearly always just wear a turban when I go out. I have a wig that I have worn exactly once because it feels so uncomfortable.

If the chemo drugs want MY hair, they're going to have to come and get it, because I'm NOT giving it up!

BUT -- I also didn't have much scalp pain, like others here. Just like everything else in this ... you have to do what YOU feel comfortable with.

I keep telling myself it will grow back, and it will! And you're not alone with crying, I have too ... LOTS!!

Carol Ann

[Adriana Mangus]

Hi

I see this posting is just about losing hair,
ha !! Thought for a moment someone
was about to check out.

Your hair will return in no time, look at something
else in your body you really feel god about it.

Personally it takes me less time to get ready for a
function. Also, people never know what Addie
is going to look like next time around!!

Have lots of fun with your wigs.

Adriana

[1rarebird]

On Dr. Oz yesterday, their expert on hair said that for thinning problems, many times it is caused by a lack of enough protein in the diet and a vitamin defficiency which Biotin supplements help. Now there is no way either of these will reverse the chemo fall out, but when those poisons are over, perhaps these two methods will help improve the quality of the re-growth.

I'll note that in my case, the chemo worked very quickly to debald my otherwise healthy head of hair and thick mustache. When my hair did finally come back in it was much less dense on top of my noggin as well as upper lip. I think I'll try some Biotin and eat more fish and poultry to see if that will improve the quality of the hair I can grow now. HTH someone--bird

[Laurel]

crb,

I proactively shaved my head out on the patio with the dog's grooming shears. I just could not stand shedding like a dog, so I thought, "well, I shave the dogs every summer...." Ok, I am weird, but it somehow struck me funny so I could do it and laugh about it. As my eyebrows thinned and my lashes fell out, I got scared by my reflection in the mirror and then just as suddenly as it all began it seemed to be over. Within two weeks my lashes were coming along nicely. The brows filled in swiftly and the hair on my head was growing in about 6 weeks. The head hair takes quite a while to get long enough to forgo the wigs so try to make peace with hats, scarves, and wigs until you have a length where you are comfortable. I stopped the fuss as soon as it was a quarter of an inch.

You will get through this, I promise. Try to find a way to laugh. It truly is the best medicine.

[Jean]

1rarebird....(love the name) lol.
It will be almost 9years and like you I had a head full of extremely thick hair. It grew back thin and I have taken
biotin and eat plenty of protein....still thin. I am also on femera (I think the AI contribute to the thin hair) as my dr. had said the loss of estrogen. Oh well I am not upset over it as "what's a bad hair anyway"....at least we have hair thin or not.

CRB - for some women the hair loss can be a major emotional event. As you have read some cover with wigs, some scarfs or wraps, some even go natural.
Whichever you choose I believe all women (and men)
who are in treatment look beautiful. The other day I was food shopping and there was a lady with her head wrapped in a silk scarf I walked over to her and just wished her well and we hugged. There is a great book called "no hair day" about the hair loss and the journey during treatment.

[Mtngrl]

My hair loss was gradual. I started chemo at the end of May, and there are pictures of me in August with much thinner hair, but hair nonetheless. I kept getting it cut shorter. I also quit washing it or even getting it wet very often. By September I just had a few scraggly wisps of hair left (and no eye lashes and hardly any eyebrows), and I usually kept my head covered. I knit, so I made a bunch of caps and turbans. I also wore scarves wrapped around my head. I got some wigs, and wore those occasionally.

The good news is that by Christmas I had a full head of (very short, buzz-cut) hair again. As it got longer it was very curly, and stayed that way for about a year after chemo. Now it's the way it used to be, thick and wavy.

Hey, 1rarebird it's good to hear from you again. I was thinking about you the other day and wondering how you're doing.

[Coux92]

I just gave up wearing my wig @ work,four months after chemo ended. Such a liberating feeling! Everyone compliments my on my "sheik" new style!
FYI, photo in my avitar is from Christmas Eve. Much more hair now!
You will get there too...for now, it is one less thing for you to do in the morning...

[Nurse4u2day]

Crb,
I use to have full thick beautiful hair. Always got compliments on it. My hair started falling out dramatically about 16 days after first chemo.i thought about cutting it short at first but just couldn't do it. Then hair started to mat up like crazy and started to pull at my scalp( hurt) so I finally called up hair dresser and she came to my house and buzzed cut it. 1 hour later I went out ( with cap on) shopping. I did grieve the hair loss however I also looked at it as a battle / war that I am fighting that I intend to win and my hair for now is just a causality of war . And it is also something that I will reclaim after the war is won!!! For now it's about wigs.

[crb]

Thanks for the replies...and sorry about the title - I really didn't look at it any other way and was in a panic over the hair. This has been the hardest thing so far. I had bought 2 wigs (went with mom and daughter) and had them ready aside from getting bangs cut. Went Saturday and got that done, but couldn't bring myself to take girl up on offer of buzzing it. By Sunday, I couldn't stand it anymore (just sat for the longest time and pulled a ton out). I took kids into the backyard (15 yr old boy, 12 yr old girl) armed with scissors and the camera. Son took pictures, and daughter went to town on cutting my hair! I was cried out and ready to laugh I still chuckle at my son telling her to give me a mohawk!

That afternoon, I went back to the wig store and let her buzz it...was so happy to be "done" with it, but now having major problems with the wigs irritating and then hurting my head. Will this get better when all the hair has finally come out?

[Nurse4u2day]

Crb,
From my personal experience after the buzz cut my head was a bit tender but after awhile it subsided. As for the wig thing , I ordered mine from tlc and it came with a nylon stocking to cover my head and then put the wig over it. Prior to that I would just put the wig on and it irritated my scalp. Itchy , raw and couldn't wait to take off. Don't get me wrong sometimes
My head gets a lil sore still when I take my wig off but not often.