Eyelash and Eyebrow Please give 2cents worth

Jean · 11-24-2006, 05:30 PM

Hi Everyone,
I was a bit surprised that I lost a good amount of eyelashes and eyebrows after I completed chemo treatments on Sept. 7th...the following month I noticed
my eyelashes and eyebrows were getting thin.

Did anyone else loose them a few weeks after completeing chemo treatments?
Also, how long before they grow back? Do they grow back?
My hair is growing in ever so slowly it has been 10 weeks since my last chemo
treatment of TCH. I have a small peach fuzz at this point. I am now on every three weeks of herceptin. I know hercpetin does not cause hair loss.

Any input would help.

Thanks,
Jean

sally · 11-24-2006, 05:40 PM

I lost my eyelashes and brows after chemo. I forgot how long after. It has been 2 years since I finished. The hair on my head came back thick and wavy. My eyebrows came back bushier. I have more facial hair. My eyelashes have been growing back for 2 years and they are still very short and straight. Sally

Yorkiegirl · 11-24-2006, 07:28 PM

I lost my eye lashes and eye brows 2 times after finishing Chemo.

I had enough hair on my head to go with out any headcover 7 months after Chemo.

Mary Jo · 11-24-2006, 08:08 PM

Hi Jean,

I, like you, (and others) also lost my eyelashes and eyebrows about 1 month AFTER chemo was finished. That totally blew me away. I did notice that they were quite thin the month I was finishing chemo but figured I'd made it that far and I was safe. NOT! I will be finished with chemo one year this Nov. 30, 2006 and can say FINALLY I am pretty much back to normal. It truly does take awhile.

Mary Jo

Bev · 11-24-2006, 09:07 PM

During Ac, lost head hair. With the following TH, I started growing peach fuzz on head in a wierd pattern baldness way. Brows and lashes gradually disappeared. 3 months after finishing TH but still taking H, brows and lashes were back. Not quite as thick, but normal looking. I did use eyeliners and brow pencils to look normal. There is something on the web on how to apply the makeup.

Hope it doesn't take much time for you. BB

Chelee · 11-25-2006, 12:04 AM

I had TCH also. I believe it was chemo # five my eyebrows & lashes started thinning. I was so disappointed as I didn't expect it since I was almost done with my final one. I barely had enough lashes to put mascara on. It wasn't long after my last chemo (June) that they finally started to come back in.

But for some reason...I just recently noticed they are thinning out AGAIN. I did not expect this now since I am five months out from my last chemo. My eyebrows are almost gone! They look awful...the few hairs I have left there are sticking straight out. The only thing I did differently lately is my last dose of herceptin was a 3 wk dose. I usually do weekly. I didn't think herceptin played a part in this, but I am starting to wonder?

Chelee

Maggie · 11-25-2006, 04:27 AM

Hi Jean,

I lost my eyebrows and eyelashes a couple weeks after I finished chemo.
The good thing was, they were the last of my hair to leave and the first thing to come back.

I think I lined my eyelids with a brown eyeliner and not to dark.
My friend just finished A/C a few weeks ago and called me the other day and said "guess what!" "My lashes and brows just fell out!"

It honestly won't take long and they'll be back.

Maggie..... whose been doing well and not thinking of cancer as much lately and has not had the need to visit here as often. That's a good sign for me. PTL..

KellyA · 11-25-2006, 04:42 AM

Hi Jean,

My eyebrows and lashes stayed in almost till the end of treatment (4 dd A/C and 12 weekly Taxols). I also thought I was "safe" because I had made it through most of chemo. The hair on my head fell out 2 weeks after my first A/C, but started to grow back during the Taxol. I have pretty thick, but fine, hair about 3/4" long all over my head ( and solid white I might add!!) and I am now 3 weeks out of chemo. The lashes and eyebrows are nowhere to be found.......

Love, Kelly

Kimberly Lewis · 11-25-2006, 05:52 AM

It was a dissapointment to loose eyelashes and eyebrows - after chemo. I never lost them all, just the good eyelashes, the really nice long ones! I noticed yesterday that they are longer now than they ever have been. I occasionally pluck eyebrows now too - this is one year since chemo. Don't worry - this too shall pass!

MJo · 11-25-2006, 06:49 AM

I was more upset about losing my eyebrows and lashes than losing my hair. I hated my "bald face" look. Everything grew back. In fact, I just got my brows waxed. Upper lip hair grew back too. Rats. I was hoping it was gone forever.

suzan w · 11-25-2006, 10:44 AM

also lost eyebrows and lashes toward the end of chemo...just as I was saying, "Hey, my lashes didn't fall out!!" I looked and...they were just about gone. I hadn't noticed, it was not dramatic like the hair loss. First hair to grow back was my annoying little chin whisker-3 of them...go figure!!! The brows and lashes gradually grew back and now are just as good as before! My hair came back thicker than before!

chrisy · 11-25-2006, 11:14 AM

Hi Jean,
Yep, me too! I was so thinking I was not going to lose them as I finished chemo, then it got to where I could count them down...5...4..3..2..1..0 eyelashes! It was a bummer. It seemed like it took forever and was distressing to me because it was not as easy to "cover up" as hair. During this time I had my normal eye exam and asked the eye doctor if he could see any eyelashes, and he (with his big magnifier) said "yes, you have 4! It was a start!
They did grow back, although I think that neither my lashes or eyebrows are as think as before. As they seem more fine, like baby hair.

My head-hair also took a while to get going, several months of just barely peach fuzz, then started out very curly and, again, baby soft. Now I just love my hair - or maybe I just appreciate it more! Except I did finally give in and start shaving my legs again after swearing I would never do it again if God would just let me get hair!

Hang in there you'll be back to your full glory. In the meantime, you might have some fun with your "new" hair - I did mine all spiky when it got about an inch long and people just thought I was hip!

Take care
Chris

karenann · 11-25-2006, 11:22 AM

I noticed that even when my eyelashes and eyebrows grew back in after chemo, the were kind of thin until I completed my year of Herceptin. Now they seem to be much better.

Karen

astrid · 11-26-2006, 06:45 AM

Oh, I am glad this has come back up again. I am losing my eyelashes for the THIRD time. I lost them in March right after I completed chemo. Then I lost them in August, two months after herceptin and I am losing them again. I have found that false eyelashes are really easy to apply, but this third time is really bothering me. I always worry will they come back as thick and long as they were?? I never had great hair, but I had great eyelashes and I REALLY do not want to lose them again.

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I have also ALWAYS had great nails. Easy to grow and easy to keep long. Now, I have to trim them at the quick because they just split when they grow any longer.

bmuenks · 11-26-2006, 08:55 AM

My eyebrows didn't completely grow back until about 2 months after I finished herceptin. Now they are thick again and I have to have them waxed. Try to to be patient. Most of these side effects are hard to handle when they happen but remember, for the most part, they are temporary. BERTA

Jean · 11-26-2006, 07:49 PM

Thank you everyone for your kind words and wisdom! I thought at first that
something freaky was going on since I lost the lashes and brows so late after
treatment - nice to know I am normal like the rest of you.

Bev your right about applying the make-up, I have gotten to be a pro with the eye brow shadow the few hairs I have left I brush up and then fill out with the
soft powder - now the lashes are something else. Funny I did not mind loosing
the hair on my head - but the lashes WOW I feel naked. I purchased natural
looking false eye-lashes and it is working out fine. And yes MJO it is weid that
the darn hair above the lip just hangs on!

Special good wishes to Mary Jo on finishing chemo next week -
Chelee nice to see you back on the boards!

Blessings to All!
Jean

Mary Jo · 11-26-2006, 08:04 PM

Jean,

My chemo ended LAST Nov. 30, 2005 NOT this Nov. 30. Thankfully, it's been almost 1 year since I've finished. I do have lots of aches and pains though and not liking that but I don't think it's cancer. It's sporadic and in varying places of lower back - left and right hip at different times. I think it's just the effects of all my body has been through BUT I do have eyelashes. LOL.

Take care.

Mary Jo

Vanessa · 11-29-2006, 09:35 PM

I just finished chemo two weeks ago, however, I am still on herceptin for 52 weeks. Since reading this post, I am now prepared for my eyelashes and eyebrows to fall out. They have thinned, but not completely fallen out. Thanks for the preparation!

Chelee · 11-30-2006, 12:49 AM

As I mentioned in my prior reply the TCH did cause me to lose my eyebrows & lashes. But I do know for me....herceptin does play a part in this too. I see Karen & Bertha has noticed the same thing I have. Which is while still on herceptin...they eyebrows & lashes stay thin to none. In fact I usually do weekly herceptin & this last time I did a 3 week dose and now I have almost NO eyebrows at all....and lashes thinned out to nothing again.

Also my finger nails are awful since the start of herceptin. They hardly grow at all...are super thin and split all the time. My toe nails don't grow either. I've noticed that my big toes had lost *half* the nail during my TCH treatment. They turned black and blue, lifted up a bit and fell off. They still have not grown back. I have half a nail on each foot & they won't grown at all till I am off herceptin. But if thats all I have to worry about...I have it made.

Chelee