Dying your hair after chemo

jra40 · 09-16-2011, 05:28 AM

Although I do not have alot of hair yet, it is coming back but with tons of grey! I was going to just let it go but all my friends are convincing me that I am too young to go gray yet. My sister-in-law bought me some Henna coloring and I am contemplating on trying it today. I have heard that if you dye it too soon after chemo the color can turn orange. My last Taxol treatment was in July and I am only on Herceptin now.

Anyone ever have the problem of dying their hair after chemo??

Sheila · 09-16-2011, 05:35 AM

Because of the texture, mine looked alot like bird feathers after I colored it. Not good for me, I have decided to keep the gray and be happy I have hair!

It depends on the way the hair takes the color and the texture of the hair to begin with. Mine was very fine (used to be thick) hence the bird feather appearance.
Hope you have better luck!

NanaJoni · 09-16-2011, 06:52 AM

My 7 yr old granddaughter said to me: "Nana, I want your hair to be red again....like, you know, before you had cancer". And I considered it but it came back a nice white-blond so I'm going natural. Of course I'm much older than you....henna is a natural dye and shouldn't be harmful. I think we should do what makes us feel good as long as it's not a danger to our health.

Kellennea · 09-16-2011, 07:04 AM

I finished chemo on March 17th of this year, and like you, my hair came in salt and pepper. If one more person told me I looked like Jamie Lee Curtis, I was going to scream! I was scared but I did it. I colored mine a light brown in July and the only thing that happened was that it turned out a little lighter than I hoped. At the end of August I colored it again, a dark brown color and I love it! Yesterday was my first day without my "barbie hair" and it feels amazing to not have to wear it anymore!

NEDenise · 09-16-2011, 12:25 PM

Hey!
I was thinking of this very topic this morning! I finished Taxol in August, and my hair is coming back white...not gray, white!
I'm going to ask my onc how long I should wait, when I see her next week. I'll let you know what she says.
Denise

Becky · 09-16-2011, 01:16 PM

Mine came in grey too and I dyed it light brown right away with Nutrisse "Acorn" 60 - Light Natural brown. I loved that color so much, I still use it as you can see in my avatar.

I had no funky problems the first time but I did have a haircut first to get the longish curls off the back

kiwigirl · 09-16-2011, 02:53 PM

My hair came back quite dark and super curly. I decided to colour mine a little lighter with blonde tips I combed on the colour so it did not touch my scalp. I like it for a change.

chekmark · 09-17-2011, 05:02 AM

I finished chemo March 17 and had stopped wearing my wig by Memorial day weekend, although extremely short I could not take the wig any longer. My husband shaved his hair even shorter so that I would look like the wife now. (Just a little joke between us). It was very mousey gray and I called my beautician and she said we can color it so I had it colored and it turned out great. It has now been colored 3 times and is not damaged at all. I had super curly hair before and it is super curly again. It made me feel better too just knowing that the gray was gone. We did notice on my last color that the roots are not as gray all over and it is going back to my natural color. Hooray. Now if it would just grow alittle faster please. I say go for it.

Ruth · 09-17-2011, 10:26 AM

I had some gray in the front show up when it started coming in. I waited until it was a good length and then got temp (wash in) color. I didn't have a reaction...any kind of anesthesia and harsh chemicals in your body can affect the coloring process. I didn't go swimming or out in the sun for a couple days so it set really well. Been coloring now for 7 years! I too felt too young to be gray yet! My youngest was 1 1/2 when I finally had some hair coming back in.
The good part about temp color is they can fix it pretty easy.
Hugs ~ Ruth

jra40 · 09-17-2011, 10:59 AM

I ended up doing the Henna yesterday and let's just say that I look like a punk rocker! The gray picked up the "tea" color and now I have weird patches of light rust/brown all over! Looks ridiculous so now it's back to the wig until I see a beautician. I have to say that instead of crying like I would've done before cancer, I just started laughing. I used to depend on my hair like a security blanket but now I realize that it's not that important to me as it was. I just do not sweat the small stuff anymore. Another great lesson I learned from this journey!

Thank you for all the posts, I enjoyed the feedback! I should've went to a salon before taking this on myself. Need to change my Avatar once my new hair color is in place

Deb33 · 09-17-2011, 12:17 PM

The minute I saw hair on my scalp, I dyed it and have been dying it every 3 weeks or so. I use a natural hair dye from the health food store and have had no issues. My hair came in white too - not salt and pepper but white! I have about 1/2 an inch and still stick to wigs - I hope to be out and about within a few months sporting my new do.

Sheila · 09-17-2011, 06:07 PM

Its just hair...that what i keep telling myself, and after losing it 4 times, I amjust happy to have any at all....of course i have aged on this journey.....in my time with breast cancer, my hair has gone from this pic, to my avatar.....the wonders of chemo chemicals and age....

Bunty · 09-17-2011, 07:56 PM

WOW - that's amazing hair Sheila in the pic, but I think I prefer you with short! When my hair was long enough to dye after chemo, I'd be straight to the hairdresser, but she only uses more natural colours to start with (I think I've had every type of hair colour imaginable in my life).

But this time, as I'm getting older (thank goodness for that) when my hair comes back in, I'm going to try and do the elegant salt and pepper look and keep it short - well that's the plan anyway (which was the plan last time, but couldn't do it and hit the bottle again so to speak!)

Cheers Marie

JillaryJill · 09-18-2011, 06:30 PM

My hair came in white also. I looked like a Q-Tip. My daughter is getting married October 22nd so I want a good hair color. My stylist told me not to use peroxide dye products just yet on the new hair. My hair is coming in thick and is about 1 inch long. She colored it with a non peroxide semi permanent glaze. The color and shine is great. The color was stronger at first, but now has faded a bit and looks really good. Prior to my daughters wedding October 22, I will go in for another glaze about 2 weeks before her wedding. This is a great solution.

ljbm · 09-18-2011, 06:47 PM

Mine came back in brown and gray which is what it was before only with more gray. I had the softest curls and it was so easy to care for. I was kinda sad when it began to look more like my old hair. I dye it all the time now, but when I didn't have hair, that didn't bother me. I just put on a baseball cap to match my outfit and no more bad hair days. I had to adjust to having hair again. Hair-no hair-big deal. 4 years later I'm still here and NED. Yea God!! Yea MD Anderson !!! Yea Herceptin!!!

NEDenise · 09-19-2011, 05:52 AM

jillaryjill,
How exciting! Your daughter's wedding! God bless all of you! I'm sure you'll be glowing with happiness...no matter what your hair is like!

ljbm,
So funny that you mentioned the matching baseball caps. It took me a while, but I think I'm there now. I have a cap that has "NO Hair Day" stitched across the front. It 's my favorite. It let's people know I'm okay with being bald...and gives them "permission" to wish me well.

But...I couldn't take the wispy white hair thing. I felt like a dandelion, gone to seed. Becky mentioned the color "acorn", and it sounded so natural and beautiful...I did it!! Now, I can see my hair coming in...and I think I look less pale. Thanks for the insider's tip about acorn!

Those of you who are leary of taking the plunge...I used to dye my hair all the time before BC and chemo got in the way...so I knew I wasn't allergic. If you've never colored your hair...be sure to do the allergy spot test first.

But it felt so GREAT to do something I used to do in my old life! I can't believe I actually enjoyed the smell and the mess...because it was part of my old normal!! The peach fuzz shows up a little better...but the real joy was the feeling of empowerment!!

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!!
Denise