|
09-19-2012, 11:36 PM
|
#1
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Posts: 1,867
|
Post Femara and hair loss
I noticed since I stopped Femara, I am not losing as much hair. It is probably normal hair loss now.
__________________
*** MARYANNE *** aka HARRIECANARIE
1993: right side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads
1999: left side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads, tamoxifen
2006:
BRCA 2 positive
Stage I, invasive DCIS (6mm x 5mm)
Grade: intermediate
sentinal node biopsy: neg
HER2/neu amplified 4.7
ER+/PR+
TOPO II neg
Oncotype dx 20
Bilat mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction
oophorectomy
2007:
6 cycles TCH (taxotere, carboplatin, herceptin)
finished 1 yr herceptin 05/07
Arimidex, stopped after almost 1 yr
Femara
|
|
|
09-21-2012, 06:29 PM
|
#2
|
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Hershey, PA. Live The Sweet Life!
Posts: 2,005
|
Re: Post Femara and hair loss
Harrie,
What is life like post-femara? I have another year and my knees are killing me!
__________________
Smile On!
Laurel
Dx'd w/multifocal DCIS/IDS 3/08
7mm invasive component
Partial mast. 5/08
Stage 1b, ER 80%, PR 90%, HER-2 6.9 on FISH
0/5 nodes
4 AC, 4 TH finished 9/08
Herceptin every 3 weeks. Finished 7/09
Tamoxifen 10/08. Switched to Femara 8/09
Bilat SPM w/reconstruction 10/08
Clinical Trial w/Clondronate 12/08
Stopped Clondronate--too hard on my gizzard!
Switched back to Tamoxifen due to tendon pain from Femara
15 Years NED
I think I just might hang around awhile....
|
|
|
09-22-2012, 12:13 AM
|
#3
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,154
|
Re: Post Femara and hair loss
Oh dear one...hair loss or not...you are beautiful.
Hugs,
Jean
__________________
Stage 1, Grade 1, 3/30/05
Lumpectomy 4/15/05 - 6MM IDC
Node Neg. (Sentinel node)
ER+ 90% / PR-, Her2+++ by FISH
Ki-67 40%
Arimidex 5/05
Radiation 32 trt, 5/30/05
Oncotype DX test 4/17/06, 31% high risk
TOPO 11 neg. 4/06
Stopped Arimidex 5/06
TCH 5/06, 6 treatments
Herceptin 5/06 - for 1 yr.
9/06 Completed chemo
Started Femara Sept. 2006
|
|
|
09-22-2012, 01:03 AM
|
#4
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Posts: 1,867
|
Re: Post Femara and hair loss
Ahhh Jean, sweet as ever.....
Laurel, well to tell you the truth, ever since I switched from Arimidex to Femara, I had hardly any side effects if any. So being post-femara, I didn't notice hardly any change except it seemed I loss less hair when I washed it.
__________________
*** MARYANNE *** aka HARRIECANARIE
1993: right side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads
1999: left side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads, tamoxifen
2006:
BRCA 2 positive
Stage I, invasive DCIS (6mm x 5mm)
Grade: intermediate
sentinal node biopsy: neg
HER2/neu amplified 4.7
ER+/PR+
TOPO II neg
Oncotype dx 20
Bilat mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction
oophorectomy
2007:
6 cycles TCH (taxotere, carboplatin, herceptin)
finished 1 yr herceptin 05/07
Arimidex, stopped after almost 1 yr
Femara
|
|
|
09-28-2012, 09:37 AM
|
#5
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,477
|
Re: Post Femara and hair loss
Harrie,
Glad you are feeling good !
|
|
|
10-09-2012, 07:59 PM
|
#6
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: western ma
Posts: 280
|
Re: Post Femara and hair loss
harrie - how much hair did you lose on Femara and was it gradual or rather sudden? i had to can Arimidex because of a multitude of side effects. now i am on Femara and i was cruising along pretty well with just the standard bone pain when i noticed thinned hair to my touch on the crown of my skull. i asked two people to look and they verified it for me. i have really thick curls everywhere else, and yet there it is straight and about half the hair i had 2 months ago. i fear that if this is how much hair i've lost this fast... what will happen in 3 yrs on this stuff? someone said to me "well we have no choice", but i beg to differ. it's very upsetting to lose your hair and go bald on chemo. you get used to it, but still.... and then you slowly get your hair back. i had 2 uneventful years on tamoxifen and then had to start these AI's, being post-menopausal thanks to a complete hysterectomy. i wonder and wish i could just go back on tamoxifen, the devil i already know.
anyway, i would love to hear about the experiences of others on femara with their hair and how you dealt with it. did you take Biotin, other supplements, use Rogaine? anything. thank you! valerie
__________________
8/09 - IDC 1.8 cm triple positive, lumpectomy left breast
10/09 began chemo (taxotere & carboplatin) and weekly herceptin.
1/21/10 finished chemo, continued on herceptin every 3 weeks until 10/2010.
2/10 began 7 wks of radiation
6/10 mom dies of primary peritoneal ovarian cancer
8/10 got my last remaining ovary out
10/10 mammogram all clear
3/11 MRI shows 5 'spots' in right breast, largest 1 cm unidentifiable on US
needle biopsy proved the largest to be old inflamed cyst -phew!
7/10 switched to Arimidex
8/9 switched to Femara - allergic to arimidex
Femara made me lose hair quickly so switched to Aromasin
Aromasin made my hair fall out too and the bone pain was too much.
back on Tamoxifen 1/2013.
blood clot from trains and planes 5/2014 so on coumadin per onco for as long as i am on tamoxifen
tamoxifen was supposed to be up with my 5 yrs in may but my boyfriend was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer so i am staying on tamoxifen indefinitely because i want some ammo against BC, given the stress. lost my husband in only 10 wks in 2007 to stage 4 esophageal cancer.
cancer's screwing with another man i love
2/2016 - 6yrs in remission, off tamoxifen and off coumadin - yay!
|
|
|
10-09-2012, 11:23 PM
|
#7
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Posts: 1,867
|
Re: Post Femara and hair loss
Valerie, I had medium thickness of hair to start out with. I didn't really notice hair loss when looking in the mirror and no one ever mentioned that it looked thinner. The most noticeable sign of hair loss was in the shower drain catch after washing my hair. It just looked like so much and now that I am post-Femara, I see less hair in the shower. I think curely hair shows less thinning also. I also used Nioxin shampoo and conditioner because that is known to help the hair follicle at the base of the roots.
__________________
*** MARYANNE *** aka HARRIECANARIE
1993: right side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads
1999: left side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads, tamoxifen
2006:
BRCA 2 positive
Stage I, invasive DCIS (6mm x 5mm)
Grade: intermediate
sentinal node biopsy: neg
HER2/neu amplified 4.7
ER+/PR+
TOPO II neg
Oncotype dx 20
Bilat mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction
oophorectomy
2007:
6 cycles TCH (taxotere, carboplatin, herceptin)
finished 1 yr herceptin 05/07
Arimidex, stopped after almost 1 yr
Femara
|
|
|
10-10-2012, 06:35 PM
|
#8
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 52
|
Re: Post Femara and hair loss
I think there are a few of us asking about post AIs, femara, or otherwise. I recently finished my 5 years of arimidex and wonder about side effects or even positive effects. So far I haven't heard much. SURELY there are more of us out there.
|
|
|
10-10-2012, 11:01 PM
|
#9
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Posts: 1,867
|
Re: Post Femara and hair loss
To tell you the truth, I did not have many significant side effects from while on Femara. ( I did have a lot of side effects from Arimidex, so I switched) So when I went off the Femara, I hardly noticed much of anything except less hair in the drain after I washed it. I might have had some light joint stiffness during Femara, but if i did it was very minimal. After Femara, no joint stiffness at all.
__________________
*** MARYANNE *** aka HARRIECANARIE
1993: right side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads
1999: left side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads, tamoxifen
2006:
BRCA 2 positive
Stage I, invasive DCIS (6mm x 5mm)
Grade: intermediate
sentinal node biopsy: neg
HER2/neu amplified 4.7
ER+/PR+
TOPO II neg
Oncotype dx 20
Bilat mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction
oophorectomy
2007:
6 cycles TCH (taxotere, carboplatin, herceptin)
finished 1 yr herceptin 05/07
Arimidex, stopped after almost 1 yr
Femara
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 10:45 PM.
|