Topic: Eyebrows and Eyelashes

My eyelashes came back after chemo and then only the right eye lost them again. That was too weird but the lashes did come back completely in a couple weeks. It was like they all recycled at the same time. I can wear mascara again and now that I can, I realize how nice it was not to use that stuff. My eyebrows and hair are a little thinner than they used to be but heck at least I have hair

One of the things I dislike about this whole treatment thing is that the docs and nurses no matter how much I like them, don't tell you all the things that can happen. I suppose if they tell us all the side effects we would go crazy. It is so great to have this forum to ask about these things and find that we're not crazy and not alone.

Henny

jdg-i used to have thick dark eyebrows and long thick eyelashes, i lost them all during chemo, it's been one year and they still have not come back fully, but i do see more, it's been very very slow, i am also using a product from talika which helps with growth, you can find it on www.talika.com.

dera jdg1

i can feel u ..

i finished my chemo in 25th january..i had 3 FEC and 3 taxotere

i lost all my eyebrows and lashes after the third FEC it was exactly 3 months after starting chemo...and they started to come again after 1month after i finished my chemo,,the happy news is that they came healthy and so thick ,,till now i didnt notice any thinning in them...

u can depend on supplements also..i didnt take any supplements during chemo,,but during rads i started to have the biotin pills and the vit,E

i beleive it helps alot in having them so fast and so healthy,,,

i take 3 pills of biotin daily(each pill contain 1000mg )

and i take about 900mg of vit.E (dont be afraid of the high doses)

we r not consisdered as healthy norrmal ppl to have the normal IU doses..our doses r much more higher than the doses for normal healthy ppl..

i hope i was some help for u dear

best wishes with ur treatmenst

Is anyone using Retivalash? 

I am taking Biotin but I guess not enough.  I will up it to 3000 I was only taking 1000 as far as Vit E I have not been taking it so I guess I will need to add that to all the other vitamins I am taking.

I guess for me it is just really hard because I work and am trying to look as normal as possible and it is hard to.  I am tired physically and mentally and when I seen this it just sent me in a tail spin.  I know this doesn't end but normalcy is what I am looking for. 

Thank you for all your input I really appreciate it. 

I am half-way through chemo and I still have both lashes and brows (thinned out).  My friend lost all lashes and most of her brows and starting using revitalash after chemo.  Within 2 weeks of using it her eyelashes starting coming in.  After one month they were thicker than before chemo. She loves it and I plan to use it after my treatments too. It is so weird how this effects us all.

Osufan,

My lashes did not fall out until my last treatment with Taxol.   I thought I was saved.  I am not sure if I should use the revitalash now being they are starting to fall out again.

Ladies any thoughts?

June

A/C took my hair, but not all my lashes/brows.  My brows were already thin from the hypothyroid stuff, so I was surprised I didn't loose the rest of them.  Now all are growing back and even the brows are thickening up, although that might be the levothyroxine.

One thing I wanted to mention or ask about is that I noticed on the vitamin E I have, that it's listing Soybean as one of the ingredients. I use for some skin repair on places I've been zapped for pre-skin cancer.  Do you ladies take on that doesn't contain soy, or are you concerned about that ingredient at all?

jdg1 -- i am sorry for your situation, but am grateful that you raised the issue.  for some reason, i have coped pretty well (so far) w/ just about anything thrown at me but when I think about losing my eyebrows and eyelashes . . .

i had good luck with biotin a few years ago when i dropped a television AND a couch on my big toe (not deliberately) and had to regrow a toenail.  but is it okay to use it DURING or BEFORE chemo? i.e., if it helps promote cell growth among rapidly dividing cells, does that include cancer cells?) 

I've had 3 of 4 tx of A/C and eyebrows are thinning slightly (but they were thick to begin with so no one but me would notice).  Eyelashes are hanging in there so far.  I'm not doing taxol and I'm hoping they will stay put.  Annie, I'm with you.  It's like adding insult to injury.

June - You can start the Revitalash now if you want. Since you have finished chemo - and assuming it has been more than 3 weeks since your last infusion, the loss you are seeing is actually the normal cycle of loss/regrowth that everyone experiences. Chemo girls like us lost a bunch of eyelashes at once, so our "cycles" are a little messed up, making it seem like we lose all of them at once. I think now is an ideal time to use a regrowth product and get that cycle back in line.

It is interesting that you were told to avoid soybean products. My oncologist told me that while he didn't want me to go crazy and overload, it was perfectly safe for me to have soy products, like the Slik soy milk, in moderation. I know there has been a lot of conflicting info about soy out there, but it seemed like the general consesus was coming around to an acceptance in moderation.

Rock - I took supplements all through my chemo treatments, and my onc knew (evetually!) what I was on. He said that as long as it wasn't estrogen-realted, he didn't care. I never needed a Neulasta shot and my RBC counts actually improved. Among my regeime was biotin, which is vitamin-B, and as far as I know, does not feed cancer cells. Of course your onc is the final word for what you should and should not do, and he/she might not want you on anything for fear that it will affect the chemo.

Wish- I think I have seen pure Vitamin E Oil in the health food store. I bet that you could apply it directly to the scalp. I have some Doo Grow hair oil and that is what I do. As you can tell, I am willing to try just about anything to get my hair growing! :)

Ann,

You're a champ!!! Thanks for the useful info..

LA

survivor, I know you mean well, but some of us are going to worry anyway, OK?  I mean, I can cover my bald head with a cap or a scarf or a wig; but WTH do I do when I have no eyelashes or eyebrows???  I can't use adhesives on my skin and I can't wear most standard types of makeup, so saying, "Oh, just stick on some false eyelashes!" won't cut it.  And, I guess I was hoping not to spend an hour every day putting on fake body parts just to hide what BC has done.

OTOH, what choice do we have?

otter 

It was really hard for me the first time I lost my eyelashes and eyebrows because it made me feel like I can't cover anything up now.  I know it seems like petty stuff to be worried about but I had to keep up an appearance as I worked throughout all of my tx.  For me to lose them again is just upsetting, I know there are worse things out there and I am sorry if I offended anyone by starting this post.

I am 9 weeks out of T/C chemo - had lost a good amount of eyebrows and lashes and now it seems the few remaining hairs are abandoning ship.  I don't mind the bald head, that can be covered with a wig or cap but I cannot walk around with a bag over my face - at least not all the time! 

UGH

I was diagnosed jan 8, 2008 with invasive ductual carcinoma and just finished my last round of chemo.. and the hair was bad, but i agree the eyebrows and eyelashes are thinning and just an outward reminder of my illness .. i no longer wear my wigs mostly scarfs dont care much what other people think .. since too much trouble to try to look like someone not going thru this battle.. afterall i did nothing to bring this on and neither did the rest of my breast cancer sisters.. so i am starting to feel proud of where i am at.. sick and all.. i have madt it thru surgery and chemo and will start radiation on mon