Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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mine started thinning when on chemo but really started to fall out after finished and still falling out now, 4 weeks post chemo. I'm also wondering how long it will continue like this and start growing. Thinking of ordering the model supplies rapid brow growth that mikesgirl mentioned.
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Same as Lisa for me. I thought I was home free. Eyelashes and eyebrows thinned, slightly, during chemo. Much to my surprise, they started falling out after. I am 3 weeks post chemo. Eyelashes seem to be ok now but eyebrows continue to thin.
Have no experience with tattoos. e.l.f. makes a great eyebrow kit.
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big step for me today...
3 weeks post chemo and I went out for the first time without a scarf, bandana or hat. It was so liberating.
I wore a wig for a couple months but just couldn't keep doing it. I wore a bandana or a hat until today.
One step at a time...one day at a time.
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The facial hair and the weird knuckle hair.
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Your eyelashes fall out after chemo because the new ones are growing and pushing them out. So if they fall out don't despair. The new ones will be coming in a few weeks later. Watch for the 5 o'clock shadow on your brows.
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Lost brows and lashes during chemo. I agree the browless look is awful. First time i ever used eyebrow pencil. I didn't mind baldness but no brows was just too weird.
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In order to prepare myself to lose my eyebrows and lashes, I bought these press on brows that look really real and false eyelashes Hoping I done need either of them. I believe I bought the brows at head covers.com
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I am on Taxol and Herceptin and based on what I read hear it seems a little kinder to hair. Mine gradually started thinning after treatment #4. I am on #7 of 12 Taxol/Herceptin and my hair is very thin but I still have some so looks okay under a scarf or hat. Still have eyebrows and lashes. Nothing much underarms and legs but being a blond and having white hair now I never had much anyway.
I haven't shaved my head but will if it gets really awful looking. I understand when I get to the Herceptin alone part of treatment my hair may start to grow back. Anyone have experience with that?
Dee
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My eyebrows held on for all of chemo, and then started thinning about 3 weeks post-chemo too. They are right now simultaneously falling out and growing in - I have a kind of 5 oclock shadow where they are growing in. I am 8 weeks PFC.
I use something called "Brow Power" which is a pencil/brush combination. Works really well.
Hair on my head is growing very sloooooowly. I have a few wispy hairs that never fell (oh so attractive) and a 5 oclock shadow for the rest. I hate my wig, but I'm a professional in a corporate/office setting and feel like I have to wear it at work. I'm afraid I have another 3-4 months of wearing it (as soon as I have a full head covered with hair - even if it is incredibly short - I will go wigless). I never wear the wig outside of the office. My preference is for the pre-tied scarves from headcovers.com. They are really lightweight. I also have some chemobeanies. I like the way they look but my head is a little too big for them. I see a very strong line where the elastic was too tight on my head when I take them off, and I often have to tug at them.
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here's a collage of my eyebrow transition lol. First is a week before starting chemo, figured I should take a picture so when I loose my eyebrows I'd remember how they looked when I have to draw them in, second is current eyebrow status 4 1/2 wks PFC (no makeup), third is also now but with some makeup (eyebrows drawn in and eyeliner) and last is me looking carefully for those little strands of hair that I hope start to grow, lol! I've got the fine kiwi fur now.
Wow picture is so big...a little scary with these crazy eyes looking at you! Also my freckles and age spots have come out so more since chemo. I love my abbey caps and scarves (I have a wig but only wear it in certain situations) and also just ordered a "duff" made of moisture wicking and uv protectant material to wear this summer to protect my bare head and absorb the sweat when exercising or working outside
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BosomBlues...re: Chest XRay. I had my last chemo July, 2013 and radiation finished in October, 2013. I saw my MO in August, December and when she scheduled the 3 month follow up, I got a RX for a chest XRay. It was routine and I suspect for yours as well. I don't like everything about my MO, but what I do like is that my next appts and tests are always scheduled before I leave the office, including mammos, etc.
MsP
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I love your pictures, Lisaj! Like so many others, my lashes held on until about 3 weeks after my last treatment, but came back in pretty quickly. I've always had pale & sparse brows, now they're even paler and "sparser".
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Lisa - did you mean "Buffs"? I love them. It's about the only thing I wore unless I had the wig on. I even had them in fine, light wool for winter. I got mine at Academy and REI.
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Lisa, What did you use to fill in your brows in photo #3? They look great!
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minus two, haha yes buff (chemo brain!), got mine at sahalie.com. Glad you loved it now looking forward to getting mine, I have kind of a weird shaped head, long and narrow but really round in the back.
Mommom, thanks! I use a combination of brow powder from Clinique and Brow Power (got from LGFB)and sometimes bobby brown eyebrow pencil.
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Lisa and MinusTwo - thanks for the tip on the Buffs. The UV one will be great for the summer. My hair is just about covering my scalp (not quite there yet) but not long enough to offer any protection from the sun.
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hi all, I've been off the boards for many weeks and I thought I'd post an update.
I'm happy to report that ever so slowly, the minoxidil has been helping and I'm getting more scalp coverage. Still not complete but enough so that I have stopped feeling so self conscious. The top is still sparse so I'm doing the comb over there. It's been 16 months Pfc and 4 -5 months of minoxidil use to get straight ahead coverage. Hopefully it continues and I will get top of the head coverage too.
Btw for the minoxidil, I use the solution only at night use a cotton headband when I put it on so it doesn't drip on my face and I sleep with a bandana over my hair so it doesn't get on my pillow. I haven't had any problems with facial hair doing this.
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mely ideally you should use it when your hair is wet so the Minoxidil isn't absorbed into your hair. You want it in your scalp. If you are using the women's you are supposed to use it 2X a day. I will admit I only use it 1X but I'm just trying to prevent the hair from falling out. I do have some regrowth. Also it takes Minoxidil 3-6 months to start working so you are right on schedule.
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BosumBlues I wouldn't watch parenthood when it came out because the mom character was diagnosed with breast cancer and in active treatment. It would have torn me apart too.
Enjoy being topless!
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I had curly hair before chemo but now, it is just crazy, super tight curls that grow straight out from my head! I was getting so frustrated and wearing lots of hats. One thing that has helped tame my chemo curl is to leave the conditioner in my hair. Just regular conditioner. I don't wash it out. It weighs down my hair and relaxes the curl.
Also, I had all this fuzzy white hair on my face and neck after chemo. My sister calls it lunago? I waxed it several times and it has finally not returned. It took several months though. Hang in there.
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Has anyone shaved their head once the fuzzy first hairs start to come back to get rid of the residual chemicals? The guys at the wig shop told me to do that once my hair starts to come back - doesn't sound logical to me.
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BlosumBlues, Yes I see you too. Your welcome. Just paying it forward ♥
Just read your post. Oh yeah. Once you've been through it you get it. Totally can relate to your post. It must have been so hard to go it alone. You are an amazing woman!
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hey, ladies! anyone have experience with false lashes? mine are back but they refuse to curl so appear non existent. With the man hair, a little eyelash flutter would be nice
plus my daughter's wedding is coming up. Just don't want one falling in my soup...is there a product out here that lasts a while & is natural looking?0 -
My lashes never curled and I think it took them a couple of years to thicken up although not to what they used to be due to chemopause/anastrozole. Have you tried warming your eyelash curler under warm water (dry before using). I have always used eyeliner because of this.
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I have been using Lattise for about 8 months and I have been happy with the results. It is expensive but I use very little.
I am still using the bottle I bought 8 months ago. I do not use the brushes that came with it. I bought an eyeliner brush and I wash it after, and I use a little alcohol to disinfect. I only use ONE drop for both eyes and both of my eyebrows. I use it once or at most twice per week. My eyelashes are not as long as they would be if I use it more often, but they are longer than before. My eyebrows are noticeably thicker than before.
I cannot tell how much is left in the bottle, but if I can make last a year it would not seem as expensive.
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BosumBlues, I got the Lattise at my PS' office. I would think any Dr. can prescribe it, but if you get it at a spa or at a PS office you might not have to pay for the visit if you are only going there to buy that.
My eyelashes are longer but are not that noticeable, except when I use mascara, which I rarely do, then they look long and thick. I notice it more on the eyebrows, they look bushy for sure.
I think it takes a few weeks to see any results, so maybe at the start you can apply it a little more often until you see some growth. Also, I use the bottle cap to hold the precious drop.
I hope you have great results and it makes you feel good. You are not being self absorbed for wanting to look good, seeing new wrinkles and other aging signs is hard for most women.
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Ok so before chemo my hair was blonde and super damaged and right after chemo after waiting 6 months to get coverage my hair came in really healthy. I didn't start to color it until this past year. So now it's back to how it was, damaged. My ends still get frazzled from heat damage but i have to use heat to style it. I stayed away from curling irons but now I see the curls help disguise the damaged ends. so i just curl the ends so that it's not straight and straw like. I get brown overall color with carmel hilites to cover the grey. I have been very gradually cutting my bangs. My stylist keeps persuading me to keep them long. So this is me I take biotin every day since chemo ended and I used nioxin the first 6 months and recently tarted the nioxin again because the top of my head was always thin. I've also gained some weight. I can't blame it on anything but my own gluttony but i do suspect tamoxifen is making it harder. I am getting ready to go to NY to see family and friends and i just got a bad case of acid reflux which I thought I left behind with all of this and stop the protonix so back on the pills. So everything back to how it was . . . sort of.
almost 4 years since diagnosis June 23rd 2010.
(last chemo infusion was Dec. 5th 2010 so 3.5 years PFC)
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Carrol you're looking good. I would find a different hair dresser or use different products. Your ends shouldn't be fried.
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BosomBlues - I too used the cap of the Latisse bottle - but I used one drop for left lash & brow and a 2nd drop for right lash & brow. Still, using only at night it lasted a good long time. And I must be the only person who used the brushes that came w/the Rx. I got my Rx from my MO, so yes I expect any doc can write it. I just wanted to confirm w/my ophthalmologist that it was OK, since reading is my passion & I didn't want to take a chance w/any eye problems. BTW - she said to use Systane for the dry eye SE.
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Carrol - sorry I meant to say congrats on 4 years out. Looking good girl!!
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