Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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Interesting how we are all different in the hair growth department. My brows and lashes came out after chemo. They grew back in about 6 weeks way thicker and darker than before. I have no underarm hair, very little leg hair and about 10 times as much chin hair as I had before. And you all know the story about my head. Growing too slow and too thin to my liking and mostly grey (until I colored it)
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Thank you all for the pubic hair thread.
I guess my Oncologist is right when he says "Chemo is different for everyone."
Glad all are here to make some sense of this.
Coach Vicky
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lost 95% of hair this wknd. Dont like it. It probably aggrevated my anxiety. Learned how to make a chemo turban for the first time. Among all the scarves, mom's old scarf is still the winner. Funny I really look like my no good father now. Found cheap and perfect dimension scarves from Amazon. I guess retail therapy is good and necessary. Got a cute blood pressure monitior because of fast heartbeat about 90. Bloood pressure is fine. Will go walk around the block. Take ativan try my self taught yoga and nap
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coachvicky, Thanks for addressing public hair as I have wanted to but been a little shy. You broke the ice! Now I understand about the dripping pee. I know some ladies pay for the pain of waxing to get it "bare down there" but I am old school insisting, it's there for a reason. I miss it's protective nature. I didn't lose it all but enough! I think it is coming back though, curly like it was. DaraB, seq24 and other ladies, As for my head, even though it is growing, not enough yet to tell if it is curly, straight, grey or black (looks like a spotty combo with the sides completely grey) I fear I will look like a Martian but whatever! Just want hair! Still drawing in eyebrows and as for eye lashes, what are they again? On the retail therapy side, I got a great summer hat from headcovers.com.
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Hi Deen!
Mine has grown back to the point that I can actually run my fingers thru it and hold on to it! I finished chemo on Jan 29th and my hair, including eyebrows and eyelashes, started growing back mid to late February and by March 17 I had short, short hair, but a covered scalp! I didn't have to shave my legs, armpits, or anywhere from Sept - March, which was mostly great....if only the hair I really wanted had hung on! Ha! Now the hair on my legs is in full force, more than before, as are my eyebrows. It's as though all of my hair went thru a reset.
Hang in there and don't give up on your hair! I would suggest not to monitor it everyday...it can be depressing. Just play with make-up, take good care of your skin and scalp and take vitamins. I use Pura d'or shampoo and conditioner, bought online, since it's really good for your scalp and hair.
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So I was dumb enough to buy a hair color kit at the drug store. No peroxide etc.... I chose a nice reddish auburn color. Well that did not work out well!! It came out as orange as a freaking carrot 🥕. I only left it on for about 8 minutes then started to panic. Not sure what to do. This totally sucks! Teach me for being too cheap to go to a salon
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I had managed to keep about 1/3 of my eyebrows and eyelashes through 6 months of chemo. Today, 3 1/2 weeks PFC, they are all gone, Ugh!!
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Bravepoint- I have been using the prescription Latisse for both and it's working great on my lashes but not so much on brows. The generic brand costs 98.00 and insurance wouldn't pay. Said it was cosmetic. Your eye doctor probably has some free samples though. Mine did
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I saw someone that I play poker with that wears fake eyelashes. I'd never even considered this, but think I will if my lashes go. I start chemo tomorrow and expecting to lose my hair. I care about my brows and eyelashes and will wear fake ones, if need be.
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I went to that makeup class sponsored by the American Cancer Society. The teacher told us NOT to use false eyelashes (while on chemo) because it can cause an infection.
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Thanks, Bellas, that's probably good reasoning. I'm starting chemo in just a few hours so I still have a lot to learn. A makeup class--who knew!
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One of the problems with false eyelashes is that you normally put them on right above your lashes. Without any natural lashes as a buffer, the glue etc can cause all sorts of problems. I simply used a good gel eyeliner and some shadow and it wasn't as noticeable. For brows, I used the Benefit thin pencil, Benefit Gimme Brow (like mascara for brows) and then use a Clinique felt tip pencil to add individual hairs to the beginning of the brow for a more natural look.
Hate to tell you this, but I lost my lashes after chemo, they came back great, then I've lost about 50% again due to the natural growth process. :-(
Rodan and Fields also makes a product very similar to Latisse and is not a prescription. I have several friends who are just totally sold on the product. It's not much cheaper than the Latisse but doesn't require a prescription.
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I use Younique mascara. I do not sell this product. Here is the link to the site:
https://www.youniqueproducts.com/products/view/US-...
I buy mine from Amazon because it is a little cheaper and I don't pay shipping.
It can be a pain to first put on but once I mastered the gel, then fibers, gel, repeat fibers, seal with gel routine it got easier.
Coach Vicky
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My daughter is a rep for Younique so if you need something I can give you her contact info. My favorite product is their foundation. It's a bit pricey but works great and makes your skin soft.
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i looked like schmiegle from the lord of the rings which made me real sickly. I decided to shave it at a local hair salon. It was free. I left a nice tip of course. I feel so much better. Bought a new scarf.
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For my eyebrows, I use a very inexpensive ($1.00) stencil kit from e.l.f. and rimmel eyebrow make up. I have a bit of my own brow left so am enhancing it with these products but they are drawn on for the most part. I would rather have my own though my 25 year old daughter tells me that this is the style these days. I have become an eyebrow checker. I look at everyone's brows, male and female, and sometimes incorporate their style. When it comes to lashes, I hide behind my photo-gray, red glasses while waiting for them to grow back.
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I made out lucky with the eyebrows, my daughter does permanent makeup and she did my eyebrows before I started chemo. Lashes are gone - just a few stragglers. My 14 yr old granddaughter called me and said she wanted to spend the night on Saturday and do my make-up for Church on Sunday, and she wants to put eyelashes on me, I don't know what I will look like on Sunday- it may be a memorable experience.
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Five weeks after my final Taxol treatment, my hair is finally starting to grow except that the top remains completely bald. The disconcerting part is that it is a shocking pure white. I'm 62, but my natural hair was still brown with graying in my sideburns and at the temples plus some strands throughout my head. I've heard some of you mention your hair being translucent, but mine is a dramatic white with some weird long "whispies" here and there.
Another thing I've noticed is that I have hardly any hair growth on my left side / surgical side compared to the right. I sleep on my right side so it's definitely not related to, say, friction from the pillow at night. Anyone else experience this asymmetry?
Lyn
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VLH--you are describing my hair exactly. The hair on the left side, which is the side I had surgery and treatment, is way shorter and thinner than the right side. I also sleep on my right side so this surprised me. The top of my hair is still pretty thin too but it is definitely thicker than it was. I wish my whole head was coming in the same as the back. It's nice and thick. My hair came in grey/white (I had no grey before) and I had it colored at 8 weeks PFC and I know it's grown quite a bit since then. I was looking at it last night and I do not see any grey at the roots which is what I expected so hopefully it is changing back to it's natural color. I will be 12 weeks PFC tomorrow (has it really been that long!?). I'll post pictures hopefully this weekend. I'm still disappointed in the growth. It better hurry up. Our vacation is in 2 months!
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VLH & Seq24: My hair is similar. I am 8 weeks PFC. The left side (surgery side) of my head is definitely growing slower than the right or the back. The top of my head is growing even slower and most of it is white. Before chemo, I had black hair with just a few white hairs -- never in my life had I colored my hair and I'm 56. I read on this forum that sometimes the hair comes in white but changes to the natural color later on. I hope this is the case. My right eyebrow is growing faster than the left. My eyelashes are still scarce.
But the hair on my left leg is growing, but the right leg is still bare. Chemo plays cruel tricks...doesn't it?
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VLH, Sounds like a bunch of us have some of the same results so far. Wish none of us had to suffer any of this but at least we know while outrageous, it all seems similar. With this bald top, I keep thinking I will end up looking like Benjamin Franklin. I may be one week ahead of you and the only difference is that the "fairy hairs" many talk of suddenly sprouted about 3 days ago. I am 61 so I also expect some grey but not this much. I believe I read on this thread that someone younger was worried about the grey so shaved and they came back dark. But I don't think I have the guts to part with any of them. I also read that pigment does sometimes come later. I did trim some of the straggly hairs on my sides which I call my Einstein hairs. Good luck!
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Doing this on my phone which is limited so easier to add a P.S. here. I just wanted to add that I wish I had the guts to ditch my head covers. At radiation today (7 out of 30), I saw a woman with a bit more growth than me, with beautiful lush eye make up and her head beautifully bare. I wish I could!
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Sorella--I'm with you there. My hair is about an inch long and some places a little more everywhere but the top. I want to get rid of the wig so bad but I just don't have the courage. I can't stand looking at myself in the mirror with my hair like this let alone go out in public for everyone else to see. I'm so embarrassed for even my family to see me. I slept in a room separate from my husband all through chemo and for a few weeks after because I didn't want him to see my awful looking head. There was a younger woman who had chemo at the same time as me. It was the middle of winter. She did not have a hair on her head. She was shiny bald. Not one time did I ever see her have a head covering of any kind. She was beautiful and always had a big smile on her face. I really envied her for the confidence she had with her looks.
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Sorella and seq24 - I'm the same. I always go out even to appointments with something covering my horrible hair. I don't cover it at home but only my DH is there to see. It's getting too hot to wear a wig or a tuque so not sure what my game plan will be. A scarf I guess.... It really sucks!
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Hi all, it seems strange to say Happy Good Friday, but hope you are all having a good day. I'm still being that coward and wearing my wig. When people ask how the hair growing is going, I just say I have the Judy Dentch look going on which is about how long my hair is. I figure at least a couple more months before I can go bare-headed. I think next week I'll ask my hairdresser to color it for me. The vegetable thing I used before did nothing. I don't have a super whole lot of gray, but my hair just looks dull and tipped with a gray/blonde. The more it grows, the darker it becomes. I must admit, I'm just tired of the whole process.
How's everyone doing with their hormone inhibitor? I'm finding the letrozole really slows my metabolism and I have to be so very careful with what I eat. Another bonus! Gggrrrr!
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Dara--you asked about how it was going with the hormone blocker. I'm on anastrazole. So far so good. No problems. I was truly expecting major bone pain or hot flashes or something but I have had neither so far. Very thankful It might be making me a little tired. I'm not sure if it's that or still fatigue from radiation. I have also gained a few pounds since I started taking it. Not very happy. Maybe this drug slows metabolism too. Although I've found I have so much more energy this week and I've been making a conscious effort to move more, to walk to places and I've been working in the yard. Hopefully that will help.
I posted some pictures earlier today of my hair at 12 weeks pfc. I don't see that they are here though. Will post again.
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12 weeks PFC. Has it really been that long? The memories are still fresh in my mind of 20 miserable weeks of chemo. I didn't realize how bad I felt during that time until now when I am feeling good again. I'm pretty disappointed in the hair growth. This is all I have after 3 whole months and that's not counting the growth that started the last 6 weeks of chemo. I'm convinced I'll be in this stupid wig all summer. If only the top would fill in and grow! At least it's not sticking straight up on the top anymore. Was sure hoping for some curls but it's as straight as it ever was. I have noticed that there is way less grey now. I had it colored 3 or 4 weeks ago and I do not see any grey at all on the new growth since then. I am pleased with the brows and lashes. They both came back thicker and darker than before.
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It's really getting thicker!! Looking great 👍
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I just had my 1st year remission anniversary and I have pretty much a full head of hair. I am definitely not going to be one of those that has long hair in 2 years, but at least it looks pretty much normal now. The front took a long time to come in, it was really slow and a great frustration to me. In the end, I was looking in the mirror one day, tears almost flowing because to me I looked like I had male pattern baldness, and unlike when it was first growing people could tell it was a "cancer thing", I just looked like I was losing my hair. I stood there, thought to myself "what do men do" and remembered the comb over. It worked. I just moved my part over closer to the side, which is a bit in style now thankfully, and viola! I looked so much better.
The hair thing was/is really tough for me. I had a full, down to my bottom, head of hair when it fell out, and it grew back in half as thick so far and seems like taking forever. But it is still filling in. I am still finding short new hair growing in all the time, so I have hope that it will look a little thicker.
In the end, everybody has different results. Your hair will grow in how it wants to, and as time goes along it is harder to remember why you shouldn't care about the hair loss, but it is still is the right answer. Because you are still here! I have an 8 month old granddaughter born to my daughter, and just found out my son and his wife are expecting. Being 53, I have a good chance of seeing great grandchildren, and maybe in the later stages of life, a great great grandchild. That's why i went though hell. I can live without perfect hair anymore, my children and grandchildren and my mate couldn't care less about my hair. They are just glad, and so am I, that I am here.
Oh, and as far as the lashes and eyebrows, they grew back in pretty fast. Faster than my hair. My lashes haven't got the length they were yet, and grew back in blond, but eye liner and a good mascara works wonders.
Dyan
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seq, you look great!
I'm 10 weeks + 1day PFC and the hair at the back is still very thin but dark in color. Surprisingly this week the growth on the top is coming in fast, filling up with almost no bald patch and it looks and feels thicker than hair at the back and sides.
I'm already making plans to ditch my wig. The weather is just too hot. Going to get a nice cap and sunglasses and I will just go out like this probably starting next weekend.
My eyebrow and lashes are back. Lashes are not as long as they used to be but long enough to apply mascara.
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