Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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Integragirl - just checking in with you..... have you got some regrowth yet?
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CanadianGirl: yes, my hair is coming back dark! Nothing to write home about yet but it's definitely growing. I'm coming 7 weeks since my last treatment.
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Instagirl - excellent! I am now almost 12 weeks PFC. I had white fuzz first, now a very, very faint shadow. Much less at crown and top and top front though. Hoping this is normal.
Also hoping Anastrozole/ Armidex which I will begin after radiation won't cause hair to shed.
Anyone else on this AI that would care to share their experiences - good or bad?
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HabB - checking in with you? Any signs of regrowth yet? Don't give up hope!
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Misslil - I also had TCHP and am still getting Herceptin until March 2018. I was worried about the Taxotere, but my hair is growing, slower than a lot of the posters here.
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My hair regrowth (at almost 12 weeks PFC) is very, very sparse on top and on crown. I am very anxious. What are other people's experiences with these "bald patches" - do they grow in eventually?
I was on docetaxel where hair regrowth problems seem common.
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CanadianGirl and HapB, best thoughts for your beleaguered hair follicles!!
I just hate looking like Gollum...Dobby the House Elf on a good day....and am sick of wearing wigs. Sigh. No matter how fast it grows back, it won't be fast enough
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HapB, perhaps you'd want to consult a dermatologist or other specialist? Any recommendations they can give would likely be more effective the sooner after your chemo ended and you've gone into the potential regrowth period. See what they tell you. The effects of chemo seem to be variable for each person in how they affect hair and other issues, and how long it takes for the drugs to leave your system allowing side effects to recover.
There could also be other things affecting your hair regrowth. In my case, I've been suspecting the combination of the TCHP, anemia that only now been starting to mildly recover, and some other things may have impeded rapid hair recovery.
Some ladies have suggested Herceptin could be a factor or others of the medications we're put on.
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I''m sorry HapB
. Even if it is the Herceptin, I'm sure that's no comfort given how long you're on it for. On top of everything else, the potential for permanent hair loss must be very difficult to wrap your head around0 -
IntegraGirl.... Just wanted to say I laughed out loud re: your description of "Gollum... or Dobby the House Elf on a good day". Gollum is EXACTLY how I look. Due to my rounder face I don't look quite so much like Putin... oops, I meant to say Dobby.
What great imagery you painted - if we can't laugh, then we cry. Better to laugh however difficult some days. Have a good Alberta autumn!
Best to all on this forum.
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redesides, I was on AC then Taxol. Two weeks after starting AC I started losing my hair mainly around the sides and back. I would run my fingers through it and come out with bunches stuck between my fingers. I had it shaved after that. I never lost all of my hair but after shaving it it didn't grow any longer and felt like beard stubble. It got sore in patches too. Mine started coming back during Taxol and now it is about 1/4" long. I finished Taxol at the end of July. One thing I have recently noticed is a beard, white and fine along jaws and chin. I don't know if it helps or not but I mix castor oil with Rosemary oil and other essential oils that are supposed to help with hair growth. I put it on over night or a couple hours before I shower. It is sticky so I make sure I don't get it on furniture. I am just hoping that the top fills out since I have more around the sides. I had thin hair on top before and was hoping one good thing from treatment would be a full thick head of hair after it was over.
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I am 4 weeks PFC and I have about 1/2 cm of white fuzz all over my head. I'm glad to have hair, but am hoping my natural color comes back soon!
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CanadianGirl, it's hard but I try to keep my sense of humour intact to the extent possible. Ugh. Dear Universe: I tried the free sample of cancer you provided. I gave it my best shot but found that it didn't work well for me. I'd like to return it and get my old life back.
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Lovepugs77:
My progression (still a work in progress)..
7 weeks PFC - small white fuzz around ears and lower back of head
9 weeks PFC - small white fuzz over all of head, albeit less thick on top and on crown
11 weeks PFC - starting to change colour (to natural gray although I have to admit pre-cancer I'd never seen that on my head due to a great hairdresser with great colouring skills).
Today is 12 weeks PFC - over all head a faint gray shadow, which I assume is my more 'normal' hair coming in.
I read from one person (perhaps on this thread?) that said the white fuzz changes into the normal hair and isn't something separate from it.
Anybody else had this experience?
Also - still worried about sparse growth and some bald patches... anybody have experiences re: how soon - or if - those spots fill in?
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Hello ladies,
Sorry for the delay in responding to your responses to my post re lack of hair regrowth.
Since my head was shaved after 2nd chemo treatment, I have been using rogaine daily. I've also over this last year been using a laser light cap. (personally I don't think its done a damn thing). I've taken biotin the entire 5 years. And, recently I've been adding a castor oil conditioning treatment daily to my head -- I say head because there is not much hair along the crown to put it on, but I do apply and rub about my scalp with hopes it will lead to hair grow and at least thicken and strenthen the hair that is there.
I began by wearing wigs at first, and then I went to hair pieces, hair toppers to cover my thin hair, exposed scalp. I have ordered from vogue.com and from uniwig.com. They both offer synthetic and human hair pieces. I have found uniwig human hair toppers to be cheaper and their topper pieces look more like my pre-chemo hair. Wig or topper piece, they are hot and during summer months I am dripping with sweat. Uncomfortable and disgusting not to mention the costs involved -- none of which is covered by insurance.
I have recently order a synthetic hair topper from vogue wigs and hope to receive it soon. It is shorter in length than the pieces I've order from uniwig, but I am optimistic I will be able to blend it into my own hair which grows pretty good around the nap of my head. Time will tell..
As with many of you I am pissed my hair never grew back. It has led me to change my life in that I don't go out without a hair piece, not even to get the mail or take out the garbage. I no longer swim (which I miss doing with the granddaughter), among numerous other things. It is a very real difference in how and what I can no longer do.
BUT -- AND THIS IS THE BIG BUT, I am alive! I know this and I will go on. I am adjusting to this new normal even if it is not what I would have believed would occur. I am not just a survivor, I am a thriver!
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CanadianGirl - I think was the same progression that I went thru though maybe a bit quicker. My hair was really thin and like goose down on top for the longest time. The sides and back were much thicker.In late July, I finally had the weird hair on top trimmed off which was 16 weeks PFC. I think that really helped! My hair is thick, curly and grey now.
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You go Sherryh16!
I love your outlook.
Coach Vicky
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Thank you bravepoint - gives me hope. I am still at the stage where it is unclear if I will suffer permanent hair deficiencies but just knowing that your hair is now thick, even though it had been very thin for a time is very good to know!
I know it is superficial but hair is a big deal - for the same reasons that sherryh16 points out (thank you for your advice and the links to wig/hair pieces sites) - for confidence in going out and about in the world, swimming, travel etc. let alone for me, when I return to work (I attend many meetings with external stakeholders to my organization, as well as give presentations etc.)
Hoping to hear from women who have been put on Anastrozole who haven't had thinning hair????
Hoping to hear, also, from more women - who had had bald spots/ thin hair - but who's hair has recovered???
It's all about hope
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sherryh16, I love your attitude!
Canadiangirl58, I'm two years PFC as of this month. I can definitely report that my hair was coming in on the back and sides long before it filled in completely on top. This kept me wearing a wig for much longer that I would have if it had come in at the same rate everywhere.
I can also say that the first 1/2 inch of growth was gray before it reverted to its normal brown. Well, there's some gray, but it's normal given my age, and it's not that dreadful sewer rat color that I saw in the first growth. For a while, when a hair fell out in a normal cycle, I'd see 1/2 inch of gray and then the place on the hair shaft where it changed to brown. I hope that's encouraging.
One thing I did not expect, and which really puzzled the woman who cuts my hair, is the weird texture of first growth. My hair before chemo was slightly wavy/coarse. The new hair was curly and smooth (think Shirley Temple or Breck Girl). Then the part that grew down from the top changed to my normal texture while the hair that grew from the bottom and sides remained curly. So I had two textures growing on the same head. Drove me nuts--still does. My MO said this would change over time and my hair texture would revert to the way it had been before chemo. This is already happening; my best guess is that barring a recurrence (pause to knock wood), it should grow out to one texture sometime this winter. There is still a curly patch growing out from the very front; it looks like the remains of a very bad perm.
If I had a short cut the hair would have grown out by now, but I'm still holding out for the shoulder length blunt cut that I've always loved, so it's taking a bit longer.
There IS light at the end of the tunnel, though. Hang in!
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Thankyou rainynyc. Really appreciated learning about your experiences! BEST to you.
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Sherryh16- I hope you find something that will work for to grow hair. I felt so bad reading you can't swim with your granddaughter. I think you could wear a bathing cap, I think they still have these. My grandchildren did not seem to mind my head. Maybe they are just accepting because they are young or they think we are beautiful because they love us. Keep on thriving!!!
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This is how short my hair was when I went without my chemo cap. Actually, I love how short and easy it was to take care of. This was 3 months PFC.
This is 6 months PFC. My hair was always curly like this. I see a lot more dark hair coming in. My natural hair color was a dark medium brown. My new color is black.
It's been hard adjusting to all the changes from chemo, radiation and Arimidex, but I'm determined to move forward.
My hair is growing really slowly. It's not as thick as it was before but the texture is the same. Love to all of you going through this horrible hair struggle daily.
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Thank you HapB. I know that your hair struggle is real. I wish I had the right words or formula to give you so you’re hair would grow. Just know that we all know how you feel. Chemo robbed us of so much including our dignity. I’m praying that you will see hair growth soon. Please don’t give up hope. I have a friend who after three years is starting to see some new growth. She had 8 rounds of Taxotere and very little hair. It is just now starting to thicken on the sides.
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Lohoff,
Lookin' great!
Coach Vicky
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Lohoff - wow, your hair looks marvelous. Next week I will be at 3 months PFC and I only have a faint shadow on my head... darkening more on sides with very sparse hair on top and crown. Hoping this will fill in and I will have "decent" hair at least.
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lohoff - My hair looks almost the same as yours at 6 months PFC. It's crazy curly and the same color. My hair was dead straight before ....
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I got my first professional cut since BC. Finished hard chemo in July, still on Herceptin. Top is slow growing, but the sides and back have been buzzed several times. I love my new fauxhawk. My stylist was able to minimize the curl with the hairdryer and also clay product, which I promptly bought.
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logoff and bareclaws , thank you for sharing pics. You both look wonderful. So encouraging to me at 5 weeks PFC.
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Thank you! I’m grateful to have hair. No special potions. I kept using my regular shampoo throughout: Theraneem Scalp Therapy, even when I had no hair at all, just an itchy, irritated scalp. Lots of scalp massage and I used a rubbery dog shampoo brush on the early growth. The stylist was wonderful. I let her do what she wanted and tried not to be alarmed at the hair that was all over the floor. I think I’ve convinced her to move to Denver with me.
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Braveclaws - you look Fabulous!
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