Hair Hair Hair - Another question
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Great style Bareclaws!
Was this your color before chemo? It is such a pretty, soft color. I like it.
Coach Vicky
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Question: I had AC chemo first, lost all my hair around week 2. Finished that cycle. Started Taxol 3 weeks ago, around the same time I lost eyebrows and eyelashes. I have 9 more weekly Taxol to do. I did notice I'm getting stubble on the top of my head, could just be high hopes but I feel it! Did any of you take Biotin during Taxol?
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Susie, my MO did not want me to take any supplements during chemo but all doctors are different. My hair did start growing back early during taxol. All grey and wavy in back but I'll take it. My lashes and brows came back slower but once they started growing they filled in fast. I finished chemo June 8. Here is a pic if me last week. Hang in there!!
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legomaster....You look Awesome!!!
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Thanks, I'm happy with my hair. Not so happy with my radiation "burns" at the moment. It's always a challenge.
You will look great too!! It seems so slow at times but keep plugging along. I used to take pictures of my fuzzy head just to see the smallest amount of growth. I like looking back at those now.
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LEGOmaster, it’s gorgeous! I have a matching radiation "burn".
Thank you all for nice comments
CoachVicky, yes, my hair is and was white. Started that at age 16. I haven’t dyed it since high school.
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Susie - I started taking Biotin the day after I finished Taxol. Also, I used to rub Extra Virgin Olive Oil on my scalp and fuzz
and massage it. I swear it helped me! I am 6 years out this month
and my new hair is still better than my old hair - more texture, a little wave,
Also, I had my fuzz colored by my niece, the hair stylist, the minute my fuzz started to look like a tennis ball.
My gray hair didn't look gorgeous like all of your gray/white hair does!!
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Legomaster, if the skin is actually healed, i.e. no open wounds, you can start using cream on it. It made a huge difference for me. The burn mark does fade in time; my best recollection is that the discoloration had mostly gone away about six months after the end of radiation. The post-radiated skin was really dry. I use Nivea Extended Moisture, but I don't think it makes a difference what you use, as long as you're using something.
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Thanks Rainnyc. I still have two more rads sessions to go. It's not the middle of my chest that you see in the picture that bothers me. The pic was taken last weekend and that area has died and peeked though. Under my arm and the side of my breast is angry red, peeked and raw, my nipple even peeled but I can't feel that part of my breast so it's ok. Im currently using span gel burn pads to ease the discomfort. Just need to suck it up for another week. I'm glad to know it will fade as time goes on though.
Good news is no underarm hair to deal with. lol.
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Susie--My oncologist allowed me to start taking a hair skin and nail supplement that included a large dose of Biotin. towards the end of my Taxol treatment. I lost most, but not all of my hair during AC. Midway through Taxol it started growing back--fuzzy and white. By the end of taxol I looked like I was growing very fine feathers. My brows and lashes came out after I was completely finished with chemo. They grew back fairly quickly though. I am now 36 weeks pfc. My hair is about 3 inches long and I have the curls I've always wanted. Best wishes to you Susie.
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Legomaster, sorry, I didn't realize you were still in the middle of rads. No, I was told no cream while it was going on, but when my skin broke, I was prescribed an antibiotic cream. I couldn't use it before each day's session, only after. The burn got worse for about two weeks after treatment was over, then gradually healed over the next month. I used the antibiotic cream, at the direction of the RO, until the skin healed, then switched to the non-medical cream at the direction of my MO.
Good luck to you; I hope you get through the rest of rads without too much more trouble. I well remember that time; yes, I also found that the worst patches were under my arms.
And now back to the regularly scheduled hair discussion....
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It is wonderful to see and hear about hair success stories. I am finding, though, that the ones that appear to have the most successful hair regrowth had Taxol as their chemotherapy drug.
Lohoff - thanks for your response, especially relevant and hopeful for me since I had docetaxel like yourself.
How are others that have had docetaxel (like myself?) faring?
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CanadianGirl58- I finished docetaxol in June 2016. I had enough hair to go without a scarf by late October. It was pretty short and edgy-looking, but it was hair and I was happy to have it back. Now, I have about 6" of crazy chemo curls I kinda like them, but I'm pretty sure my hair will go back to its normal coarse wavy look. I'm fine with that,too.
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seq24...Your hair looks Awesome! Thanks for the input, I can't wait until I have hair again!!
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Canadiangirl,
I am taking Docetaxel (taxotere), lost a lot of hair, but it started to grow back at round three-a combo of the dark stubble of hair that didn't fall out and light coloured babyfuzz. I don't know if I will lose it again and start over with regrowth, but it's nice to know the follicles are working. I have 75% of my eyebrows and eyelashes, and I'm currently at day 3 of my fourth cycle.
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I am very grateful for these "docetaxel" hair related experiences. Thank you all who have posted so far. MUCH appreciated.
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CanadianGirl- I had Taxotere. My hair is growing, but it seems to be slower than some of the pictures shown here. I am 6 months past chemo and my hair is like a mans haircut. I have no scalp showing and it is quite thick but very short.
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I was on docetaxel as part of TCHP for 6 cycles finishing in Dec 2016. Didn't see much hair response for 2-3 months. There's been some gradual growth since the spring but have yet to overcome the sparse/thin effect on the top, upper sides, and back crown area. Hoping for the best with time.
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I lost all my hair around my 3Rd of 4 AC treatments and finished my final (12th) Taxol treatment right before Thanksgiving 2016. I wanted my hair to grow back just enough so that I could ditch the wig and cap in time for MI spring... Week 22 was the week I finally felt comfortable/brave enough to do so... :-(
The top left picture shows my hair growth 1 week PFC. The top right picture shows my hair growth about 5.5 months PFC.
After 2 more months of slow growth, I'd decided that I wanted to speed up my hair growth and increase its thickness by taking the biotin laden HSN pill supplements (with dr. approval of course) and am quite pleased with my growth since as shown on the bottom 2 pics. (My headband is taming my wild curls in the bottom right pic).
I'm keeping a weekly photo log of my hair growth until I hit 1 year PFC!
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I'm almost 5 months PFC, still on Herceptin though, and I still don't have enough growth where I feel I can go without a wig or scarf. I see a lot of pics posted here where people have a lot more growth in a lot less time. It is discouraging. I used to have the thickest, longest hair of anyone in my family. My sisters were always jealous of my hair and now . . . I really feel like all my stress would be lessened if I just had hair and could feel more like myself again. Like, I could deal with the flat chest, and the scars and the radiation burns if I could look in the mirror and see something familiar.
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I'm 3 months PFC. I continued to lose hair for 4-6 weeks after. I think the new hairs were growing in at this time as well. I have very short, dark hair. Maybe 1/2". I used to be dark blonde. My eyebrows are thick and lashes are almost to pre chemo length. Im grateful for the fast regrowth, but look like a stranger to myself. I'd like to at least lighten it a bit. What length did people start coloring at?
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I am finding all these responses re: hair regrowth experiences very interesting. I thank everyone for posting
To Mislil & Elootz who both had docetaxel like me - your responses were particularly interesting. My hair regrowth story seems to be very similar. Only hoping that at some point I will have my former cancer/ former chemo hair back again... but it doesn't seem like that may be realistic.
I can really relate to the discouragement relating to our disappointing hair growth.... at the beginning of the treatment I had thought that at the end of the chemo, surgery & radiation I would be able to return to a 'normal life', as it was before. While superficial that meant being "me" again - with my hair, eyebrows, eyelashes etc. Now I am facing having to define a new reality, a new normal. I mourn for the loss of the person I had once been.
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HapB - and all others who are have not got their hair back as expected - I have - and share - your pain.
I am 59. I love to travel. Here is a picture of me last September - only a year ago - on a bad hair day.
Now I look like an 80 year old man. I dream of having that bad hair day again!
wish
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Hey all, I know everyone on here is hair obsessed as I was and still am but not quite so much since I now have 2-3 inches of growth. I had my last chemo (Taxol) mid March of this year. Just wanted to pass on what has worked for me. If any of you have checked out anncredible.com she has pictures of her progress for the first 6 months of hair growth and that was nice to compare with. She also lists supplements that she has taken to combat cancer and I'm taking some of what she posted, not all, but some. I tried the coconut oil on the scalp overnight when I was pretty much bald but I didn't really see results from that. I read about oregano essential oil possibly stimulating hair growth so thought I'd give that a try since someone had given me some essential oils. The hair on the top, front part of my head was seemingly not wanting to grow like the rest so I started using oregano essential oil and I noticed a difference within a day or two. I used DoTerra oil and there is some discussion about the quality of oils and some not being full strength but that is what I used. I don't know if it was just time for that area to wake up and start growing but I feel the oregano oil helped.
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Now that my eyelashes are starting to return, I'm wondering about mascara. Did you just go back to your old brand? Did you switch to something more gentle, if there is such a thing?
I don't remember how long it took to get my lashes back last time, but they were definitely sparser and straighter. I don't think I spent too much time on my eye makeup back then. My kids were much smaller and I didn't have as much time for me. Never thought I'd be doing this again or I'd have kept track of what happened when and what I didbetter.
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cdv - My eye lashes are not what they were before. I am hoping that with time they will get better. I am curious to what answers you will get about mascara. I keep looking at them at stores and looking for ones that have conditioning oils in them.
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I bought new mascara every time I lost lashes (three total). I tried all the lash building types of mascara but stuck with cheaper stuff becuase I was trying out so many.
Coach Vicky
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My eyebrows are growing! I have a five o'clock shadow where my brows should be.
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Lovepugs, me too! I've never been so happy to see hair on my face!
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T-sue - I was happy to see hair growing backANYWHERE!
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