Come join others currently navigating treatment in our weekly Zoom Meetup! Register here: Tuesdays, 1pm ET.
Donate to Breastcancer.org when you checkout at Walgreens in October. Learn more about our Walgreens collaboration.
Join us for a Special Meetup: The Benefits of Exercise for Anyone With Breast Cancer, Oct. 16, 2024 at 2pm ET. Learn more and register here.

Eyelashes and eyebrows

lizardesque
lizardesque Member Posts: 4

Hi all. Starting last December, I had 4 A/C treatments (every other week), followed by 12 weekly Taxol treatments. The hair on my head fell out in late December. I finished A/C in late January and started Taxol then. During all that, I didn't have much loss of eyebrows or eyelashes.

I noticed some thinning of my eyebrows and eyelashes in March, ironically about the same time I started to get some regrowth of hair on my head i (while I was still on Taxol). I had my last dose of Taxol on April 25. By that time, I thought my eyebrow/lash loss had stabilized--both were very thin but still somewhat there.

Now, a little over a month after finishing Taxol, I pretty much have no eyelashes or eyebrows left, which seems odd to me. The hair on my head is growing back...slowly but surely. Did anyone else have late loss of eyelashes/brows? If so, when did they start to make a comeback?

Comments

  • Runrcrb
    Runrcrb Member Posts: 202

    i didnt have taxol but the eyebrows and lashes were the last hair to go for me Mine were just thinner- I think due to not having the additional chemo that you did.

    Chemo hits the fast growing cells. My hair grows faster than my eyebrows/ lashes so the delay in losing those makes sense. Unfortunately they are slow to grow back too.


  • Jennifer522
    Jennifer522 Member Posts: 194

    I am 11 weeks out. I had no eyebrows or eyelashes, not one single hair towards the last 6-8 weeks of taxol.

    Once my eyebrows started to come back, they filled in fast within 1-2 weeks. My eyelashes were a week or two later. It was about 5-6 weeks after chemo ended

  • jcia
    jcia Member Posts: 3

    I experienced the same. My hair started growing back when I switched from A/C to taxol and my eyebrows started thinning. Now I’m 3 weeks out from taxol and the brows are still falling out. I hope they start growing back soon!

  • PhoenixCruiser
    PhoenixCruiser Member Posts: 57

    I didn't lose my brows and lashes until two weeks past my last Taxol. I was shocked to say the least.

    On the positive side, both came back in quickly, much quicker than my hair. My brows also come back much thicker and darker.

  • NotVeryBrave
    NotVeryBrave Member Posts: 169

    Same. My eyebrows were leaving as my hair was coming back. They sort of thinned and grew at the same time so never all gone. The eyelashes were another story - all came out and I had none. Hated that. They started growing back right away but super slowly.

    Hang in there. I found some brow pencil helped the eyebrows and "Lash Discovery" mascara with a tiny brush helped the lashes.


  • jo6359
    jo6359 Member Posts: 1,993

    I lost the hair on my head with then 3 weeks of my first chemo treatment. Friday will be my 6th and last chemo treatment. I started losing my eyelashes and eyebrows right after around 5. My eyelashes have completely gone and my eyebrows are almost gone. Fortunately for me my eyelashes and eyebrows were very blond so most people don't notice. Hopefully after I finished around 6 on Friday my hair will start growing back.

  • molliefish
    molliefish Member Posts: 650
    My eyebrows left after I finished chemo and they never came back. Well a few did but here and there very sparse and translucent. I have to use eyebrow pencil every day or I look like i have no eyebrows at all. My eyelashes are sparse and stubby. Someday I hope they'll come back. Maybe when I'm done tamoxifen.
  • krose53
    krose53 Member Posts: 74

    lizardesque, I kept my eyelashes and eyebrows throughout chemo. Both eyelashes and eyebrows started falling out 7 wks post chemo. I didn’t lose all my eyebrows and my eyelashes started growing in as my long ones fell out. Now I have very short lashes and thin eyebrows. Facial hair is back in full force. Really had hoped that would stay permanently gone! My hair is growing in slowly. Can’t be fast enough

  • paddymom
    paddymom Member Posts: 6

    I finished TCHP in May 2015 and the eyelashes soon started to go. They have since returned and left repeatedly. Today a few little lashes maybe a quarter inch long are hanging on. The eyebrows are also quite sparse. No problems with hair regrowth. Just lashes

  • msphil
    msphil Member Posts: 185

    I too lost eyebrow n lashes grew back sparsely and remained that way But u can now have them done like pasted on etc or eyebrow penciled in. By Praise God I'm still here 24 yrs tho s yr. idc stage2 0\3nodes 3mo chemo before and after Lmast got married was diagnosed as we were making plans for our 2nd. Then 7wks rads and 5yrs on Tamoxifen.God Bless Us All

  • HappyHammer
    HappyHammer Member Posts: 985

    Eyebrows and lashes never came back in like they had been.  I have eyebrows tinted every 4-6 weeks.  Love it!  Also, started using "Babe Lash" treatment on eyelashes about 2.5 months ago- really, really have seen a dramatic result with lash regrowth- thickness and length!  Use it almost every night.  It was expensive- but still using original bottle so it lasts a long time!  I now wear mascara and even my husband has noticed the difference!

  • jo6359
    jo6359 Member Posts: 1,993

    happyhammer- where do you buy Babe Lash? I don't have eyelashes or eyebrows but hopefully they'll grow back. Or maybe not? However I'll deal with it.

  • HappyHammer
    HappyHammer Member Posts: 985

    Jo6359- Sorry about the brows and lashes...it took forever to get mine back and they are still really sparse.  The Babe Lash has worked wonders.  Got it at the hair salon.  Maybe you could google it?  Good luck!

  • PhoenixCruiser
    PhoenixCruiser Member Posts: 57

    I used Rapid Lash and Rapid Brow and tha helped.

  • jo6359
    jo6359 Member Posts: 1,993

    HappyHammer- good idea. I'll Google it and see where I can purchase it. Hopefully within a few months I'll have a few sparse eyelashes to add some mascara too.


  • NotVeryBrave
    NotVeryBrave Member Posts: 169

    I used "Lash Discovery" when my eyelashes started coming back. It has a super tiny brush that makes it much easier to use on super tiny eyelashes!


  • AnxietyGirl85
    AnxietyGirl85 Member Posts: 37

    I'm almost 4 weeks out from my last Taxol treatment (May 25), and while I lost most of my eyelashes and eyebrows about halfway through my DD Taxol treatments, there's definitely still some shedding going on - not a lot, because I don't have much hair left, but the few hairs that I do have are still falling out. *sigh*

    I've got no eyelashes left on my bottom lids (save for one single solitary lash on the bottom lid of my right eye), and so few upper lashes left on both eyes that I could probably count them on two hands. My eyebrows are probably 90% gone, and the few hairs that are left continue to fall, one at a time. I'm starting to think that every last hair is going to fall out.

    I'm really hoping that they'll stop shedding and start growing back soon, along with my hair - so far, I've got zero regrowth for any of my lost hair, and all of this baldness is really wearing on me, I don't look like myself at all (I used to have long, thick dark hair, thick dark eyebrows and long dark eyelashes). Maybe it's time to try a serum for my eyebrows, I really miss my big fuzzy caterpillars (and I'm really terrible at drawing them on!!).

  • Sciathos
    Sciathos Member Posts: 4

    My eyebrows grew in quite soon after last treatment ended. 5-8 weeks Then I noticed the eyelashes had been replenish ed too - it's lovely when they come back.

  • lg10
    lg10 Member Posts: 37

    Did anyone with dark hair have their eyebrows and lashes grow back blonde during their taxol treatments? I have 2 treatments left and I'm hoping the regrowth will pick-up when I'm done, but wondering if the color will come back!

  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293

    I'm a blonde with dark eyebrows and lashes. My eyebrows were already losing pigment before chemo - I think it's an aging thing. They looked way fuller if I brushed through with a tint because there were lots of blonde hairs there. They haven't started growing yet.

    A few of my eyelashes are just starting to poke out & they're little black specks. My hair is coming in either blond or grey - too soon too tell. I look like I did when I was a baby - very light thin hair on a mostly bald head lol

    I've done 11/12 taxol

  • jo6359
    jo6359 Member Posts: 1,993

    moth-too funny. We have similar coloring. Prior to chemo my hair was mostly blonde with some gray. 5 weeks post chemo my hair is starting to grow. I'm uncertain if it's coming back blond or if I'm going to be a Q-tip. My eyelashes are poking out one at a time. My eyebrows are still questionable. Prior to chemo my eyebrows were very blond. Part of it was loss of pigmentation due to the aging process. I do have one wish. I hope the hair does not grow back on my legs. My legs have never been so smooth. Not to get too personal, my private areas are still bald as a newborn baby. LOL No running for me now. Two fractured toes and one sprained toe thanks to Ted the retriever. I learned my lesson. Put the retriever in another room when I'm using the treadmill. He also likes to exercise on the treadmill. I taught him how to use the treadmill approximately a year ago when he injured his leg.



  • moderators
    moderators Posts: 8,539

    Some helpful information on this topic we recently published:

    https://www.breastcancer.org/treatment-side-effects/hair-loss/eyebrows-eyelashes-chemo